The G1 Climax kicked off this past weekend, and already the tournament is facing a major hurdle due to an injury.
Sunday’s event in Hokkaido began with the abrupt removal of Gabe Kidd from the main event as the British talent hopped to the ring on crutches to deliver an update. Kidd shared that he had hyperextended his knee and was unable to compete against Zack Sabre Jr and would forfeit the round-robin contest.
Kidd stated he wasn’t withdrawing from the G1, but it’s clearly a possibility and would throw a major monkey wrench into the meticulously booked G1, where every match outcome matters in constructing the final picture.
Kidd is scheduled to wrestle Shingo Takagi on Wednesday in his next tournament match. NJPW has not officially announced if Kidd is off that show, as well.
Konosuke Takeshita is quickly assuming last year’s role as the standout in the field after terrific matches with Kidd and El Phantasmo.
Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Taichi on the first night to kick off his final G1 campaign, but was upset by Callum Newman the next night.
The biggest upset of the weekend was Ren Narita’s surprise win against IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. on the first night. It was a result few expected when charting out the champion’s select losses for the tournament, presumably, to set up title matches later this year, and Narita isn’t on that level.
EVIL, YOSHI-HASHI, and Drilla Moloney are the only ones to go 2-0 in their first matches and stand on top of their respective blocks. SANADA and Shingo Takagi (and by extension, Gabe Kidd) were winless in their first two matches.
Over the next two days, the G1 is broken down into specific block shows with five tournament matches per show, and the addition of undercard matches.
Some of the key matches include a main event between Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji, with a lot of eyes on these two to have breakout performances this season. Wednesday’s card features a Wrestle Kingdom rematch between Zack Sabre Jr. and Shota Umino, and the story will center around Kidd’s status.
Tuesday, July 22 in Sendai at 5:30 a.m. ET
*A BLOCK: Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
*A BLOCK: Taichi vs. David Finlay
*A BLOCK: EVIL vs. SANADA
*A BLOCK: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Oleg Boltin
*A BLOCK: Ryohei Oiwa vs. Callum Newman
*Zack Sabre Jr. & Hartley Jackson vs. Shota Umino & Katsuya Murashima
*Gabe Kidd & Gedo vs. Shingo Takagi & Daiki Nagai
*Konosuke Takeshita & Rocky Romero vs. Great O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young
*El Phantasmo & Jado vs. Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
*Drilla Moloney & Taiji Ishimori vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Shoma Kato
Wednesday, July 23 in Niigata at 5:30 a.m. ET
*B BLOCK: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino
*B BLOCK: Shingo Takagi vs. Gabe Kidd
*B BLOCK: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Great O-Khan
*B BLOCK: El Phantasmo vs. Ren Narita
*B BLOCK: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Drilla Moloney
*Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuya Murashima vs. David Finlay & Gedo
*Yota Tsuji & Daiki Nagai vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
*Yuya Uemura & Shoma Kato vs. Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young
*Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano vs. SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
POST Wrestling’s next G1 Climax show will be released on Wednesday with Wai Ting & Kate from Montreal on the POST Wrestling Café
