G1 Deconstruction

G1 Fever. A particularly strong strain of virus originating in Japan, afflicting people, particularly pro wrestling fans, between the summer months of July and August, and this year prone rapid spread to international carriers.

You have either noticed the activity of those it has taken hold of, if on the east coast, in the waking hours between 6 and 8:30. However others in different parts of the globe show signs of symptoms in the afternoon, at night, and while there tend to be large clusters of activity at certain times, others react in isolated bursts. You may also be right in the throes of G1 Fever yourself.

So for whatever your relation to this growing phenomenon, here’s a look at what it is, how it compares to last year’s powerful but somewhat less potent outbreak, and where it may all be heading.

What is the G1?

The G1, or G1 Climax as it is known more formally is an important tournament in the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion that pits those perceived to be the best wrestlers in the heavyweight division against each other. The winner of this multi day event gets the important prize of choosing a champion to challenge at a future date; presumably it will be the IWGP Heavyweight champion who is challenged, though there have been exceptions, and the date of the match is the prestigious Wrestle Kingdom show, also known as the Dome show since it takes place in the Tokyo Dome on January 4 of the following year.

The tournament is organized in such a way that wrestlers placed in 2 blocks – an A and a B, wrestle every other combatant in the same block. After each match they earn points – 2 for a victory and 1 for a draw, and then the winner of the A and B blocks face each other in the finals.

Changes from the Previous tournament

This year marked a significant departure from the previous year’s tournament. perhaps having the most pronounced effect is the fact that we are now in the New Japan World era, and the tournament is that much more accessible to viewers. It’s quite a change in landscape to consider: a year ago, each day of the tournament was available through an iPPV service called UStream for around ten dollars. This would cause a tournament consisting of, say 11 dates to cost a viewer 110 dollars to watch the whole tournament, as opposed to now where a viewer subscribing to the New Japan World service in August and July, at the least, would pay around 8 American dollars for each month totaling 16 dollars, and that’s for an expanded number of shows.  Wow.

On the other hand one might compare the modest cost of a few months of subscribing to NJPW World this year to a sum of zero last year; a handful of individuals were posting footage of the shows from native Japanese broadcasts to slightly less well-known video sharing sights. It was a bit of a crap shoot; sometimes the day’s shows would appear hours after they happened. Other times hold ups occurred.

While I like the idea of a wrestling promotion’s output being obtained legitimately and in a way that supports the talent involved, it seemed that the people posting these shows had NJPW’s interests in mind. At that time, New Japan stood to benefit greatly from increased international exposure. And opportunities for fans to do so were limited or pricey. Now that the ‘World streaming service is up and running, the illegal content streamers have curtailed their activity.

A year ago I found myself adopting a hybrid strategy of downloading a few shows from UStream while checking the video sites for more nefariously added content. It being a fairly new product to me, I felt that purchasing every show was excessive and quite a strain on my resources. I don’t mind saying this now as a loyal World subscriber. It was also fun going through the show cards and strategizing: which shows were going to hold the best all around combination of matches from the pro wrestlers most exciting to watch. Of course now, being able to instantly access all of the shows online as they happen, and easily return to them in World’s archives is preferable overall.

With World now in effect, a change in the tournament format also made sense. SLast year there were 10 shows featuring matches between all participants in each Block (minus 2 performers each time, who rotated among each other to get a day off from the tournament) making up a show. This year, the number of shows was expanded to something like 19, with 5 tournament matches on each of the shows, alternating between the A and B Blocks. When the A Block wrestlers had their tournament matches in the second half of each night’s card, the wrestlers in the B block would work together with Junior Heavyweights, young lions (rookies), and other wrestlers not participating in the tournament to fight in tag team matches. And vise vera the following day.

This format had a few advantages. It has become much easier to keep track of which wrestlers are in the A Block and which in B, whereas the year before it took a lot of work to sort out which wrestlers were in each block and were therefore destined to battle each other. There is also something to be said for the wrestlers not in tournament matches being tag matches on the undercard, as previews of the matches on the next show were often incorporated. For instance if Okada and Karl Anderson were to have a tournament match coming up, they would likely be teamed up with their CHAOS and Bullet Club affiliates respectively in tag team action on prior show.

A possible drawback is the sheer amount of wrestling that can be overwhelming to take in. I myself am trying to keep up with the tournament matches while leaving the undercard matches for later days, occasionally dipping in when time allows.

The last big changeup to discuss here is the participants in the tournament, which is fewer in number this time. For the most part, the lineup is the same. Tomoaki Honma is in the mix again, but it is worth noting that last year his entry came about fortuitously as a result of Kota Ibushi being injured and unable to take assigned spot. Honma has continued to be on a roll since his run in last yeare’s G1. Kota Ibushi is in good health and on this year’s card, making for some very exciting matches added to this year’s card involving him. Another participant new to this year’s tournament is Michael Elgin, a former Heavyweight Champion of the US promotion Ring of Honor. Elgin brings a bit of unpredictability to the proceedings, working as a powerhouse with a good amount of agility to boot. The other changes are all subtractions from the roster – namely the removal of the Suzuki Gun faction as they continue to work in NOAH. This meant the absence of Suzuki Gun leader, Minoru Suzuki, Shelton X Benjamin, and the tag team of Davey Boy Smith Junior and Lance Archer. This group has been involved in an angle that finds them invading the smaller NOAH wrestling promotion, started in January after Wrestle Kingdom. Some held expectations of them returning in time for the tournament, or maybe at least Minoru. But now I wouldn’t hold my breath til at least the next Wrestle Kingdom show for a possible drop in. It seems they too far gone, under deep cover!

The result is actually good in some ways. Although all 4 of those Suzuki Gun members are excellent workers, and Minoru especially can really bring a perceived legitimate threat into his matches, there is often a predictable pattern of cheating and roughing up the outside of the ring personell up that I won’t necessarily miss. It also makes following the progression of stories simpler less cluttered to have 1 less faction to keep track of: For the past several months, and in the tournament, it has basically been about CHAOS, the Bullet Club, and unaffiliated NJPW wrestlers.

The Logistics

The tournament is long and it involves an incredible balancing act of booking, so that there is suspense throughout the tournament over who will reach the finals. For one wrestler to run through with far more points than everyone else would not be all that…climactic. Some wrestlers are obviously far more likely to win than others, and matches mostly follow the logic of who is most dominant, with room for some surprise upsets.

Aside from the drama crafted within the story there is the more real life drama of wrestlers sustaining injuries, in this series of matches that fall in short succession and feature the combatants working their hardest. It also goes without saying, if someone is too injured to wrestle all of their matches, the conceived of plan can be compromised drastically, leading to necessary overwrites on the fly or contingency plans to go in effect. It makes for a very suspenseful series of some of the best matches one will find in a year.

Last year the finals found Kazuchika Okada defeating Shinsuke Nakamura, then IWGP Intercontinental champion, to win the tournament and challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight title at Wrestle Kingdom. He went on to face Hiroshi Tanahashi, who defeated AJ Styles, who held the IWGP Heayweight title during the G1, both during the tournament and after it ended to take his championship. He then defended the title successfully at Wrestle Kingdom but would go on to lose it to AJ, who would lose the belt to Okada, once again the reigning champion.

So, there’s a quick overview of the common causes of G1 Fever. With two thirds of the tournament finished I’ll leave off with a quick projection of the tournament’s outcome and leave next time for a look at how things have progressed so far: I see Hiroshi Tanahashi winning the A Block after squeaking by AJ Styles, and going on to face Shinsuke Nakamura, who I see defeating Kazuchika Okada to win the B Block. I then picture Tanhashi winning the tournament and going on to face Okada for the title in a rematch of the last Wrestle Kingdom event.

What do you think?