Let’s Say Nice Things About... The G1 Climax

Now more than ever, the world needs a good dose of positivity. We here at Cageside Seats will do our small part to bring that positivity on a daily basis. Throughout the entirety of 2017, we’ll say something nice about wrestling and everything around it, past, present, and future.

As a reminder, only positive comments are allowed here. No negative comments, no troll comments, no back-handed compliments. None of that here. You have the rest of the site for that. Any comments that are not in the spirit of this feature will be flagged, deleted, and posters of said comments may be subjected to a ban.

Today’s subject: one of the most prestigious—and toughest—tournaments in all of wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax.

NOTE: This is in reference to the G1 Climax in general and not just this year’s ongoing tournament. There will be a separate entry for that.

As recently as about a decade ago, the G1 Climax was a week-long round-robin culminating in a huge final day of action. In recent years, the promotion’s turned it into a(n almost) month-long festival of wrestling goodness.

Not every match in the tournament’s gonna be good, of course, but with the tournament spread out now with blocks alternating days, there’s a good chance you’ll get at least one really good match a day for about three straight weeks.

The demands of this tournament and knowing the competitors will not have an easy out the entire way means that whoever wins the annual grind will have truly earned it. Probably the best thing they’ve done with it besides spread it out is to reward the winner a guaranteed world title shot at Wrestle Kingdom in January.

If you’re a fan of New Japan or are looking to get into it, the G1 is a good place to start.

Your turn. Say something nice about the G1 Climax.

Got a suggestion for a future “Let’s Say Nice Things About...”? Hit me up on the Twitter gimmick @notoriouseddie. I may not always respond, but I will read it.