A while ago I made a post about booking a 32-man G1 while only using NJPW-contracted guys. Basically just testing their roster to see if they could put a decent one together when stretched thin.
This is more of a fun one I put together after doing that, which is still definitely in the realm of possibility (I didn’t just spam Kiyomiya/Danielson/Moxley/Kenny/Jay/Ospreay) but very unlikely
C Block is the most ambitious with so many outsiders and unproven draws but that one would easily be my most anticipated if this actually happened
**A BLOCK**
Alex Coughlin
HENARE
Hiroshi Tanahashi
Kazuchika Okada
Satoshi Kojima
Tetsuya Naito
Toru Yano
YOSHI-HASHI
**B BLOCK**
Great-O-Khan
Hikuleo
KENTA
Ren Narita
Shota Umino
Taichi
Tom Lawlor
Zack Sabre, Jr.
**C BLOCK**
Callum Newman
Eddie Kingston
Gabe Kidd
Nic Nemeth
Ryohei Oiwa
Soberano, Jr.
Yota Tsuji
Yuya Uemura
**D BLOCK**
David Finlay
El Phantasmo
EVIL
Hirooki Goto
Jeff Cobb
SANADA
Shingo Takagi
Tomohiro Ishii
by LYKALYKALYKALYKA
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Never knew I needed Gabe Kidd v Nic Nemeth until right now
Thanks for that
Eddie Kingston vs Nick Nemeth in new Japan would be such a strange visual
My (semi-realistic) dream G1 would go back to a 20 man format and it would be the following
**A Block**
Okada
Yota Tsuji
EVIL
Jay White
David Finlay
Eddie Kingston
Shota Umino
Taichi
Bryan Danielson
Zach Saber Jr
**B block**
Naito
Ren Narita
Yuya Uemera
SANADA
Jon Moxley
Goto
Yoshi Hashi
Will Ospreay
Shingo
Kenny Omega
I wish I could include Tanahashi but at this point he just cant go like he used to 🙁 but I feel like this has some absolute all time matchups and has a sense that a lot of these people could actually win the whole thing. Plus having Goto vs Yoshi Hashi and ZSJ vs Taichi would be fun matchups
Here’s how I’d book the finals
A Block: Okada wins and Naito is runner up
B Block: ZSJ wins and Shota is runner up
C Block: Uemura wins and Gabe is runner up
D Block: Takagi wins and Phantasmo is runner up
A Winner vs B Runner Up: Okada defeats Shota Umino
C Winner vs D Runner Up: Phantasmo defeats Uemura
B Winner vs C Runner Up: ZSJ defeats Gabriel Kidd
D Winner vs A Runner Up: Naito defeats Shingo Takagi
Okada defeats El Phantasmo
ZSJ defeats Tetsuya Naito
Zack Sabre Jr wins the tournament by beating Okada in the grand final
Yes I am on my “ZSJ should be the next gaijin to win the G1 and the world title” bullshit
Ok, here‘s mine:
A Block
Kazuchika Okada
Zack Sabre Jr
Shota Umino
Sanada
David Finlay
Nick Nemeth
Taichi
Ren Narita
B Block
Evil
Gabe Kidd
Kaito Kiyomiya
Kenta
Fred Rosser
Great O Khan
El Phantasmo
Toro Yano
C Block
Alex Coughlin
Aaron Henare
Jeff Cobb
Shingo Takagi
Tomohiro Ishii
Hirooki Goto
Eddie Kingston
Homicide
D Block
Ryohei Oiwa
Yota Tsuji
Yoshi-Hashi
Tom Lawlor
Timothy Thatcher
Yuya Uemura
Mikey Nicholls
Shane Haste
I included a few outside names but it‘s mostly talent from within the main roster and Strong. I have not included Naito and Tana because, in a perfect world, last year‘s G1 would have been their last.
I’d have Matt Riddle in there instead of Kojima or Newman.
16 Ishii, 16 Shinya Hashimoto.
That’s my dream G1
2 x 10 man blocks, with all the heavyweight title holders (including Strong, tags and 6 man), and maybe also the Jr champ. The remaining numbers made up of the current top names without a belt, the guys who are on the way up, and a few wildcard/pin eaters like Toru Yano etc.
In my opinion, the G1 should really be all about the Grade 1 wrestlers