G1 Climax 31


The G1 Climax 31 was a professional wrestling tournament promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The tournament commenced on September 18 and concluded on October 21, 2021. It is the thirty-first edition of G1 Climax, and forty-seventh edition of the tournament counting its previous forms under different names. B block winner Kazuchika Okada defeated A Block winner Kota Ibushi by referee stoppage after Ibushi suffered an arm injury when he attempted to perform a Phoenix Splash on Okada, forcing referee Red Shoes Unno to stop the match.
Considered NJPW's most important tournament, the G1 Climax features twenty wrestlers, divided in two blocks of ten. Each participant faces all nine other wrestlers within the same block in singles matches. The winner of each block is determined via a point system, with two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a defeat. Each night of the event sees the ten members of one block compete. On the final day of the event, the winners of each block face each other to determine the winner of the tournament, who also receives a future match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom. The event is broadcast live on TV Asahi and Fighting TV Samurai in Japan, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling World worldwide.
The event saw the G1 Climax debut of Great-O-Khan, Tanga Loa, and Chase Owens. Tetsuya Naito suffered a legitimate knee injury during his match against Sabre Jr. in the tournament's opening night, forcing him to forfeit the remainder of his matches.

Production

Tournament rules

The tournament features twenty wrestlers, divided in two blocks of ten. Each participant faces all nine other wrestler within the same block in singles matches, with the winner of each block being determined via a point system, gaining two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no point for a loss; each night of the event sees the ten members of a same block compete for the tournament. In case of several wrestler sharing the top score, the results of the matches those wrestlers had when facing each other in the tournament act as tiebreaker, with the one having the most wins over the other top-scorers determining the winner of the block.
On the final day of the event, the respective winners of both blocks face each other to determine the winner of the G1 Climax, who would gain a future match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, NJPW's top championship, at Wrestle Kingdom, NJPW's biggest yearly event; if the IWGP Heavyweight Champion himself wins, he gets to pick his opponent at Wrestle Kingdom. The Young Lion matches have a fifteen-minutes time limit, while the matches of the tournament have a 30-minutes time limit ; the final match between the two block winners has no time limit.

History

On July 8, 2021, NJPW announced that the 2021 edition of the G1 Climax would take place from September to October due to 2020 Summer Olympics was delayed to 2021. During night 2 of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome on September 5, NJPW announced the full tournament bracket for the G1 Climax.

Storylines

The event includes matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Matches

Night 1 (A Block)

The first night of A Block took place on September 18, 2021, at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka. Tetsuya Naito legitimately injured his knee during his match on Night 1 and had to withdraw from the rest of the competition as a result.

Night 2 (B Block)

The first night of B Block took place on September 19, 2021, at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka.

Night 3 (A Block)

The second night of A Block took place on September 23, 2021, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.

Night 4 (B Block)

The second night of B Block took place on September 24, 2021, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.

Night 5 (A Block)

The third night of A Block took place on September 26, 2021, at World Memorial Hall in Chūō-ku, Kobe.

Night 6 (B Block)

The third night of B Block took place on September 29, 2021, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Night 7 (A Block)

The fourth night of A Block took place on September 30, 2021, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Night 8 (B Block)

The fourth night of B Block took place on October 1, 2021, at Hamamatsu Arena in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka.

Night 9 (A Block)

The fifth night of A Block took place on October 3, 2021, at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Naka-ku, Nagoya.

Night 10 (B Block)

The fifth night of B Block took place on October 4, 2021, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Night 11 (A Block)

The sixth night of the A Block took place on October 7, 2021, at Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima.

Night 12 (B Block)

The sixth night of the B Block took place on October 8, 2021, at Kochi Prefectural Gymnasium in Kochi, Kochi.

Night 13 (A Block)

The seventh night of A Block took place on October 9, 2021, at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka.

Night 14 (B Block)

The seventh night of B Block took place on October 12, 2021, at Xebio Arena Sendai in Sendai, Miyagi.

Night 15 (A Block)

The eighth night of A Block took place on October 13, 2021, at Xebio Arena Sendai in Sendai, Miyagi.

Night 16 (B Block)

The eighth night of B Block took place on October 14, 2021, at Yamagata City General Sports Center in Tendo, Yamagata.

Night 17 (A Block Final)

The ninth night of A Block took place on October 18, 2021, at Yokohama Budokan in Naka-ku, Yokohama.

Night 18 (B Block Final)

The ninth night of B Block took place on October 20, 2021, at Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.

Night 19 (Final)

The final night took place on October 21, 2021, at Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.

Participants

On Night 1 of A Block competition, Tetsuya Naito suffered a legitimate knee injury in his match with Zack Sabre Jr., resulting in Naito having to withdraw from the tournament. All his remaining tournament matches were declared forfeits on Naito's part.
Block AO-KhanIbushiIshiiKentaLoaNaitoSabreTakagiTakahashiYano
O-KhanIbushi
Ishii
Kenta
O-Khan
O-Khan
Sabre
Takagi
O-Khan
O-Khan
IbushiIbushi
Ibushi
Ibushi
Ibushi
Ibushi
Sabre
Ibushi
Takahashi
Ibushi
IshiiIshii
Ibushi
Kenta
Ishii
Ishii
Ishii
Takagi
Ishii
Yano
KentaKenta
Ibushi
Kenta
Kenta
Kenta
Kenta
Takagi
Kenta
Yano
LoaO-Khan
Ibushi
Ishii
Kenta
Loa
Loa
Takagi
Loa
Yano
NaitoO-Khan
Ibushi
Ishii
Kenta
Loa
Sabre
Takagi
Takahashi
Yano
SabreSabre
Sabre
Ishii
Kenta
Loa
Sabre
Sabre
Sabre
Sabre
TakagiTakagi
Ibushi
Takagi
Takagi
Takagi
Takagi
Sabre
Draw
Takagi
TakahashiO-Khan
Takahashi
Ishii
Kenta
Loa
Takahashi
Sabre
Draw
Yano
YanoO-Khan
Ibushi
Yano
Yano
Yano
Yano
Sabre
Takagi
Yano
Block BCobbEvilGotoOkadaOwensSanadaTaichiTanahashiTongaYoshi-Hashi
CobbCobb
Cobb
Okada
Cobb
Cobb
Cobb
Cobb
Cobb
Cobb
EvilCobb
Evil
Okada
Evil
Evil
Evil
Evil
Evil
Evil
GotoCobb
Evil
Okada
Goto
Sanada
Taichi
Tanahashi
Goto
Goto
OkadaOkada
Okada
Okada
Okada
Okada
Okada
Okada
Tonga
Okada
OwensCobb
Evil
Goto
Okada
Sanada
Owens
Owens
Tonga
Yoshi-Hashi
SanadaCobb
Evil
Sanada
Okada
Sanada
Taichi
Tanahashi
Sanada
Sanada
TaichiCobb
Evil
Taichi
Okada
Owens
Taichi
Taichi
Tonga
Yoshi-Hashi
TanahashiCobb
Evil
Tanahashi
Okada
Owens
Tanahashi
Taichi
Tanahashi
Tanahashi
TongaCobb
Evil
Goto
Tonga
Tonga
Sanada
Tonga
Tanahashi
Yoshi-Hashi
Yoshi-HashiCobb
Evil
Goto
Okada
Yoshi-Hashi
Sanada
Yoshi-Hashi
Tanahashi
Yoshi-Hashi

Aftermath

On the final night of G1 Climax 31, Zack Sabre Jr. had an impromptu 5-minute, special exhibition grappling match with Katsuyori Shibata, marking Shibata's return to in-ring action since suffering a subdural hematoma at Sakura Genesis 2017, which put him out of action for over 4 years. The bout went to the time limit and no winner was declared. Afterwards, Shibata addressed the crowd, saying the next time he will step back into the ring, it will be in his ring gear, presumably in a sanctioned wrestling match. During the finals for World Tag League and Best of Super Juniors 28, Shibata would address the crowd, announcing his first official match since Sakura Genesis would take place on January 4, 2022, at Wrestle Kingdom 16.
In a press conference after winning the tournament, Okada proposed to NJPW chairman Naoki Sugabayashi to hold and defend the previous version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt, seen from 2008–2021, instead of the usual briefcase which holds the Tokyo Dome IWGP World Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate. Sugabayashi accepted the proposal, and the former title belt returned to represent Okada's G1 win on the first show of the Road to Power Struggle tour. Okada would go on to beat Shingo Takagi on January 4 at Wrestle Kingdom 16, where he finally retired the 4th Generation title belt on his terms in the Tokyo Dome at the end of the night.