The G1 Climax 29 was a professional wrestling tournament promoted by the Japan-based New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The tournament commenced on July 6 and concluded on August 12, 2019. It is the twenty-ninth edition of G1 Climax, and forty-fifth edition of the tournament counting its previous forms under different names. A Block winner Kota Ibushi defeated B Block winner Jay White in the final to win the tournament.
Considered NJPW's most important tournament, the G1 Climax features twenty wrestlers, divided in two blocks of ten ("A" and "B"). 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 point for a defeat; each night of the event sees the ten members of one block compete for the tournament, while the members of the non-competing block perform in tag team matches that have no influence of the tournament results. On the final day of the event, the winners of both blocks face each other to determine the winner of the G1 Climax, who will gain a future match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom, NJPW's biggest yearly event.
The event saw the G1 Climax debut of Jeff Cobb, Jon Moxley, Taichi, Kenta, Shingo Takagi, and Will Ospreay as well as Lance Archer's first participation since 2014; this was Kenta's in-ring debut in NJPW. As usual, the tournament took place over several cities and locations; the 2019 edition marked the first time that the G1 Climax tournament took place outside of Japan, as the event opened with G1 Climax in Dallas at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, before moving back to Japan. The event was broadcast live on AXS TV in the United States, TV Asahi and Fighting TV Samurai in Japan, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling World worldwide.
Production + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English CommentatorsKevin KellyRocky RomeroChris Charlton (nights 2, 3, 5─7, 13, 14, 16─19)Japanese CommentatorsShinpei Nogami (nights 18 & 19)Shigeki Kiyono (nights 2, 3, 8─10)Yohei Onishi (nights 1 & 4)Shunichiro Fujisawa (nights 5─7, 12, 15)Haruo Murata (nights 11, 13, 14, 16)Shinji Yoshino (night 17)Milano Collection A.T.Miki Motoi (nights 1, 3, 5, 15, 18)Yusuke Okamoto (nights 7 & 12)Katsuhiko Kanazawa (nights 4, 6, 19)Soichi Shibata (night 2)Kazuo Yamazaki (night 17)Ring announcersKimihiko OzakiMakoto AbeRefereesKenta SatoMarty AsamiRed Shoes UnnoTiger Hattori
Tournament rules
NJPW announced that the 2019 edition and its dates of the G1 Climax on January 4, 2019, at Wrestle Kingdom 13; it was announced that the first night of the tournament will be held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, marking the first time the tournament would be held outside of Japan. As per usual G1 Climax tradition, the tournament features twenty wrestlers, divided in two blocks of ten ("A" and "B"). Each participant faces all nine other wrestler within the same block in singles match, 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, while the members of the non-competing block perform in tag team matches that have no influence of the tournament results, typically facing their future tournament opponents. In case of several wrestler sharing the top score, the results of the matches those wrestlers had when facing each other's 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 low-card matches have a twenty-minutes time limit, while the matches of the tournament have a 30-minutes time limit (with the time limit being reached resulting in a tie); the final match between the two block winners has no time limit.
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.
First-time participant Jeff Cobb and returning participant Tomohiro Ishii announced their participation to the tournament on May 31, 2019.
On June 9, 2019, at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, several wrestlers announced their decision to participate in the G1 Climax for the first time, including IWGP United States Champion Jon Moxley. Best of the Super Juniors winner Will Ospreay, immediately after defeating Dragon Lee to win the IWGP Junior heavyweight Champion, also announced his intention to participate, marking a rare participation to the tournament by a member of the Junior Heavyweight division. Junior Heavyweight Shingo Takagi, who defeated heavyweight Satoshi Kojima at Dominion, announced his move to the Heavyweight division after the match, as well as his participation to the G1 Climax. Kenta, who had been released by WWE the previous February, made his surprise NJPW debut at the event, also announcing his participation in the G1 Climax.
Four time-participant Lance Archer, who had last participated to the tournament in 2014, announced his participation on June 10, 2019, via the company's official YouTube channel.
The twenty participants were officially announced on June 16, 2019. The list included six first-time participants, namely Cobb, Moxley, Ospreay, Takagi, Kenta, and Taichi, with fourteen participants returning from the previous year, and Archer returning after a five-year hiatus; participants from the previous year who did not return were Michael Elgin, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page, who had left NJPW, and Minoru Suzuki, Tama Tonga, Togi Makabe, and Yoshi-Hashi.
Venues Dates Venue Location Country July 6 American Airlines Center Dallas, Texas United States July 13–14 Ota City General Gymnasium Ōta, Tokyo Japan July 15 Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Toyohira-ku, Sapporo July 18–20 Korakuen Hall Bunkyo, Tokyo July 24 Hiroshima Sun Plaza Nishi-ku, Hiroshima July 27–28 Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium Nagoya July 30 Takamatsu City General Gymnasium Takamatsu, Kagawa August 1 Fukuoka Citizens Gymnasium Fukuoka, Fukuoka August 3–4 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium Namba, Osaka August 7 Hamamatsu Arena Hamamatsu, Shizuoka August 8 Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium Naka-ku, Yokohama August 10–12 Nippon Budokan Chiyoda, Tokyo
Results Night 1 (A Block)
The first night of A Block took place on July 6, 2019, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas; it was promoted as G1 Climax in Dallas. It marked the first time that a night of the G1 Climax took place outside of Japan. This event was broadcast live on AXS TV in the United States and New Japan Pro-Wrestling World. The show would receive coverage from more mainstream publications such as Sports Illustrated and Deadspin.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Bad Luck Fale 0 2 Kazuchika Okada 0 2 Kenta 0 2 Lance Archer 0 2 Sanada 0 22 Evil 0 0 Hiroshi Tanahashi 0 0 Kota Ibushi 0 0 Will Ospreay 0 0 Zack Sabre Jr. 0 0
Night 2 (B Block) The first night of B Block took place on July 13, 2019, at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Hirooki Goto 0 2 Jon Moxley 0 2 Juice Robinson 0 2 Tomohiro Ishii 0 2 Toru Yano 0 22 Jay White 0 0 Jeff Cobb 0 0 Shingo Takagi 0 0 Taichi 0 0 Tetsuya Naito 0 0
Night 3 (A Block) The second night of A Block took place on July 14, 2019, at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Kazuchika Okada 2 4 Kenta 2 4 Lance Archer 2 42 Bad Luck Fale 2 2 Evil 0 2 Sanada 2 2 Will Ospreay 0 23 Hiroshi Tanahashi 0 0 Kota Ibushi 0 0 Zack Sabre Jr. 0 0
Night 4 (B Block) The second night of B Block took place on July 15, 2019, at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Jon Moxley 2 4 Juice Robinson 2 4 Tomohiro Ishii 2 42 Hirooki Goto 2 2 Shingo Takagi 0 2 Taichi 0 2 Toru Yano 2 23 Jay White 0 0 Jeff Cobb 0 0 Tetsuya Naito 0 0
Night 5 (A Block) The third night of A Block took place on July 18, 2019, at the Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Kazuchika Okada 4 6 Kenta 4 62 Evil 2 4 Lance Archer 4 43 Bad Luck Fale 2 2 Hiroshi Tanahashi 0 2 Kota Ibushi 0 2 Sanada 2 2 Will Ospreay 2 2 4 Zack Sabre Jr. 0 0
Night 6 (B Block) The third night of B Block took place on July 19, 2019, at the Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points 1 Jon Moxley 4 62 Juice Robinson 4 4 Shingo Takagi 2 4 Tomohiro Ishii 4 4 Toru Yano 2 43 Hirooki Goto 2 2 Jeff Cobb 0 2 Taichi 2 2 Tetsuya Naito 0 2 4 Jay White 0 0
Night 7 (A Block) The fourth night of A Block took place on July 20, 2019, at the Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Kazuchika Okada 6 8 Kenta 6 82 Evil 4 4 Hiroshi Tanahashi 2 4 Kota Ibushi 2 4 Lance Archer 4 43 Bad Luck Fale 2 2 Sanada 2 2 Will Ospreay 2 2 Zack Sabre Jr. 0 2
Night 8 (B Block) The fourth night of B Block took place on July 24, 2019, at the Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points 1 Jon Moxley 6 8 2 Juice Robinson 4 63 Shingo Takagi 4 4 Taichi 2 4 Tetsuya Naito 2 4 Tomohiro Ishii 4 4 Toru Yano 4 44 Hirooki Goto 2 2 Jeff Cobb 2 2 Jay White 0 2
Night 9 (A Block) The fifth night of A Block took place on July 27, 2019, at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points 1 Kazuchika Okada 8 10 2 Kenta 8 83 Evil 4 6 Kota Ibushi 4 6 Hiroshi Tanahashi 4 64 Lance Archer 4 4 Will Ospreay 2 45 Bad Luck Fale 2 2 Sanada 2 2 Zack Sabre Jr. 2 2
Night 10 (B Block) The fifth night of B Block took place on July 28, 2019, at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points 1 Jon Moxley 8 102 Juice Robinson 6 6 Tomohiro Ishii 4 63 Jeff Cobb 2 4 Hirooki Goto 2 4 Tetsuya Naito 4 4 Taichi 4 4 Shingo Takagi 4 4 Jay White 2 4 Toru Yano 4 4
Night 11 (A Block) The sixth night of A Block took place on July 30, 2019, at the Takamatsu City General Gymnasium Arena 1 in Kagawa.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points 1 Kazuchika Okada 10 122 Kenta 8 8 Kota Ibushi 6 8 Hiroshi Tanahashi 6 83 Evil 6 6 4 Lance Archer 4 4 Will Ospreay 4 4 Sanada 2 4 Zack Sabre Jr. 2 4 5 Bad Luck Fale 2 2
Night 12 (B Block) The sixth night of B Block took place on August 1, 2019, at the Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium in Fukuoka.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points 1 Jon Moxley 10 102 Juice Robinson 6 6 Tomohiro Ishii 6 6 Jay White 4 6 Jeff Cobb 4 6 Hirooki Goto 4 6 Tetsuya Naito 4 6 Toru Yano 4 6 3 Taichi 4 4 Shingo Takagi 4 4
Night 13 (A Block) The seventh night of A Block took place on August 3, 2019, at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points 1 Kazuchika Okada 12 12 2 Kota Ibushi 8 103 Evil 6 8 Kenta 8 8 Hiroshi Tanahashi 8 8 4 Sanada 4 6 Zack Sabre Jr. 4 6 5 Lance Archer 4 4 Will Ospreay 4 4 Bad Luck Fale 2 4
Night 14 (B Block) The seventh night of B Block took place on August 4, 2019, at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points 1 Jon Moxley 10 102 Hirooki Goto 6 8 Tetsuya Naito 6 8 Tomohiro Ishii 6 8 Jay White 6 83 Juice Robinson 6 6 Toru Yano 4 6Jeff Cobb 66 Taichi 4 6 4 Shingo Takagi 4 4
Night 15 (A Block)