Csonka’s Top 4 Omissions From The 2017 G1 Climax

– Welcome back to column time with Larry. Today’s column is all about the 2017 G1 Climax. This year’s tournament includes: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin, Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata, Juice Robinson, Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr, Kota Ibushi. As usual, I am beyond hyped for the tournament, but do think there are some interesting omissions to discuss today. NOTE: It’s not that I think that these men should replace anyone in the tournament, it’s more that I think that they are interesting and or maybe surprising omissions from this year’s tournament. I hope that you enjoy, and feel free to share your thoughts. It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful of other’s opinions and don’t be a dick.”

Yujiro Takahashi: Yujiro Takahashi has been with NJPW since 2003, and has been a guy that the company expected lot out of. He had an early junior tag run with Naito as No Limit, and was put in CHAOS to grow and was then turned heel, joining Bullet Club in 2014 and even had a run as the NEVER Openweight champion. Yujiro isn’t a horrible performer, and has clearly been put in a position to succeed (to some degree) in Bullet Club and as a favorite of NJPW management. Over the last few months, Yujiro had stared to pick up a lot of wins in tag matches, and not just his team winning, but Yujiro hitting his finish and putting people away and standing tall. Prior to tournaments, expected participants that need heated up tend to get this booking, like Ospreay did prior to the BOTSJ; he was cold or MIA for so long and then picked up a ton of wins and along with being a past winner, had instant credibility again. But at age 36, it’s starting to feel as if the ship has sailed with Yujiro and that NJPW are starting to lose faith and or patience with him. Yujiro is a solid hand, who gets over with a lot of people because he brings hot chicks to the ring and is hidden in tag matches. But with the G1 27 field announced, it is clear that NJPW didn’t want him involved. The G1 is a chance for performers to break out, to have a career few weeks and show their worth; YOSHI-HASHI (35) & SANADA (29) had had some big boy performances last year and did that. HASHI & Yujiro are better guys to compare against each other due to their age, but they not only have enough confidence in HASHI to help teach the next generation on the Lion’s Gate shows, but he gets the occasional big time singles match (like the recent one against Suzuki). Yujiro’s omission from the G1 says a lot about what NJPW thinks about him at this time; he’s just a guy, an undercard guy that is very expendable. I’m not upset by him inclusion at all, but just a bit surprised because I thought NJPW would give him another chance to impress.

Hangman Page: Hangman Page is only 25 years old and hadn’t had the best booking during his ROH tenure. Most of the time he’s been a complete bitch, and when actually given a solid direction and or a big win, ROH has continually dropped the ball with him. but then NJPW took a liking to him, and he was put into Bullet Club. His booking through NJPW has been better, he’s picked up solid wins, got a tag title shot and he has been improving; Page has been a strong performer for years, but lacks that special “it factor” that separates the mid card guys from “The Guys.” NJPW sees something in him, starting to feud him with Jay Lethal in Japan, having that carry into ROH and then booking the feud for the G1 specials in the IWGP US Title tournament. With the reports of how much NJPW loves the guy, I figured that he would be given the chance to impress in the G1. But for what ever reason, and it is slightly surprising, Page has been left out of the G1. I fully expected him to get a shot to show what he can do, but much like Yujiro, he was left out in the cold. Juice Robinson & Zack Sabre Jr got in and will get a chance to show off and prove themselves to the NJPW fans and office. The thing is that while NJPW is really high on Page, Robinson has proven himself with constant improvement and getting himself over with these performances. He earned his G1 spot. Sabre is an amazing technician, an absolutely great performer and a guy who with his different style will bring fresh match ups and style to the tournament. So while Page’s omission surprises me, I can’t think of anyone I’d remove to put him in their place.

Davey Boy Smith Jr.: The return of Suzuki-gun to NJPW was a double edged sword, on one hand it offered a chance to freshen up the NJPW roster, but with Suzuki-gun comes a ton of overplayed heel antics that tend to hurt more than help things. But on top of Minoru Suzuki, the fucks he refuses to give & his awesome theme song, the thing I was actually most looking forward to was the return of the Killer Elite Squad. That was quickly dashed, due to Archer suffering a herniated disc in the lower back, which required surgery. The good news is that he had successful surgery but the bad was that it left him out of action and Davey Boy Smith Jr in limbo. With KES shelved, I figured that Davey Boy Smith Jr would get a G1 spot, partly to fill a spot left by Honma ir Suzuki, and partly to give him something to do as he awaits the return of Archer. Davey Boy Smith Jr had some really good outings in the 2014 G1, and with a few more years of experience under his belt, I was excited to see what the now 31-year-old Smith would bring to the table this time around. But Zack Sabre Jr will represent Suzuki-gun along with Minoru Suzuki. If I had a choice, I would oust Togi Makabe and give Smith the spot. It takes a lot to get Makabe motivated these days, he occasionally finds some fire but I don’t need to see a series of matches with him in 2017 when a motivated Smith with a lot to prove could take his spot.

Cody: I think that when you take into consideration how he’s been booked (“special attraction matches”), protected (undefeated) and positioned (Bullet Club), Cody is easily the biggest name excluded from the 2017 G1 Climax tournament. Earlier in 2017, there were rumors that Cody was a lock for the tournament and tat he would be booked strongly in it to continue his rise. But then the reports started to change when Cody was added to the ROH title picture and started to book indie dates during the G1. Well at Best in The World, Cody wasn’t just in the ROH Title picture, he became the title picture when he defeated Christopher Daniels to win the title. Now as the ROH Champion, it all makes sense why he wasn’t announced. ROH won’t want their world champion losing 3-4 times in the tournament, no matter how good the matches are. On top of that, NJPW has been very protective of him. He faces Okada at the G1 special, and it appears that he is losing that match because the IWGP Champion is always in the G1. If Cody is losing to Okada, I can see NJPW not wanting to have him in the G1, losing 3-4 times after all that they have invested in him booking wise. If he loses to Okada, it’s not a big deal because it’s Okada who is having an all time great year and Cody can easily recover from that. But if I am being completely honest with you guys, I wanted to see Cody in the G1. Not because I think he’s great, and not because his work so far makes me think that he would kill it, but because I was curious and I want to know. I wanted to know if he would or could step up in what is widely regarded as wrestling’s greatest tournament. I wanted to see if Cody could step up his game against the best, working a wide variety of opponents in different styles of matches and I wanted to see if what others seemingly see is there. I wanted to see if Cody could be great… instead of just being Cody. Unfortunately I won’t get that chance this year.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”