wrestling / Columns

Csonka: 7 Guys I Want to See Get a NJPW G1 Run

July 29, 2017 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome back to column time with Larry. Today’s column is all about the G1 Climax tournament, but not this year’s tournament. I love the G1, every year it brings some of the best wrestling in a short amount of time, and during the tournament, some thrive and even make a career run out of it. So today’s column is all about the guys I’d love to see get a G1 run someday down the line. With Tenzan having his final G1 last year, Kojima & Nagata having their final G1s this year, Shibata presumably done as a wrestler, Makabe getting slower and slower at 44 and the uncertainty with Honma returning (he may be nothing more than part time if in fact he does return), NJPW will have to consider new blood for the G1 soon. For this list I am focusing on primarily US based wrestlers. If I had the time I could have listed around 20 guys. 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.”

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7. TRENT: TRENT has been having an under the radar/under appreciated 2017 so far. He has repeatedly been the best parts of the matches he’s been in so far this year, and at times, made the Suzuki-gun bullshit tolerable due to the fact that he was so good. He had an extremely consistent 2016 BOTSJ run, proving that while looked at as a great tag worker, that he’s just a great wrestler period. For me, TRENT went from the definition of “just a dude” that I really didn’t care about when he left WWE to, “hey, TRENT’s on this show…I should watch” in short order. The guy didn’t give up, he still loved the business, he greatly improved himself and he found his success. He’s been killing it everywhere; PWG, EVOLVE, ROH, and NJPW. With Roppongi Vice being finished in NJPW and now former partner Rocky Romero giving TRENT his blessing to move on as a heavyweight, I would love to see what TRENT could do in the G1 setting, having matches with a ton of fresh opponents. He’s a guy who always steps up and that makes me feel that he could easily have a break out G1 run.

6. Pentagon: My next pick may be a difficult one to make happen, but I still want it anyway. NJPW has a working relationship with CMLL, they do the yearly FantasticaMania tour (which I love) and many NJPW stars head to CMLL on excursion once they are ready for that part of their career. Pentagon formerly worked for AAA, and is a free agent. But the question would be if it would upset CMLL, bringing in a new, non-CMLL luchador. That could cause waves in the relationship, and something NJPW likely wouldn’t want to risk. Of course that could be remedied by either CMLL or NJPW signing him in the future. The thing I love about Pentagon is that he can work so many different styles, and that will serve him well in a G1. He can do some grappling, he can do some lucha/flying and he can get violent and brawl with the best of them; to me that means he can pretty much work with anyone on the roster. Like a lot of others I will discuss today, he not only can work at a high level, but he brings a ton of fresh matches with him. I feel that is a key to look at when bringing in some new blood to something like the G1.

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5. Ray Rowe: Ray Rowe may not jump out as an immediate selection for a singles tournament for a lot of people, due to most of his success being with War Machine along with the big beard Hanson. But when War Machine aren’t kicking the shit out of other tag teams, Rowe has quietly put together a really solid singles résumé, working a wide variety of opponents and having high quality and hard-hitting matches. Rowe is a great tag team wrestler, and I love the War Machine tag team, especially since they’ve really got to thrive in NJPW. By no means am I calling for a War Machine split, I just think very highly of Rowe and feel he has a ton of untapped potential, potential which I feel could be realized with a G1 run. Ray Rowe, like the others on this list, is a guy who I think would absolutely thrive in the environment.

4. Donovan Dijak: One of the biggest crimes of the ROH/NJPW relationship was the fact that Donovan Dijak was essentially iced out of it; no big matches with NJPW talent, no tour of Japan, no nothing for Dijak. To me this was a huge mistake, I am not sure if it was Gedo not being interested in him (not sure why he wouldn’t be interested) or if it was Lizard Man Delirious dropping the ball, which he often does. But I was really shocked that he never got a chance to really work with the NJPW guys, hell he didn’t even get a run in the world tag league. Dijak is a really great talent, he has great size, can do moves that a man his size typically wouldn’t do, but he does them with ease. Now with that being said, I do feel that there is a lot of room for improvement with Dijak in order to make him a complete performer, and I feel that a G1 run could be an important key to that. So many times guys that are good hit the G1, and due to the pressure to deliver, and having to work so many different performers in such a short time, they have a break out run and drastically improve as a performer. I think that this would be the case with Dijak. Of course now that he’s signed with WWE, this would be a down the line thing.

3. Matt Riddle: There are a handful of guys in wrestling that when they are announced for a show make it an instant watch for me, and Matt Riddle has become one of those guys. For Riddle I am drawn to watch him for several reasons; his rapid improvement, his consistently great matches, the fact that he brings something fresh to the table as far as matches, layouts and the overall vibe to his matches. He has made the transition from MMA almost effortlessly, and Gabe Sapolsky’s EVOLVE deserves a lot of the credit for how they brought him along slowly, against quality workers in short matches, gradually upping the degree of difficultly in opponent, match layout and time in the ring. Riddle thrives in hard-hitting, action packed, 10-15 minute sprints; a lot of G1 matches fall into that window. Riddle can also work longer, and is a guy that adapts well to his opponents, which is another important aspect of the G1. You have to roll with the different opponents, the differing styles and the fact that you may have to work a completely different match than you expected. Riddle has all the makings of a guy that would thrive in the G1, especially after seeing his interactions with Shibata & Ishii in RevPro.

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2. Keith Lee: Keith Lee has had a great 2017 so far, really breaking out to a bigger audience. He was a guy that had impressed in tag team action and on smaller indies previously, but his jump to WWN and EVOLVE have allowed him to perform and deliver in several big time matches, including having one of the best matches of the WrestleMania weekend. Lee is a fountain of charisma, can do power moves and also flying that a man his size really shouldn’t be able to do. He’s only getting better and gaining more confidence as he continues to grow as a performer. The Japanese love big Americans, they love big Americans that can do power spots, and they also love big Americans that can do freakishly athletic things. They also love big African Americans, look at the massive success of a guy like Bob Sapp (on a mainstream star level) and Moose, to a much smaller degree. Moose, in limited appearances, got over well with both NJPW & NOAH crowds due to his size, athleticism and charisma. In my opinion, Lee is more impressive as a performer, has more charisma and does some insanely impressive things for a man his size. He’s finally getting attention after leaving ROH, signing with WWN and impressing around the indies on his solo run.

1. Cesaro: Now obviously this would be after his WWE run is complete, but more than anything I desperately want to see Cesaro get a G1 run. Cesaro is a physical freak and a hell of an in ring performer, and when called upon to just go out and have great matches, he doesn’t disappoint. Putting Cesaro in the G1, where his only goal is to go out there and have 7, 8 or 9 GREAT matches is perfect for him. By no means is this an “I wants Cesaro to quit WWE or get released” sort of thing, this is just me saying if he eventually moves on from WWE and continues to wrestle, I would love to see him in NJPW, especially for a G1 run, because it’s an environment he would absolutely thrive in.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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