5 Early Favourites to win the 2019 G1 Climax
Widely considered to be the most grueling tournament in professional wrestling, New Japan's G1 Climax is barely a month away. The 28th edition of the prestigious twenty man round-robin tournament will take place from July 6 to August 12. The Opening night of the G1 Climax will be held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, which is going to the Japanese promotion's second-biggest show of 2019 in American soil following the G1 Supercard in April.
The final night of tournament will emanate from the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan with the winner getting a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 14. This year's G1 will be interesting given the fact that some of the promotion's top stars like Kenny Omega, Cody, The Young Bucks, and Hangman Page have left the promotion to form All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Names like Tomohiro Ishii, EVIL, Sanada and Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger have already been announced for the opening night in Dallas. Former ROH World Television Champion Jeff Cobb will be making his G1 Climax debut this year. Here are our early favorites to win the 2018 G1 Climax:
#5 Juice Robinson
The former CJ Parker in WWE has been a revelation in New Japan. After leaving WWE in 2015 following a failed run in NXT which saw him being used as an enhancement talent, Juice Robinson made the jump to New Japan. Robinson would first work as a Young Lion during his initial run in the Japanese promotion before making his way to being one of the most popular gaijin (foreign) Superstar in the company.
Robinson won the IWGP United States Champion for the first time by defeating Jay White at G1 Special in San Franciso thereby becoming the first American to hold the said title before losing it to Cody a few months later at Fighting Spirit Unleashed. He would then re-capture the US title from Cody at Wrestle Kingdom 13. Juice recently lost the title to a debuting Jon Moxley at Best of Super Juniors Finals on June 5.
Following the exit of Kenny Omega and the rest of The Elite, Robinson is being built up as the next big gaijin Superstar. Juice has got the crowd with him and improved by leaps and bounds since his time in NXT. A win at G1 Climax will be the perfect way for Robinson to get slotted in the main event, where he is for sure going to thrive, given the hard work he has put in since arriving in the promotion.