2026 G1 really feels like the genesis of a new golden age
This has been the best G1 in years, and it's incredible that all 20 warriors brought something unique to the field, got more over or stayed over, and enhanced different stories in the process:
- Takeshita and Tsuji maintained their top guy statuses, and in turn they consistently delivered in-ring. 110 percent given every night, as it should be.
- the last 3 major stars (Goto, ZSJ and Shingo) all did their parts selflessly to enhance the next generation, being veterans and former World Champions. New Japan can and will utilize them as gatekeepers to get the new guys ready, and the tournament showed this method will work brilliantly.
- Yuya Uemura is the most natural babyface in wrestling, the Ricky Steamboat and Bret Hart of this age. At most, at some point in his career he can deliver a Crossbody to the floor and wrestle a sound style before and after that, and the people would still love him.
- Boltin Oleg's transformation into a beast is complete. A humble foreigner who rips heads off if pushed hard enough, Oleg leveled up from a good low upper midcard hoss to a future top star. Similar praise can be sent Aaron Wolf's way, who has an even higher ceiling arguably. Yes, his lack of confidence is still present, but the same was said for Oiwa 9 months ago and look at him now. Wolf will be a big problem a year from now.
- Callum Newman and Gabe Kidd exhibited quality mixing of great heel character work whilst simultaneously having great matches. The sky is the limit.
- Dan Moloney became the bad boy of the people, and he is slowly but surely getting progressively and organically more popular. Drilla Killa is still the death blow it should be, and Dan is now at a point where he is one big feud away from reaching the upper echelon.
- Ryohei Oiwa proved that less is more, and with his promos finally starting to come together, he is on his way to becoming virtually untouchable. Outstanding choice for the winner.
- even the two "misfits" who didn't have the greatest of matches (Great O'Khan and Jake Lee) had good showings, because their character work was so strong and they set important things up for the future. Every G1, a person or two is delegated into this "enhance a future story, don't have good matches" slot, and this year those spots were in the UE corner.
- HENARE, as reliable as ever. Looks like a wrestler, brings it in the ring and then some with unmatched intensity. G1 was made for guys like him, and vice versa.
- SANADA had a mini rebirth, and showed he can still rock it. Much like Take, the babyface spirit cannot be hidden - this man was born to be a shy but likeable good guy.
- KOB had their first showings as singles competitors, and didn't disappoint at all, with the fire and ice (pun intended) of their team firmly set in stone. Ice is the unlikely and unconventional man of the people, OSKAR is the loud yet athletic giant, with both Brothers suffering from overconfidence, ultimately leading to defeat.
Sadly, the only two people who didn't do anything impressive were, ironically enough, the two original promised sons, Shota Umino and Ren Narita. Shota's circumstances was out of his control, and he definitely would have been one of the MVP's of the tour considering how over he was getting, but sadly an injury prevented that. Ren unfortunately was overshadowed at every turn and didn't deliver standout performances in the ring or as a character. Hopefully, his luck turns with the upcoming HOT turmoil.
Buzz about Yuya and Oiwa is still going strong, HOT and UE are falling apart, KOB are bringing tag team wrestling back... again, midcard titles are regaining prestige - the hype is real. Overall, I think a year from now, we'll look at this tournament even more fondly as the time New Japan's new generation concisely took over and brought the promotion to the heights and love it once had.
