Ryohei Oiwa won this year's G1 Climax following an excellent final against Yuya Uemura from Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo earlier today.
The win was the culmination of a round robin tournament which spanned the past five weeks.
As I've written in previous posts, my initial pick to win - Shota Umino - was withdrawn following an injury suffered on the first night of the tournament. My next guess was Uemura, who finished second in B Block and defeated current IWGP Heavyweight Champion - Yota Tsuji - in one of yesterday's semi finals.
Oiwa was in a three-way tie in the round robin portion of the tournament. However, he finished second due to tiebreaker and progressed to today's final by beating A Block victor, Callum Newman, in the other semi.
Oiwa to continue trend set by recent G1 Climax winners
Per the rules of the G1 Climax, Oiwa should have secured a shot for NJPW's major title in the main event of January 4th's Wrestle Kingdom event. However, he has executed his right to challenge for the strap sooner.
He's now set to face Tsuji at NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling 2026 on October 12th. It'll take place in the same building as today's show.
This will be the third consecutive time a G1 Climax winner has brought their title shot forward.
How previous G1 winners fared in NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling title shots
In 2024, Zack Sabre Jr opted to challenge Tetsuya Naito for the strap at King of Pro-Wrestling so he could cone into NJPW Royal Quest IV - from Crystal Palace, London - as a local champion.
Last year's tournament winner - Konosuke Takeshita - beat Sabre for the title at King of Pro-Wrestling 2025.
That's a perfect 2-0 for early cash-ins for those counting. Will Oiwa make it a hat-trick? We'll find out in fifty-seven days.
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