The G1 Climax 29 was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

tournament promoted by the Japan-based

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

(NJPW). The tournament commenced on July 6 and concluded on August 12, 2019. It is the twenty-ninth edition of

G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually – and currently – held as a round-rob ...

, and forty-fifth edition of the tournament counting its previous forms under different names. A Block winner

Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenure with New Japan-Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) and WWE. His career began with the Dramatic Dre ...

defeated B Block winner

Jay White Jamie White (born 9 October 1992), better known by the ring name Jay White, is a New Zealand professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Bullet Club sub-group Bang Bang Gang. White is a former ...

in the final to win the tournament. Considered NJPW's most important tournament, the G1 Climax features twenty wrestlers, divided in two blocks of ten ("A" and "B"). Each participant faces all nine other wrestlers within the same block in singles matches. The winner of each block is determined via a point system, with two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no point for a defeat; each night of the event sees the ten members of one block compete for the tournament, while the members of the non-competing block perform in tag team matches that have no influence of the tournament results. On the final day of the event, the winners of both blocks face each other to determine the winner of the G1 Climax, who will gain a future match for the

IWGP Heavyweight Championship The was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IW ...

Wrestle Kingdom Wrestle Kingdom is a professional wrestling event produced annually by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), a Japan-based professional wrestling promotion. Since 1992, NJPW has held the January 4 Tokyo Dome Show. The January 4 Tokyo Dome Show becam ...

, NJPW's biggest yearly event. The event saw the G1 Climax debut of

Jeff Cobb is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. As of May 2025, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name JC Mateo and is a member of The Bloodline. He is best known for his tenure in N ...

Jon Moxley Jonathan David Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley and is the current AEW World Championship, AEW World Champion in his ...

Taichi Taichi is a Japanese given name and surname. Given name Taichi (written: , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. People with the given name Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese footballe ...

Kenta Kenta (廉侍) is a masculine Japanese given name. (written: , , , or in katakana). Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese film director *, Japanese kickboxer *, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japane ...

Shingo Takagi (born 21 November 1982), known by the ring name Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, ''Takagi Shingo''), is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a former member of the ''Los Ingob ...

, and

Will Ospreay William Peter Charles Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler. , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former two-time AEW International Champion. He is also known for his eight year tenure with New Japa ...

as well as

Lance Archer Lance Hoyt (born February 28, 1977), better known by his ring name Lance Archer, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where is a member of The Don Callis Family and one-half of The Murder Machines w ...

's first participation since

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

; this was Kenta's in-ring debut in NJPW. As usual, the tournament took place over several cities and locations; the 2019 edition marked the first time that the G1 Climax tournament took place outside of Japan, as the event opened with

G1 Climax in Dallas The G1 Climax 29 was a professional wrestling tournament promoted by the Japan-based New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The tournament commenced on July 6 and concluded on August 12, 2019. It is the twenty-ninth edition of G1 Climax, and forty-fifth ...

at the

American Airlines Center The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose List of indoor arenas, indoor arena located in the Victory Park, Dallas, Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Stars of the National ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, before moving back to Japan. The event was broadcast live on

AXS TV AXS TV () is an American cable television channel majority-owned by Canadian broadcaster Anthem Sports & Entertainment. It is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musi ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

and in Japan, and

New Japan Pro-Wrestling World , also referred to as NJPW World and New Japan World, is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). On December 1, 2014, NJPW and its minority owner TV Asahi a ...

worldwide.

Production

Tournament rules

NJPW announced that the 2019 edition and its dates of the G1 Climax on January 4, 2019, at

Wrestle Kingdom 13 Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4, 2019 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It was the twenty-eighth January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the ...

; it was announced that the first night of the tournament will be held at the

in Dallas, marking the first time the tournament would be held outside of Japan. As per usual G1 Climax tradition, the tournament features twenty wrestlers, divided in two blocks of ten ("A" and "B"). Each participant faces all nine other wrestler within the same block in singles match, with the winner of each block being determined via a point system, gaining two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no point for a loss; each night of the event sees the ten members of a same block compete for the tournament, while the members of the non-competing block perform in tag team matches that have no influence of the tournament results, typically facing their future tournament opponents. In case of several wrestler sharing the top score, the results of the matches those wrestlers had when facing each other's in the tournament act as tiebreaker, with the one having the most wins over the other top-scorers determining the winner of the block. On the final day of the event, the respective winners of both blocks face each other to determine the winner of the G1 Climax, who would gain a future match for the

, NJPW's top championship, at

, NJPW's biggest yearly event; if the IWGP Heavyweight Champion himself wins, he gets to pick his opponent at Wrestle Kingdom. The low-card matches have a twenty-minutes time limit, while the matches of the tournament have a 30-minutes time limit (with the time limit being reached resulting in a tie); the final match between the two block winners has no time limit.

Storylines

The event includes matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. First-time participant

and returning participant

Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is currently a double champion: being the Strong Openweight Champion in his first reign, and one-half of the current IWGP Tag Team Champions with Ta ...

announced their participation to the tournament on May 31, 2019. On June 9, 2019, at

Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on June 9, 2018, at the Osaka-jō Hall, in Osaka. It is the tenth event under the NJPW Dominion, Dominion name and th ...

, several wrestlers announced their decision to participate in the G1 Climax for the first time, including IWGP United States Champion

Best of the Super Juniors The Best of the Super Juniors (stylized as the BEST OF THE SUPER Jr. and often abbreviated BOSJ) is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), typically in May or June. Originally known as Top of the Supe ...

winner

, immediately after defeating Dragon Lee to win the

IWGP Junior heavyweight Champion The is a professional wrestling world junior heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may hold ...

, also announced his intention to participate, marking a rare participation to the tournament by a member of the Junior Heavyweight division. Junior Heavyweight

, who defeated heavyweight

Satoshi Kojima is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to both New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a former two-time MLW World Heavyweight Championship, MLW World Heavyweight Champion and former one half of the MLW W ...

at Dominion, announced his move to the Heavyweight division after the match, as well as his participation to the G1 Climax.

, who had been released by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

the previous February, made his surprise NJPW debut at the event, also announcing his participation in the G1 Climax. Four time-participant

, who had last participated to the tournament in

, announced his participation on June 10, 2019, via the company's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. The twenty participants were officially announced on June 16, 2019. The list included six first-time participants, namely Cobb, Moxley, Ospreay, Takagi, Kenta, and

, with fourteen participants returning from the previous year, and Archer returning after a five-year hiatus; participants from the previous year who did not return were

Michael Elgin Aaron Michael Frobel (born December 13, 1986) is a Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Michael Elgin. He is known for his work with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a List of IWGP Intercontinent ...

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name , is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the current AEW International Champion in his first reign. He also works as an ...

and

Hangman Page Stephen Blake Woltz (born July 27, 1991), better known by his ring name "Hangman" Adam Page, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is a former AEW World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champion ...

, who had left NJPW, and

Minoru Suzuki (born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, known for his tenure in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Intercontinental Ch ...

Tama Tonga Alipate Aloisio Fifita Leone (born October 15, 1982), better known by his ring name Tama Tonga (), is a Tongan-American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand where he is a former WWE Tag Team Ch ...

Togi Makabe , better known by his ring name is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, trained by and performing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Heavyweight Championship, IWGP Heavyweight Champion, L ...

, and

Yoshi-Hashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he performs under the ring name Yoshi-Hashi (stylized in all caps as YOSHI-HASHI), and is a former four-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, with Hirooki Goto; as well ...

Venues

Results

Night 1 (A Block)

The first night of A Block took place on July 6, 2019, at the

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

; it was promoted as G1 Climax in Dallas. It marked the first time that a night of the G1 Climax took place outside of Japan. This event was broadcast live on

in the

and

. The show would receive coverage from more mainstream publications such as

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

and

Deadspin ''Deadspin'' is a sports blog owned by Lineup Publishing. Founded by Will Leitch in 2005 and originally based in Chicago, it was then sold to Gawker Media, Univision Communications and G/O Media. Lineup Publishing acquired it in March 2024, t ...

Tournament scores

Night 2 (B Block)

The first night of B Block took place on July 13, 2019, at the

Ota City General Gymnasium Ota City General Gymnasium is an arena in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and exte ...

Ōta, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself in English as Ōta City. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Ōmori, Ōta, Tokyo, Ōmori and Kamata, Ōta, Tokyo, Kamata following Tokyo C ...

Tournament scores

Night 3 (A Block)

The second night of A Block took place on July 14, 2019, at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.

Tournament scores

Night 4 (B Block)

The second night of B Block took place on July 15, 2019, at the

Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center is an indoor sporting arena located in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Japan. Sometimes called Kitayell, the capacity of the main arena is 8,000. It hosted some of the group games for the 2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship w ...

Toyohira-ku, Sapporo is one of the 10 wards in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. The ward was established in 1972, when the Sapporo Olympics was held in Sapporo. Four other wards in Sapporo are bounded on Toyohira-ku. As of April 1, 2012, the ward has an estimated populati ...

Tournament scores

Night 5 (A Block)

The third night of A Block took place on July 18, 2019, at the

Korakuen Hall is a sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with a capacity of approximat ...

in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Tournament scores

Night 6 (B Block)

The third night of B Block took place on July 19, 2019, at the

in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Tournament scores

Night 7 (A Block)

The fourth night of A Block took place on July 20, 2019, at the

in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Tournament scores

Night 8 (B Block)

The fourth night of B Block took place on July 24, 2019, at the

Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hiroshima Sun Plaza (広島サンプラザ) is an arena in Hiroshima, Japan. With a capacity of 6,052, it is primarily used for indoor sports and concerts. In addition, the annual Seijin shiki (the Japanese coming-of-age ceremony) is held there ...

Nishi-ku, Hiroshima is one of eight Wards of Japan, wards in the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The Hiroshima–Nishi Airport was located in Nishi-ku. Geography The ward of Nishi-ku is in the southwest part of Hiroshima. There are many mountains, but the other wards ar ...

Tournament scores

Night 9 (A Block)

The fifth night of A Block took place on July 27, 2019, at the

Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium , also known as , is a multi-purpose gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan, built in 1964. Overview Located on the site of the secondary enclosure of Nagoya Castle, it is host to numerous concerts and events. The gymnasium has 4,375 fixed seats and can a ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

Tournament scores

Night 10 (B Block)

The fifth night of B Block took place on July 28, 2019, at the

Tournament scores

Night 11 (A Block)

The sixth night of A Block took place on July 30, 2019, at the Takamatsu City General Gymnasium Arena 1 in Kagawa.

Tournament scores

Night 12 (B Block)

The sixth night of B Block took place on August 1, 2019, at the Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium in Fukuoka.

Tournament scores

Night 13 (A Block)

The seventh night of A Block took place on August 3, 2019, at the

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium is an indoor sporting arena located in Namba, Osaka, Japan. It first opened in 1952 and the current building was constructed in 1987. It is the venue of a professional sumo tournament ( honbasho) held in March every year. The capacity of the ...

in Namba, Osaka.

Tournament scores

Night 14 (B Block)

The seventh night of B Block took place on August 4, 2019, at the

in Namba, Osaka.

Tournament scores

Night 15 (A Block)

The eighth night of A Block took place on August 7, 2019, at the

Hamamatsu Arena is a multipurpose indoor sporting arena located in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan. It is a 15-minute walk from Tenryūgawa Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line railway, or a 10-minute drive from the Hamamatsu Interchange on the Tōmei Expressway. ...

in Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu.

Tournament scores

Night 16 (B Block)

The eighth night of B Block took place on August 8, 2019, at the

Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium , abbreviated to , was an indoor sports arena located in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 5,000 people and was opened in 1962. It is a five-minute walk from the closest subway station, Kannai Station, on the JR/ Yokoha ...

in Naka-ku, Yokohama.

Tournament scores

Night 17 (A Block)

The ninth night of A Block took place on August 10, 2019, at the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wres ...

in Chiyoda, Tokyo and saw the finals of the A Block.

defeated

Kazuchika Okada (born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler. , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is a member of the Don Callis Family stable and is the current AEW Continental Champion in his first reign. Known as the , he is b ...

to be declared the winner of the A Block.

Tournament scores

Night 18 (B Block)

The ninth night of B Block took place on August 11, 2019, at the

in Chiyoda, Tokyo and saw the finals of the B Block.

defeated

Tetsuya Naito is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his 20-year run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he served as the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japon'' stable, and was a multi-time world champion. ...

to be declared the winner of the B Block.

Tournament scores

Night 19 (Final)

The final night took place on August 12, 2019, at the

in Chiyoda, Tokyo. A Block winner

defeated B Block winner

to be declared the winner of the tournament.

Final standings

Tournament overview

Reception

Between nights 7 and 8, ''

'' noted how the 2019 G1 Climax offered an excellent platform for

to shine following his departure from WWE; they notably singled out his match against

, calling it "almost certainly Moxley’s best singles match ever, under any name, but it felt significant in another sense. It was good, brutal fun to watch, but it also pointed a way forward for Moxley not just as an attraction, but rather as a brilliant and brilliantly violent wrestler." Many of the tournament's matches were acclaimed, with eight of them attaining a rating of five or more stars by wrestling journalist

Dave Meltzer David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist, author, and historian who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter' ...

References

External links

G1 Climax at NJPW.co.jp
{{New Japan Pro Wrestling events New Japan Pro-Wrestling tournaments New Japan Pro-Wrestling shows 2019 in professional wrestling July 2019 in the United States July 2019 in Japan August 2019 in Japan 2019 in Texas 2019 in Tokyo Professional wrestling shows in Sapporo Professional wrestling shows in Dallas Professional wrestling shows in Tokyo Professional wrestling shows in Osaka 2010s in Dallas