Another edition of New Japan’s G1 Climax tournament is in the books, and many were left satisfied by this year’s tournament, particularly the finals between Ryohei Oiwa and Yuya Uemura. Just days removed from the match, many are labeling it as an instant classic, and a match on par with some of the best matches this year. Reviewing the match on “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Dave Meltzer gave plenty of credit to both Oiwa and Uemura, but also felt that the finals worked so well because of how the tournament was put together by New Japan booked Gedo.
“They really booked this tournament well,” Meltzer said. “And the key was…this is where Gedo had been so slow on the draw, painfully slow. But I think that he finally figured out that to turn this thing around, you got to get these guys over, you know, some new people over. And the people were dying for it. They wanted somebody who had never won the G1 in the finals, and had never been IWGP champion in the finals. And these were the two guys. Uemera and Oiwa were the two guys, and they were just ready.”
In the end, Oiwa prevailed over Uemura, earning himself a match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, currently held by Yota Tsuji. Following the likes of Konosuke Takeshita and stablemate Zack Sabre Jr. over the last few years, Oiwa has elected to have his title match earlier than Wrestle Kingdom, instead challenging Tsuji at King of Pro Wrestling in October. The two had met in Block A of the G1, with Tsuji prevailing over Oiwa in a little more than nineteen and a half minutes.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Opinion: NJPW’s Booking Of The G1 Climax Will Mean Nothing If They Can’t Follow Up
There’s a few things I know to be true as the dust from the G1 Climax has settled. The first is that Dave Meltzer is spot on; a big reason this whole thing worked is because New Japan actually pushed new performers like Oiwa and Uemura into this spot and let them have a killer match, as opposed to falling back on established stars like Hirooki Goto, Sabre, Shingo Takagi, or others. The second is that Oiwa and Tsuji, like they did in the G1, will probably have a killer match in October, and the mere thought of that is enough to cause great optimism for NJPW even beyond what Oiwa and Uemura just produced. But then there’s the third thing I know, and it’s the fact that come Wrestle Kingdom I could be sitting here, shaking my head, and not being surprised that Gedo got this all wrong. And that’s because it’s unfortunately been what he’s been best at over the last few years, including earlier this year.
And that’s the problem; we’ve been here before. At the start of 2026, New Japan delivered a great Wrestle Kingdom featuring Tsuji finally winning the IWGP World Title from Takeshita, Aaron Wolf having an impressive debut, and Hiroshi Tanahashi having one of the greatest retirement matches of all time. Everyone was optimistic. And by the time the G1 started, that optimism was gone; Wolf’s momentum was killed by a neverending House of Torture feud, Tsuji’s booking was wildly inconsistent, and the overall vibe of the promotion was mediocre, even if some were excited by Callum Newman’s ascension. It took just a month for New Japan to sap all that goodwill away, and forgive me, but I can easily see it happening again. Maybe it won’t; maybe NJPW has finally figured it out. But until I see it consistently, I remain skeptical that the promotion has finally found its footing. And as such, all this goodwill right now doesn’t mean anything, at least until NJPW gives fans reason to believe they can return to their previous high level.
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