Whenever NJPW's G1 Climax rolls around, wrestling fans everywhere rejoice. The round-robin tournament is often considered to be the best series of matches found annually. Usually, 2o (sometimes more, sometimes less) wrestlers compete in two separate blocks against each other in several bouts. The competitors with the best record in each block make it to the finals against each other.
Their final match leads to a winner and that person ultimately goes on to headline NJPW's biggest show of the year, Wrestle Kingdom. During the 2010s, seven different stars came out on top. Taking their performances, point totals, and how well they did after winning all into account, it was decided who was the best winner of the decade.
10 Tetsuya Naito - 2013
The G1 Climax 23 was a pretty great tournament. It saw classic matches like Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi. However, not many of those great encounters involved Tetsuya Naito, even though he was the winner of the whole thing.
Naito went just 5-4 to win his block. That included losses to Toru Yano, Yujiro Takahashi, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan, who all finished at the bottom of the block. In the finals, he won a lackluster match over Hiroshi Tanahashi. To top it off, Naito was booed by the crowd for months because they didn't believe in him as the next star. He wasn't even given the main event slot at Wrestle Kingdom.
9 Kazuchika Okada - 2012
This one kind of came from out of nowhere. Before 2012, Kazuchika Okada spent most of his time in TNA being booked on shows like Xplosion. He returned to NJPW and was laughed at when he challenged Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. He shocked the world by actually winning it.
Although Okada lost it back to Tanahashi, he came out on top during the G1 Climax 22. Okada went 5-3 and only lost to names like Nakamura and Hirooki Goto. He bested Karl Anderson in the finals and was the first winner to earn a title shot at Wrestle Kingdom.
8 Shinsuke Nakamura - 2011
Considering everything that Shinsuke Nakamura accomplished during his storied career, it's surprising to hear that he only won a lone G1 Climax. That came in 2011 and it started with a heck of a run that saw him go 7-2 within the B Block.
When the finals came around, Nakamura was faced with Tetsuya Naito, who went 6-3 to win the A Block. It was a series of strong outings for Nakamura en route to winning the whole thing. There was no reign as top champion that came from this though.
7 Satoshi Kojima - 2010
Since it was the first of the decade and came before a lot of American fans found NJPW, not many remember this. Satoshi Kojima, an all-time great in the company, won his lone G1 Climax in 2010. His 5-2 record was tops in the entire tournament.
In the finals, Kojima bested Tanahashi in a 21 minute affair. It was interesting to note that Kojima was a freelancer at the time. That helped him make a bit of history as the third man to win the G1 and AJPW's Champion Carnival. Kojima went on to dethrone Togi Makabe for the IWGP Heavyweight Title shortly after winning.
6 Kota Ibushi - 2019
The most recent entry onto this list, Kota Ibushi made history with his G1 Climax victory. It earned him the distinction of being the first man to win the G1, Best of the Super Juniors, and New Japan Cup tournaments in his career.
Ibushi started with two losses to KENTA and EVIL. He rebounded to win every match after, going 7-2. In the finals, he overcame Jay White and Bullet Club interference for the victory. Come Wrestle Kingdom, he lost to Okada in an IWGP Heavyweight Title match before also losing on night two in a rematch with White.
5 Kenny Omega - 2016
When this happened, it was certainly unexpected. Kenny Omega started the year as a junior heavyweight but moved up after turning on AJ Styles and taking over the Bullet Club. Although he had an IWGP Intercontinental Title reign under his belt, he wasn't a favorite to win the tourney.
However, Omega went 6-3 and defeated Tetsuya Naito in a classic to take the B Block. He beat Hirooki Goto in a finals that many fans loved. Though he didn't win the IWGP Heavyweight Title, his performance at Wrestle Kingdom 11 helped turn him into a huge star. He eventually won the big one in 2018.
4 Hiroshi Tanahashi - 2015
For a lot of fans, this was their introduction to the G1 Climax. It was in 2015 that NJPW World became available, allowing audiences everywhere to check out the company. They were treated to some great matches and a reminder of why Hiroshi Tanahashi is the "Ace."
He finished block play with a 7-2 record for 14 points, tying him with Okada and Nakamura, who were in other Block. After beating AJ Styles to take the A Block, Tanahashi pinned his rival Nakamura in an all-time classic final. Alas, he also failed to win the title shot he earned from this.
3 Hiroshi Tanahashi - 2018
This wasn't supposed to happen. By 2018, Tanahashi was supposed to be past his prime and done with the top title picture. Nobody seemed to tell Tanahashi, though. He proceeded to go an incredible 7-1-1 for a total of 15 points during block play.
That was impressive on its own. In the finals, Tanahashi then sent back the challenge of the much younger and more athletic Kota Ibushi in one of the best matches of that year. To top it all off, Tanahashi went on to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title from Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom. It made him the only G1 winner to successfully become champion with his title shot.
2 Tetsuya Naito - 2017
After Tetsuya Naito's failure in 2013, he kind of floated for a while. That changed when he returned from a stint in CMLL with a new attitude and began Los Ingobernables de Japon. It made him the most popular star in the company. He came close to winning it all in 2016 but did the deed for a second time in 2017.
That year, Naito went 7-2 for 14 points and took the A Block. In the finals, he toppled Kenny Omega in what many felt was the greatest G1 finals contest in history. Although he didn't win the championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12, he eventually walked out of Wrestle Kingdom 14 as both Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion.
1 Kazuchika Okada - 2014
In the eyes of most of those who saw it, the G1 Climax 24 remains the single greatest tournament in wrestling history. Everyone brought their A-game, from AJ Styles and Katsuyori Shibata to Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.
That year, Kazuchika Okada racked up an impressive 16 points thanks to an 8-2 record. He beat fellow CHAOS member Shinsuke Nakamura, who also had 16 points, in the finals. Okada may have lost at Wrestle Kingdom 9 to start 2015 but won the title at Dominion that year. Since then, he has been NJPW's top star. Okada held the title for 280 days, lost it for 70, won it back for a record-setting 720 days, and eventually added another 274-day reign.