For each of the last 22 years, the premier event of
the summer for New Japan Pro Wrestling has been their annual G1 Climax
tournament, wherein anywhere from eight to twenty of the top wrestlers in the
promotion face off against each other.
In recent years the tournament has featured a round robin format with
two groups of 8-10 wrestlers. Two points
are awarded for a victory, one point for a draw and none for a loss. At the end of the round robin stage, the
wrestler with the top score in each group advances to the final. If the winner is not the IWGP Heavyweight
Champion, he traditionally earns himself a title shot. If the winner is the champion, his title run
becomes that more prestigious.
The other day the thought crossed my mind that it
would be incredible if the WWE were to put something similar together. Obviously, given the direction and position
of the company, something of this nature would be next to impossible pull
off. The company also favors “creative”
over “competition” in that their number one contenders are as likely to be
given title shots because of “backstage” conflicts as they are to “earn” the
opportunity with in-ring performances.
These two factors aside, I still thought it would be amazing to imagine
what might happen if a number of WWE’s top stars were put into a competition
where wins and losses were more important that storylines and where dream
matches became reality.
Thus, I created the first ever (to my knowledge) WWE
G1 Climax tournament. This is an
exercise in absolute fantasy booking—and the fantasy is all mine, in terms of
participants and results. I’m interested
in feedback, but ultimately I’m just having fun.
I chose the participants based on contracts and
current positioning in the company. All
current main roster title holders were included while injured or part-time
wrestlers were not. It was difficult
limiting the field to twenty participants and, as in real life, some good names
had to be cut. The two ten-man pools
were drawn randomly and ended up as follows:
POOL
A
- Cody Rhodes
- Dolph Ziggler
- Seth Rollins
- Alberto Del Rio
- Mark Henry
- Damien Sandow
- John Cena
- Christian
- Curtis Axel
- Kane
POOL B
- Jack Swagger
- Randy Orton
- Dean Ambrose
- Ryback
- Roman Reigns
- CM Punk
- Big E Langston
- Daniel Bryan
- Sheamus
- Antonio Cesaro
As in the New Japan G1, each wrestler will face
every other wrestler in his pool once. Each
day I will provide the fantasy results of each of the nine rounds of the round
robin stage along with updated standings.
The wrestlers who finish with the most points in their respective pools
will face off in the final. The winner
of that one-off match will be the very first KTND WWE G1 Champion!
As always, if you have thoughts, concerns, questions
or other feedback, I’m curious to hear it.
Tweet me at @KeepNoiseDown or @AmplifiedtoRock. You can also email KeepTND@gmail.com with thoughts and
opinions and, of course, in the comment section for each set of results. Again, this is all in good fun, so just read
along and enjoy!
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