With the G1 Climax just around the corner, we look at what is on offer on each of the 19 days of the event.
Day 1
A great way to kick off the tournament, with three of the five matches having the potential to be great. This is Jay White's chance to show how good he can be and I fully expect him to pick up the win for the opening night upset. Suzuki and Tanahashi have already had a spectacular match this year too.
Day 2
B Block also kicks off with some heavy hitters. Omega vs Naito and ZSJ vs Ibushi both have the potential to be amazing and it should be a good indication of where the early running in this Block will be, with the four favourites facing off immediately.
Day 3
Jay White continues his high profile start to the tournament and Makabe vs Suzuki could well be a great piece of brutality. On the rest of the card, Okada is one of the few people who gets consistently good matches out of Fale and Elgin vs Page has sleeper potential.
Day 4
The top 3 matches on this show are all great on paper but it should be Ishii vs Naito that steals the show. Those two have great chemistry. I'm strangely intrigued by how they deal with Yano vs Sabre.
Day 5
While not necessarily an off day, this is certainly one of the shows with less 'Wow' matches on it. The main event is really interesting though as Page has been having a great last 12 months and this is as good a test of his ceiling as any.
Day 6
I find it slightly strange that Goto vs Ishii is the main match advertised here when Omega vs Tonga is the main feud in the company. This graphic was probably made to avoid spoiling that though. All in all this could be a sneaky great show.
Day 7
Jay White is about to have his 'come to Jesus' moment. This show has the highest percentage of matches that could either be surprisingly great or just okay.
Day 8
SANADA and Ibushi are both athletic freaks and they could well put on a truly special main event. Juice beat Omega in last year's tournament so that provides a ready made story for that match, and Ishii and Sabre Jr only have great matches against each other.
Day 9
YOSHI-HASHI gets his obligatory main event, and as expected it comes on the least appealing day of Block A. This will likely be one of the half paced shows that we get every year.
Day 10
I would say that this could be a half paced show for B Block but there is no way that the main event doesn't kill it. Juice could also provide the most entertaining of Yano's matches.
Day 11
Elgin and Okada put on a wonderful match during last year's tournament, and White and Page have already put together one great match this year. The rest of the matches should be interesting enough, and I always find it funny to watch Tana wrestle the bargain basement version of himself.
Day 12
Once again, I find it weird that the Ibushi v Goto match is the advertised one, even though it should be good, when you have Omega vs Sabre on the same show. If it's part of a plan to make Ibushi seem like the star of the group before a showdown with Omega then fair enough.
Day 13
The main event is a rematch of last year's time limit draw. I wouldn't expect another draw here, as that would be somewhat redundant, but I would expect another great match. It is somewhat carrying this show too, though Tana vs EVIL could be really good.
Day 14
This is the show that could provide the best night of action, at least from a B Block perspective. Omega vs Ishii and Naito vs Ibushi are matchups that have proven themselves to be among the best anywhere in the world, and I expect wonderful things here too. Sbre vs Juice should also be a great match and SANADA provided the only actually good match with Yano in last year's tournament.
Day 15
EVIL handed Okada his first singles loss in a year at last year's tournament, something I very much doubt will be repeated here. This is basically just another day to be fair, and YOSHI vs Fale might be the least appealing tournament match of all.
Day 16
This could be the B Block version of Day 7. Every match on the card has both the potential to be something or just another G1 match, with the possible exception of Omega vs Yano. I am inclined to believe it will be the former.
Day 17
This is not the first time that Tanahashi and Okada have seen out the Block on the final night as they battled to a time limit draw on Day 17 two years ago. At this stage of the tournament, I would imagine that only Okada, White, and possibly Suzuki, will be in the running to top the Block.
Day 18
As far as the final days for each block go, this is the superior of the two. Tonga vs Yano will almost certainly be a dead rubber, though Tonga is getting a push, but I could easily see anyone from the other matches having at least an outside shot. The top two matches are what will probably decide this Block though, with Omega vs Ibushi providing what for me is the biggest match of the tournament. This should be a wonderful night of wrestling.
Day 19 - Finals
Whatever the final ends up being, I'm sure it will be incredible. It always is. My prediction for the final is Ibushi vs either Okada or White, with Ibushi coming out on top to set up a rematch at Wrestle Kingdom, which will be out of this world.
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