Ranking all favorites to win the 2018 G1 Climax

#4 Hiroshi Tanahashi

With the rise of Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito and with Kazuchika Okada enjoying the form of a lifetime, ‘The Ace of New Japan’ Hiroshi Tanahashi has definitely fallen down the pecking order in NJPW.

However, all of that could change within the blink of an eye, if Tanahashi manages to outlast 10 other men throughout this year’s G1 Climax and eventually win his third G1 Tournament, in order to guarantee a place in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 13.

#3 Kenny Omega

Having recently won the IWGP Heavyweight Title for the very first time in his career, Kenny Omega is currently at the peak form of his Pro Wrestling career. At this point, Omega might not be the biggest favorite to win the G1 Climax, but having recently won the IWGP Heavyweight Title, NJPW is likely to book Omega in the most dominant manner possible and not have him lose too many matches in this year’s G1.

Omega’s upcoming matches against the likes of Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, and Zack Sabre Jr. promise to be absolutely stellar matches.

About the author

Soumik Datta is a professional wrestling journalist who has been following the business for more than a decade.

In 2017, Soumik joined the Sportskeeda Wrestling team and is best known for his work with the WWE team. He has previously contributed to the Sportskeeda AEW, MMA, and the football team where he specifically covered the Major League Soccer.

In 2024, Soumik crossed 50 million reads for Sportskeeda WWE. While working under Sportskeeda MMA, he interviewed prominent UFC fighters, including Justin Gaethje, Sean O'Malley, and Cory Sandhagen, among others. He is also being followed by John Cena on X (formerly Twitter).

Apart from his love for professional wrestling, Soumik also watches Football and has been a lifelong follower of Liverpool FC and Mohun Bagan. He has also been following the Indian Super League and remains the only content creator to have traveled across India to watch 7 ISL Matches in 7 Days, a video which currently sits at 26K views on his YouTube channel. His channel currently amasses over 120K views.

As aforementioned, Soumik also likes to make content for his YouTube channel and travel to various places either with family, friends, or solo, or go on road trips.

(Go SUBSCRIBE to his channel while you're at it): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfkg4VnUC7sLNc5jEzVYgOQ

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @Thesoumikdatta9

Follow his Sportskeeda profile for wrestling news and content and subscribe to his YouTube channel.

Know More

Edited by Kishan Prasad