The G1 Climax 31 was a professional wrestling tournament promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The tournament commenced on September 18 and concluded on October 21, 2021. It is the thirty-first edition of G1 Climax, and forty-seventh edition of the tournament counting its previous forms under different names. B block winner Kazuchika Okada defeated A Block winner Kota Ibushi by referee stoppage after Ibushi suffered an arm injury when he attempted to perform a Phoenix Splash on Okada, forcing referee Red Shoes Unno to stop the match.
Considered NJPW's most important tournament, the G1 Climax features twenty wrestlers, divided in two blocks of ten ("A" and "B"). Each participant faces all nine other wrestlers within the same block in singles matches. The winner of each block is determined via a point system, with two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a defeat. Each night of the event sees the ten members of one block compete. On the final day of the event, the winners of each block face each other to determine the winner of the tournament, who also receives a future match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom. The event is broadcast live on TV Asahi and Fighting TV Samurai in Japan, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling World worldwide.
The event saw the G1 Climax debut of Great-O-Khan, Tanga Loa, and Chase Owens. Tetsuya Naito suffered a legitimate knee injury during his match against Zack Sabre Jr. in the tournament's opening night, forcing him to forfeit the remainder of his matches.
Production + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English CommentatorsKevin Kelly Chris Charlton Japanese CommentatorsKazuki Kusanagi Haruo Murata Hiroki Mikami Jyushin Thunder Liger Miki Motoi Milano Collection A.T.Shigeki Kiyono Shunpei Terakawa Yohei Ohnishi Yuichi Tabata Ring announcersKimihiko OzakiMakoto AbeRefereesKenta SatoYuya SakamotoMarty AsamiRed Shoes Unno
Tournament rules The tournament features twenty wrestlers, divided in two blocks of ten ("A" and "B"). Each participant faces all nine other wrestler within the same block in singles matches, with the winner of each block being determined via a point system, gaining two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no point for a loss; each night of the event sees the ten members of a same block compete for the tournament. In case of several wrestler sharing the top score, the results of the matches those wrestlers had when facing each other in the tournament act as tiebreaker, with the one having the most wins over the other top-scorers determining the winner of the block.
On the final day of the event, the respective winners of both blocks face each other to determine the winner of the G1 Climax, who would gain a future match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, NJPW's top championship, at Wrestle Kingdom, NJPW's biggest yearly event; if the IWGP Heavyweight Champion himself wins, he gets to pick his opponent at Wrestle Kingdom. The Young Lion matches have a fifteen-minutes time limit, while the matches of the tournament have a 30-minutes time limit (with the time limit being reached resulting in a tie); the final match between the two block winners has no time limit.
History On July 8, 2021, NJPW announced that the 2021 edition of the G1 Climax would take place from September to October due to 2020 Summer Olympics was delayed to 2021. During night 2 of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome on September 5, NJPW announced the full tournament bracket for the G1 Climax.
Storylines The event includes matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.
Venues DatesVenueLocationSeptember 18Osaka Prefectural GymnasiumNamba, OsakaSeptember 19September 23Ota City General GymnasiumŌta, TokyoSeptember 24September 26World Memorial HallChūō-ku, KobeSeptember 29Korakuen HallBunkyo, TokyoSeptember 30October 1Hamamatsu ArenaHamamatsu, ShizuokaOctober 3Aichi Prefectural GymnasiumNagoya, AichiOctober 4Korakuen HallBunkyo, TokyoOctober 7Hiroshima Sun PlazaNishi-ku, HiroshimaOctober 8Kochi Prefectural GymnasiumKōchi, KōchiOctober 9Osaka Prefectural GymnasiumNamba, OsakaOctober 12Xebio Arena SendaiSendai, MiyagiOctober 13October 14Yamagata City General Sports CenterTendo, YamagataOctober 18Yokohama BudokanNaka-ku, YokohamaOctober 20Nippon BudokanChiyoda, TokyoOctober 21
Matches Night 1 (A Block) The first night of A Block took place on September 18, 2021, at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka. Tetsuya Naito legitimately injured his knee during his match on Night 1 and had to withdraw from the rest of the competition as a result.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Toru Yano 0 2 Yujiro Takahashi 0 2 Great-O-Khan 0 2 Zack Sabre Jr. 0 2 Shingo Takagi 0 22 Tomohiro Ishii 0 0 Tetsuya Naito 0 0 Tanga Loa 0 0 Kota Ibushi 0 0 Kenta 0 0
Night 2 (B Block) The first night of B Block took place on September 19, 2021, at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Jeff Cobb 0 2 Evil 0 2 Taichi 0 2 Sanada 0 2 Kazuchika Okada 0 22 Hiroshi Tanahashi 0 0 Tama Tonga 0 0 Hirooki Goto 0 0 Yoshi-Hashi 0 0 Chase Owens 0 0
Night 3 (A Block) The second night of A Block took place on September 23, 2021, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Great-O-Khan 4 62Zack Sabre Jr. 2 4Kenta 2 4Kota Ibushi 2 4Shingo Takagi 4 4Toru Yano 4 4Yujiro Takahashi 4 43Tomohiro Ishii 2 2Tanga Loa 2 24Tetsuya Naito 0 0
Night 4 (B Block) The second night of B Block took place on September 24, 2021, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1Jeff Cobb 2 4Taichi 2 4Kazuchika Okada 2 42 Sanada 2 2Evil 2 2Hiroshi Tanahashi 0 2Tama Tonga 0 23Yoshi-Hashi 0 0Hirooki Goto 0 0Chase Owens 0 0
Night 5 (A Block) The third night of A Block took place on September 26, 2021, at World Memorial Hall in Chūō-ku, Kobe.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Great-O-Khan 6 82Zack Sabre Jr. 4 6Kenta 4 6Toru Yano 4 63Shingo Takagi 4 4Kota Ibushi 4 4Yujiro Takahashi 4 44Tomohiro Ishii 2 2Tanga Loa 2 25Tetsuya Naito 0 0
Night 6 (B Block) The third night of B Block took place on September 29, 2021, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1Jeff Cobb 4 6Kazuchika Okada 4 62Hiroshi Tanahashi 2 4 Sanada 2 4Taichi 4 4Evil 2 43Tama Tonga 2 24Yoshi-Hashi 0 0Hirooki Goto 0 0Chase Owens 0 0
Night 7 (A Block) The fourth night of A Block took place on September 30, 2021, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Zack Sabre Jr. 6 8 Great-O-Khan 8 82 Shingo Takagi 4 6 Kenta 6 6 Toru Yano 6 6 Kota Ibushi 4 63 Yujiro Takahashi 4 4 Tomohiro Ishii 2 44 Tanga Loa 2 25Tetsuya Naito 0 0
Night 8 (B Block) The fourth night of B Block took place on October 1, 2021, at Hamamatsu Arena in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1Jeff Cobb 68Kazuchika Okada 6 8 2Evil 46Hiroshi Tanahashi 46 3Sanada 44Taichi 444Tama Tonga 22Yoshi-Hashi 025Chase Owens 00Hirooki Goto 00
Night 9 (A Block) The fifth night of A Block took place on October 3, 2021, at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Naka-ku, Nagoya.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Zack Sabre Jr. 8 8 Great-O-Khan 8 8 Kenta 6 8 Kota Ibushi 6 82 Shingo Takagi 6 6 Toru Yano 6 6 Tomohiro Ishii 4 63 Yujiro Takahashi 4 4 Tanga Loa 2 44Tetsuya Naito 0 0
Night 10 (B Block) The fifth night of B Block took place on October 4, 2021, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1Jeff Cobb810Kazuchika Okada 8 10 2Evil68 3Hiroshi Tanahashi664Sanada44Taichi445Tama Tonga22Hirooki Goto02Chase Owens02Yoshi-Hashi22
Night 11 (A Block) The sixth night of the A Block took place on October 7, 2021, at Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Zack Sabre Jr. 8 10 Kota Ibushi 8 102 Great-O-Khan 8 8 Kenta 8 8 Shingo Takagi 6 8 Tomohiro Ishii 6 83 Toru Yano 6 64 Tanga Loa 4 4 Yujiro Takahashi 4 45Tetsuya Naito 0 0
Night 12 (B Block) The sixth night of the B Block took place on October 8, 2021, at Kochi Prefectural Gymnasium in Kochi, Kochi.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1Jeff Cobb1012Kazuchika Okada 10 12 2Evil810 3Hiroshi Tanahashi664Sanada44Taichi44Hirooki Goto24Yoshi-Hashi245Tama Tonga22Chase Owens22
Night 13 (A Block) The seventh night of A Block took place on October 9, 2021, at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Kota Ibushi 10 122 Zack Sabre Jr. 10 10 Kenta 8 10 Shingo Takagi 8 103 Toru Yano 6 8 Great-O-Khan 8 8 Tomohiro Ishii 8 84 Yujiro Takahashi 4 4 Tanga Loa 4 45Tetsuya Naito 0 0
Night 14 (B Block) The seventh night of B Block took place on October 12, 2021, at Xebio Arena Sendai in Sendai, Miyagi.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1Jeff Cobb1214Kazuchika Okada 12 14 2Evil1012 3Hiroshi Tanahashi66Sanada464Taichi44Hirooki Goto44Yoshi-Hashi44Tama Tonga245 Chase Owens22
Night 15 (A Block) The eighth night of A Block took place on October 13, 2021, at Xebio Arena Sendai in Sendai, Miyagi.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Kota Ibushi 12 12 Zack Sabre Jr. 10 12 Kenta 10 12 Shingo Takagi 10 122 Tomohiro Ishii 8 103 Toru Yano88 Great-O-Khan 8 84 Yujiro Takahashi 4 4 Tanga Loa 4 45Tetsuya Naito 0 0
Night 16 (B Block) The eighth night of B Block took place on October 14, 2021, at Yamagata City General Sports Center in Tendo, Yamagata.
Tournament scores Rank Wrestler Result Points1Jeff Cobb14162Kazuchika Okada 14 14 3Evil1212 4Hiroshi Tanahashi68Sanada685Tama Tonga466Taichi44Hirooki Goto44Yoshi-Hashi44 Chase Owens24
Night 17 (A Block Final) The ninth night of A Block took place on October 18, 2021, at Yokohama Budokan in Naka-ku, Yokohama.
Tournament scores Colors Won the block Did not win the block Rank Wrestler Result Points1Kota Ibushi12142 Shingo Takagi 12 133 Kenta 12 12 Zack Sabre Jr. 12 124 Toru Yano 8 10Tomohiro Ishii10105 Great-O-Khan 8 86 Tanga Loa 4 67 Yujiro Takahashi 4 58Tetsuya Naito 0 0
Night 18 (B Block Final) The ninth night of B Block took place on October 20, 2021, at Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.
Tournament scores Colors Won the block Did not win the block Rank Wrestler Result Points1 Kazuchika Okada 14 16Jeff Cobb16162Evil1214 3Hiroshi Tanahashi88Sanada884Hirooki Goto46Yoshi-Hashi46Tama Tonga66Taichi465 Chase Owens44
Night 19 (Final) The final night took place on October 21, 2021, at Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.
Participants On Night 1 of A Block competition, Tetsuya Naito suffered a legitimate knee injury in his match with Zack Sabre Jr., resulting in Naito having to withdraw from the tournament. All his remaining tournament matches were declared forfeits on Naito's part. +Final standingsA BlockB BlockKota Ibushi 14Kazuchika Okada 16Shingo Takagi 13Jeff Cobb 16 Kenta 12Evil 14Zack Sabre Jr. 12Hiroshi Tanahashi 8Toru Yano 10Sanada 8Tomohiro Ishii 10Hirooki Goto 6Great-O-Khan 8Yoshi-Hashi 6Tanga Loa 6Tama Tonga 6Yujiro Takahashi 5Taichi 6Tetsuya Naito 0Chase Owens 4