G1 Climax 29

NJPW announced that the 2019 edition and its dates of the G1 Climax on January 4, 2019, at Wrestle Kingdom 13; it was announced that the first night of the tournament will be held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, marking the first time the tournament would be held outside of Japan.[4] As per usual G1 Climax tradition, 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 match, 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, while the members of the non-competing block perform in tag team matches that have no influence of the tournament results, typically facing their future tournament opponents. In case of several wrestler sharing the top score, the results of the matches those wrestlers had when facing each other's in the tournament act as tiebreaker, with the one having the most wins over the other top-scorers determining the winner of the block.[5][6]

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 low-card matches have a twenty-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.[5][6]

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.[7]

First-time participant Jeff Cobb and returning participant Tomohiro Ishii announced their participation to the tournament on May 31, 2019.[8]

On June 9, 2019, at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, several wrestlers announced their decision to participate in the G1 Climax for the first time, including IWGP United States Champion Jon Moxley.[9] Best of the Super Juniors winner Will Ospreay, immediately after defeating Dragon Lee to win the IWGP Junior heavyweight Champion, also announced his intention to participate, marking a rare participation to the tournament by a member of the Junior Heavyweight division.[10] Junior Heavyweight Shingo Takagi, who defeated heavyweight Satoshi Kojima at Dominion, announced his move to the Heavyweight division after the match, as well as his participation to the G1 Climax.[10] Kenta, who had been released by WWE the previous February, made his surprise NJPW debut at the event, also announcing his participation in the G1 Climax.[11][12]

Four time-participant Lance Archer, who had last participated to the tournament in 2014, announced his participation on June 10, 2019, via the company's official YouTube channel.[13]

The twenty participants were officially announced on June 16, 2019. The list included six first-time participants, namely Cobb, Moxley, Ospreay, Takagi, Kenta, and Taichi, with fourteen participants returning from the previous year, and Archer returning after a five-year hiatus; participants from the previous year who did not return were Michael Elgin, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page, who had left NJPW, and Minoru Suzuki, Tama Tonga, Togi Makabe, and Yoshi-Hashi.[14] The event marked Kenta's NJPW in-ring debut, while Moxley was still undefeated since joining the company.

The first night of A Block took place on July 6, 2019, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas; it was promoted as G1 Climax in Dallas.[15][35] It marked the first time that a night of the G1 Climax took place outside of Japan.[2] This event was broadcast live on AXS TV in the United States and New Japan Pro-Wrestling World. The show would receive coverage from more mainstream publications such as Sports Illustrated and Deadspin.[36][37]

The first night of B Block took place on July 13, 2019, at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.[16]

The second night of A Block took place on July 14, 2019, at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.[17]

The second night of B Block took place on July 15, 2019, at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo.[18]

The third night of A Block took place on July 18, 2019, at the Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.[19]

The third night of B Block took place on July 19, 2019, at the Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.[20]

The fourth night of A Block took place on July 20, 2019, at the Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.[21]

The fourth night of B Block took place on July 24, 2019, at the Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima.[22]

The fifth night of A Block took place on July 27, 2019, at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya.[23]

The fifth night of B Block took place on July 28, 2019, at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya.[24]

The sixth night of A Block took place on July 30, 2019, at the Takamatsu City General Gymnasium Arena 1 in Kagawa.[25]

The sixth night of B Block took place on August 1, 2019, at the Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium in Fukuoka.[26]

The seventh night of A Block took place on August 3, 2019, at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka.[27]

The seventh night of B Block took place on August 4, 2019, at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka.[28]

The eighth night of A Block took place on August 7, 2019, at the Hamamatsu Arena in Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu.[29]

The eighth night of B Block took place on August 8, 2019, at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Naka-ku, Yokohama.[30]

The ninth night of A Block took place on August 10, 2019, at the Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda, Tokyo and saw the finals of the A Block.[31] Kota Ibushi defeated Kazuchika Okada to be declared the winner of the A Block.

The ninth night of B Block took place on August 11, 2019, at the Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda, Tokyo and saw the finals of the B Block.[32] Jay White defeated Tetsuya Naito to be declared the winner of the B Block.

The final night took place on August 12, 2019, at the Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda, Tokyo.[33] A Block winner Kota Ibushi defeated B Block winner Jay White to be declared the winner of the tournament.