Did Kenny Omega ever win the NJPW G1 Climax?

By Ian Carey
Published: 19 Jul 2025, 09:52

Kenny Omega made history when he won the G1 Climax 26 in 2016. In the August 22, 2016 edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote that Omega’s performance in the tournament established him as one of the best wrestlers in the world:

Kenny Omega became the first foreign star to win the G-1 Climax tournament in putting on a performance both in and out of the ring that established him as either the best, or near the best, all-around performer in the business.

Omega’s work in having two of the year’s best matches, with Tetsuya Naito on 8/14 in the match that determined who would win the B block, and with Hirooki Goto in the finals the next afternoon, was only part of the equation. He [Omega] came across as an incredible superstar in getting over the win after the match, as well as in his post-match press conference and day after press conference.

Who is the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the G1?

Omega is considered the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the tournament, although Masahiro Chono was technically born in Seattle, and Riki Choshu’s Korean background is not always publicly acknowledged.

Meltzer would write:

Omega was only the third who would be considered a North American (technically Masahiro Chono, Mr. G-1, was born in Seattle, and Riki Choshu was born in South Korea, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan also has a different birth name that is Korean and not Japanese, but in Japan it had been considered that only Japanese had won the tournament) to ever reach the finals of the G-1, after Rick Rude in 1992 and Karl Anderson in 2012. Several North Americans including Killer Karl Krupp, Pedro Morales, Masked Superstar, Stan Hansen and Dick Murdoch had reached the finals of pre-G-1 New Japan heavyweight tournaments, and Andre the Giant (1982 and 1985) and Hulk Hogan (1983) had won tournaments before the inception of the G-1 in 1991. What’s notable is that this was Omega’s first G-1 tournament, and one year ago he was a mid-carder trading the junior heavyweight title back-and-forth with Kushida.

Setting the stage for G1 Climax 26

Prior to 2016, Omega was wrestling as a junior heavyweight with Bullet Club. However, the day after losing the title to Kushida at Wrestle Kingdom 10, Omega, along with Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, turned on AJ Styles, kicking him out of the group. Styles debuted for WWE in the Royal Rumble later that month. Shinsuke Nakamura would join the NXT brand, and Gallows and Anderson would join the company a few months later.

It was a time of transition for NJPW, and Omega was right there to take advantage. Nakamura leaving for WWE left the IWGP Intercontinental title vacant. Omega defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi for it in February, although he would drop it to Michael Elgin before the start of the G1.

Omega and The Young Bucks won the six-man titles shortly after and began referring to themselves as The Elite, a sub-group of Bullet Club. Tama Tonga was not pleased by this development. The Bullet Club civil war era was beginning to take shape. Omega clinched a spot in the finals on the last night of the tournament by defeating Tetsuya Naito in what would be his first match to receive a five-star rating from Dave Meltzer. The bout was also voted match of the tournament by readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Omega defeated Hirooki Goto in the finals in a match that was awarded four and three-quarter stars.

Kenny Omega’s G1 Climax win and first match against Kazuchika Okada

Omega’s victory in the G1 in 2016 led to his first match with then-IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. Eight and a half years later, their rivalry renewed with their fifth singles bout taking place at AEW All In at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on July 12, 2025.

Meltzer broke the five-star scale for the match, making it the first ever match to receive a six-star rating. Meltzer wrote of the match in the January 9, 2017, edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada may have put on the greatest match in pro wrestling history in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11 on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome. Okada retained the IWGP heavyweight title after a spinning jumping tombstone piledriver and a fourth rainmaker, featured nearly every element of a classic match, from intensity, crowd heat, tremendous psychology, off the charts athleticism, hard hitting, timing, innovation and high risk and dangerous moves. The keys to the story is that Omega never once got to hit his one winged angel finisher, and even in defeat, came out of the show being almost clearly the best big match wrestler on the planet.

In a world without AEW, and where even The Elite was still in its early stages, Meltzer speculated that Omega’s performance could lead to him signing with WWE:

if I’m WWE, I’d not just want him, but he could be that elusive special star that they’ve been unable to make. There is the issue that he can’t wrestle matches like this nightly, or even monthly, without having a short life span on his career. But he’s got the presence, charisma, cockiness and acting ability, as well as the look that WWE is afraid to push someone who doesn’t have.

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