NJPW G1 Climax 2025 Predictions: Favorites, underdogs and more

ZSJ G1 Climax 2025

The G1 Climax 2025 (the 35th edition) begins on 19 July and runs through 17 August, a month of elite round‑robin wrestling that will shape Wrestle Kingdom 20’s main event picture in January 2026.

This year once again features a 20‑man field split into two blocks (A & B), finalised after New Japan Soul where Ryohei Oiwa and YOSHI-HASHI claimed the last spots.

Confirmed Entrants Snapshot (selection): Zack Sabre Jr., Gabe Kidd, Boltin Oleg, El Phantasmo, YOSHI-HASHI, Ryohei Oiwa and others across the 20‑man roster.

G1 Climax Favourites this year

Zack Sabre Jr. enters as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. While champions seldom need the Wrestle Kingdom briefcase, his star power makes a block victory plausible.

Gabe Kidd, the IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion enters with an escalating prominence in the company following an AEW run. Dual champion visibility could boost international eyes on the company, positioning him as a high‑ceiling pick to top his block.

Prime Challengers

Shota Umino symbolises the Reiwa Three Musketeers’ continued ascendancy; incremental improvements in big‑match pacing hint at a semi‑final or finalist breakthrough.

Yota Tsuji parallels Umino’s trajectory with a power offence and charismatic presence; his near‑misses to date frame a narrative arc ripe for a block tiebreaker storyline.

Underdogs & Dark Horses

Ryohei Oiwa punched his ticket via qualifier win, momentum that often fuels early round surprises before attritional experience gaps appear in the field.

Key Storylines to Monitor

The desperate search for a “next breakout star” underscores NJPW’s strategic evolution as legacy pillars (like Tanahashi) age, magnifying how Umino, Tsuji, Kidd and others convert recent spotlight opportunities into sustained drawing power going forward.

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Jake Skudder
Jake Skudder

Jake is an SEO-minded Football, Combat Sports, Gaming and Pro Wrestling writer, successful Editor in Chief, Sports SEO Coordinator for NationalWorld and SEO Writer for F4Wonline.com. He has more than ten years of experience covering mixed martial arts, pro wrestling, football and gaming across a number of publications, starting at SEScoops in 2012 under the name Jake Jeremy. His work has also been featured on Wrestling Headlines, Wrestlingnewsco, HotNewHipHop, The Hard Times and Sportskeeda.

Previously, he worked as the Editor in Chief of 24Wrestling, building the site profile with a view to selling the domain, which was accomplished in 2019. Jake was previously the Editor in Chief for FightFans, a combat sports and pro wrestling site that was launched in January 2021 and broke into millions of pageviews within the first two years. He previously worked for Snack Media and their GiveMeSport site, creating Evergreen and Trending content that would deliver pageviews via Google as the UFC and MMA SEO Lead. Jake managed to take an area of GiveMeSport that had zero traction on Organic and push it to audiences across the globe. Jake also has a record of long-term video and written interview content with the likes of the Professional Fighters League, ONE and Cage Warriors, working directly with the brands to promote bouts, fighters and special events.

He previously worked for the (then) biggest independent wrestling company in the UK, PROGRESS Wrestling, as PR Head and Head of Media across the social channels of the company.