participants more time to rest. Shinsuke Nakamura injured his left elbow in his second match, forcing him to forfeit his third match against Michael Elgin. 2016 The 2016 version of the G1 Climax tournament took place between July 18 and August 14. On June 27, NJPW announced the participants, which included two outsiders; Pro Wrestling Noah's Katsuhiko Nakajima and Naomichi Marufuji. Originally, former three-time G1 Climax winner and the wrestler with the most G1 Climax appearances, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, was left out of the tournament. However, on July 3, Tenzan's longtime tag team partner Satoshi Kojima gave him his spot in the tournament. Afterwards, Tenzan confirmed this would be his last G1 Climax. In the final, Canadian Kenny Omega made history, becoming the first non-Japanese winner of the tournament under its G1 Climax name as well as the first man in four years to win the tournament in his first attempt. 2017 The 2017 version of the G1 Climax tournament took place between July 17 and August 13. Prior to the tournament, NJPW held two "G1 Special" shows in Long Beach, California on July 1 and 2. On June 20, NJPW announced the participants in the tournament, which included one outsider: freelancer Kota Ibushi, competing in his third G1. Juice Robinson and Zack Sabre Jr. took part in their first G1 Climax tournament, while Yuji Nagata took part in his 19th and final tournament. The final match between Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito became the longest match in G1 Climax history, breaking the previous record from 2015. Following its conclusion, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter called the 2017 G1 Climax "the best in history". 2018 The 2018 version of the G1 Climax took place from July 14 until August 12. Due to renovations at Ryōgoku Kokugikan, the final three shows for the tournament took place at Nippon Budokan, representing New Japan's first shows at that arena since 2003. The announcement of the participants, blocks and schedule took place during the 2018 Kizuna Road shows. Hiroshi Tanahashi set a then record for most points set by a wrestler in a 20-man G1 Climax with 15 points. The final match was the longest match in G1 history until it was beaten in 2020. 2019 2020 The 2020 edition of the G1 Climax took place from September 19 until October 18 with the final three days being held at Ryōgoku Kokugikan. This