Cruiserweight Classic 2

The **Cruiserweight Classic**, formerly the **Global Cruiserweight Series**, was a professional wrestling tournament and WWE Network event produced by WWE. All participants were billed at a weight of 205 lbs or less to determine the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Champion for WWE's revived cruiserweight division.

 City

Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome
NJPW Strong: Autumn Attack

G1 Climax 30
G1 Climax 32

G1 Climax 31
 Sport
 Dates
 Tournament
format(s)
 Champion
 Matches played
 ← G1 Climax 30
G1 Climax 32 →

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.

## ProductionEdit

### Tournament rulesEdit

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.

### HistoryEdit

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.

### StorylinesEdit

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.

## 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.

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### Night 2 (B Block)

The first night of B Block took place on September 19, 2021, at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka.

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### Night 3 (A Block)

The second night of A Block took place on September 23, 2021, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.

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### Night 4 (B Block)

The second night of B Block took place on September 24, 2021, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.

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### Night 5 (A Block)

The third night of A Block took place on September 26, 2021, at World Memorial Hall in Chūō-ku, Kobe.

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### Night 6 (B Block)

The third night of B Block took place on September 29, 2021, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

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### Night 7 (A Block)

The fourth night of A Block took place on September 30, 2021, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

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### Night 8 (B Block)

The fourth night of B Block took place on October 1, 2021, at Hamamatsu Arena in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka.

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### Night 9 (A Block)Edit

The fifth night of A Block took place on October 3, 2021, at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Naka-ku, Nagoya.

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### Night 10 (B Block)Edit

The fifth night of B Block took place on October 4, 2021, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

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### 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.

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### Night 12 (B Block)Edit

The sixth night of the B Block took place on October 8, 2021, at Kochi Prefectural Gymnasium in Kochi, Kochi.

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### Night 13 (A Block)

The seventh night of A Block took place on October 9, 2021, at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Namba, Osaka.

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### Night 14 (B Block)

The seventh night of B Block took place on October 12, 2021, at Xebio Arena Sendai in Sendai, Miyagi.

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### Night 15 (A Block)Edit

The eighth night of A Block took place on October 13, 2021, at Xebio Arena Sendai in Sendai, Miyagi.

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### 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.

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### Night 17 (A Block Final)

The ninth night of A Block took place on October 18, 2021, at Yokohama Budokan in Naka-ku, Yokohama.

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### Night 18 (B Block Final)

The ninth night of B Block took place on October 20, 2021, at Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.

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### 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 standings
 Shingo Takagi | 13
 Kenta | 12
 Zack Sabre Jr. | 12
 Toru Yano | 10
 Tomohiro Ishii | 10
 Great-O-Khan | 8
 Tanga Loa | 6
 Yujiro Takahashi | 5
 Tetsuya Naito(withdrawn)