Alongside SummerSlam, there is another major event that is as hot as the summer heat. That is the G1 Climax Tournament in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Last Word on Sports and Will Gray got to sit down with Walker Stewart, the lead English commentator for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, ahead of the big event.
The Origin of the Velvet Voice
Like many young fans, Walker grew up watching WWE. Once he got to college, Walker would go on to study opera vocal performance and music education.
“I was an opera singer for the first couple years of my college career, and then I wanted to go into music education.”
Stewart would make a change in his studies and switch over to journalism. He said he had to “find out if he even liked writing” with a slight laugh. He would go on to say he eventually ended up writing for Last Word on Sports. Later he explained how he wrote a raving review for a local promotion in his area, and that led to his first commentary booking. From there it was off to the races.
Walker would go on to explain how he ended up in NJPW.
“NJPW was looking for a new English commentator… Bob (a friend from ROH) put me over to Kevin (Kelly), he enjoyed my work and now I’m on the way to my first G1 Climax.”
When his tenure with NJPW first started Walker said he had never even left the country.
“I had never left the country, I’ve been to every corner of the US, but never been out of the country.”
Passing the Torch in the G1 in 2024
Going into 2024 there are not as many familiar faces in the field as previous years. With no Kenny Omega, no Hiroshi Tanahashi, no Tomohiro Ishii there are a lot of questions who might be the next in line so to speak. When asked about the passing of the torch in the G1 Climax. Walker had this to say.
“I see this from a financial, from a corporate, and from an in-ring perspective this needs to be the year, barnone. There is a very clear difference in the lineup. We have 20 men across A Block and B Block… Only one winner is still around and that is the current IWGP Champion Tetsuya Naito.”
Walker would lean into that last sentence by saying in 10 years, nearly half his life, there is only one previous winner still active in the field.
No Okada, No problem
Kazuchika Okada is one of the biggest wrestling stars in the world. He was one of the stars NJPW relied on heavily for the last decade. When asked what the plan was now that he is in the states and AEW, and who was the “Next Okada” for NJPW, Walker had plenty to say.
“I do not believe there will ever be another Kazuchika Okada. There is a reason he had the successes he did in NJPW, the corporate backing he did in NJPW.”
He would go on to say however it wasn’t necessarily about the “next Okada.”
“Who’s the next Okada? I think the focus needs to be not who is the next Okada, but who is the first Shota Umino, and who is the first Yota Tsuji.”
Walker Stewart would have nothing but rave reviews for the young talent coming through the NJPW locker room.
G1 Representation and the Wrestle Dynasty PPV
New Japan Pro Wrestling has a history of opening the Forbidden Door, as it were. Dating back to the origins of the G1 Climax with the IWGP League and the Madison Square Garden League, NJPW has never shied away from sharing the ring. When asked about outside promotions being represented in the tournament this year, Walker would say he wanted more.
“To be honest, I wish there was even more of it… Jake Lee will be a force from NOAH… One of the most interesting parts of the G1 Climax is the ability to make a new star and it sounds like this year one is going to be made one way or another.”
When asked about Wrestle Dynasty and the upcoming crossover event featuring four major promotions, Walker would toss in a fifth. “You can even add a fifth to that with Ring of Honor.” The idea of opening the door to cross promotion worked excited Walker. He said when he got the call for the voice over work for the Wrestle Dynasty video for Forbidden Door he was “stoked.”
He would jokingly say he hoped to be in the booth for Forbidden Door, but AEW did something right by having fellow Oklahoman in his place, Jim Ross.
Mercedes Mone and the IWGP Women’s Division
There is little doubt that one of the biggest stars in wrestling, male or female, is Mercedes Mone. When asked about how important she was to NJPW, Bushi Road and Stardom, Walker would say the most important thing in wrestling is to “have a draw” and Mercedes is definitely that.
He would say the whole idea of the wrestling business is to sell tickets and put butts in seats and he has zero doubt Mercedes can do that for NJPW and AEW.
“No disrespect to the other NJPW Strong Open Champions, but Mone is Mone for a reason… That Mone could and will come to the pockets of NJPW, NJPW Strong and AEW.”
The IWGP Women’s World title shook the wrestling world as the historically all male group would introduced their women’s title. The idea was great and what it represents is without doubt a great step in wrestling. However, Walker would feel that the IWGP women’s title could be more of a focus on NJPW tours.
“I definitely feel that there has been a missed mark in certain ways. I mean with all the respect possible for the powers that be in NJPW. I’m very grateful for what I have and what I do there, but sometimes there are things that happen just to happen. There’s no true thought or passion or feelings put behind it. And there are times with the IWGP’s Women’s World title you can feel that.”
Walker Stewart can be found on all social media sites. NJPW is offered globally through their streaming service NJPW World.
The full interview can be found here. If aggregated please credit Last Word on Sports and Will Gray.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – X (@VelvetVoiceWS) – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can rewatch all 2021 NJPW events and plenty more tremendous wrestling content from New Japan Pro-Wrestling on NJPWWorld.com; The King of Sports Streaming.
