I didn't either, I think most people didn't. It just goes back to what I said, there's nothing compelling for him to do right now besides finally getting the belt. Any fantasy booking scenario that puts him in an interesting angle or feud requires stuff that Gedo has never done or people/companies that don't work for New Japan and doesn't seem likely they will in the immediate future.
So a lot of us just want him to get the title so his arc can move forward and see were that goes (I don't think him winning the G-1 was the way to go for that to happen tbh, he could've won it at KOPW or Power Struggle). His character is a provocateur, imagine the fuckery it would generate if he tried to do to the IWGP belt what he did with the IC strap, a bunch of fun stuff could come out of that. You say he draws energy from chasing, but he hasn't been chasing anything since January and given nothing interesting to do in the meantime. And this is the most over guy in the company we are talking about...