New Japan Pro Wrestling today announced the list of twenty competitors for this year’s G1 Climax Tournament which takes place between 17th July and 13th August.
The format of the tournament is very similar to that of the Battle of the Super Juniors which took place last month, with winners from two blocks wrestling in the final to determine the winner. During the blocks the wrestlers will be rewarded two points for a win, one for a draw and nothing for a loss.
The winner of the G1 Tournament will receive a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at WrestleKingdom which takes place on 4th January at the Tokyo Dome.
Last year saw Kenny Omega became the first non-Japanese winner of the tournament under the G1 Climax name. Zack Sabre Jr will be the first British born entrant since Steven Regal who competed in the 1997 tournament.
Here is the full list of competitors who will be competing:
- Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Togi Makabe
- Michael Elgin
- Kazuchika Okada
- Hirooki Goto
- Tomohiro Ishii
- Toru Yano
- YOSHI-HASHI
- Kenny Omega
- Bad Luck Fale
- Tama Tonga
- Tetsuya Naito
- SANADA
- EVIL
- Satoshi Kojima
- Yuji Nagata
- Juice Robinson
- Minoru Suzuki
- Zack Sabre Jr
- Kota Ibushi