New Japan Pro Wrestling has finally revealed the wrestlers taking part in this year’s G1 Climax Tournament. It will take place this year from July 6 to August 12, 2019. The tournament gained a hype bonus when Jon Moxley, Shingo Takagi and KENTA all announced interest in the G1 at Dominion.
For the uninitiated, the G1 Climax is a month-long round robin tournament where the winner receives an IWGP Heavyweight title match if they successfully defend their G1 contract until Wrestle Kingdom. If the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion wins the tournament, he would then pick his challenger. G1 Climax is also a tournament known for shock finishes and top tier wrestling.
Now as the official block lists have been announced, let’s see who are the 20 participants that make the cut this year.
A Block
- Kazuchika Okada (IWGP Heavyweight Champion, 2012 & 2014 winner)
- Zack Sabre Jr (RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi (Winner of last year’s G1)
- Kota Ibushi
- EVIL
- SANADA
- Bad Luck Fale
- Lance Archer
- Will Ospreay (Debut, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion)
- KENTA (Debut)
B Block
- Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC Champion, 2013 & 2017 winner)
- Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER Openweight Champion)
- Juice Robinson
- Toru Yano (13th appearance in 14 years)
- Hirooki Goto (2008 winner)
- Jay White
- Jeff Cobb (debut)
- Shingo Takagi (Jr, debut)
- Taichi (debut)
- Jon Moxley (IWGP US Champion, debut)
There is a high amount of new faces taking part in the tournament this year so the field looks more open than ever. Only one person can win the tournament though and claim their title shot at Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 4 and January 5, 2020, at the Tokyo Dome.
Stay tuned to for more updates to as more information is coming out about the tournament matches in the coming days. All G1 Climax 29 matches will be broadcast on NJPW World for anyone who wants to watch the month-long tournament.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6dRpMveSNc]
(All images and videos courtesy of njpw1972.com)