During Wednesday’s New Japan card from Sendai, the participants for this year’s G1 Climax were announced including several foreign performers that have been absent in recent months.
A BLOCK
-Kota Ibushi
-Kazuchika Okada
-Tomohiro Ishii
-Shingo Takagi
-Yujiro
-Taichi
-Minoru Suzuki (NEVER Openweight Champion)
-Jeff Cobb
-Will Ospreay
-Jay White
B BLOCK
-Hiroshi Tanahashi
-Hirooki Goto
-Toru Yano
-Yoshi-Hashi
-Sanada
-Tetsuya Naito (IWGP heavyweight champion)
-EVIL
-Zack Sabre Jr.
-Juice Robinson
-KENTA
The key names listed were Will Ospreay, Jay White, Jeff Cobb, Juice Robinson, and KENTA who have not competed in Japan during the pandemic. KENTA and Jay White have been appearing on the NJPW Strong cards that were taped in California and streaming on New Japan World. The only New Japan talent that is not returning from last year’s tournament is Bad Luck Fale.
Yujiro Takahashi is back in the G1 Climax for the first time since 2015 and Minoru Suzuki is back after missing last year’s tournament.
The G1 Climax kicks off next Saturday, September 19th with 19 shows held over four weeks with the final three nights at Sumo Hall October 16-18.
Below is the full schedule:
Saturday, September 19th – Osaka at Edion Arena
Sunday, September 20th – Osaka at Edion Arena
Wednesday, September 23rd – Hokkaido at Hokkai Kita Yell
Thursday, September 24th – Hokkaido at Hokkai Kita Yell
Sunday, September 27th – Kobe World Hall
Tuesday, September 29th – Korakuen Hall
Wednesday, September 30th – Korakuen Hall
Thursday, October 1st – Niigata at Aore Nagaoka
Monday, October 5th – Tagawa at Takamatsu City Gymnasium
Tuesday, October 6th – Hiroshima at Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall
Wednesday, October 7th – Hiroshima at Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall
Thursday, October 8th – Okayama at ZIP Arena
Saturday, October 10th – Osaka at Edion Arena
Sunday, October 11th – Aichi at Dolphins Arena
Tuesday, October 13th – Shizuoka at Hamamatsu Arena
Wednesday, October 14th – Kanagawa at Yokohama Budokan
Friday, October 16th – Sumo Hall
Saturday, October 17th – Sumo Hall
Sunday, October 18th – Sumo Hall
