New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced that the opening night of the G1 Climax 36 in the United States will exclusively feature tournament matches.
The promotion previously revealed that the July 11 event will take place at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Officials have now confirmed that the entire card will consist of round-robin matches. This decision omits the traditional multi-man tag team preview encounters.
This marks the first time since 2019 that actual G1 Climax tournament matches will happen outside Japan. The company previously opened G1 Climax 29 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. That 2019 event featured five tournament matches alongside four tag team contests.
While NJPW hosted US-based events such as the “G1 Special” in 2017 and 2018, those shows did not feature G1 Climax round-robin matches. They instead focused on crowning the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion and defending other titles.
The company issued the following official statement to promote the structural change for the opening night:
In recent years, G1 opening night has seen motivation heightened among wrestlers for the tournament ahead, as well as passion from fans at an early fever pitch with cards that consist entirely of tournament matches and without preview tag bouts. That same opening night passion and competition will now come to the US for the first time in 2026! EVERY matchup in NOW Arena on July 11 will be a G1 Climax 36 tournament matchup as competitors look to set the pace right out of the gates.
NJPW noted that the entrants and the specific number of matches remain undetermined. Presale tickets become available on March 20, with general ticket sales commencing on March 21.
