Matchups to determine the remaining four spots in this year’s NJPW G1 Climax tournament have been revealed.
Four play-in qualifiers will take place as part of NJPW’s Road To G1 Climax tour in the coming weeks. Each bout will see a wrestler fight for one of the final spots in the tournament, which is set to kick off next month.
The first two play-in matches will take place as part of a June 23 card from Korakuen Hall.
NEVER Openweight Champion Aaron Wolf will attempt to qualify for his first-ever G1 tournament when he takes on YOSHI-HASHI. A win for YOSHI-HASHI would put him into his seventh G1 run.
Veteran Taichi will also face off against Yuto-Ice of the Knockout Brothers on that card.
The play-in contests will continue on July 6 in Korakuen with the final two bouts. OSKAR of the Knockout Brothers will take on Yujiro Takahashi, and El Phantasmo will meet rising TMDK talent Ryohei Oiwa.
It was also announced by NJPW that the July 6 card wil feature YOH defending his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. His opponent will be determined on June 23 when SHO, Master Wato, Kosei Fujita and Francesco Akira face off in a four-way #1 contenders bout.
Here’s a look at the play-in match schedule, plus a look at this year’s Block lineup thus far:
June 23 G1 Play-In Matches
- Taichi vs. Yuto-Ice
- YOSHI-HASHI vs. Aaron Wolf
July 6 Play-In Matches
- OSKAR vs. Yujiro Takahashi
- El Phantasmo vs. Ryohei Oiwa
A Block:
- Konosuke Takeshita
- Yota Tsuji
- SANADA
- Shingo Takagi
- Jake Lee
- Boltin Oleg
- Hirooki Goto
- HENARE or Great-O-Khan*
- Play-In #1
- Play-In #2
B Block
- Callum Newman
- Zack Sabre Jr.
- Shota Umino
- Yuya Uemura
- Ren Narita
- Drilla Moloney
- Gabe Kidd
- HENARE or Great-O-Khan*
- Play-In #1
- Play-In #2
*HENARE and Great-O-Khan earned spots in the G1 at Dominion 6.14 by capturing the IWGP Tag Team Championships. However, it hasn’t been confirmed which wrestler will be assigned to which block.
