New Japan Pro Wrestling announces G1 competitors

New Japan Pro Wrestling has released the names of this year’s G1 Climax participants. The company made the announcement during the Dominion show.

This year’s G1 format will be different than years past. Instead of two blocks, the tournament will feature four blocks of seven competitors. The winners of each block will square off in a semifinal with a shot in the finals on the line. The winner of the G1 will still win a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleKingdom in January.

The list of participants is as follows:

• Kazuchika Okada
• Tama Tonga
• Hiroshi Tanahashi
• Tom Lawlor
• Jonah
• Yoshi-Hashi
• Hirooki Goto
• Toru Yano
• Tomohiro Ishii
• Jeff Cobb
• Bad Luck Fale
• Chase Owens
• Juice Robinson
• Taichi
• Zack Sabre Jr
• Lance Archer
• David Finlay
• El Phantasmo
• Great O-Khan
• Will Ospreay
• Aaron Henare
• Shingo Takagi
• SANADA
• Tetsuya Naito
• Jay White
• EVIL
• KENTA
• Yujiro Takahashi

The G1 Climax 32 round robin tournament begins on July 16 and wraps up on August 18.

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