Tag: njpw g1 climax 35

Hirooki Goto out of NJPW G1 Climax 35 due to injury

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Hirooki Goto is out of the G1.

NJPW announced Friday night that the elbow injury caused at Tanahashi Jam will force Goto to withdraw from the upcoming tournament. 

“After medical evaluation through the week, it has been determined that Hirooki Goto, who missed July 4’s New Japan Soul card as a result of an elbow injury sustained at Tanahashi Jam on June 29, will be unable to compete in the G1 Climax 35 tournament, and currently has no set date for a return,” NJPW’s statement says on their website.” We apologise to fans looking forward to seeing Goto wrestle, and appreciate your understanding.”

As a result of Goto’s withdrawal, a Last Chance Play-In Gauntlet match will be held during NJPW’s show at Korakuen Hall on July 6. Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi, Satoshi Kojima, and Chase Owens will compete in the match, with the winner officially entering the tournament in the A block.

Goto lost the IWGP World Championship to Zack Sabre Jr. at Tanahashi Jam in what was their third meeting together this year. The show aired live exclusively on television in Japan.

This year’s G1 Climax 35 tournament begins July 19 and will run through August 17.

Two more NJPW G1 Climax entrants confirmed

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The 2025 G1 Climax field is close to being finalized with 18 of the 20 entrants now confirmed.

Callum Newman and Drilla Moloney secured spots in the tournament today, defeating Taichi and Tomohiro Ishii in their respective play-in matches. Newman will be part of the A Block field while Moloney will be in B Block.

Moloney, a member of Bullet Club War Dogs, will be competing in his first G1. It will be the second G1 that United Empire’s Newman has participated in.

Today’s play-in matches took place at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo as part of the ongoing New Japan Soul tour. At the July 4 event at Budokan Hall, the final G1 play-in matches will be held. They are: Ryohei Oiwa vs. Bad Luck Fale and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Chase Owens.

The G1 then begins on July 19 and runs through August 17, with the winner traditionally receiving an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot at Wrestle Kingdom.

Here is the updated list of entrants:

NJPW G1 Climax 2025 participants —

A Block:

  • Hirooki Goto
  • Oleg Boltin
  • Yuya Uemura
  • Yota Tsuji
  • David Finlay
  • EVIL
  • SANADA
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • Callum Newman
  • Ryohei Oiwa or Bad Luck Fale

B Block:

  • El Phantasmo
  • Shota Umino
  • Shingo Takagi
  • Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Great-O-Khan
  • Gabe Kidd
  • Ren Narita
  • Konosuke Takeshita
  • Drilla Moloney
  • YOSHI-HASHI or Chase Owens

Play-in matches set for final four NJPW G1 tournament spots

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Eight wrestlers are set to compete for the final four spots in NJPW G1 Climax 2025.

Over the weekend, NJPW revealed 16 of the 20 entrants who will be participating in this summer’s tournament. The last four spots are still up for grabs with play-in matches taking place during the New Japan Soul tour with events at Korakuen Hall on June 23 and Budokan Hall on July 4.

Here is the play-in schedule:

Monday, June 23 —

  • A Block play-in match: Taichi vs. Callum Newman
  • B Block play-in match: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Drilla Moloney

Friday, July 4 —

  • A Block play-in match: Ryohei Oiwa vs. Bad Luck Fale
  • B Block play-in match: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Chase Owens

Moloney and Oiwa would be competing in their first-ever G1s if they are able to qualify for the tournament. Moloney is a member of Bullet Club War Dogs, while Oiwa is part of TMDK.

At NJPW Dominion on Sunday, Taichi & Ishii defeated Newman & Great-O-Khan to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions. Ishii also currently holds singles gold as the NJPW Strong Openweight Champion.

The G1 begins on July 19 and runs through August 17. Here’s what the field looks like ahead of the last four entrants being confirmed:

A Block —

  • Hirooki Goto
  • Oleg Boltin
  • Yuya Uemura
  • Yota Tsuji
  • David Finlay
  • EVIL
  • SANADA
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • Taichi or Callum Newman
  • Ryohei Oiwa or Bad Luck Fale

B Block —

  • El Phantasmo
  • Shota Umino
  • Shingo Takagi
  • Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Great-O-Khan
  • Gabe Kidd
  • Ren Narita
  • Konosuke Takeshita
  • Tomohiro Ishii or Drilla Moloney
  • YOSHI-HASHI or Chase Owens

AEW star & NJPW legend among expected field for NJPW G1 tournament

Posted on by Josh Nason

With the full roster for this summer’s NJPW G1 Climax 35 tournament set to be announced during this weekend’s Dominion event, an early look at four entrants was revealed in a poster for the event.

First noted on Reddit, an event poster seen in NJPW’s Tokon Shop in Tokyo featured AEW star and NJPW Never Openweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita, NJPW president and soon-to-be retired legend Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino, and Ren Narita. The person that shared the news noted that it’s being billed as Tanahashi’s final G1 tournament as he will retire in 2026.

While the field will be announced this weekend, the bracket is expected to be announced at a later date.

The annual tournament will run from July 18 through August 17, meaning Takeshita will be gone from AEW action during that time. He will not miss All In Texas (July 12) and will then have a week before Forbidden Door in London on August 24.

Tanahashi did not compete in last year’s G1, but was part of the 2023 tournament. He’s won the tournament three times with the last coming in 2018.

NJPW announces event schedule for G1 Climax 2025

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Though the tournament is still a few months away, NJPW is rolling out its plans for the 2025 G1 Climax.

Consisting of 19 shows in total, the full schedule for G1 Climax 35 has now been announced. It begins in Hokkaido on the weekend of July 19-20 and will conclude with two nights at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on August 16-17. The full list of shows can be seen below:

  • Opening weekend: Saturday, July 19 and Sunday, July 20 (Hokkaido: Hokkai Kita Yell)
  • Night three: Tuesday, July 22 (Sendai: Sendai Sun Plaza Hall)
  • Night four: Wednesday, July 23 (Nagaoka: Ao-re Nagaoka)
  • Nights five and six: Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26 (Tokyo: Ota-ku Gymnasium)
  • Night seven: Sunday, July 27 (Nagoya: Port Messe Nagoya)
  • Night eight: Wednesday, July 30 (Osaka- Yamato Arena)
  • Night nine: Friday, August 1 (Kagawa: Sun Messe Kagawa)
  • Night 10: Saturday, August 2 (Hiroshima: Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall)
  • Night 11: Sunday, August 3 (Fukuoka: Fukuoka International Convention Center)
  • Night 12: Tuesday, August 5 (Osaka: Intex Osaka)
  • Night 13: Thursday, August 7 (Tokyo: Korakuen Hall)
  • Night 14: Friday, August 8 (Yokohama: Yokohama Budokan)
  • Night 15: Sunday, August 10 (Gunma: G Messe Gunma)
  • Night 16: Wednesday, August 13 (Hamamatsu: Act City Hamamatsu)
  • Night 17: Thursday, August 14 (Tokyo: Korakuen Hall)
  • Final weekend: Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 17 (Tokyo: Ariake Arena)

NJPW English-language commentator Walker Stewart noted that he’ll be doing live commentary for every night of the tournament, which will air on NJPW World.

No participants for this year’s G1 have been confirmed yet. The tournament winner traditionally receives an IWGP World Championship shot at Wrestle Kingdom, but Zack Sabre Jr. chose to forego that tradition last year. After winning the G1, he opted to challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at King of Pro Wrestling 2024 instead of waiting until the Tokyo Dome.

Hirooki Goto is the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.