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It’s that time of year again, and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)'s G1 Climax tournament is back to ruin sleep schedules all over the globe!
This year's version, the 26th annual, will feature 20 men competing across 19 dates for a spot in the finals August 14. Each show will be broadcast worldwide on New Japan's streaming service, NJPW World.
You can check out some previews of the field by Cagesider WR_Central... here for Group A, and here for Group B.
We'll have open threads & results for each show (and maybe a few other goodies - stay tuned!), so you can watch along with the best pro wrestling community on the internet.
Opening day action takes place in Sapporo's Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center, and it's all about A Block, one of two groupings whose winner will go on to a spot in the finals.
Jushin Liger, Katsuyori Shibata, Manabu Nakanishi, & Tiger Mask def. Captain New Japan, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Tomoaki Honma
Katsuhiko Nakajima & Toru Yano def. Juice Robinson & Satoshi Kojima
Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi) def. Chaos (Gedo & YOSHI-HASHI)
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, & Tetsuya Naito) def. David Finlay, Michael Elgin, & Yuji Nagata
Hiroyoshi Tenzan def. Tomohiro Ishii
Togi Makabe def. Tama Tonga
Hirooki Goto def. Bad Luck Fale
SANADA def. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Naomichi Marufuji def. Kazuchika Okada
Moving forward, we'll post records and standings. This being day one, all competitors start on even ground!
Enjoy the show!