New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the 20-man field for this year’s G1 Climax tournament during Sunday’s Wrestle Grand Slam show in Saitama. G1 Climax 31 will take place from Sept. 18th through Oct. 21st.
The round robin tournament will feature each participant facing every member of their block, with block winners facing on Oct. 21st, with the winner getting a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 16.
Here is the full list of participants and notable stats:
A Block
- Kota Ibushi (2x winner)
- Tetsuya Naito (2x winner)
- IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi
- IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Zack Sabre Jr.
- Toru Yano
- NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Champion Tomohiro Ishii
- Yujiro Takahashi
- KENTA
- Tanga Loa (G1 Climax Debut)
- Great-O-Khan (G1 Climax Debut)
B Block
- Kazuchika Okada (2x winner)
- IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi (3x winner)
- SANADA
- IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Taichi
- NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Champion YOSHI-HASHI
- NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Champion Hirooki Goto
- Jeff Cobb
- EVIL
- Tama Tonga
- Chase Owens (G1 Climax Debut)
Wherever you are, be there for G1 Climax 31!
EVERY event will be LIVE, in English, in person on @njpwworld!
See you September 18 in Osaka!https://t.co/cEFFsYKcrQ#g131 #G1OsakaDay1 pic.twitter.com/UmSCT6NCSO
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) September 5, 2021
