NJPW has revealed the line-up of competitors for the G1 Climax 35 Tournament.
During the Dominion pay-per-view on June 15th, New Japan announced 16 wrestlers who will compete in the 2025 tournament, with the final 4 to be added following qualifying matches to take place on June 23 at Korakuen Hall and Tokyo Budokan on July 4. No participants for the qualifying matches have been announced at the time of writing.
Notable names in the line-up include 2024 tournament winner Zack Sabre Jr., AEW star Konosuke Takeshita and New Japan President Hiroshi Tanahashi, who will compete in the tournament for the final time as part of his 2025 retirement tour. Hiroshi Tanahashi will also compete in his final UK match shortly after the G1 concludes.
Much like previous years, the competitors have been split up into 2 blocks. The announced participants are currently as follows:
A Block:
- Hirooki Goto
- Boltin Oleg
- Yuya Uemura
- Yota Tsuji
- David Finlay
- EVIL
- SANADA
- Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Two more TBD
B Block:
- El Phantasmo
- Shota Umino
- Shingo Takagi
- Zack Sabre Jr.
- Great-O-Khan
- Gabe Kidd
- Ren Narita
- Konosuke Takeshita
- Two more TBD
The G1 Climax will begin on July 19th and will conclude on August 17th.
NJPW G1 Climax 35 To Begin Next Month
The G1 is widely regarded as one of the toughest tournaments in all of pro wrestling. The wrestlers in their respective blocks face everyone in a round robin style stage before the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals take place. The winner of the tournament traditionally receives a shot at the IWGP World Championship at Wrestle Kingdom the following year. However, following his victory over Yota Tsuji in the 2024 tournament, Zack Sabre Jr. instead chose to cash in his shot at King of Pro Wrestling in October of that year, defeating Tetsuya Naito to win the title for the first time in his career.
Masahiro Chono is the most successful in the tournament with 5 wins, followed by Kazuchika Okada with 4. The tournament was also the inspiration for the AEW Continental Classic, which takes place at the end of each year. The 2024 tournament was won by Okada.
Featured image credit: NJPW
