New Japan Pro Wrestling have announced the 32 entrants into the G1 Climax this year, with AEW star Eddie Kingston included for the first time.
Kingston has wrestle numerous times for NJPW over the past few years, mainly appearing on the NJPW Strong show in the United States.
He most recently defeated Jay White in a “loser leaves New Japan” match, sending the Kiwi packing before he signed for AEW on a permanent deal.
Eddie Kingston has long been a fan of Japanese wrestling, most notably the “Four Pillars of Heaven” in AJPW, whom he based a lot of his wrestling style off.
His inclusion in the G1 Climax tournament must be a huge accomplishment for Kingston, considering he was nearly forced to quit wrestling during the pandemic, before debuting for AEW.
NJPW has included Eddie Kingston in the 2023 G1 Climax, which is the 33rd edition of the tournament.
He joins other first-time entrants into the match, including Kaito Kiyomiya, Gabriel Kidd and Shota Umino.
New Japan have not yet announced which block Eddie Kingston will be in, nor who his opponents in the G1 Climax will be.
G1 Climax 33 Entrants
The following wrestlers are a part of the NJPW G1 Climax 33.
- Kazuchika Okada
- Tetsuya Naito
- SANADA
- Will Ospreay
- Hiroshi Tanahashi
- David Finlay
- Shota Umino (Debut)
- Shingo Takagi
- Tomohiro Ishii
- Tama Tonga
- Tanga Loa
- Hikuleo (Debut)
- Hirooki Goto
- YOSHI-HASHI
- Toru Yano
- KENTA
- Zack Sabre Jr.
- Taichi
- Eddie Kingston (AEW) (Debut)
- El Phantasmo
- Ren Narita
- EVIL
- Chase Owens
- Jeff Cobb
- Great-O-Khan
- Aaron Henare
- Gabriel Kidd (Debut)
- Alex Coughlin (Debut)
- Shane Haste (Debut)
- Mikey Nicholas (Debut)
- Yota Tsuji (Debut)
- Kaito Kiyomiya (Pro Wrestling NOAH) (Debut)
The tournament will begin on July 15th, 2023 in Sapporo, before moving on to Ryogoku in mid August.
G1 Climax Rules
The tournament features thirty-two wrestlers, divided in four blocks of eight (A, B, C and D). Each wrestler faces everyone in his block once.
Each winner is awarded with two points, with one point awarded for a draw and none for a loss. When all matches have been completed, the wrestlers with the most points in their block move forward to the semi-finals.
The two winners of the semi-finals then wrestle in the final match, to determine the winner of the G1 Climax 33. The victor earns a briefcase that guarantees a IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 18, although they will have to defend the briefcase in matches prior to the event.