New Japan Pro Wrestling have announced the 32 entrants into the G1 Climax this year, including stars from both AEW and NOAH.
The G1 Climax 33 looks to be one of the biggest in history, with 32 of the top stars battling it out in 4 groups of 8.
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.
The complete list of participants for the G1 Climax 33 were revealed at NJPW Dominion 6.4 (2023), with some interesting names included.
The likes of Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Will Ospreay and Kazuckika Okada are all included, as well as some surprise entrants.
AEW’s Eddie Kingston will be making his debut in the tournament, as will Pro-Wrestling NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya. Kiyomiya had a fantastic match with Kazuchika Okada earlier this year, and will be looking at getting revenge over The Rainmaker in this tournament.
G1 Climax 33 Entrants
The following is the complete list of wrestlers entered into the NJPW G1 Climax 33 Tournament.
- 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.