NJPW's premier tournament of the calendar year is the G1 Climax. Twenty competitors are separated by two blocks, where they compete in nine different matches. The two competitors with the best record over those nine matches from each block then compete in the finals with the winner going on to face the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the main event of WrestleKingdom inside the Tokyo Dome.
Due to the global pandemic, the G1 Climax was moved from its usual July to August schedule to the fall this year. New Japan Pro Wrestling have released the schedule for this year's tournament.
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NJPW G1 Climax scheduled to start in September
Over the weekend, NJPW sent out a press release regarding the schedule of the G1 Climax 30. NJPW's press release read as follows:
The full schedule for G1 Climax 30 has now been revealed, with 19 events over a 30 day period starting Saturday, September 19 and 20 in Osaka. The tour then heads to Hokkaido for a double header, before a tour around the country, including a stop at the brand new Yokohama Budokan facility before finishing with three huge nights in Ryogoku Sumo Hall on October 16-18.
The full schedule is as follows:
Saturday, September 18・Osaka・Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (EDION Arena Osaka)
Sunday, September 19・Osaka・Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (EDION Arena Osaka)
Wednesday, September 23・Hokkaido・Hokkai Kita Yell
Thursday, September 24・Hokkaido・Hokkai Kita Yell
Sunday, September 27・Hyogo・Kobe World Hall
Tuesday, September 29・Tokyo・Korakuen Hall
Wednesday, September 30・Tokyo・Korakuen Hall
Thursday, October 1・Niigata・Aore Nagaoka
Monday, October 5・Tagawa・Takamatsu City Gymnasium
Tuesday, October 6・Hiroshima・Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall
Wednesday, October 7・Hiroshima・Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall
Thursday, October 8・Okayama・ZIP Arena Okayama
Saturday, October 1o・Osaka・Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (EDION Arena Osaka)
Sunday, October 11・Aichi・Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (Dolphins Arena)
Tuesday, October 13・Shizuoka・Hamamatsu Arena
Wednesday, October 14・Kanagawa・Yokohama Budokan
Friday, October 16・Tokyo・Ryogoku Sumo Hall
Saturday, October 17・Tokyo・Ryogoku Sumo Hall
Sunday, October 18・Tokyo・Ryogoku Sumo Hall
These shows will have a limited capacity crowd in attendance, similar to the latest NJPW events since the New Japan Cup 2020 Finals. The lineup of competitors for this year's tournament will be released following their upcoming NJPW Summer Struggle finale show in Jingu Stadium on Saturday, August 29th.
Although there has been the recently concluded NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Tournament as well as the ongoing New Japan Cup USA and KOPW 2020 tournaments, the return of the G1 Climax is sure to bring a smile to the wrestling world. For fans of NJPW, this is an exciting time and something to bring some much-needed buzz back to the number one promotion in all of Japan.