What’s the story?
Hot off a ‘Show of the Year’ contender at Dominion 6.11, New Japan Pro Wrestling continues to build momentum ahead of its huge G1 Special shows in Los Angeles this coming July. The hottest wrestling promotion on the planet has formally announced the card for the first G1 Special show, along with a couple of matches confirmed for the second night.
Revealed within the card are the competitors in the inaugural IWGP United States Championship tournament, and four other championships will be decided over the shows.
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New Japan Pro Wrestling is on its way to Los Angeles (California, USA) for two huge shows at the beginning of July, as the number one wrestling promotion in Japan continues to expand its business throughout the globe.
In the build up to the shows, the company announced that it was to establish another title – the IWGP United States Championship. The tournament will be decided in an eight man single elimination tournament over the two nights.
The heart of the matter
The full card for the NJPW G1 Special in USA show on July 1 is as follows.
#1 CHAOS (Will Ospreay, The Briscoe Brothers, Roppongi Vice) vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll, Yujiro Takahashi)
#2 Jushin Thunder Liger, Volador Jr., Dragon Lee & Titan vs. Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI
#3 IWGP US Championship Tournament Round 1 – Jay Lethal vs. Hangman Page
#4 IWGP US Championship Tournament Round 1 – Juice Robinson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
#5 Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA, Jay White & David Finlay vs. Billy Gunn, Yoshitatsu, Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu
#6 IWGP Tag Team Championships: Guerrillas of Destiny [c] vs. War Machine
#7 IWGP US Championship Tournament Round 1 – Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii
#8 IWGP US Championship Tournament Round 1 – Kenny Omega vs. Michael Elgin
#9 IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Cody
Two matches have also been confirmed for night two (July 2), as The Young Bucks will defend their newly won IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against deposed champions Roppongi Vice, and Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend his IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Billy Gunn of all people.
The IWGP US Championship tournament is also scheduled to come to an end on July 2.
What’s next?
The two shows take place on July 1st and 2nd at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, with both shows entirely sold out. NJPW is riding an incredible wave of momentum in the professional wrestling world right now, and will be looking to capitalise on this at these huge California shows.
Author’s take
It was always going to be interesting to see what shape the G1 Special cards took, with many fans speculating that Okada/Omega III could take place at the event. Instead, it is Cody who gets the IWGP Heavyweight Championship shot, and this represents Cody’s best chance yet to have a career-making match.
Omega must thus be considered a favourite for the IWGP US Championship tournament, although any of the eight men could feasibly win it.
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