It’s almost that time of year again. The time where the best and brightest that New Japan Pro Wrestling has to offer are put to the test in the most grueling tournament in professional wrestling, the G1 Climax is almost upon us.
During the NJPW Dominion 6.14 in Osaka-jo-Hall broadcast on June 14, the lineup for G1 Climax 36 was announced, with 20 competitors in total being included in this year’s competition, but only 14 being officially confirmed at the time of writing.
【『#G1CLIMAX36』出場選手＆ブロック分けが決定！】
AブロックにTAKESHITA、Bブロックにゲイブがエントリー！
“残り6枠”の行方は？
・大阪城のIWGPタッグ勝者チームから”2名”！
・6月23日 (火) ＆7月6日 (月)後楽園の出場決定戦で”4名”を選出！https://t.co/e9HE9Lmzbg#njDOMINION pic.twitter.com/QFGU07iUJY— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) June 14, 2026
The A Block will feature the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji, who reclaimed his title from Callum Newman in the Dominion main event, and he will be the man everyone is chasing as the winner of the G1 Climax gets a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Last year’s G1 Climax winner, current AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita, will also be back in the mix as he looks to achieve back-to-back victories. Hirooki Goto, Shingo Takagi, Jake Lee, SANADA, and Boltin Oleg make up the rest of the A Block lineup.
In the B Block, the aforementioned Callum Newman will be hoping to win both major NJPW singles tournaments in one year as he won the New Japan Cup back in March. AEW star Gabe Kidd will also make his return to NJPW in the tournament as he has recently recovered from an injury. Zack Sabre Jr., Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura, Ren Narita, and Drilla Moloney were the other five men announced for the B Block.
The new IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions HENARE and Great-O-Khan have also been confirmed to be in the G1, being placed in separate blocks which have not yet been announced at the time of writing. The final places will be filled via a series of Play-In matches that will take place at the Korakuen Hall shows on the Road to the G1 Tour in the coming weeks. The tournament will then commence on July 11 at the NOW Arena just outside Chicago, Illinois, marking the first time since 2019 that the G1 tournament will begin in the United States.
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