NJPW reveals 2017 G1 Climax field: Kota Ibushi, ZSJ, more
Kota Ibushi is among the participants in this year’s G1 Climax.
New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the field for the tournament during this morning’s Kizuna Road show at Korakuen Hall. Ibushi was listed as one of the entrants, with him competing as himself instead of as the Tiger Mask W character that he’s been playing.
Ibushi began wrestling as Tiger Mask W in NJPW last October following his appearances in the Cruiserweight Classic and Dusty Rhodes tag team tournament for WWE. The last time that he wrestled in NJPW and wasn’t under the mask was in 2015.
Zack Sabre Jr. is also set to appear in his first G1 Climax, which Dave Meltzer had reported would be the case earlier this year.
NJPW has yet to reveal the blocks or the match schedule for the G1, but those announcements will come at the Kizuna Road shows on June 26th and 27th. When the blocks are announced on the 26th, we’ll know if anticipated matches like Ibushi vs. Kenny Omega or Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada are scheduled if they’re in the same block.
The full lineup for the 2017 G1 Climax is:
- Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Togi Makabe
- Michael Elgin
- Kazuchika Okada
- Hirooki Goto
- Tomohiro Ishii
- Toru Yano
- YOSHI-HASHI
- Kenny Omega
- Bad Luck Fale
- Tama Tonga
- Tetsuya Naito
- SANADA
- EVIL
- Satoshi Kojima
- Yuji Nagata (Nagata has announced that this will be his last G1)
- Juice Robinson
- Minoru Suzuki
- Zack Sabre Jr.
- Kota Ibushi
The tournament begins on July 17th and concludes on August 13th, with the A Block winner facing the B Block winner on the final day. If Okada doesn’t win, the tournament winner will receive a briefcase (which they usually defend a couple of times) to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at next year’s Tokyo Dome show on January 4th.