A huge night in Japan for NJPW Dominion that saw lots of news, but one of the biggest was the triple announcements throughout the night of three huge additions to the 2019 G1 Climax Series, that kicks off July 6 in Dallas, Texas, bringing the total number of names announced to 15 (NJPW hasn’t officially announced the entrants, just those who have are slated to appear during the show). Five potential spots remain for this year’s G1 Climax, which was won last year by Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Following his victory over Young Lion Shota Umino in the opening match, Jon Moxley – who won the IWGP United States Championship earlier this week in his NJPW debut – declared himself as an entrant into this year’s G1 Climax.
❗️❗️❗️ “Jon Moxley wants in the G1.” ❗️❗️❗️ pic.twitter.com/3iYzrz2kfM
— SI Wrestling (@SI_wrestling) June 9, 2019
The next entrant was revealed when Shingo Takagi of Los Ingobernables de Japon declared his entry into this year’s G1 Climax, a week removed from being one of the highlights of this year’s Best of Super Juniors.
.@Takagi__Shingo wants in the G1 CLIMAX 29!?
Stay tuned to https://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP鷹木信悟（@Takagi__Shingo ）がG1 CLIMAX 29への参加を表明！？#新日本プロレスワールド 登録＆視聴▶︎https://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP #njpw #njpwworld #njdominion #G129 pic.twitter.com/ssUxAAtYFB
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) June 9, 2019
But the biggest surprise came later in the show when former New Japan star Katsuyori Shibata came out to introduce New Japan’s newest signing, former NOAH Ace KENTA (previously known as Hideo Itami in WWE), and that he was also entering the G1 Climax. KENTA has only appeared in a New Japan ring on two previous occasions – once as part of a joint co-promotion with All Japan and NOAH called All Together in 2011, and before that in a singles match against Wataru Inoue at NJPW Cross Road in 2002.
【6.9大阪城ホール大会・第6試合後】
会場騒然！柴田勝頼とも共にヒデオ・イタミことKENTAが登場！
「『G1』でお会いしましょう！」『G1 CLIMAX』参戦をアピール！
新日本プロレス・スマホサイトで独占詳報中！https://t.co/Ywg9h8oI8g #njpw #njdominion pic.twitter.com/Nkn7uk5Q7E— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) June 9, 2019
Here’s is the full list of 15 names in this year’s G1 Climax event, as announced by New Japan (official entry into G1 to be announced at a later date, but expect a sizable amount of these names to be officially entered).
- EVIL
- Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Jay White
- Jeff Cobb
- Jon Moxley
- Juice Robinson
- Jushin Thunder Liger
- Kazuchika Okada
- KENTA
- Kota Ibushi
- Lance Archer
- SANADA
- Shingo Takagi
- Tetsuya Naito
- Tomohiro Ishii
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Make sure to watch NJPW Dominion on NJPW World
