NJPW reveals IWGP Committee members
NJPW has named five members to its IWGP Committee, a group that oversees championship matches and tournaments in the promotion.
The restructured group was announced by NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi at the company’s pre-G1 Climax press conference. Tanahashi said that, while the committee has always been a vague concept to fans, he wants the audience to understand more about it. The committee will consist of the following five people:
- Former IWGP Champion Yuji Nagata
- NJPW legend Jushin Thunder Liger
- Former referee Tiger Hattori
- NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi
- NJPW board member Hitoshi Matsumoto
Tanahashi said the committee members will work closely with NJPW’s wrestlers and referees. There is no committee president, but group members “will attend various events and be on hand whenever required for decisions in [the] future.”
In December of last year, Tanahashi was named the new president of NJPW. He still competes in the ring but isn’t part of NJPW’s G1 Climax this year, marking the first time he hasn’t been in the tournament since 2001. Tanahashi lost to Oleg Boltin in NJPW’s G1 qualifier tournament.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.