Two new entrants qualify for NJPW G1 Climax
Yuto-Ice and Aaron Wolf are both set to compete in NJPW’s G1 Climax for the first time ever.
At a Road to G1 event on Tuesday, Yuto-Ice and Wolf won play-in matches to earn spots in the 2026 edition of the tournament. Yuto-Ice defeated Taichi to secure a place in A Block, while Wolf was added to the B Block field with a victory over YOSHI-HASHI.
Wolf, an Olympic gold medalist in judo, becomes the rare NJPW wrestler to participate in the G1 during their rookie year. He debuted at Wrestle Kingdom 20 this January, with NJPW banking on Wolf being a big part of the promotion’s roster going forward. He is already on his second reign as NEVER Openweight Champion.
Yuto-Ice needed to earn his way into the G1 through the play-in process after dropping the IWGP Tag Team titles to Great-O-Khan & HENARE at Dominion. His tag partner OSKAR also has a qualifying match coming up against Yujiro Takahashi on July 6.
The July 6 show includes El Phantasmo vs. Ryohei Oiwa and OSKAR vs. Takahashi to determine the final two entrants for the G1. The tournament begins on July 11 and runs through August 16, with bragging rights and a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (currently held by Yota Tsuji) at stake.
Here is the updated field:
NJPW G1 Climax 36 participants —
A Block:
- Konosuke Takeshita
- Yota Tsuji
- SANADA
- Shingo Takagi
- Jake Lee
- Oleg Boltin
- Hirooki Goto
- Great-O-Khan
- Yuto-Ice
- Winner of El Phantasmo vs. Ryohei Oiwa
B Block:
- Callum Newman
- Zack Sabre Jr.
- Shota Umino
- Yuya Uemura
- Ren Narita
- Drilla Moloney
- Gabe Kidd
- HENARE
- Aaron Wolf
- Winner of Yujiro Takahashi vs. OSKAR
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.