Massive Main Event Set For NJPW G1 Climax 36 Kick Off In Chicago

By: Lewis Carlan

On July 11, the New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax 2026 kicks off in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates at the NOW Arena. This will be the 36th annual G1 Climax competition which is widely considered to be the most prestigious tournament in all of pro-wrestling.

The main event for the opening night of G1 Climax 36 will be a rematch of the Wrestle Kingdom 20 IWGP Heavyweight/IWGP Global Heavyweight double title match between Konosuke Takeshita and Yota Tsuji.

Photo Credit: New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Tsuji is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion and Takeshita will be looking to get a victory over Tsuji to gain a bit of revenge for his loss at Wrestle Kingdom 20. It won’t be easy for Takeshita as Tsuji is riding a wave of momentum and plans on continuing his winning ways.

Blue chip super rookie Aaron Wolf will participate in his first G1 Climax Tournament and in his inaugural match he will face the extremely dangerous HENARE.

Photo Credit: New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Wolf punched his ticket to G1 Climax 36 with a Block B Play-In victory over YOSHI-HASHI on June 23rd.

Here is the complete lineup of matches set for the G1 Climax 36 kickoff event:

• Main Event: G1 Climax – Block A: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs. Yota Tsuji
• Gl Climax – Block A: Oleg Boltin vs Ryohei Oiwa
• G1 Climax – Block B: Yuya Uemura vs. Callum Newman
• G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA
• G1 Climax – Block B: Shota Umino vs Zack Sabre Jr.
• G1 Climax – Block A: Yuto-Ice vs. Great-O-Khan
• G1 Climax – Block B: OSKAR vs. Ren Narita
• G1 Climax – Block A: Shingo Takagi vs. Jake Lee
• G1 Climax – Block B: Aaron Wolf vs. HENARE