7 Things You Need To Know About NJPW's American Expansion
5. The First Two Shows
NJPW’s G1 Climax Special in USA shows will take place in Long Beach, California on July 1st and 2nd. Acting as a prelude to the company’s signature G1 Climax tournament, the events are set to feature some of their biggest stars in Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, and Tetsuya Naito.
They won’t be treated like house shows, but major events in their own right. The IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships will both be defended, and fans can expect match quality to be right up there with New Japan’s biggest pay-per-view events. Full line-ups are still to be announced, of course, but given the names revealed thus far, it looks like the company are treating G1 Climax Special very, very seriously.
Hype is through the roof, too. Tickets sold-out within two hours of going on sale on April 1st, despite the lack of match announcements. Further seats were released in May, and these were gone in just a couple of minutes, but those who can’t attend will be able to catch the event live on NJPW World.
There’s no word on exactly how many tickets have been sold, but the company were scouting 1,000-seat venues towards the end of 2016, so it’s probably somewhere in that region.