AEW Star Included In This Year's NJPW G1 Climax Line-Up

This former NJPW title holder is heading to the G1 later this year.

by Andrew Pollard
Lance Archer NJPW G1 Climax 2022
NJPW

With New Japan Pro Wrestling having announced the competitors for this year's G1 Climax during the ongoing NJPW Dominion event, AEW star Lance Archer has been listed amongst the 28 men who will do battle in this month-long tournament. This marks Archer's first involvement in the G1 since 2019.

The Murderhawk Monster has plenty of previous with New Japan, having been a regular fixture of the promotion from 2011 to 2015, then returning to the fold in 2017 up until he signed with AEW in early 2020. Even then, Archer has returned to the NJPW banner with appearances on NJPW Strong during his AEW tenure. The powerhouse is a two-time IWGP United States Champion, won the IWGP Tag Team Championships three times with Davey Boy Smith Jr., and also won the G1 Tag League in 2011 with Minoru Suzuki.

In other notable G1 Climax news, 'Filthy' Tom Lawlor, JONAH, David Finlay, El Phantasmo and Aaron Henare will all be making their G1 bows this year.

Commencing on 16 July, the 32nd G1 Climax will consist of four blocks of seven wrestlers who will square off against one another. From there, the top wrestler in each block will advance to a semi-final, with the G1 final then taking place on 18 August. As ever, the winner of the tournament will cement themselves a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Title at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in January.

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While the blocks have yet to be announced, the full line-up for this year's G1 Climax is as follows:

- Kazuchika Okada

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- Tama Tonga

- Hiroshi Tanahashi

- Tom Lawlor

- JONAH

- YOSHI-HASHI

- Hirooki Goto

- Toru Yano

- Tomohiro Ishii

- Jeff Cobb

- Great-O-Khan

- Will Ospreay

- Aaron Henare

- Shingo Takagi

- SANADA

- Tetsuya Naito

- Jay White

- EVIL

- KENTA

- Yujiro Takahashi

- Bad Luck Fale

- Chase Owens

- Juice Robinson

- Taichi

- Zack Sabre Jr.

- Lance Archer

- David Finlay

- El Phantasmo

Last year's G1 was won by Kazuchika Okada, with him then going on to defeat Shingo Takagi for the IWGP Heavyweight Title on Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 16, before then defeating Will Ospreay to retain that prize on the following night.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.