New Japan’s G1 Summer Tournament Kicks Off A Huge Weekend of Wrestling + New AEW Rules For Wrestlers & More – Squared Circle Pit

If you were looking for the perfect moment to start getting into New Japan Pro Wrestling, this weekend is the perfect time to dive in. That’s because it’s the start of their annual, prestigious G-1 Climax tournament. In my opinion, this is the best tournament of the year in all of pro-wrestling. This is where some of the best matches of the year will happen. To sweeten the pot, the first two nights of the tournament will be streaming for free on NJPWworld.com, with no sign up required.

Here’s a look at the matches happening this weekend:

The tournament features four blocks of eight men (32 wrestlers total). It’s a round-robin style tournament, meaning each person in the block faces the other seven competitors in their block in 30-minute time limit matches. There is a point system, two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss. The top two scoring wrestlers in each block will enter into an eight-man three night tournament to determine who will be the winner of the G1.

What does the winner get? Besides their name in history, the winner is guaranteed a title shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at New Japan’s biggest event of the year, Wrestle Kingdom, on January 4th, 2024. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Of the matches in the graphic above, the ones that will definitely be worth going out of your way to see (if you only have limited time) would be Will Ospreay vs. Taichi, Okada vs. O-khan, Kiyomiya vs. Tsuji, shii vs. Finlay, Tanahashi vs. Zack and definitely Eddie Kingston vs. Shingo Takagi.

Here is the footage of the press conference earlier today:

What else is on TV this weekend?

There’s so much wrestling on TV. Let’s get through these lineups.

Smackdown kicks things off tonight at 8pm on Fox:

• WWE Women’s Champion Asuka defends against Bianca Belair
• Jey Uso is on a warpath after issuing challenge to Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns last week
• United States Championship Invitational match: AJ Styles vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Grayson Waller
• Sheamus & Ridge Holland vs. Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince)

AEW Rampage is tonight at 10pm on TNT:

• Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament semifinal: Athena vs. Willow Nightingale
• Konosuke Takeshita in action
• Lance Archer vs. Trent Beretta
• Dark Order speak
• Toni Storm speaks
• Naturally Limitless (Dustin Rhodes & Keith Lee) vs. Matt Menard & Angelo Parker

There’s a fun GCW show tonight as well.

AEW Collision is Saturday night at 8pm on TNT:

• AEW Tag Team titles: FTR defend against Jay White & Juice Robinson
• Men’s Owen Hart Tournament final: CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks
• The finals of the Owen Hart Cup women’s division

AEW has an extra hour on Saturday with Battle of the Belts VII at 10pm on TNT:

• TNT Championship: Luchasaurus defends against Shawn Spears

Impact Wrestling has their annual Slammiversary PPV this Saturday at 8pm, with a free pre-show on Youtube.

• Impact World Champion Alex Shelley vs. Nick Aldis
• Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo vs. Trinity
• X-Division Champion Chris Sabin vs. Lio Rush
• Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) vs. Sami Callihan & Rich Swann vs. Brian Myers & Moose vs. Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews)
• Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) vs. Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly
• Bully Ray & Deaner vs. Scott D’Amore & TBA with former NHL player Darren McCarty as special enforcer
• Ultimate X match: Mike Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Angels vs. Kevin Knight vs. KUSHIDA
• Frankie Kazarian vs. Eddie Edwards
• Countdown to Slammiversary: Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry defends against Kenny King
• Countdown to Slammiversary: The Death Dollz (Courtney Rush & Jessicka) & Jody Threat vs. Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans & Jai Vidal

Holy moly, there’s also AAA Triplemania Tijuana on Saturday on FITE with an insane main event:

• AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo w/Don Callis defends against Kenny Omega
• LA Park & Rush vs. Sam Adonis & Psycho Clown in the Guerra de Rivalidades tournament. The losing team will wrestle in a mask vs. hair match at Triplemania: Mexico City on 8/12
• Pentagon Jr & Laredo Kid vs. QT Marshall & Taurus in a Lucha de Ambulancia match
• Team Chilango (Dana, Argenis, Chessman, & Negro Casas) w/Aczino vs. Team Baja (Nicho el Millionario, Damian 666, Rey Horus, & Xtreme Tiger) w/UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno
• Aramis, Jack Evans & Vampiro vs. Pagano, Bestia 666 & Mega Wolf
• Sexy Star, Lady Shani, & Dalys vs. Kamille, Viva Van, & Natalia Markova
• Copa Triplemania entrants: Willie Mack, Mr. Iguana, Jack Cartwheel, La Hiedra, Flammer, Myzteziz, Luchador Sorpresa, Puma King, Nino Hamburguesa, Dinamico, & Gringo Loco

Also, Saturday and Sunday will see the first two nights of the NJPW G1 classic as previewed above!

So there are a ton of options for pro wrestling this weekend!

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AEW tells wrestlers of new list of banned moves

AEW sent out a memo to pro wrestlers featuring a list of moves and actions that will no longer be allowed on their programming. Additionally, other high-risk moves will require approval from management. This is being done to keep the wrestlers safe, keep the fans safe, avoid repetition on the show, and avoid any lawsuits.

Fightful Select was the first to report the news, and it was confirmed by PWInsider. The list of moves not  “allowed under any circumstances” that are “prohibited for your safety, safety of the staff and crew, safety of our fans, and compliance with laws and venue requirements” are:

• Unprotected shots to the head
• Shots to the back of the head
• Buckle bombs/Blind moves backward into the turnbuckle
• Fencing response/seizure sells
• Spitting
• Blood in the crowd
• Weapons in the crowd
• Taking drinks or food from guests in the crowd
• Physical contact with the crowd

The following would require approval from management. The memo notes these are moves and actions “that cannot be utilized unless approved by the company’s medical team and the producer/coach of the match involved (meaning both sides must be in accordance on approving it, not one or the other) and that the moves can only be utilized within the safety protocols advised to talents.” This list includes:

• Spots and bumps on the ring apron and outside
• Table/ladder/chair spots in and out of the ring (Only allowed with padding)
• Any elevated spots outside of the barricades (dives and ladder spots on stage, around the arena, and other places outside of the ring)
• All piledriver/tombstone variations, including sit-down drivers, inverted/poison hurricanrana and vertabreakers
• High-risk dives or top rope moves (450, 630, double moonsaults, etc.)
• Intentional bleeding
• Throwing people into/through/over ring steps, commentary table, bell table, or guardrails/barricades
• Weapon usage: Chairs, pipes, kendo sticks, hammers, ring bells, bats, chains, etc. Title belts. Thumbtacks, skewers, barbed wire, and other sharp/puncturing objects. Powders, aerosol sprays, or liquids
• Throwing any weapons or objects: chairs, etc.
• Choking/strangling with hands or a weapon or hanging spots
• Injury spots or angles, whether or not medical is involved/called to the ring
• Any physicality in the crowd or crowd brawling
• Any physicality involving referees, managers, extras, celebrities, or special guests

 Personally, I think this is a solid move by AEW that will only increase the longevity of their performers and prevent repetitive high-risk moves from airing on TV.

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More Wrestling News

Fightful Select reports that Warner reps are telling AEW they are interested in AEW running 12 pay-per-views a year. WBD is really happy with AEW’s ratings and the negotiations are ongoing with expectations that AEW will see a large increase in TV rights fees.

Mercedes Mone is still recovering from her ankle injury but is expected to have a match with Gulia when she recovers, according to Dave Meltzer. There is no timetable for her return yet. Moné is expected to be at the Impact Slammiversary, attending to support her girl Trinity, and will likely not appear on camera.

Meltzer also noted that Seth Rollins is expected to face Finn Balor at SummerSlam.

RIP former WWF star Mike Halac aka Mantaur, one of the more memorable cheesy gimmicks of the era. He was 55.

Undertaker has announced new dates for his 1 deadMan live speaking show with stops in Louisville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. More info here.

Brian Pillman Jr.’s contract expired with AEW earlier in the week. He was spotted at the WWE Performance Center shortly after. I would not be surprised to see him pop up on NXT.

Big E spoke about his partner Xavier Woods on “After The Bell with Corey Graves,” saying “Outside of the ring, this man has created jobs. He’s created a gaming channel that brought the locker room together,” Big E noted. He added that it “got the boys and the girls paydays … I don’t think we will really understand the impact that he’s had on the industry [because] much of it might be behind closed doors.”

Wrestling Oberver’s Andrew Zarian reports that AEW All In is currently scheduled to be a pay per view. There are talks to offer it as a bundle with the All Out PPV scheduled for the following week. Zarian notes that fans who want to see AEW live on Max will have to wait as the Max app does not have the capability to deliver live sports programming yet, but its something they are working on.

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