NJPW unveils  blocks for G1 Climax featuring returning Bullet Club stars, current champions, and more

On Night 2 of NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam, New Japan Pro Wrestling finally announced the blocks for this year's G1 Climax. The promotion took to Twitter to reveal participants for both the A Block and the B Block.

Starting things with the A Block, former world champions Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito will be joining the reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Shingo Takagi.

The likes of Tomohiro Ishii, Zack Sabre Jr., and the returning KENTA are among other notable names who will be a part of the A Block.

Here's the A Block for this year's G1 Climax:

G1 CLIMAX 31 ENTRANTS REVEALED!A Block:Kota IbushiTomohiro IshiiToru YanoShingo TakagiTetsuya NaitoZack Sabre Jr.Great-O-KhanKENTATanga LoaYujiro Takahashihttps://t.co/BeEP2o4JjF#njpw #g131 pic.twitter.com/yL2tBKPA7b

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) September 5, 2021

Over on the B Block, marquee names such as Kazuchika Okada and IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi will be favorites to win.

Bullet Club's Tama Tonga and EVIL are also part of B Block. Whereas red-hot Jeff Cobb has also been included in the same block after his recent win over Okada on Night 1 of the Wrestle Grand Slam.

Here's the B Block for this year's G1 Climax:

G1 CLIMAX 31 ENTRANTS REVEALED!B Block:Hiroshi TanahashiKazuchika OkadaHirooki GotoYOSHI-HASHISANADATaichiTama TongaEVILJeff CobbChase Owenshttps://t.co/BeEP2o4JjF#njpw #G131 pic.twitter.com/vAgt4D1bJN

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) September 5, 2021

Which NJPW stars are the favorites to win this year's G1 Climax?

Heading into this year's G1 Climax 31, Shingo Takagi will be one of the favorites to win the entire tournament. Whereas both Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada will aim to get back into the world title picture and could do so by adding another G1 Climax trophy to their collection.

The likes of Jeff Cobb, Kota Ibushi, KENTA, and Tetsuya Naito will also be favorites to win this year's tournament. Despite the absence of some of NJPW's biggest stars from this year's G1 Climax, the two blocks remain quite stacked.

NEVER Openweight Champion, Jay White is arguably the biggest absentee from G1 Climax 31. The Bullet Club frontrunner is currently in the US and will instead be busy competing on the upcoming NJPW Autumn Attack cards.