page_title: G1 Special in USA
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: G1 Special in USA / Production / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Long Beach Arena
context_page_description: G1 Special in USA was a two-day professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The two shows took place on July 1 and 2, 2017, in Long Beach, California, United States at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. These were the first NJPW shows that the promotion had produced independently in the U.S. NJPW crowned the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion during the weekend. The event's name refers to the annual G1 Climax tournament as these shows also served as a prelude to the 2017 G1 Climax.
context_section_description: In December 2016, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) was planning to hold the first two nights of the 2017 G1 Climax in the United States with New England-based wrestling personality George Carroll and wrestler Rocky Romero reportedly doing ground work for the dates in Long Beach, California. On January 4, 2017, during Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, NJPW officially announced the shows for July 1 and 2, 2017, taking place at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. These shows, however, would not be part of the G1 Climax, but would instead serve as a prelude to the tournament, which would take place between July 17 and August 13. The shows would mark the first time NJPW presented shows in the United States independently, as opposed to partnering with an American promotion. NJPW had previously partnered with Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) for the NJPW Invasion Tour 2011 and since 2014 they have been partnered with Ring of Honor (ROH), co-producing shows annually in North America.
  After announcing the Long Beach shows, NJPW went public with their plan of an American expansion, which included establishing a subsidiary and running extended tours in the United States with California as the base, while also establishing a dojo for training Americans in Los Angeles, run by Rocky Romero. The full-scale running of the American market was set to launch in 2018. According to NJPW owner Takaaki Kidani, the plan was a direct response to WWE taking four wrestlers, including AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, from NJPW in January 2016. Tickets for the shows as well as meet-and-greets were put on sale on April 1 and sold out within hours, despite NJPW not having announced any matches for the two shows. Tickets were purchased in 37 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. Three days later, NJPW announced the first group of wrestlers taking part in the event; Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kenny Omega. In May, NJPW put additional seats for the shows on sale, which were also quickly sold out. NJPW later claimed that the original tickets sold out in two hours and the additional tickets in two minutes.
  On May 12, during the third night of the NJPW and ROH co-produced War of the Worlds tour in New York City, it was announced that NJPW would hold a tournament to crown the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion during the G1 Special in USA weekend. It was also announced that both the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships would be defended during the weekend. On May 18, NJPW held a press conference in Los Angeles to announce further details for the shows. This included the addition of 36 wrestlers to the shows, including Jay Lethal, The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) and War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) from ROH and Dragon Lee, Titán and Volador Jr. from the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion. It was also announced that both the IWGP Tag Team and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships would be defended during the weekend in addition to the previously announced titles.
  The two shows would air live through NJPW's internet streaming site, NJPW World, with English commentary. However, the first night would only air live outside of the United States, where both nights air on the AXS TV network; the first night live and the second night on tape delay on July 7. The English commentary for the shows would be provided by Jim Ross and Josh Barnett. On June 21, the Canadian Fight Network announced that it would also air the first night live.
  On June 12, NJPW announced the full card for the first night as well as a partial card for the second night. The full card for night two was revealed after the conclusion of night one. The release of the cards brought with them some negative reactions, mostly centered around American wrestlers Cody and Billy Gunn receiving shots at the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships, respectively.
caption: Long Beach Arena, part of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center
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