MLW: What is the N-1 Victory Tournament?

MLW’s Alexander Hammerstone prepares for the biggest challenge of his career, but what exactly is the N-1 Victory tournament?

Last week, Court Bauer’s Major League Wrestling made another splash in the pro wrestling world, announcing a new partnership with Japan’s Pro Wrestling NOAH. At the same time, National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone will represent MLW in the 2019 N-1 Victory Tournament. As big a step as this to establish MLW on a world stage, it does beg the question: What is the N-1 Victory Tournament?

The N-1, formerly known as the Global League Tournament, was first established in 2010. The tournament operates much like New Japan’s similarly named G1 Climax. Ten men, split into two blocks of five, will compete in a round-robin format. A match win earns the victor two points, while a 30-minute time-limit draw earns both competitors one point apiece.

After all block matches are completed, point totals determine block champions. A-Block and B-Block winners will then compete with the winner earning a title match against Kaito Kiyomiya, for the Global Honor Crown (GHC), at November’s Ryogoku Kokugikan event. Hammerstone joins Dragon Gate’s Masaaki Mochizuki and El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. as non-NOAH competitors, giving the tournament a more international feel.

Pro Wrestling NOAH was created by the legendary Mitsuharu Misawa in 2000, after leading a main-event talent exodus from All Japan Pro Wrestling. NOAH had previous, recent partnerships with IMPACT and New Japan and most famously in the late-2000s with Ring of Honor, leading to a series of legendary matches between Takeshi Morishima and Brian Danielson (Daniel Bryan). Previous winners of the Global League include Morishima, MMA legend Yoshihiro Takayama, New Japan’s Yuji Nagata, Minoru Suzuki and KENTA.

The tournament is set to begin August 18 and will culminate on September 16 in Edion Arena Osaka.