At-large invitations to the 2024 J1 SUMMIT

When GM Sano announced that some wrestlers who were previous champions in MAX-J would receive invitations to the J1 SUMMIT, the fans did a deep dive into the history books to determine who exactly among active competitors would receive an invitation. Of wrestlers believed to still be active on the scene, the following list was concluded:

- ZENKI (MAX Heavyweight Champion)

- METAL HERO (MAX Jr. Heavyweight Champion, World Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion)

- AJ Knight (World Tag Team Champion)

- Hayato Hamada (World Tag Team Champion)

- Earth Warrior (World Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion)

ZENKI has already stepped forward to claim his invitation. Additionally, we can report through an intermediary that METAL HERO and Earth Warrior - who are busy preparing for their V4 defense of the World Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship - have also claimed their invitations. Likewise, Falcon Hamada will also reportedly accept his invitation.

But what about the other wrestlers recognized as former MAX champions?

- Tiger Mask Red (whose World Tag Title reign under the alias Eli Buchanan is recognized) has recently signed on to the GLOBAL HEROES program and is expected to accept.

- AJ Knight, also a former World Tag Team Champion, is certainly active these days but MAX officials are still waiting to hear back regarding his status.

- Matt Pulver has kept a low-profile lately, though MAX officials are reaching out to him to try and entice the decorated fighter to travel to Tokyo. Pulver is highly respected in MAX circles due to the fact that he is also the 2017 Sword of Lite Grand Prix winner - the tournament used to establish the MAX-J Jr. Heavyweight Championship - accomplishing a significant victory in the tournament final of triumphing over none other than Demon Lord ZENKI.

- While Chris Ravenna was spotted in attendance at GRAPPLING SONATA in Okinawa, Japan, there has not been any official contact with MAX-J from what our sources tell us.

- One of the more interesting names on this list was Alexander Irvine. As a three-time World Tag Team Champion, he is more than qualified, but many believed that he had left the pro-wrestling scene. Apparently, however, he was recently spotted in Sasebo, Japan and there are rumors that he will appear on a USA-Japan friendship event to be held at some point in July. While his participation has not been confirmed, images circulating around the web show a man that continues to look as though he were in his prime and certainly someone who could be a participant.

Regarding all of these individuals, we'll have more updates as we hear more.

Given that the 2024 tournament is expected to be the grandest of them all, we should expect to hear more in the future for opportunities for entrants who are not on the above list. In fact, we've received a rumor that something is planned for 6/28 that will have tournament implications that could be a sign of things to come. However, we don't have any current guarantees in what is being kept under wraps and slowly being released thus far.