Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 36 Night 11 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 36 Night Eleven

August 2^nd, 2026 | Fukuoka Convention Center in Fukuoka, Japan | Attendance: 2,306

I’m almost caught up! Still trying to keep these relatively short while getting my points across, since I have a lot going on with these tournaments.

B Block: Aaron Wolf [4] vs. Drilla Moloney [8]

I thought this was a good opener. Both guys are similarly positioned on the roster and it felt like they were fighting hard to stand out. Wolf continues to be a solid worker and while he hasn’t had a breakout match, he’s pretty consistent. Drilla took control with a piledriver onto the floor, putting Wolf on the defensive. He eventually rallied with his array of judo stuff. It helps him stand out from the rest. Ultimately, Wolf’s comeback led to him delivering the Angle Slam for the win after 13:11. Just some good, solid stuff here and a wise way to kick things off here. [***¼]

B Block: OSKAR [8] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [2]

Sabre needs to basically win out to have any hope of advancing. I could see him doing it and at least being in contention on the final night. That made the outcome here pretty obvious as him at 2 points and OSKAR at 10 would’ve been weird and we know Gedo’s booking tropes for these G1s at this point. Anyway, they still managed to go out there and have a thoroughly enjoyable match. Their clash of styles played well as OSKAR used his size to throw Sabre around, but of course, Sabre responded by targeting the leg after a missed leg drop. Sabre picked him apart and we had some good counters late before Sabre tapped him out to one of his odd yet vicious submissions. He literally had all of OSKAR’s limbs tied up, winning in 15:58. A strong match that would’ve cracked four stars with more drama. [***¾]

B Block: Ren Narita [6] vs. Yuya Uemura [6]

Ren Narita is on the list of people who just consistently have bad G1 matches, like Great-O-Khan, this year. Yuya is on the opposite end. They worked closer to Yuya’s usual output than Ren’s. This wasn’t the typical interference-riddled House of Torture match and it reminded the world that Ren is pretty good when Gedo isn’t being Gedo. There was still interference here, yet it was kept to a minimum, as it should be. Especially in the G1. Each guy targeted a body part and worked it while having some solid exchanges. Ren actually used that leg work for his finish, winning via submission in 20:00. Solid stuff here, though it really didn’t need 20 minutes. [***]

B Block: Gabe Kidd [8] vs. HENARE [8]

The winner becomes the first person to 10 points and takes the lead in B Block. This was kind of a typical HENARE match in that it was two dudes wailing on each other. Chops, lariats, strike exchanges, and eventually bigger moves. I say this often because he made them famous but it felt like the kind of match Tomohiro Ishii would’ve been involved in years back. It was on pace to be as great as one of those but this is New Japan and Gedo might literally implode if he doesn’t have the main event go longer than it needs to. This was ideal for a 13-16 minute match but it had to go at least 20. That gave them time to introduce a table and that section, along with most of the final few minutes, just didn’t work for me. Kidd won with a piledriver in 20:35. Could’ve been something that would’ve made my year-end top 100 but New Japan got in its own way here. [***¾] 

A Block	Points	B Block	Points
Konosuke Takeshita	10 (5-1)	Gabe Kidd	10 (5-2)
Yota Tsuji	8 (4-2)	HENARE	8 (4-2)
Boltin Oleg	8 (4-2)	Drilla Moloney	8 (4-3)
Ryohei Oiwa	6 (3-3)	Callum Newman	8 (4-2)
Shingo Takagi	6 (3-3)	OSKAR	8 (4-3)
Yuto-Ice	6 (3-3)	Ren Narita	8 (4-2)
SANADA	4 (2-4)	Yuya Uemura	6 (3-3)
Hirooki Goto	4 (2-4)	Aaron Wolf	6 (3-3)
Jake Lee	4 (2-4)	Zack Sabre Jr.	4 (2-4)
Great-O-Khan	4 (2-4)	Shota Umino	0 (0-9) Injured

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

While I don’t think anything on this card is must-see, I will take this from New Japan. A consistently good show where all four matches were worth checking out is rare.