wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 36 Night 12 Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW G1 Climax 36 Night Twelve
August 6th, 2026 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,494
It’s Korakuen Hall, so it should be a big show.
A Block: SANADA [4] vs. Yuto-Ice [6]
SANADA sported his old gear from AJPW, which plays into Yuto-Ice saying that one of the first matches he ever saw was SANADA in AJPW. Cool. As for the match, it was pretty standard. None of the action was grabbing me and then Yoshinobu Kanemaru got involved, handing SANADA a guitar. He was a bit torn on using it but ended up hitting Yuto with it. From there, we got some typical House of Torture antics. The finish saw Yuto get knocked out, so SANADA laid down with him. He kipped up at the count of 8 and Yuto didn’t for a comedic ending at the 8:10 mark. Meh. [**]
A Block: Great-O-Khan [4] vs. Jake Lee [4]
Great-O-Khan tried to jump Lee during his entrance, causing Lee to bail. They did some brawling before the bell and once the match actually started, it was kept short. A chair got brought in and Lee pulled an Eddie Guerrero where he pretended to get hit by it. The referee actually disqualified Great-O-Khan. A dumb finish considering how often referees hold back on calling a DQ in this tournament but keeping these two down to 1:47 is a win in my book. [NR]
A Block: Hirooki Goto [4] vs. Ryohei Oiwa [6]
Oiwa was back to taking his opponents to HEADLOCK CITY BITCH. It’s an idea that I’ve liked in the tournament so far, especially when he mixes in other aspects. My issue here was that he really just stuck to the headlock. It’s basically all he did and it killed the momentum at points. It didn’t help that Goto’s attempts to escape the headlock involved him throwing some really soft looking elbows. That’s not something I usually see from Goto, who is known for hitting hard. When Goto got going, this was a bit better, yet it never teased being as good as it could’ve or should’ve been. That said, the crowd liked this all much more than I did. When Oiwa hit a headbutt and went back to the headlock, they kind of erupted. Goto was trapped and had to submit in 8:51. Good ideas, just a bit off in terms of execution. [***]
A Block: Konosuke Takeshita [10] vs. Shingo Takagi [6]
These two met at Wrestle Kingdom (****¼) and the G1 last year (****½). This was more of the same between these two. It followed the known New Japan formula of two dudes just wailing on each other and I know that’s not for everyone, but it’s something I like if the people involved are great, which we had here. I do think the section where they brawled outside missed the mark. It was different from past bouts they had but not better. Everything in the ring worked, though. They went from stiff strikes into bigger moves like Pumping Bomber, big boots, and Takeshita delivering his own take on Made in Japan. As they laid into each other, Takeshita developed a rough bruise on his eye, showing just how rough these shots were. The crowd chanted for Shingo, which led to a great closing stretch where he hit the Burning Dragon and Last of the Dragon to take the win in 19:44. Great stuff and a big win for Shingo, though my least favorite of their matches together. [****]
A Block: Boltin Oleg [8] vs. Yota Tsuji [8]
One of the best things about Yota Tsuji in this tournament is how the crowd responds to him. As the top guy, the fans seem to rally behind almost anyone he faces for the sheer hope of seeing someone topple him. It helped here that Boltin Oleg has been on a tear and delivering great matches, making it even easier to get behind him. They went hard from the opening bell, giving the impression that it wasn’t going to be a long match. I liked Yota targeting the midsection as it sets up the Gene Blaster and prevents Boltin would doing his own finisher. I thought Boltin did a great job of selling, even when he struggled to hit his gutwrench suplex combo. Yota found Boltin tough to keep down and had to resort to stuff like a giant swing, which isn’t usually in his repertoire. A Gene Blaster off the apron was a pretty big spot. Boltin refused to stay down though, busting out the Kamikaze and getting on a roll. He eventually hit some powerbombs and then an avalanche Kamikaze to pull off the massive upset in 24:35. Probably the match of the tournament to this point. An epic main event in front of a hot crowd and featuring an intriguing result. [****½]
| A Block | Points | B Block | Points |
| Konosuke Takeshita | 10 (5-2) | Gabe Kidd | 10 (5-2) |
| Boltin Oleg | 10 (5-2) | HENARE | 8 (4-2) |
| Yota Tsuji | 8 (4-3) | Drilla Moloney | 8 (4-3) |
| Ryohei Oiwa | 8 (4-3) | Callum Newman | 8 (4-2) |
| Shingo Takagi | 8 (4-3) | OSKAR | 8 (4-3) |
| Yuto-Ice | 6 (3-4) | Ren Narita | 8 (4-2) |
| SANADA | 6 (3-4) | Yuya Uemura | 6 (3-3) |
| Jake Lee | 6 (3-4) | Aaron Wolf | 6 (3-3) |
| Hirooki Goto | 4 (2-5) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 4 (2-4) |
| Great-O-Khan | 4 (2-5) | Shota Umino | 0 (0-9) Injured |
