Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 36 Night 13 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 36 Night Thirteen

August 8^th, 2026 | Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Kanagawa | Attendance: 2,741

B Block is in action as I, again, try to catch up.

B Block: Drilla Moloney [8] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [4]

ZSJ desperately need a win to remain alive as he’s sitting at the bottom of the block. Drilla was this year’s “start hot but cool off” guy, so you could kind of see the result here coming. ZSJ had a plan, cutting off any momentum that Drilla managed to start. He’d trap Drilla in a submission at almost every turn. Drilla responded with some power based offense, which he has become quite good at. Sabre avoided the devastating Drilla Killa multiple times before catching Drilla with a flash pin to get to six points after 18:29. A very good start to the show, though it lacked drama given how these G1s get booked. [***¼]

B Block: HENARE [8] vs. Yuya Uemura [6]

A win for Yuya puts him in a tie with a lot of people for second place, while HENARE could move into the top spot. This was just one of those matches that was missing something. The execution of everything was solid, with nothing coming off poorly. It just lacked the energy needed to feel like a big tournament match. Yuya attacked the arm and HENARE sold it well enough. There’s honestly not much else to say about this because it’s kind of the quintessential 6/10 bout. Yuya won with his finisher after a solid, yet unspectacular 15:06. [***]

B Block: Aaron Wolf [6] vs. Ren Narita [8]

Aaron Wolf’s young career has involved a lot of the House of Torture. Poor guy. That was the case here again, as this was trash from that stable. Dick Togo was all over the place, giving us a ton of shenanigans. He even jumped Wolf during his entrance, which set the tone for the rest of this match. The referee got taken out there, a Young Lion was involved in some spots, and the only real semblance of a match saw Ren target Wolf’s knee. The Double Cross gave Ren the submission win after 14:01. Sometimes, I really hate New Japan. [*]

B Block: Callum Newman [8] vs. OSKAR [8]

Gabe Kidd and Shota Umino were initially lined up to headline this show but with Shota on the shelf, this got the main event treatment. It’s not exactly a main event on paper but it matters for the standings as the winner would tie Gabe and Ren atop the block. This was relatively solid as a match. They played into the expected story of Callum trying to cut his larger opponent down to size. It wasn’t overly exciting but it made sense. I think the execution was off though as Callum’s selling was questionable and his offense didn’t look convincing against OSKAR. It was also clear that they had about 10 minutes in them but as a main event, they stretched it to 18:18. And you know Gedo probably tried his hardest to get this to 20+. The finish was also extremely weak as Callum hit a low blow and rolled OSKAR up to win. So, that’s a main event finish. [**¼]

 

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

4.0

The final score: review Poor

The 411

The weakest show of the tournament so far. We got a good opener and a solid second match, though neither was great. The last two matches were major swings and misses, dragging down the score.