Sambus’ NJPW G1 Climax 36 Night 18 Review 08.15.26

NJPW G1 Climax 36 Night 18

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Venue: Ryogoku Sumo Hall

Commentators: Walker Stewart & Chris Charlton

Konosuke Takeshita, Taichi, El Desperado & Ryusuke Taguchi vs House of Torture (SHO, DOUKI, SANADA & Ren Narita)

I’ll just go for quick-fire thoughts on these undercard matches. Desperado gets worked over at ringside and driven nuts-first into the ring post. DOUKI and SHO stretch out the limbs of Desperado until Takeshita tags in, flying forearm to SANADA. Takeshita with Exploders to most of the HoT, hurracanrana to Narita. Tope con hilo wipes out all of House of Torture on the outside. Dick Togo comes in with the wire to choke Takeshita; Taichi makes the save, double big boot to DOUKI. SHO looks for a brainbuster, but Takeshita reverses and hits his own. SANADA and Taichi trade strikes; axe bomber lariat knocks SANADA down. Taguchi and Narita in, kneebar attempt, Taguchi into the ankle lock though. Triple teaming on Taguchi, back to the kneebar by Narita, Taguchi gets the ropes. Running hip attack, Taguchi covers, 2 count. Taguchi goes to pull his tights down and shove his ass in the face of Narita, but a ref distraction allows Narita to hit a low blow and deliver the Double Cross to pick up the 1, 2, 3.

Winners: House of Torture

Time: 9:17

Rating: ** – By the numbers, multi-man tag, completely inoffensive, and I’m much less bothered about the usual House of Torture interference and cheating in this kind of environment.

*Post-match, the House of Torture all stomp Takeshita down and wave someone to come out. AND IT’S SHUN SKYWALKER! Great pop for his NJPW debut. Takeshita is held back as Skywalker takes a mic to mention that he has joined the House of Torture. Well, that’s a good way to freshen up HoT, even if I would have greatly preferred Skywalker got to do his own thing here in New Japan.

 

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Drilla Moloney & Daiki Nagai vs Gabe Kidd & Wheeler Yuta

Armdrags from Yuta as we begin, senton to Moloney. Yuta takes Moloney off the apron and works over Nagai along with Kidd with a double back body drop. Nagai hits a dropkick in the corner, gets dragged to the outside by Kidd, and runs into the ring post. Kidd body-slams Nagai, spits on Nagai, spits at Moloney, and then takes a second to taunt the crowd. Yuta rebounds back into the ring, looks for a German; Nagai counters with a spinebuster. Drilla in, but he tosses Yuta into the corner and demands Kidd tag in. Chops traded back and forth. Ripcord chop; Kidd with chops in the corner and headbutts. Kidd sidesteps a gore, delivers a German and a lariat for 2. Drill-a-hole piledriver is countered; powerbomb attempt by Moloney no, looks for Drilla Killa, Kidd stops it. O-Knee is caught. Rebound off the ropes, gore by Moloney! Tijeras from Yuta, huge torpedo suicida from Nagai almost knocks himself out on the railings. Satellite DDT, cover, 1, 2, Kidd breaks it up. Dropkick to Kidd by Moloney; Kidd with a piledriver to Moloney on the floor! Cradle by Nagai gets 2. Death Riders run a train on Nagai in the corner, piledriver, right into the Busaiku Knee, 1, 2, 3.

Winners: Gabe Kidd & Wheeler Yuta

Time: 11:34

Rating: *** – Actually pretty good, with Kidd and Moloney picking up where they left off in their G1 match. I’m not entirely sure why Yuta was here, apart from letting Kidd further his anti-NJPW/pro-AEW stance. Decent intensity from all involved, Nagai went nuts at the end there.

 

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Master Wato, YOH, Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata & Toru Yano vs Shingo Takagi, Taiji Ishimori, OSKAR, Yuto-Ice & Gedo

Shingo and Nagata begin for some beefy striking. Mongolian chops from both men, but it’s Nagata who gets the better of it. Dropkick from Wato; Shingo shoulder tackles him down. Yuto-Ice takes it to Wato in the corner with kicks and jabs, followed by the Bomboclaat knee. 1, 2, no. Makabe gets tossed into the railings. Gedo chokes out Wato; Ishimori in, but receives a sleeper slam from Wato. YOH with a jawbreaker to Gedo, clutch, 1, 2, no. Handspring overhead kick by Taiji, and now it’s OSKAR vs Yano, and Yano pulls off the turnbuckle padding in one corner, which OSKAR charges into. Big boot and the leg drop from OSKAR gets 2. Nightmare Sleeper, Yuto-Ice, and Makabe go at it with strikes. Yano with double low blows to the Knock Out Brothers, and he stacks up OSKAR for the 1, 2, 3!

Winners: Master Wato, YOH, Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata & Toru Yano

Time: 6:26

Rating: ** – Surprise victory there for Yano. It’s a ‘nothing’ match, but it sets up KOB vs Makabe/Yano down the line.

*Makabe & Yuto-Ice get into it after the match, fighting around ringside and up the ramp until they reach backstage.

 

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Hartley Jackon, Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr vs Tatsuya Matsumoto, Boltin Oleg & Aaron Wolf

Oleg and Jackson have a battle of the big men as this one gets underway. The smaller guys in Fujita and Matsumoto, get a chance to show their speed, with Fujita also taking out Wolf on the apron, clearly not intimidated by size. Sabre Jr in, tying up Matsumoto and punishing him with submissions. Wolf heads in to take everyone on with judo takedowns, looks for a suplex on Jackson, can’t get it but eventually gets the judo throw. Corner clothesline to ZSJ, body slam, and an elbow drop get a 2 count. Sabre Jr traps Wolf with the Cobra Twist on a judo takedown attempt, just like in Korakuen the other day. Backslide attempt, Sabre Jr floats out of it, neck crank and a PK connect. Matsumoto and Fujita in again; Matsumoto takes it straight to him, but Fujita whips off a German, 1, 2, Oleg in and just lifts him out of the pin into a Boltin Shake! Amazing. Jackson in to fight Oleg; here comes Wolf for a suplex on Jackson. Triangle by Sabre Jr is reversed; powerslam by Wolf. Fujita kicks Wolf to the outside, leaping uppercut from Matsumoto. Waterwheel suplex, cover, 1, 2, no. Fujita with the Fujiwara armbar, wrenches way back and Matsumoto has to tap.

Winners: Hartley Jackon, Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr

Time: 9:43

Rating: **3/4 – Usual undercard tag affair, with everyone getting a brief moment to shine. Oleg deadlifting Fujita out of the pin was great, and I thought Matsumoto held himself well.

*We get a hype video for Wrestle Kingdom 21 on January 4^th. And then even an advert for the 2028 Wrestle Kingdom as a culmination of next year’s celebrations for the 55^th anniversary of New Japan.

 

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G1 Climax 36 Semi-Final: Callum Newman (B Block Winner) vs Ryohei Oiwa (A Block runner-up)

Oiwa wears some Tenzan-inspired headgear for his entrance. TMDK are in the corner of Oiwa, and Newman has Zane Jay with him. Ohhh yep, as expected, Callum has a PAINFUL-looking bruise across his back from the table spot on Thursday. Rapid-fire start as Oiwa manages to get Newman down to the mat and lock in an armbar. Armdrag; Newman lands on his feet, walks into a couple of other ones that hit flush. Legdrop to the arm, and Oiwa applies a scissor around the arm. Enziguri from Newman with Oiwa poised over the middle rope; Newman takes a run-up on the floor and delivers a drive-by kick. They spill out into the crowd, with Oiwa placed in seats on the front row. Short-range run-up, Newman hits a shotgun dropkick. As Oiwa struggles back to the ring, Newman dives off the apron with a double stomp!

Running knee strike, cover, 1, 2, Oiwa kicks out. Prince’s Curse attempt is countered; side headlock from Oiwa! Newman tries to reverse, Oiwa keeps it on, Newman shrugs it off, and Oiwa comes back with a big shoulder tackle. Senton from Oiwa, 1, 2, no. Uppercut to the underside of the arm as Oiwa tries to soften up the injured left shoulder of Newman even more. Oiwa whips Newman into the corner but yanks the arm, sending Newman into the canvas; smart move. Arm wringers and a Devil’s Bridge attempt; Newman comes back with 2 Germans and a big boot, but Oiwa levels the playing field with a Tenzan suplex!

Headbutt from Oiwa prevents Kiss the Crown. Discus lariat misses; Oscutter is SWATTED down! Deadlift German, 1, 2, Newman kicks out. Discus lariat in the corner connects; Newman with a Cradle Shock in response! Big lariat from Newman knocks Oiwa down. Make Way attempt; Oiwa flips out of it, Devil’s Bridge! Ark Clutch applied, variation with a side headlock! Newman somehow to his feet, but NO, Oiwa applies more pressure. Newman manages to escape, thrust kick, lariat by Oiwa, 1, 2, NOOO. Doctor Bomb avoided the ref being tossed into Oiwa for a distraction, low blow, 1, 2, NO! Newman won’t steal this one, and the crowd is FIRMLY behind Oiwa here.

Another running knee from Newman, 1, 2, no, right into the PRINCE’S CURSE! 1, 2, NOOO. Newman goes for a powerbomb, Oiwa flips to his feet and locks in the side headlock! Newman attempts to shrug him off, nope, Oiwa grounds him. Newman escapes, counters a discus lariat with a lariat of his own. 1, 2, no. One more lariat, Newman hoists him up for Make Way, but Oiwa avoids it, side headlock! Newman reverses; both men with lariats….discus lariat from Oiwa!! 1, 2, 3!!!

Winner: Ryohei Oiwa

Time: 18:45

Rating: ****1/4 – Terrific effort from Oiwa, and the crowd were ecstatic with that result. Fair play to Newman here too, as he must have been feeling it bad in that one, battling the pain of that bruising on his back as well as the weakened shoulder. The counter wrestling on offer here was sublime as each man struggled to fire off their big offense, leading to some great nearfalls.

 

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G1 Climax 36 Semi-Final: Yota Tsuji (A Block Winner) vs Yuya Uemura (B Block runner-up)

Our winner in this one will face Oiwa in tomorrow’s final. Generational rivals, these two know each other exceptionally well, so I’d expect them to play that up here. Arm drags from Uemura, runs into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Tsuji. Pendulum backbreaker by the IWGP champion, cravate hold into a snapmare, and now Tsuji applies a camel clutch. Tsuji ties Uemura up in the ropes and delivers a hard slap to the chest that echoes around the Sumo Hall. Uemura wrings the arm, another arm drag, and a dropkick gives him some momentum. Splash in the corner, half-hatch suplex, 1, 2, no, but immediately takes control of the arm, only for Tsuji to reach the ropes.

Tope suicida catches Yuya on the outside; Tsuji brings him back in the ring and hits a high running knee. Marlowe Crash to the spine! 1, 2, no. And Tsuji locks in the Boston Crab. Uemura manages to break the hold in the ropes. Silver Lining attempt, Uemura rolls through right into a cross-armbreaker, then transitions to a hammerlock. Tsuji Combo, misses the stomp, thrust kick connects though, and Yuya comes back with a dropkick. Uemura with a back suplex, just a 2 count. Dragon suplex attempt; Tsuji fights it, elbows out of it, but eats an enziguri. German! 1, 2, no. Uemura heads to the top rope, Lion Shiner misses, Yuya cuts off the Gene Blaster with a dropkick. Deadbolt attempt, Tsuji blocks it but receives a Dragon Suplex instead! 1, 2, kickout.

Another attempt at the Deadbolt, Tsuji whips the legs, hits almost a Raging Fire to counter (and Takeshita is on Japanese commentary, so he’s right there at ringside). Gene Blaster from behind, targeting the spine! Tsuji locks in the Boston Crab once again as he is determined to finish him off that way. Sits back deep on it! Tsuji drags him back into the center of the ring just as Yuya was reaching the ropes. But Tsuji begins to lose his grip. Lion tamer variation! Uemura is still fighting, so Tsuji knees him in the spine and hits another backbreaker. Flash pinfall attempt by Uemura, 1, 2, NO. Arm snap from Yuya! And now it’s Yuya’s turn to apply the Boston Crab. Uemura releases the hold, ties the arm up, and now applies a modified cloverleaf. Still somehow Tsuji manages to shuffle to the ropes to break it. Uemura up top, High Fly Flow…1, 2, NO.

Uemura back up top, Lion Shiner but Tsuji counters in mid-air with the GENE BLASTERRRR! 1, 2, NOOO! Tsuji hoists Uemura to the top rope, climbs alongside him…oh boy, reverse superplex!! GENE BLASTER! 1, 2, NOOOOOOO! Uemura somehow kicks out! He looks for the Fire Blaster, but Uemura grabs the arms, locked in, DEADBOLT!!! STEP UP Shining Elbow! Uemura to the top one more time, LION SHINERRRR. And he holds on to seal the deal, BRIDGING DEADBOLT 1, 2, 3!!!

Winner: Yuya Uemura

Time: 25:19

Rating: ****1/2 – I CALLED IT! Oiwa vs Uemura in the final to solidify that this is the New Generation era. Really happy with that. Fantastic match here; good Lord, Tsuji has had a ridiculous run throughout the G1, hasn’t he? He was like a sniper targeting that back with precision, although that’s possibly what brought about his downfall, as he was blinded in his attempt at making Yuya tap with the Boston Crab. Finishing sequence there was utterly sublime.

*Oiwa shows up after the match to go face to face with Uemura in a preview of tomorrow’s final.

 

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Hiroyoshi Tenzan Retirement Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Satoshi Kojima

Alongside this being Tenzan’s retirement, this is also a 20^th anniversary rematch from the 2006 G1 Finals. What a wild thought! Masahiro Chono comes out before the match to join the Japanese commentary team. We get a great retrospective video on Tenzan’s career. Tenzan enters the ring, grabs a mic, and demands they throw out the 5-minute time limit. They’ll go as long as they want!

They lock up as the bell rings, release as neither man gets the advantage. Mongolian chops from Tenzan, shoulder tackle. Headbutts in the corner; Tenzan attempts to follow up, but honestly he can barely run, and manages a lariat. Suplex on Kojima, 1, 2, no. Anaconda vice applied! Tenzan points to the skies and climbs the buckles; Kojima attacks from behind, though, and chops him in the corner. Machine-gun Kojima chops, and all I can hear is Punk and Joe’s Homicide impression. Lariat from Kojima; he climbs the buckles, delivers an elbow drop from the middle rope for a 2-count. Kojima pulls off the elbow pad, but Tenzan collapses to the mat before Kojima can deliver it. Kojima goes for it again; once again Tenzan can’t get up. But he’s finally to his feet; more Mongolian chops, he calls for the TTD, can’t get him up. Tenzan suplex instead! 1, 2, no.

Tenzan grounds Kojima with a reverse Anaconda but has to release it. Slap by Tenzan almost knocks himself off his feet. They trade blows, another Mongolian chop, and Tenzan falls over. Koji cutter connects. Lariat, and Tenzan crumples to the mat, 1, 2, NO. Headbutt and another chop; falling lariat by Tenzan gets another 2. More headbutts; Kojima comes back with a lariat, 1-count kickout from Tenzan. Kojima with one more big-time lariat to pick up the 1, 2, 3.

Winner: Satoshi Kojima

Time: 9:22

Rating: N/R – I went back and forth on whether I actually put a rating here but ultimately decided against it. This was about paying respects to Tenzan for his storied career, and giving him one final sendoff. Tenzan’s knees must be non-existent, and not only can he barely run or even walk, but he was legit having difficulty standing upright at times. As such, it’s a painful watch at times as you fully appreciate the sacrifices Tenzan has made. Still, there’s a level of emotion to it all as Tenzan embodies fighting spirit, lasting as long as he physically can.

*Post-match, we are due a 10-bell salute to Tenzan’s career…but here comes Takashi Iizuka to interrupt. He heads to the ring through the crowd. Iizuka boots Tenzan in the gut, puts the metal glove on, but here’s Kojima to make the save. Kojima holds Iizuka back, but Tenzan brushes him aside; he doesn’t want to hurt Iizuka.

Tenzan on the mic pleads with Iizuka to wake up and open his eyes. They have a kinship, and this is the end of it for them; Tenzan wants to make this their last battle. They were friends once. Tenzan extends his hand out and thanks Iizuka for getting this far. This is like an exorcism as Iizuka shakes off the evil, comes to, and they shake hands before hugging.

Now we get the parade of wrestlers to pose with Tenzan and give him his flowers, physically and metaphorically. The New Japan roster surrounds the ring to pay their respects, and Corporate Tanahashi enters the ring, suited and booted. Koji Kanemoto sends a video message. Akiyama is here! Hase too, nice. Keiji Mutoh! Riki Chosu, and now Chono joins the ring. Chono tells Tenzan to take a seat; he’s earned it, and Chono pulls up a chair for himself too as he says he has a tendency to go on a bit. Chono tells him to focus on rehabilitation from injuries, and sends him on his way with his thanks.

Tenzan takes the mic back and talks about the tough times in the past, but the fans, his peers, everyone in the back helped him get where he is today. He has deep gratitude to everyone who has ever bought a ticket and supported him. Tenzan thanks the fans one more time for 35 years of support. The 10-bell salute follows, and a bunch of the roster then enter the ring to lift Tenzan up and celebrate with him. With that, we’re done – see you for the finals tomorrow!

 

 

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Watching those two semi-finals was a reminder of everything there is to love about the G1 Climax. Both were splendid contests with all four finalists on top form, even Callum Newman who most certainly was not at 100% based on the state of his body. As well as the superb match quality (both matches are can’t miss), the booking must get its due, as Oiwa vs Uemura being set for the finals shows that Gedo has faith in the New Generation. Aside from all that, the undercard can be relatively disregarded (unless you want to check out Skywalker's debut for a cool pop), and Tenzan's retirement is not a good match but it's an appropriately emotional scenario with a feel-good celebration. The semi-finals skew this one much higher as that's what we're all here for, and they absolutely delivered.