Sambus’ NJPW G1 Climax 36 Night 14 Review 08.09.26

 

Location: Gunma, Japan

Venue: G Messe Gunma

Commentators: Walker Stewart & OSKAR

 

[A Block] Ryohei Oiwa [8] vs Jake Lee [6]

It’s a no face-paint day for Lee. Snapmare, a kick to the spine, and Lee looks for an armbreaker. Knee to the midsection is caught, Oiwa elbows the knee and dropkicks it before smashing the knee into the canvas. Lee focuses on the arm as he attempts another armbreaker, but Oiwa gets back in control and smashes the knee into the mat once more, locking in a Figure Four until Lee reaches the ropes. Lee is already having trouble standing but manages a knee strike to block a suplex. Hammerlock body slam from Lee, cover for a 2 count, right into an armbar. Oiwa back to his feet, delivers a Tenzan suplex. Corner splash, and a dragon screw as Oiwa keeps up the pressure on that leg. Oiwa goes up top, splash, 1, 2, no. Misdirection lariat, just a 1 count on Lee there.

After a strike exchange, Oiwa goes back to the leg, goes for the underhand grip but it’s blocked, only to hit another leg whip. Lee spills to the floor for a breather but Oiwa follows him out there. Lee is sent into the ringpost and is down by the apron…he emerges and now has some clown make-up on. They fight out into the crowd, Lee showing a more vicious side now that the make-up is applied. Knee to the face, Lee brings him back to the ring and delivers a high back suplex. Face Break Shot is avoided, Oiwa with a clutch for 2. Kicks to the arm (with the bad leg, OK…) and a knee strike from Lee. Oiwa with an inverted dragon screw, and again! Ankle lock applied, Lee reaches the ropes once more. He drags him back to the center, single leg crab with the ankle still hooked…Lee taps!

Winner: Ryohei Oiwa

Time: 12:49

Rating: *** – Lee completely forgetting to sell the leg towards the end aside, this was a fine contest, and Oiwa once again gets to showcase his in-ring IQ. With this loss, Jake Lee is now eliminated, and Oiwa is still very much in contention.

 

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[A Block] Konosuke Takeshita [10] vs SANADA [6]

Single leg takedown from SANADA and Takeshita rolls through into a side headlock. Leg lariat knocks SANADA down, and Takeshita begins to work over the arm. Low dropkick from SANADA, and he stomps the ankle against the ropes. Shinbreaker followed by another low dropkick keeps Takeshita grounded. SANADA applies a scissor around the ankle, and Takeshita uses his other leg to reach the ropes. Big boot from Takeshita, and he takes a moment to shake his leg out. Flying forearm! Takeshita is looking for the Blue Thunder, SANADA elbows his way out of it, but runs right into a Blue Thunder off the ropes. 1, 2, no. Exploder attempt, Takeshita softens him up a little more but SANADA hits another basement dropkick and a regular one. Plancha to the outside nails Takeshita.

Exploder connects for Takeshita this time, he attempts to follow up but SANADA hoists him to the top rope and delivers the Magic Screw. Deep roll up from SANADA, 1, 2, no. Moonsault into the Skull End, Takeshita tries to counter with Raging Fire, denied, SANADA comes back with a Shining Wizard! Deadfall is blocked, Takeshita with a Dragon Sleeper, SANADA counters but Takeshita with a big knee strike. Raging Fire from SANADA!! He pulls Takeshita closer to the ropes, hits the Rounding Body press, 1, 2, no. SANADA thinks about going for it again, Takeshita holds on to the leg though. SANADA pushes him away, misses the moonsault but connects with another basement dropkick. Misses the shining wizard, Takeshita looks for Deadfall, prawn hold by Takeshita but noooo, SANADA locks in a modified Skull End on the mat. Takeshita picks him up…BASTARD DRIVER! Right into the deadlift wheelbarrow German. Powerdrive Knee connects flush, 1, 2, NOOO! Raging Fire is countered with a cradle, 1, 2, NO. Shining Wizard from SANADA, and he goes for Deadfall once more, Takeshita reverses and hits one of his own, holding on to deliver the Raging Fire! 1, 2, 3!

Winner: Konosuke Takeshita

Time: 14:02

Rating: ***3/4 – SANADA is so much more watchable and even enjoyable when he focuses on wrestling without all the shenanigans. I guess they’re really trying to drill home the story that SANADA does indeed need to use under-handed tactics to get the job done, as wrestling cleanly here did not help him come away with the W. Tremendous exchanges in the closing stretch as they hit each other’s signatures and rattled through a bunch of reversals to keep it pacey and engaging. The crowd isn’t all that hot tonight, but I was biting on those nearfalls.

 

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[A Block] Yota Tsuji [8] vs Great O-Khan [4]

O-Khan attacks Tsuji and tosses him into the turnbuckle a couple of times, bringing him outside before the bell has even rung. He ties up the arm over the bottom buckle and smacks a chair into the arm. Tanahashi sits there at ringside and watches as O-Khan chokes out Tsuji in front of him. Entering the ring, we get the opening bell, as O-Khan stays in control. He trips Tsuji up, but Tsuji comes back for the head trap double stomp in the corner. Tijeras sends O-Khan to the outside, suicide dive ensues. Tsuji dropkicks O-Khan to push him out the other side of the ring, and follows up with a moonsault off the second rope to the floor! Tsuji now steals O-Khan’s seated position on the buckles, sitting on the back and neck of O-Khan. Tsuji thinks Gene Blaster but O-Khan holds the ref in place, capitalizes with a claw applied to the shoulder before tossing Tsuji back out to the floor.

More chairs come into play, and O-Khan tosses Tsuji into a section of chairs at ringside. Referee Asami takes a steel chair away from O-Khan but he grabs a different chair and nails the golf swing. Back in the ring, claw re-applied to the shoulder. Tsuji Combo gets the champion back into it, stomping O-Khan to the mat. He looks for it again but O-Khan bites the shoulder….so Tsuji grabs the hair. Back body drop from O-Khan, traditional claw now and he bashes the back of Tsuji’s head into the canvas. Eliminator countered with a Stundog Millionaire! Silver Linings attempt is blocked, and O-Khan works over the arm with uppercuts. Headbutt from Tsuji, lariat to follow. Silver Linings connects, 1, 2, no.

Gene Blaster is denied as O-Khan drops to the mat and flips him off, Tsuji misses a curb stomp and gets driven into the exposed turnbuckle again. Ref tossed in the path of Tsuji while he was going for a Gene Blaster, low blow, but Tsuji comes back with a DDT! O-Khan strikes the shoulder, but Tsuji comes back with a short range Gene Blaster. He hits another, followed by a third! 1, 2, 3!

Winner: Yota Tsuji

Time: 13:14

Rating: *** – Usual shtick from Great-O-Khan, which Tsuji made watchable. When Tsuji was in control, we got some decent work, but O-Khan’s heat segments were dull as usual.

 

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[A Block] Hirooki Goto [4] vs Boltin Oleg [10]

A hard-fought grapple starts us off, with both men evenly matched in terms of strength. Shoulder tackle knocks Oleg off his feet. Suplex from Oleg, Goto spills to the floor to recover. Oleg brings him back in, body slam and the flying body sausages gets 2. Single leg crab locked in as OSKAR tells a story about Oleg having 12 eggs as a light snack haha. Goto makes it to the ropes, and both men trade strikes now until Oleg muscles Goto up and drives him into the corner. Misdirection lariat from Goto, Oleg doesn’t go down! A second lariat finally knocks Oleg to the mat. Spinning wheel kick in the corner, twisting back suplex gets 2.

Release Boltin-to-belly suplex ragdolls Goto across the ring. Corner splash, and the Boltin Shake connects as Oleg kips up, firmly in control. Boltin Bomb, 1, 2, no. Powerbomb attempt, Goto works his way out of it. Ushi-goroshi! GTR, but Goto runs right into a Kamikaze attempt, slips behind and locks in a sleeper. Oleg is fading, and Goto releases to nail a PK. Roundhouse kick is caught, Kamikaze! 1, 2, no. Oleg with a biiiig powerbomb, 1, 2, no. Oleg looks for another Kamikaze but Goto gets another sleeper, leaping on the back of Oleg. Oleg climbs the buckles with Goto on his back, Goto releases and targets the leg…one-man Shoto! 1, 2, NO. GTR attempt, Oleg fights it, Verdict is countered, rolls into a cradle, 1, 2, NO. Headbutt from Goto, shotgun dropkick by Oleg. He kips up again, they both think lariat, spinning wheel kick from Goto! GTR! 1, 2, 3!

Winner: Hirooki Goto

Time: 15:19

Rating: ***1/2 – Goto still fighting with urgency despite being mathematically eliminated is so Goto. He doesn’t quite play spoiler for Oleg, but it will make Oleg’s life harder from here on out. This was a slow-burn match, taking a while to get into the swing of things, but once it got there we had some nice drama in the back end.

 

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[A Block] Shingo Takagi [8] vs Yuto-Ice [6]

Due to Tsuji’s earlier win, Yuto-Ice is now mathematically eliminated. That’s a shame, but I’m expecting a cracking contest here, as Unbound Company goes up against Unbound Company once more. Both men charge but avoid each other’s attacks. Yuto-Ice gets under Shingo’s skin, and he tosses a chair in the ring in frustration. Flurry of forearms from Yuto-Ice, now traded back and forth. Big boot from Yuto-Ice knocks Shingo down. Shingo comes back with a corner lariat and a shoulder tackle, and they both head outside and into the crowd.

Once they make it back inside the ring, Takagi hits a senton followed by a vertical suplex. Kick to the knee and a hair pull from Yuto-Ice turns the momentum. Knees to the midsection, and Yuto-Ice delivers the Bomboclaat knee. Cover, just a 1 count. Running kick is caught, dragon screw legwhip from Takagi. Knee drop to the leg as Shingo finds his focus. Shingo tries to lock in a Figure Four but Yuto-Ice boots him away with a swift roundhouse. Strikes exchanged, jabs from Shingo but a big lariat knocks him down. PK by Yuto-Ice, misses another roundhouse, looks for a suplex, Shingo puts the brakes on and delivers his Twist & Shout variation. Back elbow, fakes him out on a punch and hits a snap DDT. They battle on the buckles now, and Shingo hits a superplex, almost slipping on the way down, yikes. Shingo with a Pumping Bomber but Yuto-Ice withstands it. Another lariat, still Yuto-Ice doesn’t go down. More lariats, kicks from Yuto-Ice in response. Still neither man go down. Yuto-Ice kicks the arm away, but Shingo ducks another shot and hits a dangerous driver. Made in Japan! 1, 2, NO.

Hammer and anvil elbows from Takagi, misses the sliding bomber and Yuto-Ice with a buzzsaw kick to level the playing field. Cruella is denied with a back elbow, roundhouse kick connects, and a short-range Cruella hits this time! 1, 2, NO. SHEER DROP BRAINBUSTER from Yuto-Ice, 1, 2, NOOOO. Cruella denied once more, capture bomber! 1, 2, no. Glancing blow from Shingo now, and he looks for Burning Dragon, hits it! Doesn’t cover though. Pumping Bomberrrrr! 1, 2, NOOO! Yuto-Ice fights out of a Last of the Dragon attempt, and they go back to an exchange of strikes. Headbutts traded, flurry of forearms from Shingo. Yuto-Ice fires up, stereo headbutts! Yuto-Ice holds the arm and delivers a huge knee strike, and that gets the 1, 2, 3!!

Winner: Yuto-Ice

Time: 20:25

Rating: ***3/4 – Shingo is seen as one of the gatekeepers, representing the Old Guard of New Japan, so this was a big one for Yuto-Ice to prove he belongs. Much like the semi-main event, it took a while to get going, but really picked up in the latter half. Shingo had promised to kick out of the Cruella in post-match comments the other day, so I like that Yuto-Ice finished him off with a different knee strike, catching Shingo off-guard and proving that he’s not a one-trick pony.

 

 

[A Block]

Konosuke Takeshita – 6-2-0 [12 points]

Boltin Oleg – 5-3-0 [10 points]

Yota Tsuji – 5-3-0 [10 points]

Ryohei Oiwa – 5-3-0 [10 points]

Yuto-Ice  – 4-4-0 [8 points – ELIMINATED]

Shingo Takagi – 4-4-0 [8 points – ELIMINATED]

Jake Lee – 3-5-0 [6 points – ELIMINATED]

SANADA – 3-5-0 [6 points – ELIMINATED]

Hirooki Goto – 3-5-0 [6 points – ELIMINATED]

Great-O-Khan – 2-6-0 [4 points – ELIMINATED]

 

[B Block]

Callum Newman – 5-2-0 [10 points]

Gabe Kidd – 5-2-0 [10 points]

Ren Narita – 5-2-0 [10 points]

HENARE – 4-3-0 [8 points]

Drilla Moloney – 4-4-0 [8 points]

OSKAR – 4-4-0 [8 points]

Yuya Uemura – 4-3-0 [8 points]

Aaron Wolf – 3-4-0 [6 points]

Zack Sabre Jr – 3-4-0 [6 points]

Shota Umino – 0-1-0 [0 points – WITHDRAWN]

7.4

The final score: review Good

The 411

We didn’t have the high highs that A Block normally presents, but Night 14 was consistently decent, with Takeshita/SANADA and Shingo/Yuto-Ice standing out as the ones to watch. We saw a ton of mathematical eliminations, making it an important night for the standings. Takeshita has comfortably got the lead, but the runner up position is all to play for, making this coming Wednesday’s show quite the spectacle.