By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Road to G1 Climax”
July 6, 2026, in Tokyo, Japan, at Korakuen Hall
Streamed live on New Japan World
It appears to be a sellout. Chris Charlton provided solo commentary. The G1 Climax kicks off in Chicago on Saturday! However, two open slots remain to complete the field, and those finalists will be determined tonight.
1. “House of Torture” Sanada, Ren Narita, Sho, and Douki vs. Yuya Uemura, Masatora Yasuda, El Desperado, and Taichi. The HoT attacked at the bell. Sho opened against Desperado. Yuya and Narita got in at 4:00, and Yuya hit a series of armdrags, then some dropkicks on several opponents. Yuya went for a cross-armbreaker on Ren, but Sanada made the save. Douki entered and hit a basement dropkick on Yasuda’s left knee. Yasuda hit a dropkick on Douki at 7:00. Taichi flipped Yasuda onto Douki for a nearfall. Douki hit a low-blow mule kick on Yasuda, hit a Widow’s Peak-style drop, and scored the tainted pin.
“House of Torture” Sanada, Ren Narita, Sho, and Douki defeated Yuya Uemura, Masatora Yasuda, El Desperado, and Taichi at 8:10.
2. “The Unbound Co.” Yuto-Ice, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, and Daiki Nagai vs. Aaron Wolf, Boltin Oleg, Hirooki Goto, and Tatsuya Matsumoto. Charlton pointed out Matsumoto’s improved physique; he really has a six-pack popping! The Young Lions opened against each other, and Tatsuya has a clear size advantage over Nagai. Nagai hit a dropkick. Charlton spoke at length here about how everyone in the 20-man G1 Climax field is a legit contender to win it. (He was bluntly honest that no one would have picked Toru Yano in the past to emerge on top.)
Yota hit a bodyslam on Matsumoto and worked him over. Goto entered at 3:00 and dropped Tsuji with a clothesline. Wolf entered, but Yota hit a Flatliner on him. Wolf side-stepped a spear. Boltin and Yuto-Ice entered and traded forearm strikes at 5:00. Yuto-Ice unloaded some roundhouse kicks to the chest. Oleg dropped him with a shoulder tackle, then his impressive gutwrench suplex on Yuto-Ice.
Yuto-Ice dropped him with another roundhouse kick to the chest. Nagai got back in at 7:00 and hit some dropkicks on Oleg. Oleg hit a double shoulder tackle on Tsuji and Shingo! Daiki got a rollup on Oleg for a nearfall. However, Oleg put him on his shoulders and hit the Kamikaze (forward Finlay Roll) on Nagai for the pin. That was a pretty good preview tag.
Aaron Wolf, Boltin Oleg, Hirooki Goto, and Tatsuya Matsumoto defeated “The Unbound Co.” Yuto-Ice, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, and Daiki Nagai at 8:32.
3. Tiger Mask and Jado vs. “The Unbound Co.” Gedo and Taiji Ishimori vs. “House of Torture” Dick Togo and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a three-way tag. Charlton said this is match No. 3,363 of Tiger Mask’s career — he will have two more on Tuesday to wrap up his 31-year career. Everyone brawled at the bell. Jado hit some chops on Gedo. (Gedo’s swearing in English never fails to amuse me.) The HoT worked over Jado. Tiger Mask entered at 3:30 and hit some roundhouse kicks on the HoT.
Togo threw Tiger Mask to the floor. Ishimori hit a handspring-back-double elbow. (Ishimori is in his early 40s, and I think he’s the youngest man in the ring.) Kanemaru tied Gedo in a Figure Four. Jado applied a crossface. Gedo and Jado held Dick Togo upside down… and Tiger Mask hit the knife-edge chop to Togo’s groin! Funny that they stole Togo’s spot, and the crowd was amused. Kanemaru sprayed alcohol in Tiger Mask’s face, rolled him up, and scored the tainted pin! Charlton called Kanemaru a “rat bastard” for cheating.
“House of Torture” Dick Togo and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Tiger Mask and Jado, and “The Unbound Co.” Gedo and Taiji Ishimori in a three-way tag at 6:27.
* Tiger Mask got on the mic and thanked the fans. He reiterated that Tuesday will be his retirement match. He vowed he would give it his all.
4. Oskar vs. Yujiro Takahashi (w/Douki, Sho, Ren Narita) in a G1 Climax qualifying match. I see no scenario where Yujiro wins this. In fact, this should be over in under ten minutes. Oskar hit a Mafia Kick to the jaw! He tied Yujiro in a sleeper! The bell rang at 00:22, but it was a Sho ruse! Yujiro hit a chop block to the back of the knee. They brawled to the floor. Ren jabbed a chair into Oskar’s knee at 1:30. Oskar tried to stand in the ring, but he collapsed. Yujiro targeted the damaged leg.
Yujiro tied him in a modified Trailer Hitch leg lock. Oskar hit a guillotine leg drop for a nearfall at 5:00. On the floor, Oskar hit a double noggin-knocker on the heels, and he pushed another into the ring post. He brawled with Yujiro as they looped the ring. In the ring, Oskar hit a big bodyslam. He reapplied the sleeper and slammed Yujiro to the mat for a visual pin, but the ref was pulled from the ring! Sanada also attacked Oskar!
Yujiro struck Oskar in the jaw with his cane, and he nailed a Pimp Juice DDT! However, Yuto-Ice appeared, and he pulled the ref to the floor to save his teammate! Yuto-Ice beat up all the House of Torture members. He hit a punch to Yujiro’s jaw. The Knockout Brothers hit their spin kick-and-Tombstone Piledriver combo, and Oskar got the pin. Well, I said it would be under ten minutes…
Oskar defeated Yujiro Takahashi at 9:52 to qualify for the G1 Climax tournament.
5. El Phantasmo vs. Ryohei Oiwa in a G1 Climax qualifying match. They traded some mat reversals, and ELP went for a bow-and-arrow. Oiwa hit a senton. ELP threw him into the ring post at 3:00, then he hit a plancha to the floor on Oiwa. He hit a moonsault to the floor. In the ring, ELP hit a Lionsault for a nearfall. Oiwa hit some armdrags. ELP hit a second-rope tornado DDT, and they were both down at 7:00. Phantasmo hit a superkick. Oiwa hit a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall at 8:30. Oiwa hit a German Suplex, so ELP hit one. Oiwa hit a Chaos Theory (rolling German Suplex). Oiwa hit a discus clothesline for the pin! Good action.
Ryohei Oiwa defeated El Phantasmo at 9:43 to qualify for the G1 Climax tournament.
6. Shota Umino vs. Gabe Kidd for the IWGP Global Title. This is Gabe’s return match! He got in the ring and kicked the ref! Shota ran into the ring, and they started brawling. They brawled to the floor and through the crowd. I don’t think we’ve had a bell yet. Charlton just confirmed that. They brawled up onto the landing halfway up the seating area and traded forearm strikes. Shota was bleeding from his forehead. We just hit the 5:00 mark, but Charlton reiterated this isn’t official yet.
NOTE: We only have NINE G1 matches on Saturday in Chicago, and I wasn’t clear why. Well, Charlton just said that Gabe is so out of control that he’s “banned from America.“ (So he’s among the guys having visa issues? I just looked, and Gabe Kidd vs. Drilla Moloney will take place on Night 2 of the tournament instead of Night 1.) They got in the ring and we got a bell at 6:53! Shota hit a clothesline! They went right back to the floor, and Shota hit a brainbuster on the thin mat at ringside.
In the ring, Shota hit a running knee in the corner, then a Shining Wizard for a nearfall at 9:30. Kidd hit a German Suplex and a decapitating clothesline, then his own brainbuster for a nearfall. He hit some open-hand slaps and stomped on Shota. They traded hard slaps to the face. Moloney collapsed to the mat at 13:00 and sold pain in his injured shoulder. However, he hopped up and hit a clothesline and a piledriver for a believable nearfall.
On the floor, Kidd glared at Hiroshi Tanahashi (seated in the front row in a suit) and hit a piledriver on the thin mat. He rolled Shota back into the ring and hit another piledriver at 15:00, but he made a lazy cover, and Umino kicked out! Kidd hit a Moxley-style Death Rider double-arm DDT for the pin! New champion! I didn’t expect that! Kidd threw the belt on the mat, and he slapped Tanahashi! The crowd loudly booed Kidd, who was out of control!
Gabe Kidd defeated Shota Umino to win the IWGP Global Title at 15:42/official time of 8:49.
7. Yoh vs. Francesco Akira (w/the United Empire) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title. The UE members all wore suits as they accompanied Akira to the ring. Jakob Austin Young joined Charlton in the booth; I don’t think I’ve heard his voice before. Some basic feeling-out offense early on. Akira dropped him with a shoulder tackle. He hit a plancha at 3:00. Yoh went for a plancha, but he hit Matsumoto. Francesco and Yoh looped the ring as they continued to brawl. Akira struck Yoh in the head with a thin metal serving tray at 5:00.
They got back into the ring, with Akira in charge. He kept Yoh tied up on the mat. Yoh tied Akira in a Paradise Lock at 10:30, and he sat on Akira, mocking Great-O-Khan. At ringside, O-Khan was not amused by Yoh mimicking him. Callum Newman just added a few sentences on commentary and left. Akira hit a slingshot stunner at 12:30. He tied Yoh in the Ground Tarantula, but Yoh quickly got a foot on the ropes. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Yoh hit a neckbreaker over his knee at 14:30 and applied an Anaconda Vice, and hit a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall.
Akira got some rollups and hit a double stomp to the chest. Yoh caught him with a superkick at 16:30. They traded forearm strikes on the ring apron. On the floor, Akira powerbombed him through one of their near-indestructible tables at 18:00! Yoh had an ugly mark across his back as well as a cut, and he was bleeding. Curse those thick tables! “Look at that mark!” Jakob said. Yoh rolled back in at the 19-count, but Akira hit a Lionsault on him. Akira hit a standing powerbomb and a swinging slam for a believable nearfall at 20:00.
Akira repeatedly rammed Yoh’s head into the mat. Yoh got an O’Connor Roll, but he couldn’t hold it. Yoh hit a hard clothesline, and they were both down! He hit another neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 22:30. Akira again applied the Ground Tarantula submission hold, this time in the center of the ring! Akira hit a Fireball running knees to the back of the head for a believable nearfall at 25:00. Yoh applied a standing Anaconda Vice, and he threw Akira to the mat. He nailed the Direct Drive (double-arm DDT) for the pin! A very good match.
Yoh defeated Francesco Akira to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title at 26:36.
Final Thoughts: When I saw the match lineup, I was a bit surprised that Kidd-Shota wasn’t last. However, Akira and Yoh went out there and delivered a really good match. It reached a second gear when Akira powerbombed Yoh through that table on the floor. Yoh’s back immediately turned shades of red. He’s going to be feeling that bump tomorrow… and for a few days after.
Kidd’s match was good, and he’s back to being a jerk heel, getting the crowd to boo him. Too bad that the Drilla-Kidd match won’t happen in Chicago. Oskar and Oiwa winning their matches to qualify were both entirely predictable, but also the right call. I’ve said it before, but it always feels like the roster steps up their game when they are in Korakuen Hall.
Barring something major happening in my life, I’ll be in Chicago on Saturday for the G1 Climax kickoff! This will be NJPW’s fourth show in Chicago over the past five years, and I’ve attended all of them. The NOW Arena is in the far northwest corner of the Chicago metro, so it’s the closest for me, and I’ll be able to avoid the worst of the traffic. But before that, NJPW will be back in Korakuen Hall on Tuesday for another sold-out show, featuring the retirement match of Tiger Mask.
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