By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 36 – Night 7”
July 26, 2026, in Tokyo, Japan, at Ota-City General Gymnasium
Streamed live on New Japan World
Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton provided English commentary. This is a small arena, and the crowd was maybe 2,500-3,000. (We got to see a good look at the crowd during a brawl in the Newman-Moloney match).
* This year’s field is 20 wrestlers divided into two Blocks. Thus, each wrestler has nine round-robin matches. A win is worth two points, while a (rare!) tie is worth one point to each wrestler. Today, we have FOUR B Block tournament matches, due to Shota Umino’s injury, causing him to forfeit his final eight matches.
* Kushida was on Japanese commentary.
1. Boltin Oleg and Masatora Yasuda vs. “United Empire” Jake Lee and Zane Jay. Lee wore his clown mask to the ring, but he didn’t have any face paint for the second straight day. He opened against Oleg, and they traded big shoulder blocks. Oleg hit a belly-to-belly suplex. Yasuda jumped in at 2:00 and hit a huracarana on Oleg, then a dropkick. Zane got in and hit some punches on Yasuda.
Oleg flipped Lee in his arms (keep in mind, Lee is around 6’4!” , then hit his gutwrench suplex at 4:30. On the floor, Lee whipped Oleg into the guardrail. Lee got in the ring, put Yasuda in a front guillotine choke, and Yasuda quickly tapped out. Okay.
“United Empire” Jake Lee and Zane Jay defeated Boltin Oleg and Masatora Yasuda at 5:53.
2. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Ryohei Oiwa and Hartley Jackson vs. “House of Torture” Sanada and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Sanada and Oiwa opened, and Ryohei knocked him down with a shoulder tackle. Kanemaru took a cheap shot at Hartley and fled. On the floor, Kanemaru hit a DDT on Oiwa at 2:00. The HoT kept him grounded. Hartley tagged in at 4:00 to battle Sanada. The HoT ‘wishboned’ Hartley’s legs. Hartley hit his massive senton on Kanemaru for a nearfall, but Sanada made the save. Hartley hit a clothesline and the Jagged Edge (DVD) on Kanemaru for the pin. Basic but fine.
“The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Ryohei Oiwa and Hartley Jackson defeated “House of Torture” Sanada and Yoshinobu Kanemaru at 6:26.
3. Toru Yano and Konosuke Takeshita vs. “United Empire” Great-O-Khan and Jakob Austin Young. O-Khan attacked Takeshita from behind, and they immediately fought to the floor. The UE was in charge in the ring, with Jakob hitting stomps in the corner. Takeshita hit a flying forearm on O-Khan at 3:30. Yano jumped in and removed a corner pad. Takeshita hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Jakob for the pin. Funny — Yano was never legally in the match, and I’m perfectly okay with that.
Toru Yano and Konosuke Takeshita defeated “United Empire” Great-O-Khan and Jakob Austin Young at 4:32.
4. Hirooki Goto and Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. “The Unbound Co.” Shingo Takagi and Taiji Ishimori. Goto and Shingo opened in a clean lockup and standing switches. Shingo hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Matsumoto. Ishimori jumped in and put Matsumoto in a Figure Four leg lock. Shingo hit a suplex for a nearfall at 2:30. Goto got back in and hit a spinning heel kick in the corner on Shingo.
Shingo hit a twisting suplex. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Shingo hit a DDT at 5:00. Ishimori tagged in, but Goto hit a clothesline on Ishimori. Matsumoto tagged in and hit a dropkick, and he set up for a Boston Crab, but Ishimori fought it off. Ishimori hit a jumping knee, and he spun Tatsuya into a Bone Lock (crossface), and Matsumoto quickly tapped out.
“The Unbound Co.” Shingo Takagi and Taiji Ishimori defeated Hirooki Goto and Tatsuya Matsumoto at 6:25.
5. “The Unbound Co.” Yota Tsuji and Daiki Nagai vs. “The Unbound Co.” Gedo and Yuto-Ice. Yuto-Ice grabbed Yota’s belt and posed with it! Yota snatched it away. Those two opened and immediately brawled. Nagai tagged just seconds into the match, and he traded forearm strikes with Yuto-Ice, then hit a pair of dropkicks for a nearfall. Gedo and Yuto-Ice worked over Daiki in their corner.
Yota got back in at 3:00 and brawled with Yuto-Ice. Yuto-Ice hit some roundhouse kicks in the corner. Gedo tagged in at 5:00 and hit some jab punches on Yota. Daiki hit a springboard dropkick on Yuto-Ice. Yota covered a knocked-out Gedo for the pin. Flat finish but okay action.
“The Unbound Co.” Yota Tsuji and Daiki Nagai defeated “The Unbound Co.” Gedo and Yuto-Ice at 6:08.
6. Yuya Uemura (2) vs. Shota Umino (0) in a B Block match. Again, I place this here to keep track of everyone’s points. This would have been a great match, too…
Yuya Uemura (4) defeated Shota Umino (0) via forfeit.
7. Aaron Wolf (4) vs. Oskar (2) in a B Block match. They locked up, and Wolf hit some chops. Charlton indicated Oskar is jealous that Wolf is getting a push without having gone through the excursion process. Oskar repeatedly stomped on him and applied a modified Camel Clutch at 3:00. Wolf hit a twisting uranage, and they were both down. Oskar hit a leaping guillotine legdrop for a nearfall at 5:30, and he choked Wolf on the mat.
Wolf hit a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall, and he applied a leg lock around the neck at 7:00, and Charlton pointed out this is how Aaron won his NEVER Openweight Title. Oskar got a foot on the ropes. Wolf hit a powerslam for a nearfall at 8:30, and he was fired up. He went for an Angle Slam, but Oskar raked the eyes to escape. Oskar hit a Tombstone Piledriver and locked in “Alpatraum” (a sleeper hold), and Wolf passed out. (I wrote this before, but keeping Wolf’s matches to under 10 minutes is the secret to success.)
Oskar (4) defeated Aaron Wolf (4) at 9:52.
8. Henare (4) vs. Ren Narita (w/Dick Togo) (4) in a B Block match. Henare carried three belts with him to the ring. They immediately started brawling. Walker noted that Ren beat Henare at the 2024 G1. Ren hit a dropkick on the knee and immediately targeted the leg. They went to the floor, where Ren shoved Henare into the guardrail. In the ring, Narita tied up Henare’s legs on the mat. Togo struck Henare’s leg with a chair. Henare hit a clothesline but sold the pain in his leg. Togo threw a chair at Henare’s head at 6:30.
Narita got a chair and cracked it over the top of Henare’s head, but it only ticked him off, as Henare hit a series of punches. Togo jumped in and choked Henare, but Henare fought free. Henare hit a double noggin’ knocker and a double clothesline. He hit another hard clothesline for a nearfall at 8:00. Henare applied a full nelson, but Narita escaped and went back to a knee bar on the mat. Narita hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall, and they were both down at 10:00. Henare hit his Rampage football tackle for a nearfall. Narita set up for a Double Cross (X-Factor), but Henare blocked it, hit two powerbombs and scored the pin.
Henare (6) defeated Ren Narita (4) at 11:07.
9. Drilla Moloney (4) vs. Callum Newman (4) in a B Block match. Just seconds in, Drilla hit a baseball slide dropkick to the floor, and they brawled past the guardrails and into the crowd. Drilla hit a massive back-body drop that flipped Callum high in the air, with Newman crashing onto rows of empty chairs at 3:00. They got back to ringside, where Callum hit a spin kick to the head. Callum leapt over the guardrail to hit a dropkick on Drilla. Newman rolled into the ring at 5:00, and the ref started counting out Moloney!
Drilla got back into the ring at the 18-count. Newman remained in charge and stomped on Drilla and kept him grounded. Drilla hit a dropkick at 8:00. Callum hit a Poison Rana. Drilla hit a Russian Leg Sweep off the second rope, then a superkick, and they were both down. Drilla hit a top-rope elbow drop. The ref got bumped in the corner. Drilla hit a pop-up powerbomb at 11:00. He set up for a Drilla Killa, but Zane Jay ran in for the save. Daiki Nagai ran in to even the odds. Drilla went for a pin, but Zane pulled the ref out of the ring. Daiki dove onto Zane.
Drilla hit a Gore for a believable nearfall. Callum hit a low-blow uppercut and a Prince’s Curse (modified brainbuster) for a believable nearfall at 13:00. Drilla spat on Newman, so Callum hit a running knee but only got a one-count. Callum hit a clothesline. Moloney nailed the Drilla Killa swinging piledriver for the pin! I consider that a massive upset! Callum was champion here just a month or so ago! Walker said, “It was a phenomenal bout.”
Drilla Moloney (6) defeated Callum Newman (4) at 14:23.
10. Zack Sabre Jr. (2) vs. Gabe Kidd (4) in a B Block match. Standing switches to open; they are having a “Sabre” match early on, anyway. Kidd knocked him down with a shoulder tackle at 2:30 and hit some chops. They traded chops, and Kidd hit an Irish Whip. More chops from Kidd and he took control. Sabre applied a cross-armbreaker in the ropes at 6:30 and let go before the five-count. Kidd knocked Sabre off the apron to the floor and was massively booed.
They went to the floor and into the crowd. Kidd whipped Zack face-first into the ring post at 8:00. Zack hit a series of European Uppercuts, so Gabe bit Zack’s forehead. He jawed at Kushida as he walked past the commentary table. In the ring, Kidd was still in charge, and he applied a cravat on the mat, but then raked at Sabre’s nose. Sabre hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip at 11:30. He hit his neck-snap between his ankles. (Kidd is an Olympic-level swearer, tossing non-stop profanities at Sabre and the crowd. It’s really such a big part of his in-ring style.)
Sabre peppered Kidd with some kicks. Gabe got up, and they traded forearm strikes. They traded pump kicks to the chest. Gabe hit a hard clothesline right at 15:30 (the 15:00-minute call was a full 30 seconds late!) Sabre hit a Pele Kick to the arm. Kidd hit a Saito Suplex. Sabre hit a running Penalty Kick, and they were both down. Kidd hit two consecutive brainbusters for a nearfall at 17:30, but Sabre nailed a Zack Driver. They hit stereo clotheslines. Charlton apologized for all the profanities!
Right on cue, Kidd shouted, “F— you, Tanahashi!” and attempted a High Fly Flow frogsplash, but Sabre got his knees up to block it. Sabre tied him up on the mat as the 20:00 call was now about five seconds early. Kidd got a foot on the ropes. They fought on the ring apron, where Kidd hit a Tombstone Piledriver at 21:30! Kidd hit a decapitating clothesline in the ring for a nearfall. Kidd set up for another Tombstone Piledriver, but Sabre rolled him up for a nearfall. Kidd hit a hard kick. He went for a running knee, but Sabre grabbed him and rolled him up.
Sabre hit another Zack Driver for a nearfall at 23:30, and he went for a cross-armbreaker. Kidd reached the ropes. (Is this match going 30? I thought Saturday’s main event could, but we’re not reaching that territory in this one.) They got up, and Sabre hit a series of loud chops. They traded slaps to the face. The 25:00 call was spot-on! More slaps to the face. Kidd hit a piledriver and a double-arm DDT, then another piledriver for the pin! WOW!
Gabe Kidd (6) defeated Zack Sabre Jr. (2) at 25:47.
* Kidd got on the mic and cut another expletive-laden promo. He vowed he is winning the tournament, then he’s going to a “real” tournament, like the AEW Continental Classic!
Final Thoughts: This tournament continues to have stellar main events. That was an extremely watchable match, with Kidd slowly pulling Sabre into his style of a match and away from Sabre’s preferred mat-based style, and Kidd is going to win a strike-based bout. Just like it’s shocking to see Shingo Takagi at 1-3 and at the bottom of the A Block, it is startling to see tournament specialist Sabre at 1-3 and the bottom of the B Block. I’m sure both will finish 5-4. Heck, Sabre could win out and reach 6-3.
Drilla-Newman was really good for second place. The other two tournament matches were adequate. I don’t think anyone will want to rewatch that Ren-Henare match, but at least it ended in a clean finish. We have two days off, and the tournament resumes Wednesday with the A Block in action, headlined by Yota Tsuji vs. Yuto-Ice.
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