By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 36 – Night 11”
August 2, 2026, in Fukuoka, Japan, at the Fukuoka Convention Center
Streamed live on New Japan World
Walker Stewart provided English commentary. Attendance was listed at 2,300. The arena is dark, but the ring is well-lit.
* 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.
1. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Hartley Jackson and Ryohei Oiwa vs. Hirooki Goto and Tatsuya Matsumoto. Goto and Oiwa opened. Hartley hit a massive senton to pin Matsumoto. Not much to this one.
“The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Hartley Jackson and Ryohei Oiwa defeated Hirooki Goto and Tatsuya Matsumoto at 5:59.
2. “House of Torture” Sanada and Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. “Unbound Co.” Yuto-Ice and Gedo. Yuto-Ice and Sanada opened. Gedo and Kanemaru locked up at 2:00, with Kanemaru applying a leg lock around the neck. Gedo tied him in a Figure Four leg lock. Yuto-Ice jumped in and stomped on Kanemaru. Gedo got a Gedo Clutch for a nearfall. Sanada jumped in and hit dropkicks to the knees of both opponents. Kanemaru put Gedo in the Figure Four leg lock, and Gedo tapped out.
“House of Torture” Sanada and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated “Unbound Co.” Yuto-Ice and Gedo at 5:28.
3. “United Empire” Jake Lee and Zane Jay vs. “United Empire” Jakob Austin Young and Great-O-Khan. Faction members collide! Lee has half his face painted today. He laid on the mat at the bell to let O-Khan cover him! O-Khan made the lazy cover, but of course, Lee rolled him over for a believable nearfall. (I really wouldn’t have minded if it had ended there.) O-Khan hopped to his feet and was irate! Zane tagged in, and he laid on the mat! Zane, too, got a rollup on O-Khan for a nearfall. O-Khan was livid!
Young tagged in at 2:00 and gave Zane a half hug. He laid down on the mat, but also flipped Zane over for a nearfall. Zane and Young shoved each other until they finally threw some punches. Lee and O-Khan jumped back in, and they traded forearm strikes. Zane hit a clothesline on Young at 4:00. Young hit a running knee to the jaw. O-Khan was going to hit a low-blow uppercut on Lee, but Zane stopped him! O-Khan applied a Claw over Zane’s face, and Zane tapped out. Mildly amusing.
“United Empire” Jakob Austin Young and Great-O-Khan defeated “United Empire” Jake Lee and Zane Jay at 6:19.
4. Konosuke Takeshita, Toru Yano, and Boltin Oleg vs. “Unbound Co.” Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, and Daiki Nagai. Oleg and Yota opened and immediately traded chops. Yota nailed a jumping knee to the forehead in the corner, but Oleg hit a bodyslam and a splash to the mat for a nearfall. Shingo and Takeshita tagged in at 2:30 and hit clotheslines, then traded forearm strikes.
Daiki hit a basement dropkick in the corner on Yano at 5:00. Oleg grabbed Nagai and flipped him around in his arms. Yota and Oleg fought on the floor. Nagai hit a spinebuster on Yano for a nearfall, but he missed a top-rope frog splash. Yano shoved Nagai into an exposed corner and got a schoolboy rollup for the pin on Nagai.
Konosuke Takeshita, Toru Yano, and Boltin Oleg defeated “Unbound Co.” Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, and Daiki Nagai at 6:32.
5. Callum Newman (6) vs. Shota Umino (0) in a B Block tournament match. Again, this didn’t take place — I put it here as a placeholder to show Newman has picked up two points via forfeit due to Umino’s concussion. Newman improves to 4-2.
Callum Newman (8) defeated Shota Umino (0) via forfeit.
6. Aaron Wolf (4) vs. Drilla Moloney (6) in a B Block tournament match. A first-time singles match. (Wolf has barely faced anyone other than members of the HoT, so that’s not a surprise.) Cautious standing switches to open. They began trading chops at 2:30. Drilla hit a spinebuster. They traded more forearm strikes. Moloney hit a dropkick at 8:00, then a baseball slide dropkick to the floor. Moloney hit a piledriver onto the thin mat at ringside! He threw Wolf back into the ring.
Drilla hit a top-rope elbow drop for a nearfall at 9:30. He hit a spear and was fired up! Wolf hit some Judo Throws at 11:00, then slammed him to the mat. Wolf applied a Triangle Choke, but Drilla leaned forward to push Wolf’s shoulders to the mat to get a nearfall. Wolf hit a powerslam for a nearfall, then an Angle Slam for the pin! Good match; Wolf is improving at a good pace.
Aaron Wolf (6) defeated Drilla Moloney (6) at 13:14.
7. Zack Sabre Jr. (2) vs. Oskar (6) in a B Block tournament match. I’m putting it in writing — Sabre wins out to finish 5-4. They got in a knuckle lock at the bell, and Oskar overpowered him. Sabre tied him in an Octopus Stretch, but Oskar easily powered out. Sabre stomped on the left elbow at 3:00. Oskar put him in a Camel Clutch at 5:30. Sabre hit a running Penalty Kick on the ring apron. In the ring, Sabre targeted the left leg with some spin kicks to the back of it, and he twisted it. Sabre tied him in a Trailer Hitch leg lock, but Oskar quickly grabbed the ropes at 8:00.
Oskar whipped Sabre into a corner, but he sold the pain in his left knee. Oskar hit a back suplex at 10:30. Sabre jumped on Oskar’s back, but Oskar shrugged him off. Sabre nailed a Zack Driver for a nearfall at 12:00! Oskar hit a bodyslam. Sabre applied a Triangle Choke. He switched to an ankle lock on the mat in the center of the ring. Oskar writhed on the mat and held on, but eventually tapped out. Sabre celebrated, then collapsed. He needed this!
Zack Sabre Jr. (4) defeated Oskar (6) at 15:58.
8. Ren Narita (w/Dick Togo) (6) vs. Yuya Uemura (6) in a B Block tournament match. Standing switches to open, and Yuya applied a hammerlock on the mat. They went to the floor at 4:30, and Ren whipped Yuya into the guardrails. In the ring, Narita targeted Yuya’s leg. Togo grabbed it and wrapped the knee around the ring post! While standing on the floor, Ren struck it with a chair at 7:00. (Just about everything is legal on the floor in NJPW!) Yuya limped back into the ring, but he took control.
Uemura hit a deep armdrag at 8:30, then a dropkick, but he fell to the mat and sold the pain in his left knee. He hit a bodyslam for a nearfall, and he switched to a cross-armbreaker, but Ren quickly got his feet on the ropes at 10:00. Ren whipped Yuya into the ref, knocking him down! Togo jumped in the ring and stomped on Yuya. Kanemaru also got in the ring and helped out. Yuya hit a plancha onto those two at 12:30, then one onto Ren on the other side of the ring. In the ring, Yuya hit a back suplex for a nearfall.
Ren applied a rear-naked choke, and they rolled under the ropes to the floor at 14:30. The ref was counting! Ren jumped back into the ring. Some Young Lions tried to revive Yuya, and he jumped back in at the 19-count. Ren immediately hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall. (The 15-minute call was a full 30 seconds late, but the announcer was shouting numbers during that count-out attempt.) Yuya hit a German Suplex with a high bridge for a nearfall. Ren nailed the Double Cross (X-Factor faceplant) for a nearfall at 17:00.
Yuya ducked the Hell’s Guillotine, and he hit a huracanrana for a nearfall, then a Dragon Suplex for a nearfall. Yuya hit a headbutt, then a release Deadbolt (double-underhook suplex). He missed a top-rope crossbody block. Ren immediately grapevined the leg at 19:00. This crowd was insanely hot! Kanemaru distracted the ref, allowing Togo to jump in and strike Yuya. Ren re-applied the knee bar tighter, and this time, Yuya was forced to tap out. Really good match; easily the best of Ren’s tournament thus far.
Ren Narita (8) defeated Yuya Uemura (6) at 19:54.
9. Gabe Kidd (6) vs. Henare (8) in a B Block tournament match. Henare is fresh, coming off the bye two days ago. Kidd came out second, ran into the ring, and they immediately traded forearm strikes. The bell rang maybe two seconds later. They fought to ringside and traded forearm strikes and chops, and Kidd bit Henare’s forehead at 2:30. He whipped Henare into the guardrail. They went into the crowd and to the walls, far from the ring. They charged and hit stereo clotheslines at 4:30 with neither man going down.
They returned to ringside, and Kidd whipped Henare face-first into the ring post at 6:30. They got back into the ring, where Kidd hit a brainbuster for a nearfall. He hit some chops in the corner and loudly muttered under his breath. Henare hit a pop-up Samoan Drop, and they were both down at 9:30. Henare hit the Berzerker Bomb (his version of a Blue Thunder Bomb) for a nearfall. Henare hit a second-rope superplex at 11:30, and he was fired up. They traded clotheslines. The crowd was really hot for this one, too.
Henare hit a spin kick to the head, but Kidd hit another clothesline for a nearfall. He pulled down his knee pad and hit a sharp running knee to the collarbone for a nearfall at 13:00. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Henare hit a couple more stiff clotheslines; once again, the 15-minute call was 30 seconds late. They fought to the floor, where Kidd hit a suplex onto the thin mat at ringside. Kidd got one of those unbreakable tables — he threw it, but Henare avoided it. Kidd clocked a chair over Henare’s head, but the chair broke (as the seat fell out of the middle, clearly gimmicked to do that).
Henare shoved Kidd head-first into the table, which was leaning against a guardrail. Henare did it again, with the table breaking around Kidd’s face. In the ring, Henare hit the Rampage football tackle for a nearfall, then a clothesline for another nearfall. He applied a full nelson (Master lock!), and Kidd collapsed to the mat. Kidd caught him with a hard forearm strike, then a piledriver, then a second piledriver for the pin! That was a war! Walker said it was “a phenomenal fight.”
Gabe Kidd (8) defeated Henare (8) at 20:40.
* Kidd grabbed the mic, waited for the crowd to get quiet to hear what he had to say, then he threw the mic on the mat and stormed off without saying a word.
Final Thoughts: A really good brawl to close out the show. I find Henare to be rather dull if he’s in a ‘wrestling’ match, but he sure excels when in a good brawl like this one. We’re two-thirds of the way through, and Ren just had his best match of the tournament against Yuya. I enjoyed Sabre-Oskar, but there was zero mystery about the outcome.
I’ll say this again — Walker Stewart is a phenomenal talent. He’s still in his mid-20s, has a great voice and a deep knowledge of NJPW history. That said, I really wish one of the English speakers had joined him in the booth. Callum Newman had the bye today; he could have sat by Walker the whole show and provided some key insights. Just a missed opportunity for him to get over his heel character.
We have a short break in this tournament! The A Block will be back in action on Thursday, with Oleg vs. Tsuji as the headliner. The B Block has nearly a week off, as they won’t be back in tournament action until Saturday.
Be the first to comment