By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 36 – Night 15”
August 11, 2026, in Mie, Japan, at Nissho Highway Arena
Streamed live on New Japan World
Walker Stewart provided English commentary. The venue is a dark room; I can’t get a good sense of the crowd size. The lighting over the ring was good.
* 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, which caused him to forfeit his final eight matches. At the conclusion of this show, everyone will have completed eight round-robin matches.
1. Masatora Yasuda and Boltin Oleg vs. “United Empire” Great-O-Khan and Jakob Austin Young. Oleg and O-Khan opened and tied up, and they fought to the floor. O-Khan pushed a chair into Boltin’s throat, then cracked it over his back. In the ring, Young hit a running knee in the corner at 3:00. O-Khan made a cocky, one-footed cover. O-Khan hit his Mongolian Chops. Oleg finally hit a shotgun dropkick at 4:30. Yasuda tagged in for the first time, and he hit some chops on Jakob, then a dropkick. Young hit a Shining Wizard on Yasuda for a nearfall, then the Brainrot twisting brainbuster for the pin.
“United Empire” Great-O-Khan and Jakob Austin Young defeated Masatora Yasuda and Boltin Oleg at 7:10.
2. “House of Torture” Sanada and Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. “The Unbound Co.” Shingo Takagi and Taiji Ishimori. Walker noted that Shingo was eliminated with his loss on Saturday. The HoT attacked, and we got a bell moments later. Ishimori hit a handspring-back-double elbow. They all brawled to the floor. In the ring, Kanemaru hit a DDT on Ishimori at 1:30. Sanada tied Ishimori in the Paradise Lock and struck his rear with the corner pad.
Shingo tagged in at 3:00 and hit some jab punches on Sanada in the corner. He hit a DDT for a nearfall. Sanada hit a basement dropkick to the knee, then the Magic Screw, a swinging neckbreaker off the ropes, at 5:00. Kanemaru entered, targeting Ishimori’s left leg, and the two traded rollups. Ishimori hit a low-blow mule kick, got a Gedo Clutch, and scored the tainted pin!
“The Unbound Co.” Shingo Takagi and Taiji Ishimori defeated “House of Torture” Sanada and Yoshinobu Kanemaru at 6:25.
3. “The Unbound Co.” Yota Tsuji and Daiki Nagai vs. “United Empire” Jake Lee and Zane Jay. Lee is already eliminated. The Unbound Co. attacked, and they all brawled; we got a bell at 00:10. Yota grabbed a red marker and he ‘put face paint’ on Lee’s face (he already had some white face paint). In the ring, Lee choked Tsuji. Daiki dove through the ropes onto Lee at 2:30. In the ring, Zane hit some punches on Nagai, then a Thesz Press. Nagai hit a tornado DDT on Jay, and they were both down. Lee nailed his Helluva Kick, and he made a cocky one-handed cover to Nagai’s chest for the pin.
“United Empire” Jake Lee and Zane Jay defeated “The Unbound Co.” Yota Tsuji and Daiki Nagai at 5:18/official time of 5:08.
4. Hirooki Goto and Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. “The Unbound Co.” Gedo and Yuto-Ice. Tatsuya and Gedo opened. Yuto-Ice and Goto fought on the floor. In the ring, Matsumoto hit a dropkick on Yuto-Ice at 4:00. Goto tagged in and hit some shoulder tackles. He hit a spin kick in the corner on Yuto-Ice, then a back suplex for a nearfall. They traded forearm strikes. Goto hit a reverse GTR and clothesline on Gedo at 6:00. He hit his neckbreaker over the knee on Yuto-Ice. Goto hit a GTR on Gedo for the pin.
Hirooki Goto and Tatsuya Matsumoto defeated “The Unbound Co.” Gedo and Yuto-Ice at 7:09.
* Interesting that Konosuke Takeshita and Ryohei Oiwa aren’t in action today. Normally, they would have a preview tag match here. I hope no one is too banged up!
5. Oskar (6) vs. Shota Umino (0) in a B Block tournament match. Oskar was in the main event two days ago, so this is a good spot for him to get a bye. I’m hoping Shota is walking around fine and his concussion symptoms have subsided! Why isn’t Oskar doing commentary with Walker? He joined him for the tournament matches on Sunday.
Oskar (8) defeated Shota Umino (0) via forfeit.
6. Zack Sabre Jr. (6) vs. Henare (8) in a B Block tournament match. Henare immediately hit a shoulder tackle and some chops. Sabre snapped Henare’s neck between his ankles at 2:00, and he stomped on Henare’s left elbow. Zack targeted the left arm and kept Henare grounded. Henare hit a Berzerker Bomb (modified Blue Thunder Bomb) at 6:00, then a senton for a nearfall. Sabre hit some kicks. Henare hit a spinning heel kick, and they were both down at 8:00.
Sabre tied him in an Octopus Stretch, but Henare escaped. Sabre hit a Pele Kick to the arm. Henare hit a clothesline. He scooped up Sabre and ran him back-first into the corner at 10:30 and hit a knee strike. They fought on the ropes, and Sabre tied him in a hammerlock, but Henare hit a second-rope superplex. Henare hit the Rampage football tackle for a believable nearfall at 12:00. Sabre went for a cross-armbreaker. They got up, and Sabre hit a LOUD European Uppercut. Henare fired back with some forearm strikes.
Sabre hit some slaps to the face, so Henare dropped him with a headbutt. Sabre caught him and locked in a Triangle Choke at 14:30! Walker Stewart said it has been years since Henare submitted. Henare hit a powerbomb, but Sabre kept the Triangle Choke locked in. Sabre turned it into an Octopus Stretch. They fell to the mat with the hold locked in, and the ref called for the bell. It’s unclear if Henare tapped out or passed out, but either way, the ref stopped the match.
Zack Sabre Jr. (8) defeated Henare (8) at 15:33.
7. Drilla Moloney (6) vs. Ren Narita (10) in a B Block tournament match. Narita came out first. Kanemaru attacked Moloney from behind on the floor, and I started the clock. They got in the ring, and the bell rang at 00:41. They immediately fought back to the floor with Narita in charge. Narita choked Drilla across the top of the guardrail. Dick Togo and Kanemaru landed some cheap shots. They got back into the ring, and Ren kept Moloney grounded. Ren hit a Sling Blade clothesline for a nearfall at 4:30.
Moloney hit a dropkick and a baseball slide dropkick to the floor. In the ring, Drilla hit a spinebuster at 6:30. Ren applied a front guillotine choke on the mat! Moloney hit a modified DVD, and they were both down at 8:30. Ren hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall. Drilla hit a pop-up powerbomb for a nearfall at 10:00. Ren hit the Double Cross (X-Factor faceplant) for a nearfall.
Moloney hit a Gore for a nearfall, but Togo pulled the ref out of the ring and slammed him into the guardrail. Togo and Kanemaru jumped in the ring and beat up Drilla. Moloney pushed Togo into Kanemaru. Ren hit a low-blow uppercut. Togo threw powder, but it hit Ren in the face! Drilla hit a superkick on Ren, then the Drilla Killa swinging piledriver for the pin! What you’ve come to expect with the House of Torture antics.
Drilla Moloney (8) defeated Ren Narita (10) at 12:37/official time of 11:56.
NOTE: Drilla Moloney has the final bye, so he will finish at 10 points.
8. Callum Newman (10) vs. Aaron Wolf (6) in a B Block tournament match. They both missed a lot of big moves in the first minute and had a standoff. Wolf hit a chop in the corner at 2:00. Newman kicked him to the floor. Callum followed and whipped Wolf into the guardrails. In the ring, Wolf hit some Judo Throws, then a suplex at 6:00. Callum got up, and they traded chops and forearm strikes. Wolf hit a belly-to-belly suplex at 8:00. They fought on the apron, and Callum hit some roundhouse kicks. Wolf hit a Judo Throw onto the apron, with Callum falling to the floor at 10:00.
In the ring, Callum hit a running Pump Kick and a neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall. He hit a running knee to the jaw for a nearfall. Wolf hit a powerslam for a nearfall, and he applied an Anaconda Vice on the mat at 12:00. Callum escaped and hit a running Penalty Kick to the chest. They traded kicks, and Wolf got a nearfall at 14:30. Callum hit a clothesline for a nearfall. Wolf hit a Canadian Destroyer! He hit an Angle Slam, and he locked in a cross-armbreaker! Newman tapped out!
Aaron Wolf (8) defeated Callum Newman (10) at 16:57.
9. Yuya Uemura (8) vs. Gabe Kidd (10) in a B Block tournament match. They glared at each other before finally locking up. They traded forearm strikes. Kidd briefly regrouped on the floor but got back in at 5:00. They fought to the floor, and Yuya whipped him into the guardrail. Kidd threw a chair at Yuya’s head at 7:30 (I hate that, and I’ll always call that out), and they fought into the crowd. Kidd suplexed him onto a row of empty chairs. Yuya finally got back into the ring at 10:00, but Kidd dropped him with a forearm strike.
Kidd unloaded a series of chops, and he kept Yuya grounded. Uemura snapped the arm. Yuya was bleeding over the right side of his chest from that series of chops! Yuya applied a hammerlock on the mat, but Kidd reached the ropes at 14:30. Kidd hit a decapitating clothesline and a brainbuster, then a powerbomb for a nearfall. He hit some hard paintbrush slaps to the face. Yuya hit a double-underhook suplex for a nearfall at 18:30. They traded more forearm strikes. Yuya hit a Pele Kick, then a Dragon Suplex for a nearfall at 20:30. Kidd set up for a piledriver, but Yuya escaped. Gabe hit the piledriver for a believable nearfall! Yuya got a rollup for the flash pin!
Yuya Uemura (10) defeated Gabe Kidd (10) at 22:08.
Final Thoughts: I enjoyed the main event, but nothing was really decided about who is the better man. Wolf continues to improve, and that is probably his biggest win yet. (Yes, I know he’s won titles, but he just beat a former world champ!) Sabre was definitely winning to get himself back to 4-4 after that 1-4 start. It was good to see Drilla overcome the odds to pick up a win and also guarantee he will finish with a winning record.
The A Block wraps up round-robin play on Wednesday, featuring Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ryohei Oiwa. The B Block then wraps up on Thursday. The semifinals will take place on Saturday, with the finals on Sunday.
Be the first to comment