The IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji and Ryohei Oiwa punched their tickets to the G1 Climax 36 semifinals.
Four wrestlers had a chance to advance heading into Hamamatsu, which had an announced 2,075 people in attendance. Boltin Oleg fell short, but Tsuji won his matchup, and Oiwa beat Konosuke Takeshita in the main event to earn the tiebreaker over the NJPW World Television Champion. The pair will wait for the B Block finale for their semifinal opponent at Ryogoku on Saturday, Aug. 15.
Results
- Daiki Nagai & Drilla Moloney def. Taisei Nakahara & Toru Yano (7:15)
- Hartley Jackson& Zack Sabre Jr. def. Tatsuya Matsumoto & Aaron Wolf (9:03)
- Gedo & OSKAR def. Masatora Yasuda & Yuya Umemura (5:42)
- Jakob Austin Young & HENARE def. Zane Jay & Callum Newman (9:49)
- A Block: SANADA [8] def. Shingo Takagi [8] (12:18)
- A Block: Hirooki Goto [8] def. Yuto-Ice [8] (10:08)
- A Block: Yota Tsuji [12] def. Jake Lee [6] (13:58)
- A Block: Great-O-Khan [6] def. Boltin Oleg [10] via countout (17:30)
- A Block: Ryohei Oiwa [12] def. Konosuke Takeshita [12] (15:11)
Shingo Takagi vs. SANADA
This was a fine opener considering both men already were eliminated. SANADA won with the O’Connor Roll after Takagi hit Last of the Dragon and tried to go for a Pumping Bomber.
Hirooki Goto vs. Yuto-Ice
According to Chris Charlton, this was Goto’s first win in Hamamatsu since 2015. Goto won with the Goto-Shiki, which marked the first time Ice has been pinned in the G1.
Jake Lee vs. Yota Tsuji
Tsuji tried to take care of business quickly, but Lee worked Tsuji’s left arm to slow him down. Lee tried to paint Tsuji’s face with a marker, but later in the match, he grabbed a napkin with makeup from under the ring and spread it on Tsuji’s face to give him a Joker look. Tsuji would play into that when he stared down Lee and mounted his comeback. He gave Lee some good vibrations, hit a Somato and a curb stomp. Lee rolled outside, and Tsuji landed a double stomp from the top rope. Tsuji went for the Gene Blaster, but Lee used his momentum to turn it into a German Suplex off the ropes and hit a curb stomp of his own. During a strike exchange, both men were laughing, and Lee had a nearfall after absorbing a headbutt. Tsuji had a nearfall after catching Lee with a Gene Blaster, and he won with a Fire Blaster that sent Lee to the corner.
Great-O-Khan vs. Boltin Oleg
As he’s done through most of the G1, O-Khan brought weapons to the match and did his best to keep things outside of the ring. Near the end of the match, after the ref went down, Oleg took a chair to the back, but he recovered and could have hit a Kamikaze on the chair. However, he kicked it out and only got a two-count. There was another ref bump, and each man had a nearfall. After another ref bump, O-Khan landed a low blow using the ropes and chokeslammed Oleg through a table he set up earlier in the match. There technically were two tables, but it seemed like Oleg’s head knocked over the other table, as O-Khan outlasted Oleg during the 20-count to play spoiler.
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ryohei Oiwa
This was the easy match of the night, as Oiwa was looking for revenge after losing his last encounter with Takeshita. As he’s done throughout the G1, Oiwa worked the headlock, as Takeshita threw everything he could at Oiwa. The climax of the match saw a strike exchange and both men landing big elbow strikes. Oiwa nailed Takeshita with an elbow and a lariat, but Takeshita recovered with an elbow strike and Wagamama. Oiwa caught Takeshita with a rolling German Suplex for a nearfall. He locked in the headlock, and Takeshita tried to break the hold with a suplex, but Oiwa still had it on tight. Takeshita thought he had an opening, but Oiwa hit a headbutt to lock it in again. Takeshita threw a flurry of strikes to weaken the hold, and he tried to go for the Blue Thunder Bomb, but Oiwa countered into a headlock. He landed a lariat to get the win.
B Block concludes Friday at Korakuen Hall
- Aaron Wolf [8] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [8]
- Gabe Kidd [10] vs. Ren Narita [10]
- Yuya Uemura [10] vs. OSKAR [8]
- Callum Newman [10] vs. HENARE [8]
