NJPW ventured to Hiroshima for the latest G1 Climax show, featuring Zack Sabre Jr. taking on Great O-Khan in the main event.
The B Block was featured with an audience of 2,002 attendees at Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall, creating a logjam at the top of the block.
After the four round-robin matches on Saturday, there is a seven-way tie for first place with Shingo Takagi and El Phantasmo below.
In the main event, Zack Sabre Jr. submitted Great O-Khan with an armbar after working on the limp throughout the match. ZSJ survived the Eliminator and, after fighting free from a claw hold, he unclasped the hands of O-Khan, who was forced to submit.
The win propels the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion into the top mix at eight points, which is the same amount of points O-Khan leaves Hiroshima with.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Drilla Moloney after a sequence of power strikes down the stretch. Moloney powered Takeshita onto his shoulders for the Drilla Killa, which was countered, and he landed Raging Fire to earn his ascension to the top mix, as both have eight points after ten nights of the G1.
Shingo Takagi beat NJPW World Television Champion El Phantasmo with the Last of the Dragon. This match was another outstanding performance by Takagi, who kicked out of the CR II and his version of the Tiger Driver ’98 for a two-count. The match ended with a Pumping Bomber before Last of the Dragon. Takagi sits at six points, while ELP is on the bottom with four.
Shota Umino continued his run of strong performances by defeating YOSHI-HASHI and demonstrating more fire as the tournament progresses, and he has turned a corner among his skeptics. Umino blocked Karma and destroyed YOSHI-HASHI with a brutal-looking lariat and hit the Second Chapter to move into the seven-way tie with eight points, the same total YOSHI-HASHI possesses.
All four matches were very strong and not a dud among them today.
Full results
- B Block: Zack Sabre Jr. [8] over Great O-Khan [8] in 20:01
- B Block: Konosuke Takeshita [8] over Drilla Moloney [8] in 14:01
- B Block: Shingo Takagi [6] over El Phantasmo [4] in 14:27
- B Block: Shota Umino [8] over YOSHI-HASHI [8] in 13:30
- B Block: Ren Narita [8] over Gabe Kidd [0] by forfeit
- Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano over Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young in 3:58
- Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson over Taichi & Masatora Yasuda in 8:12
- SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru over Yuya Uemura & Shoma Kato in 7:22
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuya Murashima over Yota Tsuji & Daiki Nagai in 6:38
- EVIL & Dick Togo over Davud Finlay & Gedo in 5:22
Current Standings
| Rank | A Block | B Block |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | EVIL (8) | Drilla Moloney (8) |
| 2 | Yota Tsuji (8) | Great-O-Khan (8) |
| 3 | Yuya Uemura (8) | Ren Narita (8) |
| 4 | Oleg Boltin (6) | Yoshi-Hashi (8) |
| 5 | Callum Newman (6) | Konosuke Takeshita (8) |
| 6 | Ryohei Oiwa (6) | Shota Umino (8) |
| 7 | Taichi (6) | Zack Sabre Jr. (8) |
| 8 | David Finlay (4) | Shingo Takagi (6) |
| 9 | Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) | El Phantasmo (4) |
| 10 | SANADA (4) | Gabe Kidd (0) |
The G1 Climax continues with its third consecutive show on Sunday in Fukuoka with the following A Block matches:
*Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yota Tsuji
*EVIL vs. David Finlay
*SANADA vs. Yuya Uemura
*Taichi vs. Ryohei Oiwa
*Oleg Boltin vs. Callum Newman
