The round-robin portion of the G1 Climax is winding down with Friday’s show featuring the first performer to clinch a playoff spot.
The B Block matches were featured at Yokohama Budokan in front of an attendance listed at 2,448.
It was the penultimate round-robin match for most of the block, aside from El Phantasmo, who has completed his tournament and was scheduled to face Gabe Kidd next Wednesday, but will receive the forfeit victory.
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. is the first to qualify for the playoff round after beating Drilla Moloney and moving to 6-2 in the field with twelve points and sitting at the top of the block.
It’s not a guarantee that he will finish in first to receive the bye to the semi-finals. Konosuke Takeshita, Shota Umino, and Ren Narita are below him with ten points each, and all four will wrestle their final matches next Wednesday. ZSJ has lost to Narita and Umino but has a win against Takeshita. ZSJ’s final match of the round-robin stage is against YOSHI-HASHI.
Friday’s main event saw Shota Umino beat Konosuke Takeshita in the longest match of the G1, so far, lasting 25 minutes and 46 seconds. The final stretch saw Umino survive a Brainbuster, and when Takeshita went for another one, it was countered with the Second Chapter for the victory. The two leave Yokohama with ten points each, with Umino facing Great O-Khan, and Takeshita taking on Ren Narita next Wednesday.
Shingo Takagi defeated Ren Narita in one of Narita’s best matches of the G1. While full of interference, it had the feel-good ending of Takagi, aided by Daiki Nagai, overcoming the House of Torture. There was great work by Narita on the injured left knee of Takagi, stemming from the recent match with Zack Sabre Jr. The false finishes included Yoshinobu Kanemaru ringing the bell when Takagi had a submission applied, and Marty Asami being yanked to the floor after hitting Made in Japan. Nagai stopped Narita from using the push-up bar, which led to Last of the Dragon and Takagi improving to 4-4 with eight points, but Takagi is out of the running.
Zack Sabre Jr. beat Drilla Moloney with a great story involving Moloney’s previously torn left biceps, which Zack targeted. Throughout the match, Zack worked on the arm, and the announcers cited the previous injury to Moloney. Zack went for a Triangle when Moloney tried to lift him to powerbomb his way free, but Zack cinched the armbar and forced an immediate tap. It was an excellent finish and storytelling throughout.
El Phantasmo beat YOSHI-HASHI in another strong match using a CR II for a near-fall, followed by his version of the Burning Hammer and Thunderkiss ’86 to end his G1 run with eight points. ELP gave away his Television Championship to a fan. Let’s hope for more commentary opportunities for the Canadian this G1 season. The loss also led to YOSHI-HASHI’s elimination.
I would argue this was one of the better G1 shows of the tournament, including the House of Torture match. I wouldn’t call any of the four tournament matches underwhelming, and all would be worth your time.
Full results
- B Block: Shota Umino [10] over Konosuke Takeshita [10] in 25:46
- B Block: Shingo Takagi [8] over Ren Narita [10] in 17:10
- B Block: Zack Sabre Jr. [12] over Drilla Moloney [8] in 14:01
- B Block: El Phantasmo [8] over YOSHI-HASHI [8] in 12:30
- Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma over David Finlay & Gedo in 5:26
- EVIL & Dick Togo over Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuya Murashima in 5:44
- Yota Tsuji & Daiki Nagai over Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young in 5:32
- SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru over Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson by DQ in 7:19
- Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano over Taichi & Masatora Yasuda in 6:58
Current standings
| Rank | A Block | B Block |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | EVIL (10) | Zack Sabre Jr. (12) |
| 2 | Yuya Uemura (10) | Konosuke Takeshita (10) |
| 3 | Boltin Oleg (8) | Ren Narita (10) |
| 4 | Callum Newman (8) | Shota Umino (10) |
| 5 | David Finlay (8) | Great-O-Khan (8) |
| 6 | Hiroshi Tanahashi (8) | Yoshi-Hashi (8) |
| 7 | Ryohei Oiwa (8) | Drilla Moloney (8) |
| 8 | Yota Tsuji (8) | Shingo Takagi (8) |
| 9 | SANADA (6) | El Phantasmo (8) |
| 10 | Taichi (6) | Gabe Kidd (0) |
The A Block continues Sunday in Gunma with the following lineup:
- A Block: Yuya Uemura [10] vs. David Finlay [8]
- A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] vs. EVIL [10]
- A Block: Yota Tsuji [8] vs. Callum Newman [8]
- A Block: SANADA [6] vs. Ryohei Oiwa [8]
- A Block: Oleg Boltin [8] vs. Taichi [6]
- Shingo Takagi & Daiki Nagai vs. Drilla Moloney & Taiji Ishimori
- Zack Sabre Jr. & Hartley Jackson vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Shoma Kato
- Shota Umino & Katsuya Murashima vs. Great O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young
Konosuke Takeshita & Rocky Romero vs. Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
