The field is complete for this year’s G1 Climax as the final two participants have qualified.
New Japan held its Road to G1 Climax show at Korakuen Hall on Monday, including two “play-in” matches to determine the final spots in this year’s tournament.
OSKAR and Ryohei Oiwa punched their tickets with victories on Monday to finalize this year’s field of twenty performers.
OSKAR outlasted the House of Torture with the assistance of tag partner Yuto-Ice, defeating Yujiro Takahashi to join Block B.
The former tag champion attempted to end the match immediately with a choke when SHO rang the bell, leading to the release of the hold and an attack by the group. They worked on OSKAR’s knee throughout the match after an initial chop block. During a comeback, Ren Narita yanked the referee to save Yujiro, prompting Yuto Ice to arrive and fight off House of Torture and hit Yujiro with the KOB as OSKAR prevailed.
The A Block “play-in” featured Ryohei Oiwa defeating El Phantasmo in just under ten minutes. The intensity picked up in the final stretch after ELP ducked The Grip and responded with a release German suplex. Oiwa recovered to hit a Chaos Theory. The two got crossed up during another attempt at Grip, so Oiwa ran the ropes to hit his finisher and score the fall.
The two men shook hands, and ELP remained in the ring by himself, kneeling in the center and tapped the lion mark before leaving with Jado.
OSKAR and Oiwa will be part of this Saturday’s G1 Climax opening night card at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. In the A Block, Oiwa faces Boltin Oleg, and in the B Block, OSKAR meets Ren Narita.
A Block:
- Konosuke Takeshita
- Yota Tsuji
- SANADA
- Shingo Takagi
- Jake Lee
- Boltin Oleg
- Hirooki Goto
- Great O-Khan
- Yuto-Ice
- Ryohei Oiwa
B Block
- Callum Newman
- Zack Sabre Jr.
- Shota Umino
- Yuya Uemura
- Ren Narita
- Drilla Moloney
- Gabe Kidd
- HENARE
- Aaron Wolf
- OSKAR
