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NJPW G1 CLIMAX 35: NIGHT 4 REPORT
JULY 23, 2025
NAGAOKA, NIIGATA, JAPAN AT AORE NAGAOKA
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
REPORT BY MAURICIO POMARES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentator: Walker Stewart, Rocky Romero
UNDERCARD TAGS
(1) BOLTIN OLEG & TORU YANO vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Sanada & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Yano blocked a Figure 4 leg lock and blinded Kanemaru with a whiskey spit before stealing the win with a roll-up.
WINNERS: Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano at 6:01
(2) YUYA UEMURA & SHOMA KATO vs. UNITED EMPIRE (Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young)
Young kicked out of a roll-up and nailed Kato with a roundhouse kick, setting him up for Jakob’s Ladder and the three count.
WINNERS: United Empire at 6:42
(3) TAICHI & MASATORA YASUDA vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Evil & Dick Togo)
Yasuda pummeled Evil with forearm shots, until Evil shut him down with a lariat and forced him to tap out with the Darkness Scorpion.
WINNERS: House of Torture at 6:30
(4) YOTA TSUJI & DAIKI NAGAI vs. TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson)
Nagai knocked Jackson off his feet with a pair of dropkicks and planted him with a spinebuster, only for Jackson to lay him out with a lariat and beat him with a Death Valley Driver.
WINNERS: TMDK at 6:25
(5) HIROSHI TANAHASHI & KATSUYA MURASHIMA vs. BULLET CLUB WAR DOGS (David Finlay & Gedo)
Murashima flattened Gedo with a fireman’s carry slam, setting him up for Tanahashi’s Cloverleaf and the win.
WINNERS: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuya Murashima at 7:56
B BLOCK MATCHES
SHINGO TAKAGI (0) vs. GABE KIDD (0) – B Block Match
Gabe Kidd is still not cleared to wrestle, therefore had to forfeit his match against Shingo Takagi.
WINNER: Shingo Takagi (2 pts) via Forfeit
(6) YOSHI-HASHI (4) vs. DRILLA MOLONEY (4) – B Block Match
Moloney pushed Yoshi to the ropes before they started clobbering each other with chops. Yoshi was able to take Moloney down with a double chop, but Moloney quickly overpowered him with an Irish-whip into the corner. Moloney nailed Yoshi with a Penalty kick to the back and maintained him down with another chop. Yoshi blocked another Irish-whip, only for Moloney to knock him off his feet with a chop. Yoshi caught Moloney with a dropkick to the knee and dropped him with a running blockbuster, followed by a DDT for a two count. Moloney evaded a suplex and tried to go for the Drilla Killa.
They hit each other with dragon suplexes and chops to the chest, until Moloney planted Yoshi with a spinebuster for a two count. Moloney crushed Yoshi with a diving elbow drop and laid him out with a German suplex. Moloney blasted Yoshi with Gore, but he managed to kick out at two. Yoshi countered the Drilla Killa with a reverse DDT. Yoshi hit Moloney with a thrust kick, but Moloney blocked Karma and clocked him with an enzuigiri. Moloney tried to go for Gore, but Yoshi blocked it and spiked him with a Destroyer for a nearfall. Yoshi cracked Moloney with a headbutt, followed by a thrust kick and a lariat. Yoshi immediately planted Moloney with Karma to pick up the win.
WINNER: Yoshi-Hashi (6 pts) at 11:32 (***1/2)
(Pomares’ Analysis: Really fun and hard-hitting match with some fun reversals at the end that got the crowd very into it. It’s still bizarre that this was the matchup for the top of Block B, but as a huge Yoshi-Hashi fan, I’m not complaining. While I highly doubt Yoshi will make it past the group stage, I’m all for the story of him stepping up after Hirooki Goto’s injury. As for Moloney, I think this was my favorite tournament match of his so far. Yoshi is capable of having good matches with everyone and he really allowed Moloney to shine in defeat in this one.)
(7) EL PHANTASMO (2) (w/Jado) vs. REN NARITA (2) – B Block Match
Narita attacked ELP on his way to the entrance way and drove him into the ring post. Narita tossed ELP into a row of chairs, but ELP knocked him away with a chair shot. ELP dove off the entrance ramp and crashed into Narita with a crossbody. Once the match officially started, ELP took Narita down with a back body drop. ELP pummeled Narita down with right hands and took him down with a hurracarrana. ELP clotheslined Narita out of the ring, setting him up for a plancha. Back in the ring, ELP crushed Narita with the top rope somersault senton, but Narita blocked his Lionsault with his knees.
Narita smashed ELP’s knee on the mat and pulled into the ring post. ELP attacked Narita with forearm strikes, until Narita kicked his damaged knee. ELP caught Narita with a dropkick, following it with clotheslines, a springboard crossbody and a Lionsault. Before Narita could react, ELP hit him with a bodyslam and a diving knee drop. Narita avoided the Sudden Death kick and tried to put ELP in a kneebar. ELP took Narita down with a backslide and blasted him with a kick to the abdomen. Narita avoided the UFO and gouged ELP’s eyes, setting him up for a German suplex and a two count.
Jado stopped Narita from using his push-up bar as a weapon, only for ELP to accidentally hit him with a dropkick. ELP countered the Double ross with a jackknife pinfall and laid Narita out with the Sudden Death kick for a two count. ELP avoided a low blow and planted Narita with the UFO, setting him up for Thunderkiss 86. Yoshinobu Kanemaru showed up to pull the referee out of the ring and stomp ELP down. ELP hit Kanemaru with a Sudden Death Kick and avoided a push-up bar shot from Narita. Narita hit ELP with a low blow and Double Cross, setting him up for Hell’s Guillotine and the win.
WINNER: Ren Narita (4 pts) at 9:50 (**3/4)
(Pomares’ Analysis: A fine match that I actually was getting into, until the usual House of Torture shenanigans. After his performance against ZSJ on Night One, I was really hoping that the HoT nonsense would be kept in Evil’s matches, but I guess that was just hopeful thinking.)
(8) THE GREAT-O-KHAN (2) vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (2) – B Block Match
O-Khan put Takeshita in a headlock, avoided a Takeshita Line attempt and knocked him off his feet. O-Khan Irish-whipped Takeshita into the guardrail and dropped him with a bodyslam on the edge of the guardrail. Before Takeshita could react, O-Khan dropped him with an uranage on the edge of the apron. O-Khan trapped Takeshita in a Camel Clutch, until he was able to reach the ropes. O-Khan targeted Takeshita’s neck and with Mongolian chops, making him struggle to go for a charged forearm strike.
Takeshita stopped O-Khan atop the turnbuckle with an uppercut, only for O-Khan to quickly sweep him off the turnbuckle and sit on his head. They both tried to go for suplexes at the same time, until Takeshita was able to connect it. Takeshita caught O-Khan with a boot to the face, followed by a diving headscissors takeover. Takeshita shut O-Khan down with the Takeshita Line and crashed into him with a Tope con Hilo. Back in the ring, O-Khan evaded an elbow to the back of the head and swept Takeshita off his feet before clobbering him with an elbow to the back of the head of his own.
They exchanged forearm strikes, until O-Khan cracked Takeshita with an uppercut. Takeshita planted O-Khan with a German suplex, only for O-Khan to retaliate with a lariat. O-Khan knocked Takeshita off his feet with a Claw into a backbreaker before trapping him in an abdominal stretch. Takeshita shocked O-Khan with a rising knee strike and floored him with a Blue Thunderbomb for a nearfall. Takeshita crushed O-Khan with a diving senton, but O-Khan countered the follow-up Raging Fire with TTD for a close two count.
O-Khan tried to go for the Eliminator, but Takeshita shut him down with a German suplex and a Power Drive Knee. O-Khan kicked out by grabbing Takeshita’s face with the Claw and planted him with a flatliner. Takeshita blocked the Eliminator with an arm drag, only for O-Khan to take the air out of him with a straight punch. Both men went for flying strikes at the same time, but only Takeshita was able to make contact. Takeshita immediately put O-Khan down with Raging Fire for the win.
WINNER: Konosuke Takeshita (4 pts) at 17:05 (***3/4)
(Pomares’ Analysis: It’s rare to see Takeshita work a match from underneath, but both him and O-Khan did a really good job making it work. Plenty of hard-hitting strikes and an exciting final stretch to make Takeshita’s win feel as hard-earned as possible. I’m not sure what I expected going in, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the match of the night. Obviously, there’s still the main event, but this match has raised the bar)
(9) SHOTA UMINO (2) vs. ZACK SABRE JR (2) – B Block Match
They immediately traded forearm strikes and shoulder tackles, until Umino knocked ZSJ off his feet. Umino pulled ZSJ’s leg into the ropes and trapped him in a leg lock, until he was able to grab the ropes. ZSJ avoided a dropkick to the knee and hit Umino with a neck twist. ZSJ knocked Umino down with a series of uppercuts and spit at him while mocking him with kicks to the chest. Umino caught ZSJ with a dropkick to the knee, followed by a knee breaker and a neckbreaker. ZSJ attacked Umino with uppercuts and a slap, until Umino shut him down with a single forearm strike.
Umino blasted ZSJ with a running uppercut and put him down with a fisherman suplex for a two count. Umino trapped ZSJ in another leg lock, transitioning it into an STF in the middle of the ring. ZSJ tried to crawl for the ropes, but Umino pulled him back and smashed his knee on the mat. ZSJ managed to break the hold and target Umino’s arm with a Pele kick. Before Umino could react, ZSJ twisted his arm with his legs and put him in an armbar, until he was able to put his feet on the ropes. Umino kicked ZSJ away and started a quick pinning combination exchange. ZSJ caught Umino off-guard with another neck twist, only for Umino to respond with a Tornado DDT.
ZSJ managed to lay Umino out with the Zack Driver, but was too exhausted to go for a pinfall. Umino pummeled ZSJ with uppercuts, until ZSJ retaliated with uppercuts of his own. Umino blasted ZSJ with a knee strike to the back of the head and dropped him with a superplex for a two count. They clobbered each other with lariats to the chest, until ZSJ countered a lariat with a headscissors armbar. ZSJ transitioned into a double wrist lock while still in control of Umino’s head. ZSJ picked Umino’s other arm to add pressure and pulled one of his legs, but Umino was able to reach the ropes with the other.
Before Umino could react, ZSJ pummeled him with a barrage of kicks to the chest. ZSJ nailed Umino with a Penalty kick and a lariat, only for Umino to respond with a German suplex and a lariat of his own. Umino blasted ZSJ with a running knee strike, but he kicked out at two. ZSJ managed to put Umino down with the Zack Driver for a close nearfall. ZSJ took Umino down with an O’Connor Roll, but Umino blocked a headscissors takeover with a pinning combination. Umino turned ZSJ inside out with a massive lariat and planted him with the Second Chapter for the victory.
WINNER: Shota Umino (4 pts) at 22:10 (****1/4)
(Pomares’ Analysis: A much needed reminder of how great the chemistry between these two is when they are not going for a misguided attempt at an epic in the Tokyo Dome. An outstanding encounter and arguably the best match of the tournament so far. Umino’s 2025 hasn’t been stellar, however this is the closest he has felt like the top star New Japan clearly envisioned him to be. Hope he’s able to keep this run going into his match against Ren Narita. On a side note, I’m very surprised by ZSJ already losing two matches and only winning one via forfeit, but it could be a great story bit if developed the right way.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: A strong night in spite of losing Kidd vs. Takagi from the card. The main event delivered not only a top-notch match, but some redemption for Umino and ZSJ after their poorly received effort at WrestleKingdom. Both Yoshi vs. Moloney and Takeshita vs. O-Khan were fun and worth a watch. They only real miss of the show Narita vs. ELP which felt like a step back for Narita after his performance against ZSJ. Still, I’m excited to see what Block B has in store for Night 6 and how far New Japan will commit to having Yoshi-Hashi as the head of the block.
You can contact me at mauriciopomares@gmail.com, on Twitter @PomiWreslting or on BlueSky @pomiwrestling.bsky.social
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