SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NJPW G1 CLIMAX 36: NIGHT 2 REPORT
JULY 18, 2026
SAPPORO, HOKKAIDO, JAPAN AT HOKKAIDO PREFECTURAL SPORTS CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
REPORT BY MAURICIO POMARES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentator: Walker Stewart, Oskar
UNDERCARD TAGS
– Before the show’s intro video Hiroyoshi Tenzan made his way to the ring to address the crowd. Tenzan announced that his retirement match on August 15 would be a 5-minute singles bout against Satoshi Kojima.
(1) TORU YANO & TAISEI NAKAHARA vs. AARON WOLF & TATSUYA MATSUMOTO
Wolf caught Nakahara with a snap powerslam, setting him up for a Boston Crab and the win.
WINNERS: Aaron Wolf & Tatsuya Matsumoto at 5:11
(2) UNITED EMPIRE (Callum Newman & Zane Jay) vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Dick Togo)
Jay pulled Nartia’s nose, only for Narita to nail him with a pop up low blow behind the referee’s back. Narita and Togo dropped Jay with the Magic Killer for the three count.
WINNERS: House of Torture at 6:37
(3) YUYA UEMURA & MASATORA YASUDA vs. TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr & Hartley Jackson)
Jackson broke a Boston Crab attempt and laid Yasuda out with a clothesline before knocking him out with the Jagged Edge.
WINNERS: TMDK at 7:57
BLOCK MATCHES
(4) DRILLA MOLONEY (0) vs. GABE KIDD (0) – B Block Match
They slapped each other, until Kidd took Moloney down with a shoulder tackle. Moloney sent Kidd out of the ring with a slap and chased him into the crowd. They exchanged chops to the chest, until Kidd bit Moloney’s head and hurled his body into a row of chairs. Kidd grabbed a mic to tell the crowd that AEW was better, only for Moloney to knock him off his feet with chops to the chest. They continued brawling in the crowd, until Moloney sat Kidd on a chair with a flurry of slap to the face. Moloney dropped Kidd onto the edge of a guardrail with a flapjack. Moloney Irish-whipped Kidd into the guardrail, making him crash to the floor. Kidd tossed a chair into Moloney’s face and smashed his title belt on the floor to provoke the crowd. Kidd pummeled Moloney with chops to the chest and bit his head, as he started bleeding from his forehead.
Back in the ring, Kidd nailed Moloney with a kick to the head for a one count. Kidd beat Moloney up with a series of chops and headbutts, until Moloney was able to shut him down with a thrust kick. Moloney stomped Kidd down, but Kidd retaliated with an elbow strike. They both clobbered each other with chops and elbow shots, until Moloney caught Kidd with a dropkick. Kidd knocked Moloney off his feet with three back-to-back elbow strikes to the head, only for Moloney to take him down with Gore. Kidd floored Moloney with a German suplex, but Moloney blocked a second one with a barrage of back elbows. They hit each other with chops to the chest before Kidd caught Moloney with a rebound lariat. Kidd immediately spiked Moloney with two Brainbusters for a nearfall. Kidd dropped Moloney with a third Brainbuster for a shocking two count.
Moloney blocked a superplex attempt and knocked off the top turnbuckle with a headbutt. Moloney crushed Kidd with a diving elbow drop, followed by a pop up powerbomb and Gore for a close two count. Kidd countered the Drilla Killa with a back body drop for a two count. Moloney avoided Kidd’s strikes, until Kidd shocked him with a Spear. Moloney evaded the Drilla Killa and put Kidd down with a backdrop driver, setting him up for a running knee strike to the chest. Before Kidd could defend himself, Moloney spiked him with a piledriver and knocked him out with the Drilla Killa.
WINNER: Drilla Moloney (2 pts) at 15:46 (***3/4)
(Pomares’ Analysis: Really fun and hard-hitting bout to give Drilla Moloney a major spotlight in one of his biggest wins since moving to the heavyweight division. Moloney looked great and had strong reception from the crowd at Dominion and thankfully that connection with them seems to still be there. Slightly surprised by Kidd losing his first match, but I don’t mind since it probably serves as a setup for a future Global title match.)
(5) THE GREAT-O-KHAN (0) vs. SANADA (0) – A Block Match
O-Khan clocked Sanada with an elbow strike before the bell rang. O-Khan attacked Sanada with Mongolian chops, until Sanada knocked him off his feet with a dropkick to the ankles. Sanada smacked O-Khan with a palm strike to the jaw before knocking him off his feet with a dropkick to the knee. O-Khan rolled out of the ring and drove Sanada into the guardrail before choking him out with a string of rope. O-Khan whacked Sanada with two chair shots to the back.
Back in the ring, O-Khan tripped Sanada off his feet, only for Sanada to catch him with a dropkick to the knee and one to the chest. Sanada exposed the turnbuckles in one corner and Irish-whipped O-Khan into it twice. Sanada put O-Khan in the Paradise Lock and grabbed a turnbuckle pad to smack O-Khan’s butt. O-Khan tried to roll to the apron, only for Sanada to shut him down with a dropkick to the leg and a dragon screw into the ropes. Sanada missed a plancha, allowing O-Khan to stomp him down. Sanada evaded the Eliminator and went for the Skull End dragon sleeper. O-Khan shoved the referee into the ropes to trip Sanada who was climbing the top turnbuckle.
Sanada avoided the TTD and shocked O-Khan with a Shining Wizard. Sanada cracked O-Khan with another Shining Wizard to the back of hte head and a third one to the face for a nearfall. Before O-Khan could react, Sanada crushed him with a moonsault. O-Khan blocked the Death Fall by biting Sanada’s hand and grabbed a chair. Sanada took O-Khan down with a Magic screw on the floor and sat him on the chair. O-Khan tripped Sanada face-first onto the open chair and clobbered him with it. O-Khan spiked Sanada with a TTD onto the chair and returned to the ring while Sanada was counted out.
WINNER: The Great-O-Khan (2 pts) at 11:11 (**1/2)
– After the match, The Great-O-Khan laid Sanada’s head on an open chair and blasted him with another chair shot.
(Pomares’ Analysis: An alright match with probably too many weapon spots for my linking. They are clearly positioning United Empire as the top heel faction in New Japan and O-Khan is mostly leaning into being the big cheater of the group. Most days I will take this over House of Torture nonsense, but not by much. I’m already not very high on O-Khan’s matches in general, so this didn’t do a whole lot for me and I would have preferred if it was shorter. On a more positive note, I weirdly enjoyed Sanada mostly working as a face in peril, as well as Oskar on the commentary table.)
(6) KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (0) vs. JAKE LEE (2) – A Block Match
Lee pushed Takeshita into the ropes and ducked out of a Takeshita Line. Lee low-bridged Takeshita and blasted him with a Penalty kick off the apron. Back in the ring, Lee caught Takeshita with knee strikes to the abdomen, followed by the Takeshita Line. Takeshita dropped Lee with a Xploder and surprised him with a DDT on the floor. Takeshita wiped Lee’s face with a towel to take off his face paint and pummeled him down with the towel. They exchanged forearm strikes, until Lee caught Takeshita with a knee lift. Lee caught Takeshita with two knee strikes to the abdomen and floored him with a back suplex for a two count.
Takeshita avoided the Facebreak Shot and planted Lee with a one-armed powerbomb. Lee blocked a Power Drive Knee and caught Takeshita with strikes to the abdomen. Lee shut Takeshita down with a roundhouse kick, followed by a knee strike to the face for a two count. Before Takeshita could react, Lee dropped him with a chokeslam for a nearfall. Takeshita blocked the Facebreak Shot with a jumping knee and got a nearfall with a Power Drive Knee. Lee caught Takeshita off-guard with a Brainbuster, but he kicked out at two. They traded strikes to the face, until Takeshita knocked Lee off his feet with a Busaiku Knee. Takeshita immediately put Lee down with Raging Fire to pick up the win.
WINNER: Konosuke Takeshita (2 pts) at 8:54 (***1/4)
(Pomares’ Analysis: Shorter than I expected, but still pretty decent. Their styles meshed well and I actually enjoyed another Jake Lee match. Not much else today here.)
(7) BOLTIN OLEG (0) vs. YUTO-ICE (2) – A Block Match
They both started grappling around the mat, but not being able to pick any limb. Yuto caught Oleg with a kick to the abdomen, only for Oleg to ram him into the corner. Oleg cracked Yuto with an elbow strike and floored him with a spinning slam. Oleg laid Yuto out with a bodyslam, followed by a big splash for a two count. Before Yuto could get up, Oleg put him in a Boston Crab, until he was able to grab the ropes. Yuto surprised Oleg with a knee strike and a kick to the chest. Yuto blasted Oleg with a kick to the abdomen and one to the back of his knee before smashing him with a Bomboclaat knee strike.
Oleg blocked a Penalty kick, only for Yuto to take him down with a kick to the chest and a knee to the face. Yuto nailed Oleg with a Penalty kick, only for Oleg to immediately get up and clobbered him with forearm strikes. Oleg knocked Takeshita off his feet with a chop and pushed the referee out of the way. Oleg stomped Yuto down and smashed his head into the turnbuckle, until the referee separated them. Before Yuto could react, Oleg clocked him with a dropkick to the side of the head for a two count. Yuto gouged Oleg’s eyes and kicked his chest numerous times. Yuto slapped Oleg and clobbered him with a roundhouse kick, followed by a forearm shot and another roundhouse kick. Oleg kicked out at two, launching Yuto into the corner in the process.
They exchanged various strikes, until Oleg shocked Yuto with a backfist to the chest. Yuto nailed Oleg with a bunch of kicks to the chest, until Oleg knocked him away with a double chop. Yuto knocked Oleg off his feet with a running kick to the chest. Oleg caught Yuto off-guard with a pop up elbow shot to the head, setting him up for a belly-to-belly slam and a two count.
Yuto avoided the Kamikaze and knocked Oleg off his feet with a kick to the knee, setting him up for a running knee to the back of the head. Oleg blocked a running knee strike with the Kamikaze for a close nearfall. Yuto gouged Oleg’s eyes to block a powerbomb. Oleg blocked a chop by putting Yuto in a wrist lock and planted him with The Verdict, followed by a powerbomb for a nearfall. Oleg laid Yuto out with a series of powerbomb, until the referee stopped the match.
WINNER: Boltin Oleg (2 pts) at 15:01 (****)
(Pomares’ Analysis: My favorite match of the night so far and a great first post-excursion match between these two. Kept me engaged throughout despite consisting almost in its entirety of strikes. Loved the ending of Yuto making Oleg snap and Oleg immediately after getting a decisive victory. Not any obvious story immediately coming out of this, but I’m all for them revisiting this matchup down the line.)
(8) SHINGO TAKAGI (0) vs. RYOHEI OIWA (2) – A Block Match
They locked up and pushed each other, until Oiwa knocked Takagi off his feet with a shoulder tackle. Takagi immediately went for a shoulder tackle of his own, but Oiwa caught him with an arm drag. Oiwa attacked Takagi with a series of shoulder blocks and put him in a wrist lock while wrapping his legs around Takagi’s shoulder. Oiwa clobbered Takagi with a shoulder tackle, followed by a senton. Takagi avoided a snap powerslam and crushed Oiwa with another senton. Takagi dropped Oiwa with a superplex, following it with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count.
Oiwa evaded a power move and blocked a lariat before dropping Takagi with a Tenzan suplex for a two count. Oiwa crushed Takagi with a diving splash for a two count. Takagi reached the ropes to stop a double wrist lock, only for Oiwa to put him down with a German suplex. Takagi kicked out and immediately put Oiwa in a hammerlock before hyper-extending his shoulder. Oiwa went for a forearm shot, but Takagi immediately smacked him with a Bell Clap and an uppercut. Takagi blocked a discus lariat and withstood a couple of lariats before blasting Oiwa with one of his own. Takagi countered a discus lariat with a Dangerous Backdrop. Oiwa shut Takagi down with a lariat, but Takagi immediately retaliated with one of his own.
Takagi put Oiwa down with Made in Japan for a close two count. Takagi clobbered Oiwa with a forearm and an uppercut, but Oiwa caught him off-guard with a Chaos Theory German suplex. Oiwa put Takagi in a double wrist lock, until Takagi knocked him away with a back elbow. Oiwa floored Takagi with a sitout Doctor Bomb, but he still kicked out at two. Takagi countered The Grip with a Pumping Bomber for a nearfall. Oiwa smashed Takagi’s shoulder into the mat and put him in a headlock. Takagi countered a lariat with a Victory Roll and clocked Oiwa with an uppercut. Takagi flattened Oiwa with the Last of the Dragon and blasted him with a Pumping Bomber for a close nearfall. Before Oiwa
WINNER: Shingo Takagi (2 pts) at 16:37 (***3/4)
(Pomares’ Analysis: Another strong match where Takagi overcame Oiwa’s attempts to target his arm. I still struggle to get a bit into Oiwa’s singles matches, but this was still very good. His best work has usually come against his younger peers, but people like Shingo and ZSJ can also get the best out of him.)
(9) HIROOKI GOTO (2) vs. YOTA TSUJI (2) – A Block Match
They pushed each other to the ropes, until Tsuji clobbered Goto with a chop to the chest. Tsuji knocked Goto off his feet with a shoulder tackle, only for Goto to slam him down and kick his back. Goto pummeled Tsuji with elbow strikes, but Tsuji shut him down with a double stomp. Tsuji knocked Goto off the apron with a sliding dropkick and rammed him into the guardrail with a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Tsuji hit Goto with a knee to the abdomen for a two count. Tsuji twisted Goto’s neck with his feet and drove him into the corner, but Goto shut him down with a lariat.
Goto crushed Tsuji with Muramasa, followed by a back suplex for a two count. Tsuji countered a lariat with a flatliner and put Goto down with a German suplex. Tsuji nailed Goto with a corner splash before taking him down with a backbreaker and Curb Stomp combination. Before Goto could react, Tsuji put him in a Boston Crab, until he managed to reach the ropes. Tsuji maintained control over Goto with elbow strikes, but Goto responded with elbows of his own. Tsuji shut Goto down with a single charged chop, knocking him to his knees. Before Goto could get up, Tsuji crushed him with a Curb Stomp for a nearfall. Goto countered the Gene Blaster with Ushigoroshi, leaving both men down.
Tsuji countered a suplex with a Falcon Arrow for a two count. Tsuji cracked Goto with a pump knee and hung him atop the turnbuckle. They traded forearm shots on the top turnbuckle, until Goto slapped Tsuji and put him down with an avalanche Code Red for a nearfall. Goto kicked Tsuji’s chest and turned him inside out with a lariat, setting him ujp for GTW and a close two count. Tsuji avoided GTR and Goto blocked a knee strike to the face. Tsuji surprised Goto with a rising kick and a headbutt before laying him out with a spinning spinebuster for a two count. Goto blocked a Gene Blaster and put him down with Shoten Kai.
Tsuji blocked GTR before they both hit each other with a headbutt. Goto pummeled Tsuji down with a bunch of headbutts and knocked to his knees with a forearm to the back. Tsuji caught Goto off-guard with a short Gene Blaster for a nearfall. Goto blocked another Gene Blaster with Muramasa and knocked Tsuji out with two back-to-back GTRs.
WINNER: Hirooki Goto (4 pts) at 22:36 (****)
(Pomares’ Analysis: Tsuji has somewhat been one of Goto’s most important opponents in recent years and this was another great bout from them. Goto fighting from underneath and pulling every move to finish Tsuji off will always be exciting to see. I doubt we’ll ever get another Goto title run, but I’m all for seeing these run it back in a rematch after the G1.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: Another strong show for this year’s G1 with both Tsuji/Goto and Yuto/Oleg as standouts and big recommendations. Very close to them are Kidd/Moloney and Oiwa/Takagi which delivered the kind of matches I tune into the G1 for. The only major blemish so far has been the Great-O-Khan who has been responsible for two least favorite matches so far.
You can contact me at mauriciopomares@gmail.com, on Twitter @PomiWrestling or on BlueSky @pomiwrestling.bsky.social
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.