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NJPW G1 CLIMAX 36: NIGHT 15 REPORT
AUGUST 11, 2026
MIE, JAPAN
NISSO HIGHWAY ARENA
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
REPORT BY SEAN RADICAN, PWTORCH COLUMNIST
Commentary: Walker Stewart
UNDERCARD RESULTS
(1) MASATORA YASUDA & BOLTIN OLEG vs. UNITED EMPIRE (Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young)
Young pinned Yasdua.
WINNERS: United Empire at 7:12.
(2) UNBOUND CO. (Taiji Ishimori & Shingo Takagi) vs. HOUSE OF TOTURE (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sanada).
Ishimori hit a low blow on Kanemaru and then pinned him with the Gedo Clutch.
WINNERS: Unbound Co. at 6:21.
(3) UNBOUND CO. (Yota Tsuji & Daiki Nagai) vs. UNITED EMPIIRE (Zane Jay & Jake Lee)
Lee pinned Nagai with the Facebreaker.
WINNERS: United Empire at 5:14.
(4) TATSUYA MATSUMOTO & HIROOKI GOTO vs. UNBOUND CO. (Yuto-Ice & Gedo)
Goto pinned Gedo with a GTR.
WINNERS: Unbound Co. at 7:09.
*Ryohei Oiwa and Konosuke Takeshita did not appear on the undercard today.
B BLOCK MATCHES
(5) HENARE (8) vs. ZACK SABRE JR. p6) – B block match
Sabre is obviously in a must-win situation here. He stayed relatively in his lane here working over Henare with submissions. Sabre got a triangle late and Henare tried to powerbomb his way out of it, but Sabre hung on and got the win.
WINNER: Zack Sabre Jr. (8 pts) at 15:32 via submission. (***1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a good start to the block action for the night. Sabre is still alive in the tournament with the win here pending the results of the other matches. He’s had a lot of success going back to his submission roots instead of playing to his opponents strengths and losing as a result.)
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “Destination Impact” with Zac Clarke and Jerud Buhagiar, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
(6) REN NARITA (10) vs. DRILLA MALONEY (8) – B block match
Yoshinobu Kanemaru jumped Maloney as he made his entrance. Narita threw him into the ring and the ref rang the bell. Dick Togo joined in on the fun. The interference “worked” here in the sense that the crowd loved to see Maloney overcome the 3 on 1 advantage. Maloney managed to avoid a powder shot late from Togo. The ring ended up clear and Maloney hit the Drilla Killa for the win.
WINNER: Drilla Maloney (10 pts) at 11:54. (**1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was not good. Nobody even came out to help Maloney during the match. The crowd enjoyed seeing him win, but how many of these matches is NJPW going to subject fans too before giving House of Torture a meaningful consequences.)
Narita’s loss means Newman can take the top spot in the block with a win. Wolf is eliminated with a loss.
(7) CALLUM NEWMAN (10) vs. AARON WOLF (6) – B block match
This is their first ever match. Newman controlled the action early and Wolf mounted a comeback. They ended up on the apron. Wolf blocked Kiss the Crown and hit a judo throw to the floor. Wolf missed a splash and Newman nailed him with a running kick. He hit a dropkick a short time later for a 2 count.
Wolf fired back and got a head and arm choke. Newman pulled Wolf’s hair to free himself while Jay distracted the ref. Newman followed up with a PK. Wolf hit Landslide at one point and dumped Newman on his injured shoulder. Wolf caught Newman with a lariat a short time later. Wolf countered Newman and hit a Canadian Destroyer and an Angle Slam. He then locked on an arm bar. He turned it into a head and arm choke and Newman tapped!
WINNER: Aaron Wolf (8 pts) at 16:57 via submission. (***3/4)
(Radican’s Analysis: Wolf wasn’t great here, but he was awfully good against Newman. He didn’t really specially target Newman’s injured arm, but he did enough damage to it with his power moves during the match. Wolf stays alive with the win here after a shocking final stretch to the match.)
(8) YUYA UEMURA (8) vs. GABE KIDD (10) – B block match
Neither man is eliminated with a loss, but the loser will have a more difficult path to reaching the next round
Gabe got into the ring and got right in Uemura’s face. He said Kidd believed there wasn’t anyone from the Inoki Dojo that could beat him. Kidd tried to get Uemura to brawl, but Uemura stayed in the ring and refused to oblige him. Kidd bit Uemura’s head inside the ring and tossed him to the floor. He dragged Uemura into the crowd and tossed him into a section of chairs.
They battled for position and Kidd suplexed Uemura into the chairs. Kidd then got into the ring and mocked Uemura wanting a clean fight by telling him to get back into the ring. Kidd hit a bunch of hard strokes and Uemura was bleeding from the chest. Uemura slammed Kidd down again and it impacted his arm and shoulder. He continued to go after Kidd’s arm inside the ring.
Both men traded Germans and Kidd wiped out Uemura with a clothesline. He followed up with a brainbuster and a sit out powerbomb for a two count. Uemura hit a HFF for a near fall. He applied a cross-arm breaker. Kidd freed himself, but Uemura continued to control his arm until Kidd bit his head at the 20 minute mark.
They traded blows and headbutts. Uemura caught Kidd with a dragon suplex for a near fall. Kidd caught Uemura with a Drill-A-Hole piledriver out of nowhere for a near fall. Kidd went for a Death Rider, but Uemura countered it with an inside cradle for the win.
WINNER: Yuya Uemura (10 pts) at 22:10. (****1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: They told a great story here with Uemura defending NJPW against the antagonist Kidd. Uemura refused to be baited into turning the match into a brawl and it paid odd as he kept most of the action inside the ring. They also had the story of Uemura’s submission work improving, as he targeted Kidd’s arm throughout the match. The win keeps Uemura alive and Kidd no longer has a tie break adventure ahead of him potentially. Uemura is the first Japanese wrestler to beat Kidd.)
Kidd and Uemura are positioned best to advance based on the results of Aug. 13. If Newman wins on Aug. 13 he’s in. If Ren Narita beats Kidd, he’s in. Henare has a chance at a tie. There’s also one scenario where there could be a seven way tie.
Zack Sabre Jr is officially eliminated.
B BLOCK STANDINGS (Through 8/11)
- Ren Narita (5-3): 10 pots
- Callum Newman (5-3): 10 pts
- Yuya Uemura (5-3): 10 pts
- Gabe Kidd (5-3): 10 pts
- Drilla Moloney (5-4): 10 pts
- Henare (4-4): 8 pts
- Oskar (4-4): 8 pts
- Aaron Wolf (4-4): 8 pts
- Zack Sabre Jr. (4-4): 8 pts
- Shota Umino: 0 points (withdrew due to injury)
Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com and follow him on X @SR_Torch
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