NJPW G1 CLIMAX 35 RESULTS – NIGHT 19 (8/17): Wells’s results & analysis of the G1 Climax final, several interesting angles throughout the night

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 35 NIGHT 19 REPORT
AUGUST 17, 2025
TOKYO, JAPAN AT ARIAKE ARENA
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD

I’m picking up today’s final as Sean Radican fights off a lingering illness. Get well soon, Sean!

Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton were on commentary.

(1) SHOMA KATO & TATSUYA MATSUMOTO vs. MASATORA YASUDA & ZANE JAY

All four are Young Lions; Matsumoto and Jay debuted in Japan just last night. Tatsumoto tapped to a Boston Crab by Yasuda, giving Jay his first win in Japan.

WINNERS: Yasuda & Jay at 6:27.

(2) TAICHI & SATOSHI KOJIMA (w/TAKA Michinoku) vs. TOGI MAKABE & KATSUYA MURASHIMA

Charlton said Makabe was the most hated finalist in G1 history until Evil this year. He added that Kojima was the only G1 winner who wasn’t under New Japan contract. Taichi finished off Young Lion Murashima after a Dangerous Backdrop.

WINNERS: Taichi & Kojima at 7:13.

After the match, Taichi, Kojima & Michinoku had handshakes all along, running back the Kojima-Gun faction from years ago. David Finlay made his entrance and we could see the words “Knock Out Brothers” on the screen. Yuto Nakashima and Oskar Leube, recent Young Lions, walked out. Nakashima was dressed in white with a flashy chain around his neck and did a hip-hop walk out while Leube was in simple black and looked like he was playing the enforcer role. They isolated Taichi and Taka. Nakashima took out Taichi with a hard right and then the two teamed up with a powerbomb on Michinoku. Leube hit a piledriver on Taichi while the crowd booed. Finlay watched stoically from the ramp. Nakashima and Leube met him on the ramp and did the War Dogs hand signal and walked out together.

(3) TORU YANO & YOH & MASTER WATO vs. YOSHI-HASHI & EL DESPERADO & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI

The spirited affair ended when Yoh pinned El Desperado after Direct Drive. It was framed as a match with NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship implications, but instead, Yoh pinned the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, likely setting up a singles defense for the Destruction tour.

WINNERS: Yoh & Yano & Wato at 6:40.

(4) BOLTIN OLEG & EL PHANTASMO & TIGER MASK vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (SANADA & Don Fale & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

Don Fale finished Tiger Mask after a low blow and an elbow drop. Thrilling stuff. Fale and Oleg battled after the bell, continuing to set up a NEVER Openweight Title match.

WINNERS: House of Torture at 6:59.

(5) HIROSHI TANAHASHI & SHOTA UMINO & YUYA UEMURA vs. THE UNITED EMPIRE (Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young)

Entrances and pre-match posturing ate up over six minutes, as they’re really letting every crowd get their fill of Tanahashi ahead of his retirement. Uemura picked up the win on Young after the Deadbolt. Tanahashi took some time to slap some hands with the fans after the match.

WINNERS: Uemura & Tanahashi & Umino at 8:24.

(6) SHINGO TAKAGI & YOTA TSUJI & HIROMU TAKAHASHI & DAIKI NAGAI vs. BULLET CLUB WAR DOGS (David Finlay & Drilla Moloney & Taiji Ishimori & Gedo)

There was a long taunt-off before the match. Moloney finished Nagai after the Drilla Killa. Takagi and Moloney fought for a while in the ring after the bell. Takagi got the better of Moloney and Gedo, then picked up the mic. He said Gabe Kidd didn’t show his face in Ariake, so if you’re that kind of a champion, you should vacate. He said the War Dogs are all bark and no bite. He vowed to take care of all of the War Dogs. There were more staredowns involving everyone after the angle.

WINNERS: Bullet Club War Dogs at 10:12.

(7) TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita & Hartley Jackson) vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi & SHO & DOUKI)

Sho got on the mic before the match and heeled on “the collection of dumb hicks,” the Ballistik Boys, who provided the theme song for this year’s G1. One of the Boys was sitting in on Japanese commentary tonight, and he gaves the thumbs down to Sho. I’m torn; on one hand you’ve got House of Torture, but on the other you’ve got the worst G1 theme song at least since I’ve been watching the tournament. Narita pinned Jackson after Hell’s Guillotine. These guys have gone over in the vast majority of their tag matches on the tour. HoT attempted to keep attacking after the match, but Fujita saved the day and ran off Douki and his metal rod. Fujita made his intentions known to challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, and Charlton wondered aloud who his partner would be (Robbie Eagles, usually, but the fact they asked the question would suggest there’s something else happening).

WINNERS: The House of Torture at 11:10.

-Five-time G1 winner Masahiro Chono was introduced ahead of the final. Charlton tried to talk up his accomplishments, but they had the loud generic music blaring because Chono’s music rights aren’t cleared outside Japan, so he was mostly drowned out. Chono asked if the fans were ready. He said let’s get the match underway.

-A video played showing some big moments in the tournament, including Gabe Kidd hobbling out on crutches to announce his withdrawal from the rest of the tournament. Soundbytes from Takeshita and Evil aired. The wins that got both of them here were briefly outlined.

(8) KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (w/Rocky Romero) vs. EVIL (w/The House of Torture)

Takeshita, leaning babyface for much of the tournament and certainly this match, was introduced first. Evil had all his faction members with him. Romero actually headed to the back after introductions.

Evil snapped on an early headlock. They ran the ropes and Takeshita put down Evil with a block. They reset. The crowd was loudly chanting for Takeshita. The two did a test of strength, then transitioned to each of them trying waistlocks at once. The ref got distracted and they got started with some HoT shenanigans early. Takeshita got dumped and all of HoT stomped him while Evil posed with the G1 trophy in the corner. They’re laying it on thick here.

Takeshita reentered and Evil worked his leg with a ground submission. Takeshita reached a rope before long. He snapped on a chinlock to the same result. Evil kicked at Takeshita’s knees and Takshita sold while laying in rights. Takeshita wrenched Evil’s nose and dumped him, but again HoT distracted him and had to fight off Narita, Kanemaru and Fale. He hit a tope con giro on the gaggle of them out on the ramp side. Rocky Romero reappeared and put the boots to them and started throwing them up the ramp little by little.

The match got going again with nobody at ringside. Takeshita hit a suplex and a running boot in the corner. He hit a neckbreaker and fell back and put on a crossface chicken wing. Referee Red Shoes Unno was yanked out of the ring and Narita reappeared to nail Takeshita on the back of his worked knee with his push-up bar. This time, Zack Sabre Jr. showed up to take out the trash, and once again it was just the two of them.

The two went to an exchange of bigger rights and kicks, and Evil hit a hard lariat for two. Takeshita slammed Evil and the two ran at each other and were both put down with simultaneous lariats. They sold on the mat as Unno started the count. They got up around four.

Evil put Takeshita out on the floor, where he continued to sell the knee. Evil took Takeshita up in a corner and nailed a superplex for two. Darkness Scorpion by Evil, and Takeshita crawled to a rope to break. Darkness Falls by Evil got two. Takeshita fought off Everything is Evil and returned fire with an exploder suplex. Takeshita fought off Everything is Evil again, then hit his own for two. Takeshita fired up and hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for two.

Takeshita went up and hit a senton for two. Evil hit his bulldog that put down a couple people in this tournament for a long two. Stewart acknowledged the crowd is 50-50, which is bizarrely true; Takeshita not being a full-time member of the brand must be gnawing at a lot of people. Evil went for Everything is Evil again, but Takeshita dropped to the mat as his knee gave out. Evil laid in a loud forearm that laid out Takeshita to a pretty big face reaction. What a weird crowd. Takeshita hit a backslide for two. Takeshita hit Power Drive for two.

Takeshita set up a knee to finish, but as he ran up, his knee buckled. Evil hit a low blow during a minor bump from Unno. Lariat by Evil got two. Backslide by Takeshita for two. Power Drive was fought off by Evil. They went to loud forearms. Takeshita hit Raging Fire to finish.

WINNER: Konosuke Takeshita at 26:25. (****)

Takeshita was very emotional as he was handed the trophy afterward, with three of the Ballistik Boyz (there are something like seven or eight of them total) hanging back, then presenting Takeshita with the flag that has tassels on it commemorating every winner in the tournament’s history.

Takeshita grabbed the mic and choked back some tears and said “I’m glad I became a professional wrestler. I think about seeking a dream and making the dream real.” He said everyone in the room, and everyone watching at home can become a wrestler if they decide to. He said, though, that if they become a wrestler, keep in mind that he’s the greatest professional wrestler. He said you can make a dream out of him, because he’ll keep showing you things you’ve never seen before.

Backstage, he said he wants to win the main event of Wrestle Kingdom, not only as the G1 winner, but as the IWGP Champion. He wondered aloud how he can bring more excitement to pro wrestling fans. He said tonight was the first time he ever shed tears in a wrestling ring. He put over Rocky Romero for standing next to him. He said Evil was the best opponent he could have asked for. He said of all the people he’s wrestled around the world, Evil might have been the best tonight. He said there’s a lot of responsibility on this generation as far as wrestling goes. He said he’s going to continue getting stronger because it’s important for a professional wrestler to keep doing so. He said he doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, but he’s already thinking about how to go back-to-back with the G1 victory.

(Wells’s Analysis: The announcers acknowledged that Evil really reminded us how good he can be once he was stuck out there alone, which…true, but they had him hit a low blow even then, so let’s not paint too rosy a picture of the character when he’s doing everything he can to stay in a heel context. This match had it both ways, as they rolled out a ton of House of Torture interference for the first half, then took out the trash and had a proper match for the back half. This match is likely the best-case scenario for these two in a G1 final, as it would be weird if they didn’t have Evil do the usual act, but they found a way to get to the good stuff afterward)

FINAL THOUGHTS: I thought last year Takeshita was the wrestler of the tournament, followed very closely by Hirooki Goto, who missed this year’s for either a real injury or a kayfabe injury that allows him to film his role as E. Honda in the new Street Fighter movie, depending on who you ask. Takeshita was comfortably the wrestler of the tournament this year, which lacked some of the memorable matches we normally get, though Sabre, Tsuji and Uemura were consistently putting in great performances also. If Takeshita was going to be tapped to win this tournament, it was wise to have him face off with Evil, since a large part of the fanbase is always going to hold a part-timer at arm’s length. Takeshita doesn’t talk a lot, but he took a bit of time in the ring afterward and quite a bit more time backstage, so maybe he’s becoming more comfortable with that part of the business also. Thanks again for following the Torch coverage of the G1 Climax, and we’ll see you in about eleven months.