NJPW G1 Climax 36 Night 14 (August 9) Results & Review

New Japan Pro Wrestling
G1 Climax 36: Night 14
August 9, 2026
G Messe Gunma
Takasaki, Gunma, Japan

We’re officially in the home stretch, folks! By this time next week, G1 Climax 36 will be done and dusted. We’ve still got a few shows left before we get to the semifinals though, and plenty of wrestlers in the A Block still have a shot at making the playoffs. Which of those still in hunt will manage to put themselves in the best positions possible heading into the final A Block night? It’s time to find out!

As always, here are the results from the undercard:

Unbound Company (OSKAR & Gedo) def. Toru Yano & Taisei Nakahara
United Empire (Callum Newman & Zane Jay) def. Aaron Wolf & Tatsuya Matsumoto
House Of Torture (Ren Narita & Dick Togo) def. Unbound Company (Drilla Moloney & Daiki Nagai)
TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. & Hartley Jackson) def. United Empire (HENARE & Jakob Austin Young)

G1 Climax 36 – A Block
Ryohei Oiwa [10] def. Jake Lee [6]

Jake Lee came out to his old NOAH music, and was also wearing his old NOAH gear which….as commentary pointed out….was calling back to the previous encounters that Lee had with Ryohei Oiwa in NOAH while Oiwa was on his excursion (this was when Lee was leading his Good Looking Guys stable). This change in appearance and attitude would result in Lee wrestling the majority of this match relatively straight. While the action was far from stellar, it was perfectly competent for an opening match on G1 card. Lee would target Oiwa’s arm, while Oiwa would go after Lee’s leg/knee. Then the action spilled to the floor, and this is where things got wacky. Lee hit under the ring skirt for a few moments, and suddenly emerged wearing makeup (though it was barely anything….just around his mouth). I suppose the idea is that the return to his NOAH look was all a ruse to catch Oiwa offguard, as he immediately went crazy and brawled with Oiwa on the floor (meanwhile, OSKAR was just going off on Lee on English Commentary). The funny thing about this “power up” for Lee is that once they got back to the ring, it wasn’t too long before Oiwa tapped him out with what looked to be an inverted half crab. So his trickery didn’t even really work that well. He got a quick advantage on the floor, and that was really it. When Jake Lee has actually wrestled in this tournament (i.e. had matches with very little in terms of shenanigans), he’s been totally inoffensive. However, when he does bring out the goofy stuff, it’s dragged his matches down every single time. The only important takeaway from this match is that Oiwa’s win put him up to ten points, meaning he’s well and truly in contention for one of the two playoff spots. **1/2

G1 Climax 36 – A Block
Konosuke Takeshita [12] def. SANADA [6]

One of the bigger stories coming out of the Korakuen Hall show a few days ago was SANADA using House Of Torture tactics for the first time in the tournament, as he brained Yuto-Ice with a guitar that he got from Yoshinobu Kanemaru to pick up the victory. I was really curious to see if that meant he’d be back to his cheating ways for the remainder of the tournament. Well, as it would turn out, he wrestled this match against Konosuke Takeshita completely clean. House Of Torture shenanigans were nowhere to be found, and in the end, SANADA came up short as Takeshita put him away with the Raging Fire in just over fourteen minutes. I thought this was a fairly good match between these two. The second half featured a few solid exchanges, including SANADA hitting Takeshita with a Raging Fire before following up with a moonsault. SANADA was able to avoid Takeshita’s first Raging Fire attempt with a small package counter, but after Takeshita stole SANADA’s finisher (Deadfall), he connected with the Raging Fire on the second attempt, and that was it. Definitely on the lower end in terms of Takeshita matches in this G1, but still enjoyable on the whole. I find it super fascinating that SANADA just went right back to wrestling clean after what happened in Korakuen, especially given that was a do-or-die situation for him (if he wasn’t already eliminated coming into this match, this loss effectively sealed his fate). As for Takeshita, he’s the first wrestler in the tournament to reach twelve points, and has a big showdown with Ryohei Oiwa ahead of him on the final night of A Block action. ***1/2

G1 Climax 36 – A Block
Yota Tsuji [10] def. Great O-Khan [4]

After the results of the previous two matches, Yota Tsuji came into this bout with Great O-Khan needing a win to keep in touch with both Konosuke Takeshita and Ryohei Oiwa. He managed to do just that when he put away O-Khan in just over thirteen minutes with three consecutive Gene Blasters. O-Khan had managed to hit a low right shortly before that finishing sequence, and Tsuji was able to counter an Eliminator attempt into a DDT. The three Gene Blasters in a row felt like Tsuji was REALLY pouring it on as payback for O-Khan daring to use his cheating tactics on him. The match itself was relatively fine, though it was easily the weakest Yota Tsuji match in the tournament up to this point (speaks to both how great Tsuji’s G1 has been and how….weak Great O-Khan’s G1 has been). If you’re short on time, I would say this an easy skip, but part of what made this match an enjoyable watch (at least for me) was OSKAR just giving O-Khan the business on English Commentary. He also targeted Tanahashi and New Japan for failing to do anything substantial to stop these types of cheating tactics across the company as a whole (preaching to the choir on that one, OSKAR). Truly a joy to listen to on commentary. ***

G1 Climax 36 – A Block
Hirooki Goto [6] def. Boltin Oleg [10]

Boltin Oleg was coming off a massive win on the last A Block show in Korakuen Hall, where he knocked off the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji in the main event. Coming into this match, he had the chance to join Konosuke Takeshita at twelve points, which would put himself in a very strong position in terms of advancing out of the block. Unfortunately for Boltin, he ran into a roadblock in the form of the already-eliminated Hirooki Goto, who put away the current NJPW Strong Openweight Champion (remember that title?) after hitting the GTR. This was a really good match, but given some of the awesome bouts these two have had elsewhere during this tournament, I was expecting a little bit more. Boltin was in control in the early going, though Goto was able to get back in the fight after a pair of lariats. The second half featured some good exchanges, with Boltin hitting the short range Kamikaze for a nearfall, while Goto managed to counter The Verdict into a flash pin for a close nearfall of his own. Again, I enjoyed this match while it lasted, but it never quite got to the level that I thought it could. ***1/2

G1 Climax 36 – A Block
Yuto-Ice [8] def. Shingo Takagi [8]

Yuto-Ice was already eliminated coming into this main event, so he was simply playing spoiler here against his Unbound Company stablemate Shingo Takagi, who needed a victory to keep his hopes alive. After taking a number of losses in this tournament via knockout, Yuto-Ice finally ended up on the better end of it, as he knocked Shingo out with a big knee strike to score the win not long after the twenty minute call (Yuto technically got the win via pinfall, but the finish was sold as him getting a knockout shot in on Shingo). This was an excellent main event that was easily the best match on the entire show. The tone was set immediately as the two charged at each other to get this one going, and after Yuto managed to get the better of the veteran in the opening exchanges, Shingo (who threw a chair in the ring out of frustration) took the fight right back to Yuto, and it was on from there. The second half featured some exciting back-and-forth between the two, with Shingo coming close to victory on a few occasions (this included a nearfall off a Burning Dragon and a Pumping Bomber that saw a huge reaction from the crowd when Yuto kicked out). That would set up a quick trading of headbutts between Shingo and Yuto that led to the eventual finish. Both of these guys have been so much fun to watch in this year’s G1. Shingo has gone out there and shown that, even though he’s another year older, he still has the ability to put on awesome matches when the situation calls for it. As for Yuto, he needed to show out against the upper echelon of this A Block (the likes of Shingo, Takeshita, Goto, Tsuji) and he’s certainly done that. For as good as the Knockout Brothers have been as a tag team, both of them have shown in this tournament that they can more than handle themselves in the singles ranks when going up against quality opponents. ****

Final Thoughts

Night 14 was certainly on the weaker side when it comes to A Block shows in this year’s G1 Climax (it feels like the toll this tour has taken on these guys is finally starting to show), but it was still a solid show overall. It definitely had “late stage of the tour right before the final nights that truly count the most” energy, if you know what I mean by that. If we’re making comparisons, this show blew away the B Block outing on Night 13, though that more so speaks to how weak that show was. I would say the only match truly worth watching (if you’re short on time) was Shingo Takagi vs. Yuto-Ice. If you’ve enjoyed OSKAR’s sporadic appearances on English Commentary, I would say watch the whole show just to hear him go off on some people (particularly Great O-Khan).

As far as the A Block Standings go, it’s a pretty simple picture with only one show left in block play. Four guys fighting for two spots. Both Boltin Oleg and Yota Tsuji have to make it through their matches against opponents who’ve already been eliminated (Great O-Khan and Jake Lee respectively), but the biggest match of that show is Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ryohei Oiwa, which we now know will be the main event. With how the various scenarios play out, that main event is set up perfectly to be a “winner advances to the playoff, loser is eliminated” match. Not much else to say beyond that! It should be very fascinating to see who makes it through between those two.