Callum Newman Pins Zack Sabre Jr. in All-British Main Event at NJPW G1 Climax 36 Day 5

By Noah Leatherland

NJPW took the G1 Climax to Nagaoka in Niigata for the fifth day of competition. With B Block in focus, the main event saw an all-British affair, with Callum Newman picking up a big win over Zack Sabre Jr. to move onto six points.

Coming into the match with a heavily taped shoulder, and having suffered a submission loss to Ren Narita in his last outing, Zack Sabre Jr. would have been the last person Newman wanted next in the G1 Climax. Newman was able to get the match into his playbook, pushing the pace and taking the action to ringside, but he eventually found himself in Sabre Jr.’s submissions. After a tough battle, just after the twenty minute mark, an exchange of pin attempts ended with Newman snatching the win with a schoolboy.

In his post-match comments, Sabre Jr. vented his frustrations as he now sits at the bottom of B Block, only ahead of the withdrawn Shota Umino:

I f*cking hate losing at the best of times, but especially here in Nagaoka. I love this venue. My first New Japan Cup, 2024, beat SANADA on the way to winning it for the very first time. I’m sorry people in Nagaoka. I love this city. Well he’s a little c*nt, but he’s talented, isn’t he? Now a lesser man would blame the horrific refereeing in this company, but I’ve been here for nine years now so I know the referees are stupid. And also, the World Cup is finished, so the time for f*cking moaning about poor refereeing decisions is over. It’s my fault. I should have broke the little c*nt’s arm and sent him back to f*cking Essex with half a brain cell f*cking extra, kick him in the head. That’s my fault… We both know you pulled the tights… There shouldn’t have been a chance in f*cking hell you beat me with a roll-up, so that’s my fault.

Meanwhile, Newman was reinvigorated with this win, moving onto six points and tying at the top of B Block:

Zack Sabre Jr., hey? The best technical wrestler in the world? My ars*hole. I got one dodgy wing, right? He couldn’t tap me out, the amount of damage he’s done to it. Look how red it is, Jesus Christ. That’s gonna bruise in the morning. F*cking hell. That’s alright. Doesn’t matter, hey. I said from the start I don’t care about winning this G1. All I care about is putting people in their place. So you know what, after tonight’s match, I’m gonna do both. I’m gonna win it, and shut you all up again. And I’ll see Tsuji, again. And then, I’ll be a two time and still youngest ever IWGP Heavyweight Champion. I want my sh*t back. Make way. Kiss the crown.

Three other men rose to six points in B Block in Nagaoka. In a battle of champions, the IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Gabe Kidd picked up two points with a piledriver on NEVER Openweight Champion Aaron Wolf in just under ten minutes. A true heavyweight clash between HENARE and OSKAR saw the New Zealander defeat the German with a ring-shaking powerbomb. Then, Drilla Maloney halted Yuya Uemura’s momentum, dropping him with a Drilla Killa for the pinfall win.

Here are the full results for NJPW G1 Climax 36 Day 5:

• Jakob Austin Young & Great-O-Khan def. Hirooki Goto & Tatsuya Matsumoto (6:30)
• SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Jake Lee & Zane Jay (6:53)
• Toru Yano & Konosuke Takeshita def. Boltin Oleg & Yasuda Yuutora (5:26)
• Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa def. Gedo & Yuto-Ice (6:30)
• Taiji Ishimori & Shingo Takagi def. Yota Tsuji & Daiki Nagai (8:17)
• B Block: Gabe Kidd [6] def. Aaron Wolf [4] (9:51)
• B Block: HENARE [6] def. OSKAR [4] (11:46)
• B Block: Drilla Maloney [6] def. Yuya Uemura [4] (17:48)
• B Block: Callum Newman [6] def. Zack Sabre Jr. [2] (20:11)

Here are the current standings for the NJPW G1 Climax 36:

A Block

• Boltin Oleg [4]
• Hirooki Goto [4]
• Jake Lee [4]
• Konosuke Takeshita [4]
• Ryohei Oiwa [4]
• Great-O-Khan [2]
• SANADA [2]
• Shingo Takagi [2]
• Yota Tsuji [2]
• Yuto-Ice [2]

B Block:

• Callum Newman [6]
• Drilla Moloney [6]
• Gabe Kidd [6]
• HENARE [6]
• OSKAR [4]
• Aaron Wolf [4]
• Yuya Uemura [4]
• Ren Narita [4]
• Zack Sabre Jr. [2]
• Shota Umino [0]