Konosuke Takeshita Maintains A Block Lead at NJPW G1 Climax 36 Day 8

By: Noah Leatherland

The G1 Climax continues, with NJPW taking the tournament to Osaka for the eight leg of the competition. Whilst Yota Tsuji and Yuto-Ice battered each other in the main event, Konosuke Takeshita kept a firm grip on the top spot in A Block.

Takeshita was drawn against Great-O-Khan for the match in his hometown, with things starting off roughly for The Alpha. O-Khan attacked Takeshita before either man made their entrance, dragging Takeshita down the entrance ramp to the ring. Once the match officially began, O-Khan carried on utilising his underhanded tactics, with weapons and low blows employed outside of the referee’s sight. However, Takeshita rallied and would not quit. He eventually managed to land the Raging Fire, putting O-Khan down for the three-count.

With Boltin Oleg and Ryohei Oiwa both moving up to six points with wins over Jake Lee and SANADA respectively, Takeshita’s win keeps him out of their reach. Now on eight points, Takeshita stays atop A Block. Elsewhere, a slobber-knocker saw Shingo Takagi pick up a victory over Hirooki Goto, meaning both men end their night in Osaka on four points.

In the main event, the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Yota Tsuji, had a hard-hitting match with Yuto-Ice. The match left both men battered and bruised, with Yuto-Ice giving his all against the top champion in NJPW. Once again, Yuto-Ice did not tap, nor was he submitted. After Tsuji landed the Fire Blaster, the referee started his standing count, with Tsuji only just managing to reach his feet before ten. The win moves Tsuji up to six points, joining Oleg and Oiwa behind Takeshita.

Here are the full results for NJPW G1 Climax 36 Day 8, courtesy of purolove.com:

• HENARE & Jakob Austin Young def. Toru Yano & Taisei Nakahara (5:26)
• Aaron Wolf & Tatsuya Matsumoto def. Yuya Uemura & Masatora Yasuda (5:05)
• OSKAR & Gedo def. Drilla Moloney & Daiki Nagai (5:22)
• Zack Sabre Jr. & Hartley Jackson def. Ren Narita & Dick Togo (7:01)
• A Block: Boltin Oleg [6] def. Jake Lee [4] (10:18)
• A Block: Ryohei Oiwa [6] def. SANADA [4] (11:48)
• A Block: Konosuke Takeshita [8] def. Great-O-Khan [4] (14:36)
• A Block: Shingo Takagi [4] def. Hirooki Goto [4] (16:40)
• A Block: Yota Tsuji [6] def. Yuto-Ice [4] (26:08)

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

A Block:

• Konosuke Takeshita [8]
• Boltin Oleg [6]
• Ryohei Oiwa [6]
• Yota Tsuji [6]
• Great-O-Khan [4]
• Hirooki Goto [4]
• Jake Lee [4]
• Shingo Takagi [4]
• SANADA [4]
• Yuto-Ice [4]

B Block:

• Drilla Moloney [8]
• Gabe Kidd [8]
• HENARE [8]
• Callum Newman [6]
• OSKAR [6]
• Aaron Wolf [4]
• Ren Narita [4]
• Yuya Uemura [4]
• Zack Sabre Jr. [2]
• Shota Umino [0]