Yuya Uemura and Callum Newman Qualify for NJPW G1 CLIMAX 36 Semi-Finals

By: Noah Leatherland

NJPW finished up the round robin phase of this year’s G1 Climax in Korakuen Hall, with the final pair of semi-finalists decided. Advancing from B Block, Yuya Uemura and Callum Newman move on to the Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Five members of the block were tied on ten points heading into the final day in Korakuen Hall. Drilla Moloney had completed all of his block matches, meaning he was effectively out of the running before the show even began. Gabe Kidd and Ren Narita were two participants tied on ten points, and were facing each other in their last block match. The two started going at it before the bell even rung, brawling around the arena with all kinds of weapons involved. With the bulk of the action happening outside the ring, by the time they made it inside, it was only a couple of minutes before Kidd landed a piledriver to pin Narita. Now, Kidd just had to wait and see how the rest of the block unfolded.

Next up, Yuya Uemura had his chance to advance in a clash with OSKAR. Outsized, Uemura had to lean on his holds and submission game to wear the German giant down. The work Uemura put into damaging OSKAR’s arm paid off, as he made him submit with a cross armbreaker. Having beaten Kidd in the round robin, the math meant Uemura was now firmly through to the semi-finals.

Speaking in the post-match comments, Uemura shared just how much is riding on this G1:

I absolutely cannot afford to lose. It’s been eight years since my debut, and I’ve always been left with a sense of regret. I’ve fallen just short on so many occasions… But I’m staking everything on this G1 Climax… I’m going all the way to the championship final at Ryogoku, I’m going to win the tournament, and I’m going to put New Japan Pro Wrestling right at the centre of the spotlight.

(Quote translated via DeepL)

Then, the main event saw a clash between members of the United Empire as Callum Newman looked to secure the remaining semi-finals spot with a win over HENARE. In the lead up to this match, both men had affirmed their intentions to not hold back, regardless of their faction affiliation. Both men kept their promise and gave each other a real fight. Newman finally managed to connect with the Make Way, putting HENARE down for the count and putting Newman through to the next round.

With Kidd having block losses to both Uemura and Newman, he is mathematically eliminated. With that result, the line-up for the semi-finals on Saturday August 15th has been decided:

• Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
• Callum Newman vs. Ryohei Oiwa

Despite feeling the damage from this year’s G1, Newman was supremely confident in his post-match comments, and perhaps has an eye on something beyond the tournament:

Bruised ribs, my shoulder separated again with Wolf and all the f*cking judo throws. But you know what? None of it f*cking matters, eh. Callum Newman’s in the semi-finals of the G1 Climax. And you know what I’m gonna do next? I’m gonna beat that c*nt with a shit haircut. I’m gonna see whoever in the finals and be the youngest ever G1 Climax winner, and then I’m gonna get my belt back. And then once I get that belt back, Ospreay, you know what, mate? Forget ya. I run the gaff. I’m the top gaijin for a f*cking reason.

Here are the full results for NJPW G1 Climax 36 Day 17:

• Hirooki Goto & Tatsuya Matsumoto def. Masatora Yasuda & Boltin Oleg (4:52)
• SANADA, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Konosuke Takeshita, Taisei Nakahara & Toru Yano (6:06)
• Shingo Takagi, Taiji Ishimori & Yuto-Ice def. Great-O-Khan, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay (6:51)
• Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa def. Daiki Nagai & Yota Tsuji (6:42)
• B Block: Zack Sabre Jr. [10] def. Aaron Wolf [8] (15:44)
• B Block: Gabe Kidd [12] def. Ren Narita [10] (2:11)
• B Block: Yuya Uemura [12] def. OSKAR [8] (17:25)
• B Block: Callum Newman [12] def. HENARE [8] (23:03)

Here are the final block standings for the NJPW G1 Climax 36:

A Block

• Yota Tsuji [12]
• Ryohei Oiwa [12]
• Konosuke Takeshita [12]
• Boltin Oleg [10]
• SANADA [8]
• Shingo Takagi [8]
• Hirooki Goto [8]
• Yuto-Ice [8]
• Great-O-Khan [6]
• Jake Lee [6]

B Block

• Callum Newman [12]
• Yuya Uemura [12]
• Gabe Kidd [12]
• Drilla Moloney [10]
• Ren Narita [10]
• Zack Sabre Jr. [10]
• Aaron Wolf [8]
• HENARE [8]
• OSKAR [8]
• Shota Umino [0]