Ryohei Oiwa Wins The NJPW G1 Climax 36 Tournament After Thriller With Yuya Uemura

By: Lewis Carlan

The most prestigious tournament in pro-wrestling has concluded as the 36th edition of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax came to an explosive end on Aug 16th. There were 7,260 fans in attendance at the Ryogoku Kokugikan to witness Ryohei Oiwa battle Yuya Uemura in the finals of the G1 Climax 36 tournament.

Oiwa and Uemura engaged in a thriller of a match as they both fought their hearts out in an effort to win the tournament. The crowd was very vocal throughout the bout and seemed split down the middle on who they were supporting.

After over 35 minutes of intense action that kept everyone on the edge of their seats, it was Oiwa who was able to force Uemura to tap out to his Big Lock. Uemura had desperately tried to escape the submission hold but was unable to and had no choice but to submit.

With the victory, Oiwa secured his first ever G1 Climax win and proudly accepted the winners trophy. During his post match comments, Oiwa proclaimed that he will be challenging the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji on Oct. 12 at King of Pro Wrestling.

Photo Credit: New Japan Pro-Wrestling

In other developments, Jeff Cobb made his return to NJPW and aligned himself with Unbound Co. after attacking United Empire’s Callum Newman. Cobb was a member of United Empire before leaving NJPW for the WWE in April 2025. Cobb A.K.A. JC Mateo was released by the WWE in May 2026.

The G1 Climax 36 Awards were handed out and here is what the fan voting determined:

• Outstanding Performance Award: Oleg Boltin
  
• Fighting Sprit Award: Yuto-Ice
  
• Best Technique Award: Ryohei Oiwa

Here are the full results for G1 Climax 36 courtesy of purolove.com:

• Yujiro Takahashi, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated YOSHI-HASHI, El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi & Masatora Yasuda (6:50) after an Italian Stretch No.32 by DOUKI against Yasuda.
• Togi Makabe & Toru Yano defeated Francesco Akira & Zane Jay (5:57) after a King Kong kneedrop by Makabe against Jay.
• Zack Sabre Jr., Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita defeated Oleg Boltin, Master Wato & Tatsuya Matsumoto (11:53) by referee stop (Fujita defeated Matsumoto with a front necklock).
• Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan defeated Yuto-Ice, OSKAR & Daiki Nagai (11:50) after Newman’s MAKE WAY against Nagai.
• Shingo Takagi & Drilla Moloney defeated Gabe Kidd  & Wheeler Yuta  (13:31) after Takagi’s Last of the Dragon against Yuta.
• Ren Narita, SANADA & Shun Skywalker defeated KONOSUKE TAKESHITA, Taichi & Satoshi Kojima (10:57) after a moonsault kneedrop by Skywalker against Kojima.
• Yota Tsuji & Taiji Ishimori defeated Hirooki Goto & YOH (8:20) after Ishimori’s Bloody Cross against YOH.
  
• G1 Climax – Final: Ryohei Oiwa defeated Yuya Uemura (35:10) with the Big Lock.