Yuya Uemura and Ryohei Oiwa Advance to NJPW G1 CLIMAX 36 Finals

By: Noah Leatherland

NJPW are in the Ryogoku Kokugikan for a double header of G1 Climax action, with the semi-finals first up. Four has been whittled down to two, as Yuya Uemura and Ryohei Oiwa have emerged as the finalists for this year’s tournament.

As the runner-up in A Block, Oiwa was drawn against the winner of B Block, the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Callum Newman. The headlock that Oiwa had been perfecting all tournament proved to be a deadly weapon against Newman, as well as Oiwa’s power and technique. Newman did not go down easily, giving it his all to try and take the next step towards reclaiming the world title. However, it all came down to Oiwa using The Grip to Newman away and advance into the finals.

Speaking in the post-match comments, Oiwa reflected on his G1 journey up to this point:

Did you hear the cheers at Ryogoku today? During the qualifiers, I didn’t see many people saying, “Oiwa can win the tournament”, but at Ryogoku today, I really got a feel for everyone’s support and expectations… Just one more win to go! Tomorrow, it’ll be me—“THE GRIP” Ryohei Oiwa—who’ll bring the Ryogoku tournament to a close!

Then, it was A Block winner, the reigning world champion, Yota Tsuji up against the B Block runner-up, Yuya Uemura. Where Oiwa took the win in around 16 and a half minutes, this bout went over 25 minutes as both men went to war. The Deadbolt Suplex was the final blow that Uemura needed to put Tsuji down for the pin, booking his spot in the G1 Climax finals and beating the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the process.

Speaking after the match, Uemura shared his excitement about facing Oiwa in particular:

It was watching the 2009 G1 final between Makabe and Nakamura that made me want to become a pro wrestler. Back then, I decided I’d definitely win the G1 … And now, tomorrow, I’m going to become the G1 champion! Oiwa, the timing couldn’t be better. Let’s show the whole world what “New Standard” is all about!

The semi-finals did not main event the event, however. That spot went to the retirement match of the great Hiroyoshi Tenzan, having one last bout against his Tencozy tag partner, Satoshi Kojima. Tenzan gave it all he had one last time for the fans in Ryogoku, before a lariat put him down onto the mat for the final time. Suddenly, a wild Takashi Iizuka appeared to wreak havoc on Tenzan for old time’s sake.

A retirement ceremony was held to close to show, with many of Tenzan’s contemporaries coming out to celebrate his career, including Yuji Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Daisuke Miura, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Jun Akiyama, Kendo Kashin, Hiroshi Hase, Keiji Mutoh, Riki Choshu, Tatsumi Fujinami and Masahiro Chono, as well as a video message from Koji Kanemoto. Tenzan took to the microphone and addressed the NJPW fans:

Today marks my retirement from active competition.. Looking back, as a boy I used to watch pro-wrestling on the television, and I was so inspired by it that, driven solely by the desire to become a pro-wrestler, I knocked on the door of New Japan Pro Wrestling. And when I first joined the dojo, it was incredibly tough, and I ran away straight away, but I’d been chasing my dream of becoming a professional wrestler, and driven by that single-minded determination, I re-enrolled. I made my debut and have fought with all my might right up until today.

 

Looking back, there have been so many truly tough times, and it’s only thanks to the support of my fellow debutants, my juniors, the company staff, everyone involved, and the crew that I’ve been able to make it this far. Of course, I’m truly grateful to all the fans here today for making this possible.

 

For me, the Ryogoku Kokugikan is a place that holds a very special place in my heart, so I feel truly blessed to be able to finish my final match here in Ryogoku, watched over by all of you! I’ve truly dedicated myself entirely to the New Japan Pro Wrestling ring all this time, and I’d like to say a huge thank you for all your support!

(Quotes translated via DeepL)

Here are the full results for NJPW G1 Climax 36 Semi-Finals, courtesy of purolove.com:

• HENARE, Great-O-Khan, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young def. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Masatora Yasuda & Taisei Nakahara (7:54)
• Ren Narita, SANADA, DOUKI & SHO def. Konosuke Takeshita, Taichi, El Desperado & Ryusuke Taguchi (9:17)
• Gabe Kidd & Wheeler Yuta def. Drilla Moloney & Daiki Nagai (11:33)
• Yuji Nagata, Toru Yano, Togi Makabe, YOH & Master Wato def. Shingo Takagi, Yuto-Ice, OSKAR, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo (6:26)
• Zack Sabre Jr., Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita def. Aaron Wolf, Boltin Oleg & Tatsuya Matsumoto (9:41)
• G1 Climax – Semi-Final: Ryohei Oiwa def. Callum Newman (16:24)
• G1 Climax – Semi-Final: Yuya Uemura def. Yota Tsuji (25:10)
• Satoshi Kojima def. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (9:22)