The road to this year’s G1 Climax tournament makes a stop at Korakuen Hall, where actual meaningful things tend to happen. This show features two play-in matches for G1 Climax 36, as well as an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship number-one contender’s four-way.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight No. 1 Contender’s 4-Way Match: Kosei Fujita [TMDK] vs. Master Wato vs. SHO [House of Torture] vs. Francesco Akira [United Empire]

YOH, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, is doing Japanese-language commentary. Akira enters with Zane Jay, but then sends Jay to the back. There is a girl at ringside who is absolutely screaming at the top of her lungs for Wato, bless her. There also appears to be a new Young Lion at ringside with a freshly shaved head.

SHO cuts his customary “everyone is a hick” promo, then gets dragged to the outside by Akira as the heated rivals, Fujita and Wato, face off in the ring; Akira jumps in the ring, but quickly gets taken out by the faces, after which Fujita and Wato trade strikes. SHO trips up Fujita from the outside and gets kicked off the apron by Wato, then Wato hits the ropes for a tope but gets taken out by a Fujita leg lariat instead. Fujita ducks a Wato charge into the corner and sends Wato to the apron; Wato counters with a shot to the turnbuckle pad and attempts a springboard move, but SHO pulls him down and Wato’s face slams into the apron. In the ring, SHO and Akira team up to beat down Fujita, then go outside to whip Wato into the guardrail. Back in the ring, SHO and Akira hit Fujita with a double back elbow, after which SHO goes for the pinfall and gets two. The heels start to argue, and Akira does the ol’ “look over there” trick to SHO and gets a two-count on Fujita himself. After some more bickering, the heels apparently bury the hatchet with the House “smoke ‘em up” thing, and then they each apply a single-leg crab on Fujita, during which the bickering begins anew. Fujita makes it to the ropes, the heels continue arguing, and then Wato sneaks in and hits a double bulldog on both heels. Wato hits SHO with a flying forearm and then a backdrop, which gets two. Wato goes for Recientemente, but Akira breaks it up with a kick to the face, then SHO takes out Akira with a high knee and Fujita takes out SHO with a chop, which leaves Wato and Fujita in the ring together. Fujita whips Wato toward the ropes, but instead of bouncing off, Wato instead hits a tope con hilo onto SHO and Akira, which Fujita follows with a flipping springboard plancha onto the heels. Fujita and Wato jump back into the ring and trade strikes, and then Fujita hits a snap German suplex. Fujita goes for the Thrill Ride, but it’s a bit too early, so Wato slips out the back and hits the TTD for two. Wato goes to the top, but is cut off by SHO, who then goes to the top himself and is cut off by Akira. Akira and SHO both go for the superplex but get power-bombed off the top by Fujita, taking Wato with them. Fujita tries to pin each guy, but only gets two each time, then grabs the Fujiwara armbar on Wato; Akira breaks it up. All four guys crawl to the middle and start trading strikes; the heels get the best of it and then start trading with each other allowing the faces to recover. The heels rake the eyes and hit the ropes, but the faces get stereo submission attempts – Wato locks in Vendeval on SHO, and Fujita applies the armbar to Akira. After a short while, Fujita gives up the hold and goes over to slap Wato in the face, breaking up that hold as well. Fujita and Wato have a heated striking battle, which Fujita gets the best of, but as he goes for the deadlift German, Akira flies in and hits Fujita with a wheel kick. Wato hits Akira with a Sling Blade, but then SHO hits Wato with a spear, followed by a straitjacket piledriver for a near-fall. SHO taunts YOH, then goes for Shock Arrow, but Wato fights out and tries for Receintemente, which SHO blocks. SHO attacks with strikes and hits the ropes for a lariat attempt, but Wato counters with a crucifix into Recientemente, but Akira breaks up the pinfall attempt with the Fireball, and then Akira’s pinfall attempt is broken up by Fujita hitting the deadlift German, which gets a near-fall. Fujita and Akira go through a series of counters and reversals until Akira hits a snap half-nelson suplex, but Fujita responds with a German of his own. Wato takes out Fujita with a lariat, then gives one to Akira, as well. Wato hits Akira with the Tsutenkaku German, but SHO pulls ref Kenta Sato out of the ring before he can count the pinfall. DOUKI runs in and goes after Wato; YOH jumps the rail to try to help, but gets whacked by SHO’s cookie sheet. SHO goes to hit Wato with the cookie sheet, but Fujita grabs it from behind and hits SHO, then Wato, and then DOUKI. Akira attacks Fujita from behind and hits him low when Fujita tries the cookie sheet shot. Akira hits Fujita with the cookie sheet, and then rolls Sato back into the ring before going for Crownfall, but Wato counters it with an inside cradle for two. Akira hits the Fireball again, but Wato kicks out at two. Akira hits the buzzsaw kick, followed by Crownfall for the pinfall and the title shot. This was excellent, aside from the House silliness.

After the match, Akira orders Matsumoto to roll the still knocked-out YOH into the ring, and declares that he has won YOH’s game. The still loopy YOH then accepts his challenge with Matsumoto holding him up, and Akira attacks him and hits him with the title belt. Akira then grabs the mic once again and tells YOH his time is already over.

G1 Climax 36 B-Block Play-In Match: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Aaron Wolf

This is Wolf’s first singles match against a wrestler who is not in the House of Torture. Wolf trips up YOSHI-HASHI to start, then they fight over a collar-and-elbow for a while. YOSHI-HASHI controls with a side headlock, then Wolf pushes him off, hits a shoulder tackle, performs a judo throw and hits an elbow drop for two. Wolf goes right for the triangle choke, but YOSHI-HASHI makes it to the ropes. Wolf beats down YOSHI-HASHI in the corner, but YOSHI-HASHI reverses a whip, charges in, slips under the bottom rope to trip up Wolf, and then slams Wolf’s knee into the ringpost. YOSHI-HASHI sets Wolf up on the guardrail and then dropkicks Wolf’s knee into it. Back in the ring, YOSHI-HASHI continues to attack the knee. They trade chops, and then Wolf knocks YOSHI-HASHI over with a shoulder tackle. Wolf shoots YOSHI-HASHI into the ropes, but YOSHI-HASHI hits a low dropkick to the knee and then applies a kneebar; Wolf quickly makes it to the ropes. YOSHI-HASHI lights up Wolf’s chest with some hard chops, but Wolf then turns a charge into a powerslam. Wolf hits a clothesline in the corner, a suplex and an elbow drop for two. Wolf slams YOSHI-HASHI, but misses a top-rope splash. YOSHI-HASHI goes for the figure-four, but Wolf turns it into an inside cradle for two. YOSHI-HASHI tries the low dropkick again, but Wolf avoids it and hits a splash. Wolf hits another judo throw and then lands the top-rope splash for two. Wolf pounces on YOSHI-HASHI and starts grappling, eventually locking in a head-and-arm choke, which he eventually turns into the Anaconda Vise, but YOSHI-HASHI gets to the ropes after a long, dramatic struggle. Wolf tries for the reverse Angle slam, but YOSHI-HASHI counters with a half-nelson cradle for a near-fall. They hit simultaneous lariats, and Wolf gets the better of it. Wolf goes for the landslide, but YOSHI-HASHI counters with a reverse DDT, leading to a double-down. YOSHI-HASHI gets to his feet first and goes for Kumagoroshi, but Wolf fights out of it. YOSHI-HASHI hits a lariat and a superkick, then the Kumagoroshi for two; he grabs a kneebar on the kickout and adds a heel hook, but after a long battle, Wolf makes it to the ropes. YOSHI-HASHI hits a dragon screw and then the Loose Explosion for a near-fall. YOSHI-HASHI tries for Karma, but Wolf battles out of it; however, YOSHI-HASHI hits another low dropkick, a thrust kick and a lariat for another close near-fall. YOSHI-HASHI tries for Karma again, but Wolf counters with the triangle choke, which causes YOSHI-HASHI to pass out and gives Wolf the win and the entry into the tournament. This was Wolf’s longest singles match by a mile, and it was honestly very good once it got going. YOSHI-HASHI did a great job in the ring general role, and while Wolf was clearly gassing out toward the end, he did everything that was asked of him. I think there’s a decent chance that Wolf is going to come out of this tournament looking like a world-beater.

G1 Climax 36 A-Block Play-In Match: Yuto-Ice [Unbound Co.] vs. Taichi

OSKAR joins Chris Charlton on English commentary, while Yuya Uemura is on Japanese commentary. Taichi is dressed all in white and enters from the side door in the large seating section, apparently to “White Wedding,” but the NJPW World feed shows the copyright notice and plays “Pageant,” as usual, causing a disparity between the music and Taichi’s “live” vocals.

The crowd is solidly behind Taichi, somewhat surprisingly. They start off trading strikes, starting with chops and forearms and then moving to kicks to the back of the leg, then to stiff kicks to the back, then finally to multiple kicks to the face before Yuto gets sick of it and starts beating down Taichi in the corner. Yuto charges at Taichi in the corner, but Taichi catches him with a kick, sending him to the outside. Taichi tosses Yuto into the guardrail twice, then drags him into the crowd. Taichi hits some stiff strikes and tries for the Dangerous Backdrop down the steps (which sounds like an extremely Dangerous Backdrop), but Yuto blocks it and counters with a kick to the chest and a PK, which sends Taichi down the steps. Red Shoes finally starts counting, prompting Yuto to drag Taichi back to the ring. Yuto hits the Bomboklaat knee strike, but only gets two, as Taichi reaches the ropes. Yuto then gets two with a kick to the head, but Taichi catches another head kick and goes into shark-eyes mode, backing Yuto into the corner and taking several strikes before leveling Yuto with one of his own. Taichi hits a series of spinning back fists, then hits three kicks to a seated Yuto before Yuto fires up and demands a striking battle. Both men deliver stiff, stiff kicks to their opponent, with Yuto ultimately getting the best of it but then falling victim to an enzuigiri. Taichi rips off his pants, then goes for a superkick, which Yuto avoids; Taichi tries for the Dangerous Backdrop, but Yuto counters with a lariat and a head kick. Yuto goes for a PK and kind of whiffs on it, but gets a two count anyway. Yuto goes for Cruella, but Taichi ducks it and tries for a sliding lariat, which Yuto avoids; however, Yuto can’t avoid the Dangerous Backdrop, which lives up to its name, as Taichi drops Yuto right on his God damn head. Yuto gets back up, thankfully, and the two trade stiff slaps, then Yuto knocks Taichi down with the Ambition punch. Yuto goes for Cruella again, but Taichi cuts him off with a punch of his own. Both men struggle to their feet, but Taichi gets there first and hits an Axe Bomber. Taichi tries for the vertical-drop brainbuster (in tribute to his partner, Tomohiro Ishii), but Yuto counters with a gourdbuster and another kick to the head. Yuto hits Cruella from behind, but Taichi kicks out at one, then ducks a punch and hits the vertical-drop brainbuster, which leaves both men down. Red Shoes applies a count but both men get up enough at eight for Red Shoes to stop the count. They begin trading kicks to the face, and Taichi gets the better of it. Taichi hits a buzzsaw kick, but only gets one. Taichi hits a roaring elbow and a burning lariat, then gets two with a bridging backdrop driver, once again right onto Yuto’s head. Taichi goes for Black Mephisto, but Yuto blocks it and then takes out his mouthpiece and bites Taichi to get him to break the waistlock. Yuto then hangs Taichi upside down in the corner and hits what OSKAR describes as a one-man KOB, which gets a near-fall. Yuto tries for Cruella again, but Taichi ducks it and puts Yuto in Black Mephisto position; Yuto escapes and tries a sunset flip, but Taichi sits down on it for a near-fall, which evokes the end of the tag title match at Dominion. Yuto hits a knee strike for two, then tries for Cruella yet again, but Taichi catches it and hits a sliding lariat for two. Taichi hits an enzuigiri and a punch, but Yuto catches a superkick attempt and downs Taichi with several headbutts and an elbow strike, then lands Cruella for the pinfall and the spot in the tournament. This was terrific professional wrestling – maybe a touch too long at 26 minutes, but still a lot of fun with a real main-event feel.

After the match, Yuto cuts yet another awesome promo declaring his respect and admiration for Taichi and his love for pro wrestling, NJPW and the G1 Climax.

This was a very good show. We’ll be back at Korakuen Hall on July 6 for the next two play-in matches – OSKAR vs. Yujiro Takahashi and ELP vs. Ryohei Oiwa – as well as the junior title match between YOH and Francesco Akira. See you then!