We are halfway home with the block phase of the G1 Climax 36, and today we’ve got a B Block show from Takamatsu that actually has two Japanese guys in the main event. Let’s see how that goes. For what it’s worth, HENARE has the night off tonight.

B Block: Drilla Moloney [Unbound Co.] (8 points) vs. OSKAR [Unbound Co.] (6 points)

The story of this one is that Moloney is much, much smaller than OSKAR and is nursing a lower back injury, but still wants to give the big man the Drilla Killa. I mean, good luck, bro.

Moloney tries to win it quickly with a gore, but OSKAR kicks out at two. After a brief flurry, OSKAR takes control on the outside and maintains it back in the ring with a series of power moves targeting Moloney’s injured lower back. After a lengthy camel clutch sequence, Moloney comes back with power moves of his own, but he injures himself executing multiple moves. Moloney does successfully get OSKAR into the Drilla Killa position at one point, but OSKAR manages to flip out of it. A couple minutes later, OSKAR somewhat surprisingly manages to secure the win with a running tombstone and the Nightmare Sleeper. This did a good job of telling the story it was telling, and both guys looked good.

What’s next? OSKAR (8 points) wrestles Zack Sabre Jr. on Night 11, which takes place on Sunday in Fukuoka, while Moloney (8 points) wrestles Aaron Wolf on the same show.

B Block: Zack Sabre Jr. [TMDK] (2 points) vs. Ren Narita [HOUSE OF TORTURE] (4 points)

Before the match, Yoshinobu Kanemaru kicks Milano Collection AT off Japanese commentary, which surely will have no bearing on the match coming up. Milano makes a big show of sitting on a box next to the commentary table. Sabre comes out by himself, even though faction-mates Hartley Jackson and Ryohei Oiwa wrestled earlier on the show, and I know I perhaps harp on this a bit too much, but it really makes the babyfaces look stupid when they go into a match against the HOUSE with no backup.

After a couple minutes of grappling, Dick Togo comes to ringside and begins interfering. While ref Marty Asami is taking care of Togo, Sabre gets Narita in a hanging armbar in the ropes on the far side of the ring; unfortunately, it is facing the Japanese commentary table, so Kanemaru spits whiskey in Sabre’s eyes, and after a short back-and-forth, Narita pins the blinded Sabre with a roll-up. After the match, Sabre grabs the box Milano was sitting on, the ring bell and a chair and heads to the back. This was a real bummer, although in my experience with Gedo’s tournament booking, I recognize this as the type of “rock bottom” situation from which guys tend to bounce back pretty well – consider Robbie Eagles’s trajectory in this year’s Best of the Super Juniors, for example.

What’s next? Narita (6 points) wrestles Yuya Uemura on Sunday, while Sabre (2 points) wrestles OSKAR on the same show.

B Block: Callum Newman [United Empire] (6 points) vs. Gabe Kidd (8 points)

Newman has trimmed his facial hair a bit too close, perhaps emphasizing that he’s the babyface in this match.

They start off with a crowd brawl, and it’s not long before Newman goes for his running dropkick spot, but he misses and takes an errant chair to the face for his trouble. They get back in the ring just long enough for Asami to call for the bell before they head back out and Kidd hits a brainbuster on the floor for a near countout. Newman is bumping like a pinball for Kidd. Newman eventually counters Kidd’s bully offense and takes control for a while, getting a near-fall with Prince’s Curse, but Kidd wins a striking battle and gets a couple of near-falls of his own with piledrivers. Newman fights back and gets another near-fall with Prince’s Curse, but takes too long following up, allowing Kidd to recover and beat him down. Kidd goes for the O-KNEE, but Newman pulls Asami in front of him; Kidd tosses Asami away, but while Asami has his back turned, Newman kicks Kidd low, and then he hooks an inside cradle for the pinfall. This was really, really physical and entertaining, but it lacked a bit of flow.

What’s next? Newman (8 points) has the Shota Umino Memorial Night Off on the next show, so he next wrestles OSKAR on Night 13, which takes place next Saturday in Yokohama; meanwhile, Kidd (8 points) wrestles HENARE on Sunday.

B Block: Yuya Uemura (4 points) vs. Aaron Wolf (4 points)

Unless I’m not remembering something obvious, I believe this is Wolf’s first singles main event.

In the early-going, Walker Stewart mentions that Uemura has never held a “real” singles title, which seems like a needlessly harsh dig on the KOPW title. They start off grappling, and Uemura briefly maintains an advantage, but Wolf soon takes over with his judo technique and takes Uemura down numerous times. Uemura regains the advantage and most of the middle portion of the match working on Wolf’s left arm. Wolf battles back, however, and nearly submits Uemura with an Anaconda Vise. Interestingly, the crowd seems to be behind Uemura moreso than Wolf, the national hero. Wolf hits a landslide and applies his head-and-arm choke finisher, but nearly gets pinned by Uemura when he tries to re-adjust it after Uemura got close to the ropes. Wolf gets a near-fall with a powerslam and goes for the Angle Slam, but Uemura hits the Deadbolt suplex and then wins the match with the Lion Shiner. After the match, they shake hands. This was very good, and I’d love to see it again when Wolf has a bit more experience under his belt, though I do think he held up his end of the bargain in this one.

What’s next? Uemura (6 points) wrestles Narita on Sunday, while Wolf (4 points) wrestles Moloney on the same show.

G1 Climax 36 rolls on with an A Block show in Hiroshima tomorrow. See you then!