It’s time for the G1 Climax 36 semifinals from a sold-out Ryoguku Sumo Hall in Tokyo. Callum Newman wrestles Ryohei Oiwa and Yota Tsuji takes on Yuya Uemura for a trip to the finals tomorrow. Also, Hiroyoshi Tenzan wrestles his final match against longtime friend and rival Satoshi Kojima and retires from the ring. Let’s get to it! (I aspired to watch this entire show, but it is my wife’s birthday, so I do not have the time. It should be noted that on the undercard, Shun Skywalker debuted – after a fashion – joined the HOUSE OF TORTURE and challenged Konosuke Takeshita for the NJPW World TV Championsip.)

G1 Climax 36 Semifinal: Ryohei Oiwa [TMDK] vs. Callum Newman [United Empire]

This segment starts with the announcement of Wrestle Kingdom 21, which will, of course, take place at the Tokyo Dome on January 4, as well as the announcement that the year between Wrestle Kingdoms 21 and 22 will be celebrated as NJPW’s 55th anniversary, which stands to reason. Then, creepy AI Antonio Inoki speaks from beyond the grave in a segment that absolutely nobody asked for.

Oiwa enters wearing a set of Tenzan horns with an orange TMDK Frankenstrat design and has Zack Sabre Jr., Hartley Jackson and Kosei Fujita with him. Newman comes to the ring with only Zane Jay, and when he removes his robe, he reveals the crazy bruise from his match with HENARE on Thursday. Newman clearly understands the assignment – he looks like he hasn’t seen the sun since that match, and his paleness accentuates the bruise.

They start off quick, with Oiwa initially going after Newman’s injured arm and shoulder, much as he did against Boltin Oleg on Night 1. Newman eventually sends Oiwa to the outside and hits his running dropkick into a seating section. Back in the ring, Newman tries for Prince’s Curse, but Oiwa battles out and starts going for the side headlock before going back after the arm and shoulder. Newman eventually responds with his speed, but Oiwa has a response to almost everything Newman throws at him. Newman eventually gets two with a sitout driver, and goes for Make Way, but Oiwa battles out of it and nearly gets a submission with an arm triangle. After he escapes, Newman shoves ref Marty Asami into Oiwa, then hits Oiwa low after Oiwa shoves Asami away and rolls Oiwa up for a near-fall. Oiwa kicks out of Prince’s Curse, then flips out of a power bomb attempt and applies the side headlock; Newman eventually shoves Oiwa off into the ropes and then counters The Grip with Kiss the Crown for two. (This is a nice little bit of business, since the headlock escape into The Grip was how Oiwa beat Takeshita on Wednesday.) Newman goes for Make Way again, but Oiwa battles out of it and hits The Grip for the pinfall. This felt like it was going short at the outset, as they started off with a lot of signature spots, but everything after they got back into the ring was great and built up to an exciting finish. The crowd was really into Oiwa, and NJPW has done a really good job training them to understand what he’s doing with his new basic offense.

G1 Climax 36 Semifinal: Yuya Uemura vs. Yota Tsuji [Unbound Co.]

These two are generational rivals – they debuted on the same show and wrestled each other a bunch early in their careers, as similarly experienced Young Lions tend to do. They both got stuck in Japan during the pandemic, unable to go on excursion, and got really good in the meantime, then were finally able to go on excursion – Uemura to the L.A. dojo and Tsuji to England and then, briefly, Mexico. Tsuji came back and basically went right to the top, while Uemura struggled with injuries and being stuck in a dead-end faction. Uemura beat Tsuji at Wrestle Kingdom 18 and in G1 Climax 34 (in a match where Uemura injured his arm, after which he was forced to withdraw from the tournament), but most of their other major singles matches – the hair match at New Beginning in Sapporo 2024, the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestling Dontaku 2025, and G1 Climax 35 – have gone Tsuji’s way. They haven’t wrestled a singles match since last year’s G1 Climax, so this will renew their rivalry in a major way.

Tsuji is sporting the short trunks tonight; as I recall, his record with the trunks is not super great, but maybe he can flip the script here. The match starts off with Tsuji methodically working over Uemura’s back, while Uemura goes after Tsuji’s arm. Things get moving after Tsuji hits a tope suicida and a Marlowe Crash to the lower back for two. Tsuji applies the Boston Crab, but Uemura makes it to the ropes. Tsuji tries for Silver Linings, but Uemura counters with a double wristlock; Tsuji makes it to the ropes. Uemura gets two with a back drop, then gets another near-fall with a German after a long struggle over a dragon suplex. Tsuji avoids the Lion Shiner, but then Uemura hits the dragon suplex for two. Tsuji counters with the sitout front suplex, then hits a Gene Blaster to the back and applies the Boston Crab again; Tsuji can’t maintain the hold because of his injured arm, however, so he knees Uemura in the back and hits a backbreaker. Tsuji goes for the Boston Crab again, but Uemura rolls him up for two. Tsuji tries again, but Uemura hits Divorce Court and then applies a Boston Crab of his own; Tsuji won’t tap, so Uemura transitions to an arm-capture Texas cloverleaf, but Tsuji makes it to the bottom rope. Uemura hits the High Fly Flow for two, but his Lion Shiner is countered with a Gene Blaster for a near-fall. Tsuji hits a Guerrero Special and another Gene Blaster for two, but Uemura catches another Gene Blaster and hits the Deadbolt, a step-up elbow drop, the Lion Shiner and, finally, a bridging Deadbolt for the pinfall. This was excellent, and while it took a little while to get going, everything beautifully played into the final sequence.

After the match, Oiwa comes to the ring to confront Uemura, previewing tomorrow’s final.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan Retirement Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Satoshi Kojima

I did a bit of a Tenzan retrospective in a previous post, but to reiterate, he was a very good wrestler with great charisma who had the bad luck of having his prime coincide with NJPW’s absolute nadir. Still, he is universally beloved by the fans, as you can see by the fact Rygoku sold out quickly after this show was announced, and by the wrestlers, many of whom he helped train and who have been biting his spots all spring and summer since he announced his retirement. Of course, his body has been shot for quite some time – he hasn’t wrestled a singles match since July 1, 2021, or wrestled at all since April 2, 2025, after suffering a severe leg injury (one of many), but he decided to try and get back in shape for one last match, and here we are.

This segment begins with an introduction by longtime NJPW commentator Yoshinari Tsuji and Masahiro Chono, Tenzan’s friend since the 1990s. A video package summarizes Tenzan’s career and his friendship and rivalry with Kojima. As the broadcast returns to the arena, people are already in tears.

One of those people is Tenzan himself, who is accompanied to the ring by Masatora Yasuda and Yuji Nagata. He takes the microphone before the match and declares that he’s throwing out the five-minute time limit. NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi agrees, so off we go.

Tenzan is much, much smaller than he was in his prime and even smaller than he was during his last run, when people were legitimately concerned about his health. Also, he can barely move, so Kojima – no spring chicken himself – is taking most of the bumps. However, he’s in there and he’s giving it everything he has, which is obviously what he wanted to do one last time. Tenzan hits a suplex and applies the Anaconda Vise, then starts climbing the ropes but is mercifully cut off by Kojima. Kojima hits the second-rope elbow drop, but Tenzan kicks out at two. Kojima hits the ropes to go for the roaring elbow, but Tenzan falls; Kojima implores Tenzan to get up, and after he does, he hits a Mongolian chop and a back drop suplex for two. Tenzan applies a Cobra Clutch, but Kojima escapes. They exchange chops, and Tenzan falls again; he regains his feet and Kojima hits a Koji Cutter and a lariat, but Tenzan kicks out at two. Tenzan gets two with a lariat of his own, but then Kojima hits another lariat; Tenzan kicks out at one, but Kojima hits another one for the pinfall. They shake hands and embrace afterward. The match was what it was, but you really have to admire the fighting spirit of Tenzan for leaving it all in the ring like this.

Before the retirement ceremony proper can begin, Takashi Iizuka enters through the arena and attacks Tenzan and goes for the Iron Fingers From Hell, which I thought were in Taichi’s possession, but Kojima makes the save. They tease one last double-team move, but Tenzan waves off Kojima and attempts to appeal to Iizuka’s better nature, and the two shake hands and hug. Still, Iizuka can’t help himself and rips off Shinpei Nogami’s shirt, for old time’s sake. This was very silly.

The ceremony begins with Nagata leading Hontai to the ring, despite the fact that he was ringside for the match; Nagata and Kojima give Tenzan flowers. (Notably, the recently retired Tiger Mask, the soon-to-retire Tomoaki Honma, and the still-injured Tomohiro Ishii are with Hontai.) Tanahashi gives Tenzan flowers from the office. A video message plays from Koji Kanemoto, who came up through the dojo with Tenzan but could not make it to the arena (presumably because he has a booking); Tenzan is in tears afterward. Then, it’s well-coiffed former Yokohama BayStars pitcher and manager, Daisuke Miura, who also appeared at Tiger Mask’s retirement; Hiromitsu Kanehara; Kendo Ka Shin; Jun Akiyama; Hiroshi Hase (who helped train Tenzan); Keiji Muto; Riki Choshu; Tatsumi Fujinami; and Chono (whose copyright strike replacement music has an absolutely ripping guitar solo, it must be said). Chono says a few words, basically telling Tenzan to get his body fixed up as much as he can, and then the old-timers pose for photos. Tenzan says a few words, thanking all the fans and wrestlers, and then they do the 10-bell salute, which makes it feel like Tenzan is attending his own funeral. At the conclusion of this, Tenzan is visibly wobbly and then falls down, at which point Togi Makabe essentially orders Hontai into the ring to help him. They toss Tenzan in the air, and then he shakes their hands one by one (he says something to Yasuda, his attendant, that causes Yasuda to burst into tears) and exits one last time. As is usually the case with these things in NJPW, this was very moving, and I’m glad Tenzan – who is known to be one of the nicest guys in the business – got to have this moment.

So, the G1 Climax 36 final is set for tomorrow at Ryogoku. I will do my best to cover it in a timely fashion, but I have family commitments tomorrow, so it’s likely I won’t get to it until tomorrow evening or Monday. See you then!