Hoffman Estates, IL – 7.11.2026

Commentary is provided by Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton.

Starting in 2017, New Japan began using the G1 branding to identify special shows in the United States. In 2017, the first IWGP United States champion was crowned in a two night tournament. One year later in San Francisco, a proverbial supercard was headlined by the highly anticipated singles match between Kenny Omega and Cody. In 2019, after the G1 Supercard was hosted in Madison Square Garden, New Japan hosted an actual night of G1 tournament action in the United States, presenting the first night of A Block matches and a preview for the first night of B Block action that would take place a week later in Japan. Seven years later, New Japan would once again host an official G1 Climax event in the U.S., this time outside of Chicago, IL, and with both blocks in play.

Usually, a double block night would include 10 matches – 5 Block A bouts, and 5 Block B bouts. However, Gabe Kidd is allegedly experiencing U.S. Visa issues, as are many other wrestlers and civilians alike, so he is unable to compete on this card. He will face Drilla Moloney on Night 2 in Japan in Block B action, which otherwise is a dedicated Block A card. Moloney would end up defeating Kidd with the Drilla Killa to win the bout.

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match
HENARE vs. Aaron Wolf

HENARE is one-half of the IWGP Tag Team champions and one-third of the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team champions. Wolf is the current NEVER Openweight Champion, and this is his U.S. debut. He defeated YOSHI-HASHI to qualify for the tournament. He is also only the second person in G1 history to wrestle in the tournament the same year they debuted. This is the first time HENARE and Wolf have wrestled one another. HENARE got the match out of the ring quickly and sent Wolf shoulder first into the ring post. Even with the hurt shoulder, Wolf managed to halt HENARE’s momentum with a uranage slam. HENARE kicked out after taking a Muta elbow and knocked down the former Olympic athlete with a spinwheel kick. Wolf looked to have HENARE stumbling after a strike exchange, and when HENARE went to grab a full nelson, Wolf managed to take him down with some Judo throws. HENARE applied the full nelson to escape an Olympic Slam, so Wolf used the ropes to escape and countered HENARE’s tackle with a powerslam. Wolf managed to escape Rampage, but made a mistake by giving HENARE a headbutt. However, Wolf caught another tackle attempt from HENARE, this time taking down the double champ with an Angle Slam. A reverse Angle Slam then got Wolf the pin at 9:01. I thought they might have Wolf struggle to earn his first tournament win, but him overcoming the powerful, unpredictable HENARE in his first match is more interesting to me. For someone still so new to pro wrestling and still finding themselves, Wolf did quite well and won over the U.S. crowd. A fun, hard hitting battle to kick off the tournament. ***

G1 Climax 2026 Block A Match
Shingo Takagi vs. Jake Lee

This is Lee’s first ever match in the United States. Shingo defeated Lee in the 2024 G1 Climax. Lee is a literal jester now. His offense is effective but irritating, like giving a bunch of little kicks and knees, or throwing strikes and making goofy faces in between. Takagi had enough when Lee put him in a front chancery and unloaded a violence party on him in the corner. When Lee looked for a knee strike from the apron, which knocked down Takagi earlier, Takagi instead pulled him down into a Death Valley Driver. Back in the ring, Lee resisted Made In Japan after kicking out of a superplex and landed a penalty kick. Takagi fought back against Lee twice, including cutting him off with a Pumping Bomber. A modified Last Falconry earned Takagi a two count. Even though Lee dug into his eyes before doing so, Takagi managed to dodge a running boot by pivoting his way into the corner. Unfortunately, he put himself in place perfectly for Lee’s Facebreak Shot (yakuza kick), which gave Lee the pin at 10:14. I am glad Lee got the chicanery out of the way early. Shingo made for one hell of an obstacle, and Lee had to resort to dirty tactics to catch the former champion off guard to put him down. As a Shingo fan I am disappointed, but I can’t say anything negative about Lee’s performance tonight. Better than I expected. ***¼

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match
Ren Narita vs. OSKAR

OSKAR defeated Narita’s House of Torture stablemate Yujiro Takahsahi earlier in the week to qualify for the tournament. This is also his first G1 Climax. One of the good things about New Japan being in the U.S. is that the rest of the HoT clown car can’t be in Narita’s corner. Narita wastes no time attacking OSKAR’s left knee, which apparently is not at one hundred percent going into this bout. OSKAR finally gets a reprieve nearly five minutes into the match when he backdrops Narita as he comes off of the ropes. OSKAR loses his momentum after slamming Narita, but uses the ropes to remain on his feet. He makes a big mistake going for and missing a legdrop. Narita immediately looked for a Stump Puller, and even though OSKAR is able to kick him away, a chop block takes him right back down. OSKAR did however muscle out of a front facelock and place Narita into the Nightmare sleeper. Narita simply kicked OSKAR’s knee to escape, and also countered OSKAR’s Berlin Fall into a knee bar. OSKAR used the ropes to break the hold. OSKAR got the Nightmare sleeper back on, swung Narita around so he could not kick out his knee, and then planted Narita in a seated position. The referee called for the bell at 9:42. Going into this match, people did not want Ren Narita to win because he’s in House of Torture. With the story told, the fans still did not want him to win, but a big part of that was because they really wanted OSKAR to win. The story they told was simple yet well executed and very effective, as evidenced by how raucous the crowd was when OSKAR did win. I loved this. ***½

G1 Climax 2026 Block A Match
Yuto-Ice vs. Great-O-Khan

Great-O-Khan is one-half of the IWGP Tag Team champions and one-third of the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team champions. Yuto-Ice defeated Taichi to qualify for the tournament. This is also his first G1 Climax. Yuto-Ice has an amazing new singles entrance and is simply beloved by everyone. The disappointment when Great-O-Khan rolled to the floor before Yuto-Ice could deliver the Bombaclat knee was palpable. O-KHan had enough, and smashed a chair into Yuto-Ice’s forehead after laying Yuto-Ice face first onto a chair. Why this wasn’t a DQ was not explained. O-Khan had a laugh at Yuto-Ice’s expense when he pretended to give him an open shot and tripped him instead. He gives it back to O-Khan by pulling him down by his ponytail. After a knee to the mid-section and several stomps, the Bombaclat Knee was successfully delivered for a two count. A high kick to the head and a PK yield the same result, so Yuto-Ice gears up Cruella. Great-O-Khan attempts to leave the ring, but Yuto-Ice pulls him back in. Great-O-Khan ducks a kick and pushes Yuto-Ice to the referee. While the referee cannot see, O-Khan low blows Yuto-Ice and lands a modified Black Tornado Slam. The crowd was excited for the Bombaclat Knee, but were even happier when Yuto-Ice kicked out from that. Great-O-Khan strikes Yuto-Ice in the back of the head. Yuto-Ice kneed Great-O-Khan to escape an Eliminator attempt, and then blasted him with Cruella for the pin at 11:11. This had a period of dullness in the beginning that fortunately they had overcome by the end. As much as I loved O-Khan, there’s no denying he has cooled off and just feels like a non-entity, while Yuto-Ice’s stock just keeps rising. The result was the right call, and the last couple of minutes were excellent. I just wish it was a more exciting ride from start to the end. ***

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino

Sabre won the 2024 G1 Climax, and successfully defended his IWGP Heavyweight title against Umino at Wrestle Kingdom that following January. However, Umino defeated Sabre in both their 2024 and 2025 G1 Climax block matches, as well as in the 2023 and 2026 New Japan Cup tournaments. It was surprising to see Umino be the first one to target a body part when he attacked Sabre’s knee. Sabre made him pay for it with a neck crank and a barrage of uppercuts before putting him in a tightly applied Bow and Arrow stretch. Umino came back with his own uppercuts after escaping and got a nearfall with a fisherman’s suplex. He spiked Sabre on the top of his head with a slingshot face buster. When they’re on the top turnbuckle, Sabre fights off Umino and brings him down with a Sunset bomb. Sabre blocks the Second Chapter and puts Umino in the Clarky Cat submission, which Umino escapes by getting his foot on the bottom rope. Another surprise from Umino comes when he cuts off Sabre with the Zack Driver. Once Umino recovers, he lands a running knee strike for a two count. Sabre kicks Umino’s right arm to block a clothesline and snapmares him into a PK. Sabre shows Umino how it’s done by utilizing the Zack Driver himself, and Sabre is surprised when Umino kicks out. He tried for a second one, but Umino counters into an O’Connor roll, which Sabre counters into a bodyscissors sleeper hold. He rolls Umino into another Zack Driver for the pin at 16:10, giving Sabre his very first win over Umino in a tournament. The crowd chanted this was awesome and they were right. Umino was maybe a bit overconfident given his perfect tournament record against Sabre at times, but he also showed that he had Sabre scouted and could withstand some of his most impactful offense. What I appreciate most is that when Sabre’s submissions didn’t work, he pivoted to the Zack Driver, an idea that may have inadvertently been placed in his mind when Umino utilized the move against him. This is the kind of match these two can’t have with anyone else in the tournament because they don’t have the same history, and I love when wrestlers actually utilize those unique stories. Stop sleeping on Shota Umino. ****

Unfortunately, Umino would suffer a concussion in this match and have to forfeit the rest of the tournament. After happening two years in a row, with Kidd and now Umino, I am thinking they should line up an alternate for each block going forward.

G1 Climax 2026 Block A Match
Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA

This is the 5th G1 Climax in which Goto and SANADA have shared a block, and they split the wins exactly in half: SANADA defeating Goto in 2016 and 2021, Goto defeating SANADA in 2018 and 2020. They also split wins in New Japan Cups: SANADA defeating Goto in 2019, Goto defeating SANADA in 2024. Goto won the G1 back in 2008, while SANADA made it to the finals in 2020. More knee work on this night with SANADA attacking Goto. We then see his Milano Collection AT influence as he locks up Goto in the Paradise Lock and dropkicks him while he is trapped. Goto gives a clothesline that indicates he is tired of SANADA’s shit. SANADA was not done with it, though, giving Goto his own Ushigoroshi in response. SANADA got in a bit more offense before Goto gives an Ushigoroshi right back. SANADA fought his way out of a GTR a couple of times before cinching in the Skull End. When Goto won’t submit, SANADA lands a moonsault and looks for the Deadfall, which Goto avoids. Goto pulls him into the GTW to buy himself some recovery time. SANADA tries to fight out of the GTR, but Goto ends up connecting and gets the win at 12:04. Just like the Narita match from earlier, this was one of the more engaging SANADA singles matches in a while simply because the rest of the House of Torture wasn’t there to muck things up. They played the hits while also making it clear that if Goto hit the GTR, it was a wrap for SANADA, and that’s exactly how the match went down. I feel like these two could have a good match in their sleep. ***½

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match
Yuya Uemura vs. Callum Newman

Uemura defeated Newman in last year’s G1 Climax, but Newman defeated Uemura in this year’s New Japan Cup finals. Newman spitting in Uemura’s face made Uemura angry, and he brought an intensity and speed to Newman right at the bell. Newman’s left arm is injured, which is why he was not part of Forbidden Door, and Uemura exploited that during his offense. Newman attacked Uemura and threw him into the crowd where he dropkicked him into several rows of chairs. Newman made Uemura bring himself back into the ring, and caught him with a kick to the forehead as Uemura was re-entering the ring. Uemura once again picked up the pace and took out Newman with a dropkick. Newman urgently made it to the bottom rope when Uemura put him in a submission on his left arm. As Uemura came off the ropes, Newman aggressively pulled Uemura down into a rear-naked choke. Uemura rolled his way free and German suplexed Newman. A dropkick from Uemura then leaves both men laying. Uemura counters a suplex into a cross armbreaker, though Newman clasps his fingers together to prevent it from being applied, at least for a moment. Uemura gains full extension and also converts into a Fujiwara when Newman rolls him onto his shoulders. Perhaps not learning his lesson, Newman spits in Uemura’s face. Uemura taps into more aggression and once again attacks Newman’s arm. Newman uses this proximity to pull Uemura into the Prince’s Curse for two. Uemura blocks a Make Way with a release Deadbolt suplex. A crossbody frog splash gets two, so Uemura then attempts a High Fly Flow. He misses, and Newman pounces on him with Excalibur for two. Uemura ends a kick exchange with a Pele kick and huracanrana’s Newman for two. Newman fights out of a second Deadbolt suplex attempt. Make Way finally connects and gives Nwman the pin at 15:42. It seemed like the stars were aligned for Uemura to get back his way from the New Japan Cup final. Newman was injured, and Uemura had his excursion in the U.S., so he had the away advantage. But it was not to be. He fought like hell and kicked out of a lot of what Newman had, but similar to the Goto match where we knew the GTR connecting meant game over for SANADA, Newman finally pulling off Make Way is what did in Uemura. This was a worthy successor to their tremendous New Japan Cup final from earlier in the year. ****

Rocky Romero joins commentary for the final two matches

G1 Climax 2026 Block A Match
Oleg Boltin vs. Ryohei Oiwa

Boltin is the current NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion. He has yet to defend the title, partially due to injury. Oiwa defeated El Phantasmo earlier in the week to qualify for the tournament. Oleg defeated Oiwa in last year’s G1 Climax. What do you do to nullify Boltin’s strength? Wear down his arm, of course. That was Oiwa’s strategy – target the big man’s left arm. The shoulder is taped already, may as well be a bullseye. It didn’t stunt Boltin entirely – he was able to pull off his crazy impressive deadlift gut wrench suplex, but you could see how much it pained him to do so. When he had Oiwa in the Argentine backbreaker, Oiwa grabbed his hand to escape, and so Boltin quickly turned that into a Kamikaze for two. After Boltin pinned Oiwa with a German suplex, Oiwa went right back to attacking the right arm. When Boltin fights out of a sleeper, Oiwa converts to the London Dungeon, and Boltin taps out at 13:28. Oiwa came in with a game plan and it worked. I loved watching it play out, loved seeing Boltin fight through it, and loved seeing Oiwa’s strategy bear fruit. My only complaint was I think they had more juice in the match before it ended. Real good stuff. ***½

G1 Climax 2026 Block A Match
Yota Tsuji vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Tsuji is the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Takeshita is the current NJPW World Television Champion and the winner of last year’s G1 Climax. In 2024, Takeshita defeated Tsuji in their Block match, and Tsuji then defeated Takeshita in the Block B playoffs. This is their first match since Wrestle Kingdom in January, in which Tsuji defeated Takeshita for the IWGP World Heavyweight title. As the reigning champion, Tsuji stated his goal was to defeat every former IWGP Heavyweight champion he can en route to winning the tournament. Tsuji asserted his dominance over the former champion for the first five or so minutes of the match. Tsuji took particular delight in the overhand chops he threw at Takeshita in the corner. The vibe changed when Takeshita cut off Tsuji with a pumping knee to block a spear, sending the champion to the floor, where Takeshita took him out with a tope con hilo. It continued in the ring with an exploder suplex. Tsuji trapped Takeshita in the corner and drove his face into the canvas. A standing switch however led to Takeshita delivering his Hitodenashi Driver/Wheelbarrow suplex combo, and then into a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Tsuji was able to catch Takeshita’s knee strike and put him in a Boston Crab, the New Japan Dojo trademark that submitted Takeshita in the Tokyo Dome. Tsuji transitions into an arm capture sit-out powerbomb when Takeshita attempts to fight his way free. Tsuji goes for the Gene Blaster and is cut off by Takeshita’s Power Drive Knee. Takeshita is stunned when it only gets a two count. The crowd is on their feet as Takeshita pulls Tsuji up for the Raging Fire. Tsuji counters quickly into an inside cradle. Takeshita tries again, and Tsuji counters that into a shotei with a headbutt to follow. A sit-out Silver Lining also gets Tsuji a two count. Takeshita crotches Tsuji on the top rope to block the Marlowe Crash. They precariously get to the top rope where Takeshita brings down Tsuji with a leg sweep. Takeshita goes for another Power Drive Knee, and the turn tables as Tsuji blocks that with a Gene Blaster for two. Tsuji’s shotgun knee blast only gets him a one count, as a fired up Takeshita throws several forearm strikes. Tsuji hits a second Gene Blaster and once again gets two. Tsuji busts out the Fire Blaster to get the pin at 20:52. The dynamic of this match was fun, because in America, Takeshita is the more known quantity and is quite beloved from his AEW tenure. He got a lot of love from this crowd, more than he did from the New Japan audience in Japan at Wrestle Kingdom, and to his credit, Tsuji got more love than I expected as well. Tsuji showed a ton of poise in this, a certain swagger of a champion where his confidence was never shaken throughout the match. He got irritated, but that irritation did not result in him losing his composure or focus. They fought like hell and got the crowd riled up, especially Takeshita’s nearfalls. Tsuji marks one former champion off of his hit list to start the tournament, ending the first night on a very high note. ****¼

I thought this was an excellent show. The matches I was looking forward to delivered, and the matches I was neutral on or was not looking forward to overdelivered. Even though the production didn’t properly capture the crowd noise, you could see they were going nuts and it helped elevate everything.