First two competitors advance to NJPW G1 Climax 36 semifinals

Yota Tsuji and Ryohei Oiwa have booked their spots in the NJPW G1 Climax 36 semifinals.

With victories on the final night of A Block action, Tsuji and Oiwa ended their round-robin campaigns with 12 points. The block ended in a three-way tie, but Tsuji and Oiwa advanced due to both owning head-to-head victories over Konosuke Takeshita. Oiwa defeated Takeshita in today’s main event to earn his semifinal spot.

Tsuji beat Jake Lee today but still needed some help to advance. He got that with Great-O-Khan cheating to defeat Oleg Boltin, ending Boltin’s G1 chances with a countout loss.

The last night of B Block action takes place tomorrow (August 13) and will determine the semifinal opponents for Tsuji and Oiwa. It’s likely that two of Ren Narita, Callum Newman, Yuya Uemura, and Gabe Kidd will advance out of B Block.

After tomorrow, the G1 has a day off before resuming this weekend with the semifinals on Saturday (August 15) and finals on Sunday (August 16). If Tsuji does not win, the G1 winner will earn a shot at his IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

NJPW G1 Climax 36 standings —

A Block:

• Yota Tsuji (6-3): 12 points
• Ryohei Oiwa (6-3): 12 points
• Konosuke Takeshita (6-3): 12 points
• Oleg Boltin (5-4): 10 points
• Hirooki Goto (4-5): 8 points
• Shingo Takagi (4-5): 8 points
• Yuto-Ice (4-5): 8 points
• SANADA (4-5): 8 points
• Jake Lee (3-6): 6 points
• Great-O-Khan (3-6): 6 points

B Block:

• Ren Narita (5-3): 10 points
• Callum Newman (5-3): 10 points
• Yuya Uemura (5-3): 10 points
• Gabe Kidd (5-3): 10 points
• Drilla Moloney (5-4): 10 points
• HENARE (4-4): 8 points
• OSKAR (4-4): 8 points
• Aaron Wolf (4-4): 8 points
• Zack Sabre Jr. (4-4): 8 points
• Shota Umino: 0 points (withdrew due to injury)