NJPW crowns G1 Climax 36 winner

Ryohei Oiwa is this year’s G1 Climax winner.

In a battle between two first-time finalists on Sunday morning, Oiwa defeated Yuya Uemura to win the G1 Climax tournament for the first time. The two had a tremendous match with callbacks from previous G1 Climax winners including Hiroyoshi Tenzan (who retired the previous night), Tatsumi Fujimani, and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Oiwa won after sinking in a crossface that he had been applying on Uemura in the final minutes of the bout.

After the match, Oiwa cut a short promo on his victory then celebrated with his TMDK stablemates. He also made it clear he would follow mentor Zack Sabre Jr.’s lead from two years ago and challenge current IWGP Champion Yota Tsuji at King of Pro Wrestling in October.

The Road to the G1 Climax finals

The tournament started last month in Chicago, with Yota Tsuji defeating last year’s winner Konosuke Takeshita in the main event. In the semifinals, Uemura defeated Tsuji to advance while Oiwa defeated Callum Newman, who squared off with a returning Jeff Cobb earlier in the night.

Oiwa, 27, graduated from NJPW’s dojo in 2021. In an unusual move, he had his learning excursion in Pro Wrestling NOAH as opposed to wrestling overseas. He joined TMDK in 2024, winning the World Tag League with Sabre the following year and also has held the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles.