Boltin Oleg Bests Yota Tsuji In Instant G1 Classic At Night 12

New Japan Pro-Wrestling held the 12th night of the G1 Climax inside Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday evening. The event featured five A Block tournament matches and included some of the weakest moments of the competition so far, as well as some of its very best.

Konosuke Takeshita entered the event atop A Block with 10 points and three matches remaining. Close behind him were Boltin Oleg and Yota Tsuji on eight points, while Ryohei Oiwa, Shingo Takagi, and Yuto-Ice all remained firmly in contention with six points.

The first tournament match of the evening saw Yuto-Ice attempt to keep pace with the rest of the field against SANADA, who arrived in Korakuen Hall wearing gear reminiscent of his days in All Japan Pro Wrestling, Wrestle-1, and TNA, when he competed under the name “Seiya Sanada.”

Yuto-Ice once again wrestled with reckless abandon, while SANADA employed his typically conservative approach, patiently waiting for the younger man to make mistakes that he could capitalize on. Unfortunately for SANADA, he couldn’t maintain that discipline for the entire match, perhaps wanting to prove he could still trade strikes with the very best, allowing Ice to seize a significant advantage.

After a referee bump, Yoshinobu Kanemaru emerged and spat a plume of whisky into Yuto-Ice’s face before handing SANADA a guitar. SANADA smashed the instrument over Ice’s head before comically dropping to his own back as well. Both men remained down until SANADA suddenly kipped up at the count of nine, leaving Ice unable to answer the referee’s 10 count at 8:10.

The next match featured a nightmare matchup between Jake Lee and Great-O-Khan. Jake Lee has had some fun moments during this tournament. However, the less said about Great-O-Khan’s G1, the better. Thankfully, the two United Empire stablemates kept things brief, with the match ending in Jake Lee’s favor via Great-O-Khan disqualification at the 1:47 mark.

The most interesting part came after the bell, when Great-O-Khan suddenly attacked his ally before being pulled away by Jakob Austin Young. Could this be the beginning of a full-fledged heel turn for Great-O-Khan? I suppose only time will tell.

The show hit a completely different gear after that as Hirooki Goto took on one of the tournament’s standout performers, Ryohei Oiwa. The two bruisers came out firing on all cylinders. Goto battered Oiwa with his trademark strikes and throws, while Oiwa answered with his outstanding grappling and immense strength.

Oiwa’s strategy throughout the tournament has been to wear his opponents down on the mat before eventually forcing a submission. He stuck to that game plan here, smothering Goto through the middle portion of the match with a suffocating headlock on the canvas.

Goto managed to escape and returned to his strategy of battering Oiwa until he stopped moving. He planted Oiwa with several more throws and blasted him with a series of thunderous lariats and other heavy strikes. However, the cumulative damage from Oiwa’s relentless headlocks eventually caught up with the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion. When Oiwa cinched in the hold one final time, Goto had no choice but to tap out at 8:51.

I do wish this had gone a little longer, but I still really loved the match. Both men continue to be among the brightest spots of this year’s tournament.

The semi-final featured another incredibly hard-fought battle between Shingo Takagi and Konosuke Takeshita. As mentioned earlier, Takeshita entered Korakuen Hall atop A Block with 10 points, while Takagi arrived on six after winning his previous two matches.

The two men absolutely demolished one another, much to the delight of the Korakuen crowd. Takagi used his relentless barrage of strikes to seize the early advantage, but Takeshita soon answered with his own blend of powerful throws, suplexes, and bone-rattling strikes. While Takagi’s offense looked wild and devastating, Takeshita’s felt measured and surgical. As the match progressed, Takeshita began to pull away after planting Takagi with a Blue Thunder Bomb before following it up with a vicious Brainbuster.

Takagi, however, refused to stay down, battling back by planting “The Alpha” with a Made in Japan. Takeshita responded in kind by hitting Takagi with his own Made in Japan before following it up with a jaw-dropping knee strike. Not to be outdone, Takagi answered by stealing Takeshita’s Raging Fire, only for the move to earn a dramatic near fall.

After staggering Takeshita with a thunderous Pumping Bomber lariat, Takagi finally put him away with Last of the Dragon at 19:44. With the victory, Takagi improved to eight points, while Takeshita remained atop the block with 10. This was a remarkable match and one that is absolutely worth seeking out.

However, while the semi-final was undoubtedly something special, it ultimately paled in comparison to what the Korakuen Hall crowd witnessed in the main event between Yota Tsuji and Boltin Oleg. The two entered the show in remarkably similar positions. Both sat on eight points, and both had compiled outstanding résumés in terms of match quality. While that is, of course, subjective, many fans have already pointed to multiple matches from each man as among the very best of this year’s tournament.

What followed was a match for the ages. Many fans online immediately hailed it as a genuine G1 classic, and I’d have to agree. Both Boltin and Tsuji wrestled with the determination of two men intent on giving the audience a match they would never forget. Boltin used his incredible strength and thunderous chops to steadily wear Tsuji down, while Tsuji countered by repeatedly targeting Boltin’s ribs with sharp, decisive strikes, looking to sap the Kazakh’s stamina by limiting his breathing.

The only flaw in Tsuji’s strategy was that any damage he inflicted on Boltin seemed to be only temporary. In fact, the longer the match went and the more punishment Boltin absorbed, the more terrifying his offense became. Boltin crushed Tsuji with a devastating Spinebuster before following it up with a Boltin Shake.

My favorite moment of the match came when Boltin hoisted Tsuji onto his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Tsuji escaped in one fluid motion and immediately trapped Boltin in an armbar while still perched on his shoulders. It was an incredibly creative sequence and one of the highlights of the entire tournament.

Later, on the outside, Tsuji blasted Boltin with a Gene Blaster on the apron, sending both men crashing to the floor. Tsuji made it back into the ring with plenty of time to spare, but Boltin barely beat the referee’s count, sliding in just before 20. Moments later, he stuffed another Gene Blaster attempt and drove Tsuji into the mat with a bone-rattling powerbomb to create some much-needed separation.

Both men eventually rose to their feet and began trading absolutely hellacious strikes. Tsuji appeared to gain the upper hand, but Boltin answered with a pair of massive suplexes before planting him with a ruthless Kamikaze, only for Tsuji to somehow kick out. Boltin then drilled Tsuji with a Verdict, yet Tsuji astonishingly survived once again. It ultimately took two more devastating powerbombs and one final Kamikaze for Boltin to finally secure the hard-fought, career-defining victory at 24:35.

This was a stunning match, a tremendous war between two men New Japan clearly hopes will lead the promotion into its next era. While some fans may still consider Tsuji vs. Yuto-Ice the tournament’s best match to this point, many more have already crowned this one as the new standard.

New Japan will return for Night 13 of the G1 Climax on Saturday, August 8, from Yokohama Budokan in Kanagawa, Japan. The show will feature four B Block tournament matches, including Drilla Moloney vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Yuya Uemura vs. HENARE, and OSKAR vs. Callum Newman in the main event.

For more coverage from the tournament and everything surrounding New Japan Pro-Wrestling, WrestlePurists will keep you updated.

G1 Climax 2026 – Current Standings:

A Block:

Boltin Oleg – 10 points (5-2)

Konosuke Takeshita – 10 points (5-2)

Ryohei Oiwa – 8 points (4-3)

Shingo Takagi – 8 points (4-3)

Yota Tsuji – 8 points (4-3)

Jake Lee – 6 points (3-4)

SANADA – 6 points (3-4)

Yuto-Ice – 6 points (3-4)

Great-O-Khan – 4 points (2-5)

Hirooki Goto – 4 points (2-5)

B Block:

Gabe Kidd – 10 points (5-2)

Callum Newman – 8 points (4-2)

Drilla Moloney – 8 points (4-3)

HENARE – 8 points (4-2)

OSKAR – 8 points (4-3)

Ren Narita – 8 points (4-2)

Aaron Wolf – 6 points (3-3)

Yuya Uemura – 6 points (3-3)

Zack Sabre Jr. – 4 points (2-4)

Shota Umino – 0 points (0-9)

NOTE – Shota Umino withdrew from the competition after suffering a concussion and forfeited his remaining tournament matches.