Several Eliminated From Playoff Contention During Night 14 Of G1 Climax

New Japan Pro-Wrestling continued its G1 Climax on Sunday evening from G Messe Gunma in Takasaki, Japan, with five matches from the competition’s A Block.

Before the tournament action began, the show featured four tag team matches. Unbound Co’s Gedo and OSKAR defeated Toru Yano and Young Lion Taisei Nakahara in 4:31. United Empire’s Callum Newman and Zane Jay beat Aaron Wolf and Young Lion Tatsuya Matsumoto in 5:05. House of Torture’s Dick Togo and Ren Narita defeated Unbound Co’s Daiki Nagai and Drilla Moloney in 7:46. Finally, TMDK’s Hartley Jackson and Zack Sabre Jr. defeated United Empire’s HENARE and Jakob Austin Young in 5:55.

The first tournament match saw Ryohei Oiwa attempt to end Jake Lee’s playoff hopes. While this was the first singles match between the two, it was far from the first time they had shared the ring. The first time they met was on October 9, 2023, when Jake Lee was the GHC Heavyweight Champion in Pro Wrestling NOAH. In total, the two would face off eight times in NOAH, where they shared a 4-4 record. In New Japan, however, Oiwa entered this show with a 3-0 record against Lee.

This match was a story in two parts. The first was a pretty standard old-school Jake Lee match, filled with hard-nosed strikes and meticulous limb control from Lee. The critical point came when the fight spilled to the outside and Lee emerged from beneath the ring, partially hidden, while wearing some of his clown face paint. This ‘transformation’ of sorts seemed to give Jake Lee a new, vicious energy. The two continued to fight on the outside for a while longer, with Lee now no longer selling the punishment he had absorbed earlier in the match.

Luckily for all things sacred, Oiwa was able to fight back against his ‘refreshed’ opponent, hitting two Dragon Screws before locking in the TM Clutch to earn the win at 12:47. With that, Jake Lee has been eliminated from playoff contention and is now 0-4 against Oiwa in New Japan.

The next match of the night saw SANADA take on Konosuke Takeshita. Just like Jake Lee before him, SANADA entered G Messe needing a win to keep his playoff hopes alive. Takeshita, on the other hand, was looking to move closer to winning the group outright. The two had previously met in singles action just once, in a match for the NJPW World Television Championship on June 14 this year, which Takeshita won in just 8:24.

SANADA continued his running strategy throughout this tournament by starting the match at a slow pace. While this could be viewed as the wrong approach, with SANADA facing elimination, it seemingly worked to ensure that Takeshita couldn’t simply rout him once again. Takeshita was still able to get some offence in the early going, but he wasn’t able to reach that next gear.

This ended up being a pretty standard singles clash, with some nice back-and-forth action and some close calls for both men. The final part of the match saw SANADA hit Takeshita’s Raging Fire, followed by a Moonsault, while Takeshita wrecked SANADA with a Hitodenashi Driver and German Suplex. Following a few more close calls, Takeshita put SANADA away with a Raging Fire to earn the hard-fought win at 14:02. The House of Torture member became the second wrestler to be eliminated from playoff contention with that defeat, while Takeshita moved to the top of the block.

The next match was the perfect encapsulation of everything good about this year’s G1 and everything bad, as it featured Yota Tsuji, a man who’s been having one of the best G1s in recent memory, taking on Great-O-Khan, who’s been proving during this tournament that the only thing great about him is how much of a waste of time it is to watch any of his matches.

Great-O-Khan was already mathematically eliminated, by the grace of the wrestling gods, while Tsuji was attempting to reach double digits. This match was pretty much a waste of time, because watching GOK wrestle is about as fun as watching the old TV Guide Channel on mute. Thankfully, Yota Tsuji was able to win with the Gene Blaster at 13:14. The less said about O-Khan, the better.

Thankfully, the next match was a whole lot better. Oleg Boltin, a man who’s been simply sublime to watch in this tournament, took on Hirooki Goto, who’s been as reliable as you’d expect from the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Unfortunately, Goto’s reliability hadn’t translated into much success in the table, as he was already mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Luckily, Goto has a whole lot more pride than a certain other wrestler I previously mentioned, so he gave us a fun match here.

The two friends locked up and started lobbing some pretty strong attacks at one another. Goto, in particular, was ferocious for much of the match. Boltin got the early advantage, forcing Goto out of the ring, and continued to mount the pressure for some time afterwards. Goto survived the Kazakh’s onslaught long enough to get in some offence of his own, mostly aimed at Boltin’s head and neck. He hit the big man with an Ushigoroshi, a reverse GTR, and a Sleeper Hold before landing a Shibata-esque Penalty Kick.

Somehow, someway, Boltin was able to muster up enough energy to land a Kamikaze, but Goto locked in another Sleeper before soon transitioning into a crazy-looking Shoto with Boltin’s legs hanging over the second rope. Boltin got back to his feet and attempted a Verdict, but Goto escaped and attempted a roll-up. Both men got back up and, after a Dropkick from Boltin, Goto nailed him with a Spinning Heel Kick before finishing the match with a GTR at 15:20.

This match was really fun. While Goto was already out of playoff contention, he and Boltin were able to keep the energy high throughout. After the match, both men graciously shook hands.

The main event featured two men from Unbound Co., Shingo Takagi and Yuto-Ice. Takagi absolutely needed to win this match; with a loss, he would become the third man eliminated from playoff contention. On the other hand, Yuto-Ice was looking to join Yota Tsuji by reaching 10 points on the same night. The energy was palpable between these two men before the bell rang. Even though these two are, for all intents and purposes, friends, the intensity reached a level that no match beforehand had, not even the semi-main event.

As anyone who’s watched this G1 would expect, Yuto-Ice started the match incredibly aggressively. The two would quickly take the fight outside, with Takagi taking most of the offense. Ice was thrown back inside, and Takagi continued his meticulous offense on the younger wrestler. Finally after a little time, Ice was able to gain some time to regroup, and he threw Takagi in the corner and smashed him with a knee strike. Ice would attempt a Ice High, which is a Penalty Kick, but Takagi would block it and regain some advantage after landing a Dragon Screw.

The two wrestlers would then have a competitive striking exchange, which was pretty even, and only ended when Ice finally landed an Ice High for a two-count. Takagi would answer moments later with a vintage Twist and Shout neckbreaker, a move that was made famous by Hiroshi Tanahashi, who was sitting at ringside. Takagi landed some more offense, including a Pumping Bomber lariat, but Ice ate it and somehow stayed up.S

After the two had another, much stronger, strike exchange, Takagi was able to land a Made In Japan, but Ice was incredibly able to kick out of that as well. Ice would soon answer with a Cruella and a massive Vertical Drop Brainbuster, however, Takagi would get out of it and land another Pumping Bomber. The final sequence saw both men land sizzling head butts, before Ice destroyed Takagi’s playoff hopes with a Kamigoye at 20:25.

New Japan will hold the 15th night of the G1 Climax on Tuesday night, featuring four more tournament matches. Zack Sabre Jr. will take on HENARE in a must-win match for the Englishman. Drilla Moloney will try to keep his playoff hopes alive against Ren Narita. Callum Newman will attempt to end Aaron Wolf’s hopes of making the playoffs in his first-ever G1. Yuya Uemura and Gabe Kidd will then face off 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:

Konosuke Takeshita – 12 points (6-2)

Boltin Oleg – 10 points (5-3)

Ryohei Oiwa – 10 points (5-3)

Yota Tsuji – 10 points (5-3)

Shingo Takagi – 8 points (4-4)

Yuto-Ice – 8 points (4-4)

Hirooki Goto – 6 points (3-5)

Jake Lee – 6 points (3-5)

SANADA – 6 points (3-5)

Great-O-Khan – 4 points (2-6)

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.