NJPW G1 CLIMAX 36 at Yokohama Budokan: a guide to the B Block evening
New Japan Pro-Wrestling brings the G1 CLIMAX back to Yokohama Budokan at a crucial stage of the group competition. The event is scheduled to begin at 18:30, while the doors open at 17:30. The ticket is valid for one day, and the current program contains nine matches: five tag team contests in the opening portion and four B Block singles matches with a direct impact on the standings.
This is not an evening of title defenses or special stipulations. The main stakes are tournament points. G1 CLIMAX 36 leads toward the semifinals at Ryogoku Sumo Hall, where the first-place wrestler from one block faces the second-place wrestler from the other. A defeat in Yokohama could therefore close the path to the final weekend.
The program was changed after Shota Umino withdrew from the tournament because of an injury. His remaining matches are recorded as forfeits, so the previously announced contest with Gabe Kidd is not part of the current in-arena card. After defeating HENARE, Kidd took the lead in B Block with 10 points, while the other contenders are trying to catch the top position or at least remain in the top two.
Tickets for this event are in demand. It is worth securing them in good time, particularly because the G1 evening in the same venue in 2025 attracted 2,448 spectators.
Confirmed card in Yokohama
The current card combines 20-minute tag team matches and 30-minute singles tournament matches. Points are awarded only in the final four singles contests.
- Match 1: Tatsuya Matsumoto and Hirooki Goto against Masatora Yasuda and Boltin Oleg
- Match 2: Hartley Jackson and Ryohei Oiwa against Zane Jay and Jake Lee
- Match 3: Toru Yano and Konosuke Takeshita against Yoshinobu Kanemaru and SANADA
- Match 4: Daiki Nagai and Yota Tsuji against Jakob Austin Young and Great-O-Khan
- Match 5: Taiji Ishimori and Shingo Takagi against Gedo and Yuto-Ice
- Match 6 - B Block: Drilla Moloney against Zack Sabre Jr.
- Match 7 - B Block: Yuya Uemura against HENARE
- Match 8 - B Block: Aaron Wolf against Ren Narita
- Match 9 - B Block: OSKAR against Callum Newman
The first five matches are not merely an introduction. The G1 tour uses tag team contests to allow wrestlers from the opposite block to experience the styles of future opponents, continue factional conflicts, and display the effects of the congested schedule. In Yokohama, attention will be focused on the leading names from A Block, including Yota Tsuji, Konosuke Takeshita, Boltin Oleg, and Shingo Takagi.
The difference in structure will also be clear to spectators attending NJPW for the first time. A tag team match allows partner changes and quick transitions between several rivalries. A G1 singles match has no title at stake, but it does have points and a time limit. No disqualification matches, cage matches, or other special rules have been announced.
OSKAR against Callum Newman: speed crashes into a wall of strength
The evening's main event pits two wrestlers with eight points each against one another, although they have completed different numbers of matches. OSKAR enters with a 4-3 record, while Callum Newman is 4-2. Newman received points from the match with Umino that did not take place, so he enters the closing stage of the block with one fewer bout in his body.
OSKAR is 201 centimeters tall and weighs 115 kilograms. His approach relies on reach, pressure, and control of space. Newman, known as the "Prince of Pace", combines speed, agility, and explosive strength. His finishing moves, the OsCutter 2.0 and Firebolt, require a moment in which he can change the rhythm before his opponent stops him.
This continues the story from the 2026 New Japan Cup. Newman defeated OSKAR there and later won the tournament, and in the same year he became both the youngest New Japan Cup winner and the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion. His reign ended against Yota Tsuji at Dominion, so the G1 represents an opportunity for a quick return to the top.
For OSKAR, this is a test outside his familiar tag team role alongside Yuto-Ice. Against Newman, he must do more than impose his strength; he must prevent sudden changes in angle and speed. Every successful escape from a hold or attempt to lift the larger opponent could provoke an immediate reaction from the crowd.
Drilla Moloney against Zack Sabre Jr.: a rematch at the same venue
Drilla Moloney has eight points and remains a serious contender. Zack Sabre Jr. has four points and a considerably narrower path to the top. After four consecutive defeats, Sabre submitted OSKAR in Fukuoka and remained mathematically alive. In Yokohama, he has no more room for error.
Moloney and Sabre met in G1 CLIMAX 35 at this very venue, Yokohama Budokan. After 14 minutes and one second, Sabre countered Moloney's attack into a submission hold. The rematch therefore has a clear tactical theme: can Moloney avoid fighting by Sabre's rules?
Moloney's arsenal includes the Drilla Killa, Gore, and powerful running strikes. His advantage is his ability to transform an even contest suddenly into an explosive finish. Sabre does the opposite: he breaks down his opponent's base, attacks the arms and legs, and forces his rival to think about defense before every lift or charge.
In the 2025 match, Moloney showed that he could keep pace in the technical exchanges, but that precise type of contest gave Sabre the opening for the finishing hold. Drilla now arrives in a better points position, but he is facing the winner of G1 CLIMAX 2024 and a wrestler with extensive experience in the late stages of tournaments.
Aaron Wolf against Ren Narita: a rivalry without the belt at stake
Aaron Wolf has six points, while Ren Narita has eight. The match is not a defense of the NEVER Openweight Championship, but the story surrounding that belt gives it additional weight.
Wolf, an Olympic judo champion, joined the Noge Dojo in 2025 and debuted at Wrestle Kingdom 20. He won the NEVER Openweight Championship in his first professional match and then lost it to Narita at The New Beginning. After a conflict with HOUSE OF TORTURE lasting several months, Wolf defeated Narita again at Dominion and regained the belt.
Wolf brings throws, hip control, and sudden transitions into holds. In Fukuoka, he stopped Drilla Moloney with a combination of a judo throw and an Angle Slam. Narita seeks a slower and more uncomfortable match. His Double Cross is the main finishing threat, while HOUSE OF TORTURE's tactics are often built around interference and attacks on an injured body part.
In his previous appearance, Narita defeated Yuya Uemura after interference by Dick Togo and Yoshinobu Kanemaru and an attack on the knee. The crowd will therefore closely follow every exit from the ring and every approach by members of his group. Wolf must remain disciplined: his judo base gives him an advantage in clean contact, but anger could create an opening for Narita's tactics.
Yuya Uemura against HENARE: precision against endurance
HENARE has eight points, while Yuya Uemura has six. Victory is important for both men, but the pressure is greater on Uemura. A defeat would leave him with a very narrow path to the top two positions, while a victory would keep HENARE alongside the leading group.
Uemura developed through the Young Lions system and returned to Japan after a developmental excursion in the United States. His style is based on clean fundamentals, precise holds, and explosive throws. The Deadbolt Suplex, Storm Clutch, and Frankensteiner give him several ways to finish a match, while the aerial Lion's Shiner adds an attack that cannot be defended against through strength alone.
HENARE brings heavy strikes, takedowns, and the ability to continue after punishing exchanges. In 2024, he won the NEVER Openweight Championship and the IWGP Tag Team Championship, and as a member of United Empire he is accustomed to matches in which the pace rises through direct collisions.
Uemura's earlier victory over Zack Sabre Jr. showed that he can withstand a long technical match, but his defeat by Narita in Fukuoka included a systematic attack on the leg. No new injury or change to the card has been confirmed, so there is no reason to speculate about his readiness. HENARE will probably test his balance, while Uemura will try to secure a clean throw before an exhausting exchange of strikes.
What the opening tag team portion offers
The opening matches connect A Block, young wrestlers, and factional relationships. Tatsuya Matsumoto and Masatora Yasuda open the evening alongside Hirooki Goto and Boltin Oleg. For the younger members of the roster, such a meeting is not merely practice: one mistake against the experienced Goto or the physically powerful Oleg can end the contest within seconds.
Hartley Jackson and Ryohei Oiwa represent TMDK against Zane Jay and Jake Lee of United Empire. Toru Yano and A Block leader Konosuke Takeshita then meet Yoshinobu Kanemaru and SANADA in a match combining Yano's unpredictability, Takeshita's explosiveness, and the experience of the opposing side.
Current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji teams with Daiki Nagai against Jakob Austin Young and Great-O-Khan. In the fifth match, Taiji Ishimori and Shingo Takagi meet Gedo and Yuto-Ice. Ishimori brings speed, Takagi brings the Pumping Bomber and Last of the Dragon, and Yuto-Ice brings the physical force of the Knockout Brothers.
The atmosphere at Yokohama Budokan
Yokohama Budokan opened in 2020 and has a martial arts hall on the first floor and a main arena with approximately 3,000 seats on the second floor. For professional wrestling, this means a more compact space than a large stadium: entrance music, impacts against the ring floor, and crowd reactions remain close to the action.
NJPW's G1 production clearly separates the two portions of the evening. Tag team matches move into the program more quickly, with more performers and shorter stories. When the B Block contests begin, the point announcements become more important, and the audience reacts to every submission attempt or near fall because it understands the consequences for the standings.
The greatest contrast could come between Sabre's methodical work on the joints and OSKAR's powerful strikes. Wolf's judo throws create immediate reversals, while Newman's charges work best when the crowd can see the space he is trying to cross. Loud negative reactions to HOUSE OF TORTURE's tactics are possible during the match with Narita, but the outcome and any possible interference should not be assumed in advance.
Seats are disappearing quickly. Visitors who want to experience the entrances, music, and the entire progression of the program would benefit from being inside the venue before the first bell rather than arriving only for the tournament matches.
Travel, admission, and practical information
Yokohama Budokan is located at 2-9-10 Okinacho, Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 231-0028. The easiest way to reach it is by public transportation. It is approximately a six-minute walk from the south exit of Kannai Station on the JR Keihin-Tohoku and Negishi lines. It is approximately a four-minute walk from Isezaki-chojamachi Station on the municipal subway.
The venue has a parking lot with 29 spaces for passenger cars and smaller vehicles, but its operation may depend on the event. Because of the limited number of spaces, it is not reasonable to rely on parking without a backup plan. Public underground garages are available in the surrounding area, but the train and subway remain more predictable options.
The doors open at 17:30, one hour before the start. It is worth arriving close to opening time to leave enough time for admission, finding your seat, and becoming familiar with the venue. The exact duration of the show and its finishing time have not been announced, so return transportation should not be planned with an excessively narrow margin.
International visitors may find it useful to save the original station names in their navigation applications: Kannai Station and Isezaki-chojamachi Station. Yokohama is a major port city in the wider Tokyo area, and the venue is located in the central Naka-ku district.
Ticket sales for this event are in progress. Before departure, the current card should be checked once again because tournament injuries and medical withdrawals can change the program, as has already happened with Shota Umino.
Sources:
- NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING - event schedule, confirmed card, time limits, G1 announcement, wrestler profiles, and results of previous matches
- G1 CLIMAX 36 - tour schedule and dates of the semifinals and final
- Yokohama Budokan - capacity, address, rail access, and parking information
- POST Wrestling - B Block standings and results from the evening in Fukuoka before the event in Yokohama