WWE Monday Night Raw 8/17/2026

WWE Monday Night Raw 8/17/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/08/wwe-monday-night-raw-8102026.html

We are in Buffalo, NY. Michael Cole and Corey Graves are on commentary.

We see various wrestlers hanging out and arriving. 

Stephanie Vaquer comes out to talk. Steph says she's only here for the title. She tells Liv Morgan to come out. Liv comes out with Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez. Liv says she has a lot on her mind. She says Becky Lynch thinks Liv having the title makes the past champs look worse. She says she doesn't care and isn't a champ for those people or the fans. 

Liv says all that matters is she's champ and says SV and Becky will never be here as long as she is. She says she's on he way to becoming the longest reigning women's champ of all time. SV asks her to come in if she's not scared. Liv says she will regret it. Liv nd her crew get in. SV hits Liv then is hit from behind. 

SV throws Perez out then Raquel out. Liv takes down SV and they roll on the mat. SV superkicks Liv. Perez nails SV from behind. Becky Lynch comes out and throws Liv and Perez into the rails. Raq throws Becky in and Becky hits her. SV then gets up in Becky's face. Liv sends Becky into the post. SV crossbodies Liv off the apron. Raquel facekicks SV.

Liv codebreakers SV and Perez code red's SV. Liv's crew then poses over SV.

The Uso's are happy in the back and bring Solo out with them. They tell Solo "that way" to get him to go to the ring. They run into LA Knight. LA asks if they've had enough. Solo wants to tlak to LA and Jey tells him the tribal chief is waiting. 

JD McDonaugh vs Je'Von Evans

They lock up. JD shoves him in the corner and slaps him. Evans slaps him back and dropkicks him. Evans seated springboard headscissors him and dropkicks him out of the ring. Dirty Dom trips Evans and JD back elbows Evans. JD pounds on Evans.

JD standing moonsaults but Evans gets his knees up. Evans lariats JD over the timekeepers rail. Evans jumps over the rail onto JD, sending him into a computer chair. JD pulls Evans crotch first into the post then bangs his leg off the post. We go to PiP break and return. 

JD chokes him on the ropes. Evans flips over him off the bottom rope. Evans corkscrew kicks him off the ropes. Evans springboard diving lariats him for 2. JD headbutts him and brainbusters him for 2. JD hits Kawada kicks on him. 

JD's head is banged off the post. Evans is pulled down face first on the buckles. JD misses a top rope moonsault. Evans hits an OG cutter and pins him.

Thoughts: It was an okay bout here. It had a lot of flying action. Evans won as expected here. Evans' dive over the timekeeper's rail appears to be a new signature move for him. 

Big Cass nails Evans from behind after and stomps on him. Big Cass swinging sidewalk slams him. Evans gets on the mic and asks if that's all Cass has. Cass tries to get back in and is hit. Evans topes him. Dom Mysterio then sends Evans into the post. Cass sends Evans into the rails. Cass facekicks Evans in the ring. 

Rye Fenix does a promo. He says El Fiscal as a great fighter but he's unstoppable. He says it's his chance to fight for the world title. El Fiscal says the tournament is a big chance for his career. He says when he faces him in the ring, it won't just be a match but another victory. He says he's the law and after him comes total darkness.

#1 Contender's Tournament - Rey Fenix vs El Fiscal

They lock up. Rey hits him from behind and Fis shoulders him over. Fis trips Rey and backs off. Fis spin kicks Rey in the gut. Rey dropkicks Fis. Fis kicks Rey then top rope twisting crossbodies him for 2. 

Fis knees Rey in the gut. Rey handspring cutters him for 2. They go on the buckles. Rey headbutts him down to the apron. Rey rope walk kicks him to the outside. Rey double jump plancha's him outside. 

We go to break and return. Rey jawbreakers him. Fis gorilla press drops him throat first on the ropes. Fis spinning lariats him for 2. Rey superkicks Fis out of the corner and hits kicks. Rey enzugiri's him. 

Rey springboard moonsaults him for 2. Fis catches him off a roll up and Rey rolls him up for 2. Rey flying double knees him in the corner. Rey mexican muscle busters Fis and pins him.

Thoughts: It was alright enough and something different. Rey did a lot of flying and Fis was an interesting dance partner. Fis really had black Power Ranger style gear on during this one. Fis didn't really impress that much. There was no doubt Rey was winning here.

Stephanie Vaquer is interviewed in the back. She says Liv always needs 3 people to deal with her. She says she hasn't forgotten what Perez did to her and says it's personal. Becky Lynch comes in and mocks Steph. Steph says she didn't need her help and says Perez is her problem. Steph says not to become her next problem. Becky says she's her biggest and next problem if she goes for the title. She then mocks her saying that next week will surely be a fair 1v1 match.

Lyra Valkyria does a video. She says she completely eliminated Bayley and got nothing for it. She says it's all about Sol Ruca these days. She says she can do everything Sol does but she doesn't because she's smart. She says bad things can happen when you fly around to show off. She says she will make sure Sol crashes and burns then she will take her title back.

Sol Ruca vs Lyra Valkyria

They lock up. Lyra takes her down and side headlocks her. Lyra side headlocks her and takes her over. Sol side headlocks her. Sol handstands out of a headscissors. Lyra hammerlocks her. Lyra takes her down by the arm. Sol moonsaults over her off the top and dropkicks her. 

Sol PK's her from the apron. Sol 2nd rope moonsaults her outside.  Sol goes to springboard and has the rope kicked. Lyra hits mounted shots on her. We go to break and return. 

Lyra bangs Sol's head off the mat. Lyra comes off the top and runs into a knee to the face. Sol germans her. Sol top rope dropkicks her. Sol running knee's her for 2. Sol yanks her into a german. Sol goes for a flying space tiger. Lyra neckbreakers Sol over the top as she goes for it. Lyra top rope diving legdrops her off the top rope onto the back of the neck.

Sol boots her into the mouth. Lyra reverse ddt's her on her knee.  Sol superkicks her. Sol backflips and spinning ddt's her. Sol hits a sol snatcher and pins her.

Thoughts: It was an athletic match and it wasn't bad. Sol had a clean main roster match for a change and Lyra was able to hang in there with her. I liked it. 

Jacob Fatu and The Uso's talk in the back. Jey says they did something Fatu couldn't do. Jey says they ran the play and will deliver Solo. Jey asks him who the punk @ss is now. 

The Vision are interviewed. Logan says last week was about proving they run this place and says anyone who steps up will get put down. Dupri says Theory keeps squashing Tozawa but he keeps coming back. Theory says Oba Femi took a cheap shot at him and it won't go unnoticed. Bron is asked if he wants to say anything to Oba and says he'll say it to his face if he has to.

Bron Breakker comes out and calls out Oba Femi. Paul Heyman comes out. He says he was an advocate and is a wise man. He says he knows wise things to do. He says it's wise  to figure out who the future of WWE is. Bron asks Paul to tell him who he thinks it is.

Oba Femi comes out. He says Bron is out here asking stupid questions (and he use a different accent). He says Bron knows who the future is and so do the fans. He says Brock Lesnar knows who the future is. Oba says he's the future. Oba says if he has a problem, they can take it up anytime. Bron says how about right now. Paul says if he takes one more step towards Oba, he takes one step away from him.

Paul yells at Bron and says we don't answer to the fans, we answer to shareholders. Paul says they want to make the match the biggest it could be. Paul says they will fight at Sunday Night's Main Event in Bron's hometown. Bron says then we will find out who the future truly is of WWE. Paul shakes hands with Oba and Bron seems surprised and stunned.

Dragon Lee does a video. He says lucha is part of his legacy and he's the evolution of lucha. He says failure is not an option. tells Wagner Jr. welcome to the fire. 

El Hijo de Dr Wagner says this tournament represents his mask and family. He says we will know why they call him the aztec warrior.

#1 Contender's Tournament - Dragon Lee vs El Hijo de Dr Wagner

They lock up. Doc backs him up in the corner and Lee shoves him. Lee side headlocks him. Lee hits shoulderblocks and Doc shoulders him over. Lee flying headscissors him. Doc hits punches and chops. Lee chops Doc and superkicks him in the gut. Lee flips over his back and is chopped. 

Doc step up knees him in the corner and death valley drivers him for 2. Doc tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him and lariats him out. Doc  flip dives him off the apron outside. Lee hits combinacion cabron. Doc superkicks him. 

Lee boots him out of the corner. Lee rebound germans him. Lee shotei's him then tornado ddt's him. Lee tope con hilos him outside. Doc chops him and Lee chops back. Doc pop up drops him and pump kicks him for 2. 

Doc gets stuck in tree of woe. Lee top rope double stomps him for 2. Lee tries to flying headscissors him over the top but Doc powerbomb throws him inside. Doc top rope frogsplashes him for 2.

Lee facekicks him. Lee kicks the buckle into his face. Doc superplexes him. Lee reverse ddt's him. Lee hits destino and wins.

Thoughts: Lee won as expected. They had an okay bout here and Doc had one of his better nights. Doc looked a bit more capable here than usual. Lee mostly did Tetsuya Naito's offense in this one.

WWE Intercontinental Title - Chad Gable (c) vs Rey Mysterio

Rey arm throws him and Chad shoulders him over. Chad trips him and they stand off. They shake hands and try to boot each other at the same time. Rey flying headscissors him. Rey hits mounted corner punches. Chad avoids an up and over and release german suplexes him. 

They forearm each other on the apron. Rey monkey flips Chad into the post face first. Rey diving headscissors him from the apron. They put a Digornio ad frame on the screen. Rey sends Chad into the post. Rey tries to slingshot at him and Chad supelxes him.

Chad works the leg. Rey crucifixes him for 2. Chad backdrops him for 2. Chad gori specials him and Rey victory rolls him over the top. Chad is sent into the rail and Rey asai moonsaults him.

Chad misses a corner spear and goes into the post. Rey tornado ddt's him for 2. Chad dominators Rey. Chad top rope diving headbutts him for 2. Rey holds his leg after escaping a backdrop. Rey armdrags him and dropkicks him into the ropes. Rey top rope diving la silla's him. Rey's asai moonsault is caught and he spinning ddt's Chad off of it for 2.

Chad olympic slams him for 2. Chad 2nd rope olympic slams him for 2. Chad blocks a 619 with an ankle lock. Rey rolls him into the ropes and 619's him. Rey dropkicks him from behind then 619's him again. Rey goes for a top rope splash and Chad gets his knees up. Chad ankle locks him. Rey rolls him up for 2, Chad reverses it and pins him.

Thoughts: It was an okay match here. Rey's ankle selling was a little suspect though and could have been better. Both of these guys have been working wrestlers like the other for years so naturally things went fine. Chad was the favorite going in and retained. I still don't think this generic face run for Chad will stick though.

Rey puts the title on Chad after.

Roman Reigns arrives in a car and Fatu opens the door for him. 

Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu head to the ring. Roman says he needs to collect a receipt and says to bring him Solo. Solo Sikoa comes out with The Uso's. Roman says the sight of Solo p!sses him off. Roman says some people wonder how he can hold receipts for so long. Roman says he beat him in tribal combat a few years ago and shows us clips of it. 

Roman talks about Solo's clothing then stomps on his sunglasses. Roman asks why Solo isn't on his knees begging him. Fatu superkicks Solo then tongan death grips him. Solo is down and Roman says Solo will have to wait as he has other business to handle. 

Roman says The Uso's called the play and executed it. Roman says he's the tribal chief and The Uso's are the captains. He says if you disrespect them, you disrespect him. Roman then gives them black ulafala necklaces. 

LA Knight comes out. The Uso's go after him and he sends them out. Fatu hits LA from behind. Roman stops Fatu from doing more to LA. Roman superman punches LA. 

Solo and LA are beaten up. Roman tells Solo he brought him in and tells him to hit LA. They hold up LA. Solo tells LA he's sorry then samoan spikes Roman. Jey goes after him and is sent out. LA BFT's Jimmy. Solo sends Jey into the rails and samoan spikes him. 

Fatu and LA stare down. Roman goes for a superman punch and LA BFT's Roman. Fatu continues to just watch. LA and Solo then leave with Fatu just watching.

Thoughts: Well, at least it wasn't the usual segment where Roman beats up everyone and poses. Solo got some face pops so I'm sure this is mission accomplished for WWE. Fatu not getting involved is interesting.

Overall thoughts: It was a wrestling based episode of Raw for the most part. We had a lot of lucha style matches here, more build for Oba vs Bron and more Bloodline stuff. The wrestling mostly carried this one and it was okay overall. I'd give it a 6 out of 10. I liked Chad/Rey the most here.

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/15/2026 G1 Climax 36 Day 18

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/15/2026 G1 Climax 36 Day 18

Day 17 is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/08/new-japan-pro-wrestling-8132026-g1.html

Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI), Masatora Yasuda & Taisei Nakahara vs. United Empire (Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jakob Austin Young)

Khan teases fighting Goto but backs out. Goto is trown into the rope and Khan grabs him. Akira takes a double shoulderblock. Jake is group clubbed on. Masa hits chops on Henare then Henare shoulders him over. Henare chops Masa down then sentons him. Jake neckbreakers Masa over the 2nd rope for 2.

Khan ties up Masa's arms and Hen chops Masa. Khan trips Masa. Khan mongolian chops Masa and Masa mongolian chops him back. Khan stomps his foot then Masa dropkicks him. Yoshi comes in and clears off the heels. Khan forearms Yoshi from behind.

Goto lariats Khan. Henare hits a double lariat. Yoshi ddt's Henare. Yoshi dropkicks Khan in the knee. Akira and Taisei get in. Taisei hits forearms and Akira double throat thrusts him. Taisei dropkicks Akira and slams him for 2. Jake chops down Taisei and Akira rolls Masa into a double stomp. Goto and Henare hit lariats and Yoshi superkicks Henare out. 

Taisei blocks Akira's sunset flip and gets a 2 count on him. Akira standing moonsaults him for 2. Akira meteora's Taisei from behind and pins him.

Thoughts: I was surprised to see Taisei kick out of the standing moonsault near the end. It was a throwaway with people coming in and out as they pleased. What we got was acceptable but nothing too special. 

El Desperado, Konosuke Takeshita, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taichi vs. House Of Torture (DOUKI, Ren Narita, SANADA & SHO) 

Sho insults the crowd before the match.

6 of the 8 go out to fight. Sho foot chokes Despy and slaps him around. Sho throws Despy out then Despy gets sent into the rails. Despy is rammed crotch first into the post. Despy has all 4 limbs stretched by the heels.

Despy is thrown into the buckles. Ren back elbows Despy for 2. San comes in and Despy dropkicks San in the knee. KT flying forearms San in the corner then flying lariats him. Ren and Douki are pulled into each other. KT then hits 2 exploders on the heels. KT hurricanrana's Ren down. KT then tope con hilos the heels outside.

Dick Togo kicks KT in the back of the leg and then chokes him with a weapon. Taichi gets him out of there. Douki takes a double boot to the face. KT suplexes Sho. Taichi running faekicks San then chops him in the corner. 

Taichi spin kicks Sanada in the gut and San dropkicks him in the knee. Taichi lariats San. Ren blocks Taguchi's hip attack. Ren then uses the ref to russian legsweep Taguchi. Taguchi ankle locks Ren. Togo double chops Taguchi in the crotch from the 2nd rope. 

Taguchi hip attacks Ren then ankle locks him. Ren eye rakes him. Ren tries to sunset flip him, Taguchi pulls his tights down and tries to drop down on him. Ren low blows Taguchi then facebusters him. Ren pins Taguchi.

Thoughts: It was random. People came in and out as they pleased and if you looked away for a second, someone else would be in. It wasn't that interesting and had HoT shenanigans as usual. 

Takeshita is group stomped after. Shun Skywalker comes out and he seems to join House of Torture. He has some words for Takeshita.

Death Riders (Gabe Kidd & Wheeler Yuta) vs. Unbound Co. (Daiki Nagai & Drilla Moloney)

The two teams push each other before the match. Nagai and Yuta mat wrestle and Yuta gives him the finger. Nagai wrstlocks, Yuta headflips out and eye pokes him. They armdrag each other and Yuta basement dropkicks him. Yuta slams and sentons Nagai for 2.

Nagai is double back body dropped for 2. Yuta comes in and Nagai dropkicks him. Nagai corner dropkicks him for 2. Gabe trips Nagai and sends him into the rails and post. Gabe chops down Nagai and boots him. Nagai hits forearms on Gabe then Gabe forearms him down for 2. Gabe straight punches Nagai and slams him. Gabe stomps Nagai.

Yuta comes in and trades with Nagai. Nagai spinebusters him. Gabe and DM get in. They trade chops. Gabe headbutts and chops him. DM spits at him and forearms him down. Gabe rebound germans him then spinning lariats him for 2. Gabe avoids a drilla killa. 

DM hits a big spear on Gabe. Nagai flying headscissors Yuta out then topes him. Nagai spinning ddt's Yuta for 2. DM dropkicks Gabe. Gabe then short piledrivers DM on the floor. Nagai rolls up Yuta for 2. Nagai takes corner attacks. Gabe piledrivers Nagai and Yuta low flying knees Nagai. Yuta pins Nagai.

Thoughts: It had a lot of people coming and out at their will. Nagai had a decent showing as usual and was in this one for most of it. Yuta showing up was a random one here. It was average.

Gabe holds his title up in DM's face after.

Master Wato, Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, YOH & Yuji Nagata vs. Unbound Co. (Gedo, OSKAR, Shingo Takagi, Taiji Ishimori & Yuto-Ice)

Shingo and Nagata go at it. They trade forearms. Shingo mongolian chops him then Nagata hits one. Wato comes in. Shingo knees him in the gut and shoulders him over. Ice comes in and boots and forearms Wato in the corner. Ice running knees him. 

Ice sends Togi into the rails outside and stomps him. Gedo foot chokes Wato in the corner then boots him. Wato leg lariats Gedo then boots TI out of the corner. Wato mongolian chops TI then zig zag's him.

Yoh comes in and beats up on Gedo and TI. Yoh gedo clutches TI for 2. TI eye rakes Yoh then handspring corkscrew kicks him off the ropes.  Oskar comes in and Yano takes a turnbuckle pad off. Oskar goes into the exposed buckle and is rolled up for 2. Oskar facekicks Yano then legdrops him for 2. 

Togi and Ice trade forearms. Ice chest kicks him down. Yano double low blows Ice and Oskar then Togi double lariats Ice and Oskar. Yano rolls up Oskar and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a short one. Everyone got their little segment in and not much else. Yano pinning Oskar was a surprise.

Ice and Togi forearm each other after and fight in the crowd. 

Aaron Wolf, Oleg Boltin & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Hart and Oleg shoulder battle to start. They chop each other and Hart shoulders him over. Oleg then shoulders him over. Tat dropkicks Kosei from behind and slams him three times. Kosei chops Tat down. Kosei slams Tat for 2. Zack euros Tat in the corner then rolls him into a headscissors. Zack pulls on the leg and the ref breaks it up.

Zack euros Tat down. Tat dropkicks Zack. Wolf comes in and shoulders Zack over. He then throws him and Kosei. Wolf shoulder throws Hart then corner lariats Zack. Wolf slams Zack then elbow drops him for 2. 

Zack does an octopus on Wolf then sleepers him. Wolf throws him over then Zack facekicks him. Wolf hits forearms on Zack. Zack euros him back. Zack twists Wolf's head with his feet. Zack then PK's him. Kosei comes in and chops Wolf.

Kosei springboard dropkicks Wolf for 2. Wolf uranage's Kosei. Tat comes in and hits shots on Kosei.  Kosei slaps and germans Tat. Oleg lifts Kosei and is headscissored into a Hart lariat. Wolf suplexes Hart. Wolf then powerslams Zack. Kosei dropkicks Wolf from behind. Tat flying euros Kosei. Tat water wheel drops him for 2. Kosei armlocks Tat then armbars him. Tat submits.

Thoughts: It didn't get as much time as it could have used. What we got looked fun though with everyone doing what they were supposed to do. Hart and Oleg is always a fun battle, Tat showed some spirit and Wolf did his part.

Wolf and Kosei have words after.

They do a video with some upcoming events and an AI Antonio Inoki. It was weird.

G1 Climax 2026 Semi Final Match - Callum Newman vs. Ryohei Oiwa

Oiwa wears Tenzan style horns out.

CN hits facekicks and is shouldered over. Oiwa armdrags him into an armlock. CN flips out of a hiptoss. Oiwa hits armdrags. Oiwa elbow drops CN's arm then pulls on it with his legs. Oiwa hits short arm shoulderblocks on him. CN enzugiri's him from behind. CN driveby kicks him outside. 

Oiwa forearms him outside and gets chopped. CN sends him into the rails and facekicks him over them. CN flying at him and dropkicks him into the seats. Oiwa gets back into ringside and CN double stomps him from the apron. 

CN pumping knees Oiwa. Oiwa side headlocks CN then shoulders him over. Oiwa sentons CN for 2. Oiwa chops CN then throws him down by the arm. Oiwa chops CN in the corner and pulls him down by the arm. Oiwa wristlocks him. CN hits forearms on Oiwa and Oiwa arm wringers him. Oiwa germans him but CN no sells it. CN germans him then pumping knees him. Oiwa backdrops him.

CN spinning forearms him down. Oiwa headbutts him. CN blind springboards and is swatted down. Oiwa germans him for 2. Oiwa spinning lariats him in the corner and CN cradle shocks him for 2. CN lariats him down. Oiwa takes him down backwards by the arm. Oiwa does a buffalo sleeper on CN (Tenzan did it).

CN superkicks him and Oiwa spinning lariats him for 2. CN pushes the ref into Oiwa then low blows Oiwa for 2. CN running knees him in the face for 2. CN underhook suplexes him for 2. Oiwa side headlocks him. Oiwa spins at him and is lariated down. Oiwa side headlocks him again. They lariat battle. Oiwa spinning lariats him for the win.

Thoughts: Oiwa making the finals isn't something I had on my score card. I would have liked it if the finish had something to do with all the armwork Oiwa did. They also should have cut out some of the outside brawling early on. It was alright enough overall, but could have been better.

G1 Climax 2026 Semi Final Match - Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura

Yota just has trunks on and tassles on his boots.

They do some weak technical wrestling to start. Yota shoulders him over. Yuya armdrags him and hiptosses him. Yuya armdrags him into an armlock. Yuya back elbows him then takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Yota backbreakers him again.

Yota snapmares him and camel clutches him. Yota elbow drops his back for 2. Yota stomps Yuya's back. Yuya hits forearms on Yota. Yuya arm throws him then bangs the arm off the mat. Yuya goes up and over, he armdrags him and dropkicks him. Yuya corner splashes him then underhook suplexes him. Yuya armbars him. 

Yota forearms Yuya in the spine. Yota baseball slides him out and topes him into the rails. Yota flying pumping knees him in the corner. Yota double jump curbstomps him for 2. Yota crabs Yuya. Yuya rolls him into an armbar. 

Yuya forearms Yota, gets superkicked then he dropkicks Yota. Yuya corner chops Yota then he backdrops him. Yuya enzugiri's him then germans him for 2. Yuya dropkicks him. Yuya dragon suplexes him for 2. Yota falcon arrows him. 

Yota spears him from behind then crabs him. Yota uranage backbreakers him. Yuya rolls him up for 2. Yuya takes him down and crabs him. Yuya does a high angle texas cloverleaf. Yuya top rope frogsplashes him for 2. Yuya comes off the top and gets speared in mid air.

Yota top rope ultimo guerrero specials him. Yota spears him for 2. Yuya grabs his arm and front suplexes him. Yuya does a shining elbow drop/step up elbow drop on him. Yuya top rope crossbodies him. Yuya front suplexes him and pins him.

Thoughts: It was an okay bout. It was a little slower than it should have been. Yota was very disciplined here and didn't do half the stuff he does against someone like Takeshita. Yuya mostly did some arm related moves here until winning with a suplex that trapped the arm. His shining elbow drop was a new one. Yuya winning was a big upset and him vs Oiwa is another random final that wasn't built up to a single bit all year.

Oiwa comes out. Oiwa and Yuya butt heads and talk after.

Masa Chono comes out to do commentary. 

We get a video on Tenzan's career. 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan Retirement Match - Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Tenzan talks on the mic before the match. He says he wants to go more than 5 minutes and doesn't want a time limit.

They lock up and let go. Koji side headlocks him. Koji shoulderblocks him and they chop each other. Koji gets the edge and Tenzan hits mongolian chops. Tenzan shoulders him over. Tenzan boots him in the corner and headbutts him. Tenzan running lariats him then suplexes him. Tenzan puts him in the anaconda vice. 

Tenzan goes up top for a moonsault and Koji thankfully stops him. Koji chops him in the corner. Koji machine gun chops him. Koji flying forearms him in the corner. Koji 2nd rope elbow drops him for 2. 

Tenzan hits mongolian chops. Tenzan backdrops him. Tenzan does a cobra clutch. They cop each other. Tenzan mondolian chops him and falls over.  

Koji hits a cutter on him. Koji running lariats him for 2. Tenzan headbutts him and mongolian chops him. Tenzan lariats him down for 2. Tenzan hits headbutt and Koji lariats him for 1. Koji running lariats him and pins him.

Thoughts: They tried and did the best they could. Tenzan sadly can't really move or do much anymore, but I'm glad he was able to go out on his own terms.

They shake hands and hug after. Takashi Iizuka comes out through the crowd. Tenzan tells Iizuka to come in the ring. Iizuka boots him in the gut then stomps on him. Iizuka then pulls out his iron fingers. Kojima cutters Iizuka. Kojima picks up Iizuka but Tenzan wants to stop there. 

Tenzan tells Iizuka to wake up while he's on the mat and tells him to get up. Tenzan offers a handshake. Iizuka eventually shakes his hand and Tenzan thanks him. They hug.

Iizuka then shakes hands with the ring announcer but throws him over the rail and rips his shirt off. Iizuka then walks off into the stands.

Various NJPW wrestlers come out and give Tenzan gifts. Koji Kanemoto does a video for Tenzan. Hiromitsu Kanehara of UWFi fame comes out. Kendo Ka Shin, Jun Akiyama, Hiroshi Hase, Keiji Mutoh, Riki Choshu, Tatsumi Fujinami and Masa Chono all come out.

Chono talks on the mic. Choshu holds Tenzan and Chono slaps Tenzan. Chono and Tenzan talk for a bit. All of Tenzan's buddies he brought out pose with him. Tenzan talks on the mic. He says his active career is over and he retired. He say he fell in love with wrestling as a child and decided to wrestle for NJPW. He says he went through tough times in the dojo and ran away. He thanks everyone who supported him. They then do the 10-count for Tenzan and throw him up in the air. Tenzan shakes hands with everyone, poses and leaves. 

Thoughts: Tenzan was part of the cursed 3rd generation. He, Nagata, Kojima and others had to deal with the prior generation never really stepping away to give them time to shine and them going too far. Tenzan's generation never really passed up their seniors because of it and it took the next generation with Tanahashi and Okada to boost things a bit. I liked Tenzan and didn't really think he got his due. He had a really unique character and look and was a good wrestler.

Overall thoughts: We had a lot of throwaway undercard matches as usual. The TMDK 6-man was going well but got cut short. Newman/Oiwa was alright but could have been better. Yota/Yuya was the match of the night and was an okay bout. Tenzan really struggled in his retirement match but it was nice to see him get his flowers and get to wrestle one last time. I'd give it maybe a low 6 out of 10 just for the 2 G-1 matches being alright and for the nice Tenzan retirement ceremony. I'd say it was okay overall. 

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/13/2026 G1 Climax 36 Day 17

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/13/2026 G1 Climax 36 Day 17

Day 16 is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/08/new-japan-pro-wrestling-8122026-g1.html

Masatora Yasuda & Oleg Boltin vs. Goto Revolutionary Army (Hirooki Goto & Tatsuya Matsumoto)

Masa and Tat shove each other and butt heads before the match. Those two lock up and Masa chops him. Tat slaps him and side headlocks him. Masa trips him into a side headlock then he takes him over. Tat headscissors him and side headlock takeovers him. Masa shoulders him over. Oleg comes in and chops Tat down.

Oleg slams Tat and splashes him for 2. They chop each other. Tat 2nd rope diving euros him. Goto comes in and shoulders Oleg over. Goto spinning heel kicks him and backdrops him for 2. Goto lariats him off the ropes and Oleg belly to belly suplexes him.

Masa takes a double shoulderblock then he get double clubbed on. Oleg then gets double clubbed on but he pushes his opponents off. Masa hits forearms on Goto then headbutts him. Masa sunset flips him for 2. Masa hits forearms on Goto and headbutts him. Goto lariats him and ushigoroshi's him. Goto pins him.

Thoughts: It was short and was what it was. All 4 men got their section in and Goto ended up pinning Masa. It was going fine and it would have been nice to see more, but that's not what happened here. 

Konosuke Takeshita, Taisei Nakahara & Toru Yano vs. House Of Torture (SANADA, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

HoT attack before the bell and 4 of the 6 go out. Yano takes a turnbuckle pad off and gets sent into it. YK dropkicks Yano in the knee then yanks his leg. Yano's legs are split. Ren kicks Yano's leg and YK pulls Yano's leg over the bottom rope.

Sanada stomps Yano's leg and Yano pulls him down by the hair. KT flying forearms Sanada in the corner. KT flying lariats Sanada. KT running double lariats his opponents. Sanada hurricanrana's KT. 

Sho comes in and KT suplexes him. Taisei hits forearms on Sho. He running back elbows him the running forearms him down. Ren pulls Tai down by the hair. Sho gets caught between KT and Yano. Ren is then sent into the exposed buckle. Taisei dropkicks Sho then crabs him. Sho ropebreaks.

Tai chops Sho up. Sho puts the ref in Tai's way then spears him. Sho brainbusters Tai for 2. Sho straightjacket piledrivers Taisei and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a short one and wasn't that good. It had a few shenanigans and there was little of note in this. Tai took the fall as expected here as he was the lowest ranked guy in this one. 

United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay) vs. Unbound Co. (Shingo Takagi, Taiji Ishimori & Yuto-Ice)

UE attack before the bell. Khan and Ice fight outside and Ice is sent into the rails. Zane shoulders over Jake on accident. Zane then eye rakes Shingo. Shingo dragon screws him. Zane takes a double back elbow and a senton for 2. TI hits punches on Zane. Zane thesz presses him and hits mounted shots.

Khan sends Ice into the post outside then chokes him with a towel. Jake neckbreakers TI over the 2nd rope. Khan comes in and bangs TI's head off the exposed buckle. Khan then sits on TI's neck on the bop buckle. Khan pump kicks TI for 2. TI handspring corkscrew kicks Khan. 

Ice comes in. He kicks Khan in the gut and boots him in the side of the head. Ice boot flurries him in the corner. Ice running knees Khan in the corner for 2. Khan pushes Ice into the exposed buckle and mongolian chops him. Zane top rope elbow drops Ice. Zane hits punches on Ice.

Zane back elbows him and 2nd rope elbows him on top of the head. Ice throws Zane down backwards and PK's him for 2. Khan iron claws Ice. Ice slaps Khan down. Zane puts the ref in Ice's way. Ice knees Zane in the gut and Zane lariats him. Ice buzzsaw kicks Zane and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a shorter one. Khan mostly heeled it up here and it wasn't anything too special. Shingo didn't get much in here.

TMDK (Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa) vs. Unbound Co. (Daiki Nagai & Yota Tsuji)

Yota side headlocks Oiwa and they collide with shoulders. Yota side headlock takeovers him the nshoulders him over. Yota drives Oiwa's head into the mat with his feet. Oiwa side headlocks him. Oiwa shoulders him over and slams him. Oiwa splashes him for 2. 

Yota flying pumping knees him in the corner for 2. Yota goes for the crab and is thrown off. Yota does his cubstomp combo and Oiwa backdrops him. Hart comes in and corner splashes Nagai. Hart lariats him down. Nagai tries to suplex him but can't. 

Nagai hits dropkicks on Hart. Nagai springboard dropicks him for 1. Nagai spinebusters him and crabs him. Oiwa breaks it up. Hart does a botched powerslam on Nagai for 2. Hart running back elbows him and sendtons him. Hart sitout powerbombs him and pins him.

Thoughts: What we got was acceptable. It was all Yota/Oiwa and Hart/Nagai here. They did what they were supposed to do and the Hart/Nagai matchup was somewhat interesting as usual.

Oiwa keeps the side headlock on Yota after. 

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match - Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Aaron Wolf

Wolf takes his shoes off pre-match and is barefoot. Zack trips him and Wolf gets on his back. Zack goes for the leglock and they get up. They grapple and Wolf throws him from the side. Zack shoots in and armlocks him. Wolf rolls him and they get up.

Zack armlocks him and they break. Wolf cleanbreaks him and Zack faceshoves him. They trade forearms for euros. Zack blocks a shoulder throw with a cobra twist. Wolf throws him over then misses an elbow drop. Zack stomps Wolf's arm into the mat. Zack then twists his arm with his feet.

Zack boots Wolf in the face. They chop each other and Zack euros him in the arm. Zack hits chest kicks. Wolf throws him down by the leg and elbow drops his back. Wolf corner lariats him and delay suplexes him for 2. Zack headscissors him with an armbar and Wolf ropebreaks. Zack does another armbar and Wold powerslams him out for 2. Wolf head and arm chokes him. Zack gets a 2 count off of it. Wolf uranage's him then head and arm chokes him.

Zack hits slaps. Wolf shoulder throws him twice then hip throws him. Zack michinoku drivers him for 2. Zack armbars him and pulls back on the other arm. Wolf ropebreaks. Zack boots him and chest kicks him around. Wolf lariats him. Wolf sit out AA's him for 2. Zack armdrags him off an olympic slam attempt and pins him.

Thoughts: I liked it. It was mostly all technical wrestling. Zack did typical technical wrestling while Wolf did some judo stylings. I would have liked a submission finish to really top this off, but it was good match otherwise. Wolf continues to do well and is at least carryable to some different types of matchups. 

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match - Gabe Kidd vs. Ren Narita

Gabe appears in the crowd and throws chairs in. Him and Ren fight at ringside. Gabe is sent into the wall. Gabe hits Ren with a chair. They go into the stands and fight. Ren chairs him. Gabe forearms Ren up there. Ren is sent into the rails and Gabe is sent into the seats. 

Gabe headbutts him in the seats and clubs him. Gabe jumps at him off the bottom row of bleachers. Gabe's head is banged off a wall in the stands. Gabe then chokes Ren with an umbrella. Ren then hits and chokes Gabe with the umbrella. Ren bites him.

House of Torture attacks Gabe in the stands. Ren grounded sleepers Gabe in the walkaway in the stands. A table in brought into the walkway and Gabe fights off HoT. Gabe powerbombs Ren through the table. Ren falls down the stairs on the landing. Gabe then forearms a young lion.

They get in the ring, Ren low blows Gabe, the bell rings to officially start this and Gabe is facebustered on the mat. Ren goes up top and Gabe crotches him up there. Gabe headbutts him and piledrivers him. Gabe then pins him.

Thoughts: The actual match wasn't very long but they probably brawled for a good 10+ minutes before the actual bout. I thought it was a fun brawl and I liked it. I don't know how you explain any of it legally though. 

Gabe talks on the mic after. He makes a remark about Shota Umino in Japanese. Shota has missed the tour due to injury.

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match - Yuya Uemura vs. OSKAR

Oskar hits Yuya as he poses during his entrance. He then stomps him. Os kneels on neck on the mat and knee drops him. Yuyua fights back with forearms. Os blocks his armdrag then throws him. 

Yuya's up and over is blocked. He is dropped throat first on the ropes then Oskar running facekicks him. Yuya is sent hard into the buckles twice and goes down twice. Os camel clutches him and Yuya ropebreaks. Os misses a corner facekick. Yuya yanks on Os' arm.

Os misses a legdrop and is armdragged. Yuya dropkicks him. Os blocks Yuya's slam. Yuya chops him, gets thrown out and skins the cat in. Os is then thrown out. Yuya then slingshot plancha's him.

 Yuya yanks back on Os' arm and armbars him. Os kicks him while he's down on the mat then Os legdrops him for 2. Yuya is sent chest first into the buckles. Os misses a corner splash and Yuya slams him. Yuya armbars him and Os ropebreaks.

Yuya armbreakers him over the shoulder and Os sleepers him. Os then swinging sleepers him down. Yuya backdrops him and kimura's him. Os slams him for 2. Yuya germans him for 2. Os sleepers him and throws him down for 2. Os tombstones him. Yuya hurricanrana's him into an armbar. Os taps out.

Thoughts: It was an okay bout that made sense here. Os threw Yuya around as he should have and Yuya used submissions and arm work to overcome him. There was nothing wrong with this and they did what they were supposed to do here.

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match - HENARE vs. Callum Newman

They lock up. Hen backs him up on the ropes, CN chops him and Hen no sells it. Hen shoulders him over and is forearmed. CN running facekicks him then Hen samoan drops him. Hen PK's him. CN hits kicks and ducks a shot. They then stand off.

CN hits facekicks and Hen forearms him down. Hen chops him on the ropes and forearms him in the corner. CN forearms back and Hen chops him there. CN headbutts him. CN facekicks him, sweeps him and double stomps his back. 

Hen is sent into the rails then facekicked over them. They fight in the front row. CN boots him in the face. CN then flying double stomps him in the seats. Two tables are set up next to each other outside. Hen is shoved into the rails. CN pumping knees him in the ring for 2. CN hits forearms and chops. Hen samoan drops him. Hen berzerker bombs him for 2. CN spinning forearms him and ssuperkicks him. 

They trade shots on the apron. CN facekicks him there and is knocked down. CN high kicks him. Hen then rampage's him from the apron through the 2 tables outside. Hen sentons him in the back and the chest inside for 2. Hen corner lariats him. Hen then hits 2 more lariats for 2. Hen runs at him and takes a flying knee.

They trade forearms on their knees. Hen drops him with a forearm when they get up. CN chest kicks him several times and Hen chops him down. CN os cutters him. CN underhook suplexes him for 2. 

CN knees him in the face and chest kicks him down. Hen spinning high kicks him and CN spinning lariats him down. Hen hits a rampage on him for 2. CN back body drops him for 2. Hen pop-up powerbombs him. CN cradle shocks him for 2.

Hen hits him in the gut. Hen full nelson's him. CN pulls him into the ropes to break it. CN superkicks him and Hen flying shoulders him for 2. Hen hidden blade's him for 2. CN lariats him for 2. CN hits another lariat for 2. CN flips him with a lariat. CN F-5 swinging side slam's him and pins him.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. Henare should be used as a big tough guy. Here, he got his butt kicked by Newman. I just had a hard time buying it. Henare's also not the best in the underdog face role and that's essentially what he was here.

Newman gets on the mic after. He says Henare is the scariest person he ever met. He says today solidifies why he's the leader of the United Empire. He says he knows where his loyalties lie. He says he's the boss in Japan. He says he will see his next opponent in Ryogoku and says his opponent will make way for the prince and kiss the crown.

Overall thoughts: I liked what we got of the first match and Oiwa's tag match. Zack/Wolf was the best match on the show and Gabe/Ren was okay too. Yuya/Oskar made sense and was okay. I didn't like the main as Newman beat the crap out of Henare when it should have been the other way around. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 overall and the show was good as a whole.

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/12/2026 G1 Climax 36 Day 16

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/12/2026 G1 Climax 36 Day 16

Day 15 is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/08/new-japan-pro-wrestling-8112026-g1.html

Taisei Nakahara & Toru Yano vs. Unbound Co. (Daiki Nagai & Drilla Moloney)

Tai side headlocks Nagai then Nagai side headlocks him. Tai trips him into a side headlock. Nagai shoulders him over. DM chops Tai in the corner then suplexes him for 2. Nagai boots Tai in the corner then slams him.

Tai hits forearms on DM then dropkicks him. Yano tags in and takes off a turnbuckle pad. He gives it to DM and hits him in the head. Yano goes into the exposed buckle and DM corner spears him. DM delay suplexes Yano.

Yano atomic drops DM then DM dropkicks him. Tai and Nagai get in. Tai hits forearms and drops him with one. Tai misses a dropkick and takes a basement dropkick for 2. Nagai dropkicks Tai for 2. Drilla dropkicks Yano through the ropes. 

Nagai slams Tai. Tai chops up Nagai then Nagai spinebusters him for 2. Nagai does DM's drilla killa on Tai and pins him.

Thoughts: It was the usual opener for the most part minus Nagai busting out the drilla killa. The juniors weren't that bad together and Yano did little but his usual schtick.

DM sits in a chair after and Nagai sits behind him. Nagai then sits on his shoulders. 

Aaron Wolf & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. TMDK (Hartley Jackson & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Tat dropicks Hart and hits forearms. Hart shoulders him over and poses. Hart splashes Tat. Zack hip throws Tat. Hart throws Tat over by the arm and leg drops him. Zack hits euros on Tat and drops him. Tat tries shots on Hart then is chopped down. Zack surfboards Tat then he cravates him. 

Tat hits forearms on Zack and dropkicks him down. Wolf comes in and corner lariats Zack. Wolf throws him over by the arm and elbow drops Zack for 2. Zack tries to triangle Wolf and Wolf armbars him. Zack and Wolf trade. Zack cobra twists Wolf and Wolf throws him over. 

Hart forearms Tat. Tat tries to lift Hart and Hart clubs him down. Tat hits dropkicks on Hart. Wolf corner lariats Hart. Tat then water wheel drops Hart with help from Wolf. Zack pele kicks Wolf in the arm then PK's him. Wolf uranage's Zack. Tat crabs Hart. Hart lariats Tat down and misses a senton. Tat cradles Hart for 2. 

Hart crossbodies Tat and sentons him for the pin.

Thoughts: Tatsuya got more in on Hart than I expected here before going down. Him hitting the water wheel drop on him was cool. It was the usual opener otherwise though and with the various limitations these matches have, there's only so much you can get out of it. 

Masatora Yasuda & Yuya Uemura vs. Unbound Co. (Gedo & OSKAR)

Gedo side headlocks Masa then shoulders him over. Masa side headlocks him and shoulders him over. Masa hits forearms on Gedo. Masa running back elbows Gedo and suplexes him three times in a row. Masa hits chops On Os then Os boots him down.

Os hiptosses Masa. Gedo boots Masa in the corner and rakes his eyes with his foot. Gedo fist drops Masa for 2 then chinlocks him. Gedo eye rakes him then Masa dropkicks him. Masa dropkicks Os and hits forearms on him. Os back body drops him. Os then camel clutches him. Os legdrops Masa on the neck and pins him.

Thoughts: This was a total waste of time. We didn't even get to see Yuya here. They were teasing that Yuya wanted to get Oskar here and couldn't. They stuck to it...but what good is the payoff when the fight doesn't actually happen?

United Empire (HENARE & Jakob Austin Young) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman & Zane Jay)

Hen forearms CN. CN facekicks him twice and drops him. CN his another facekick and is shouldered over. Zane and Jake come in. They trade shots. Jake neckbreakers him over the 2nd rope. Jake chops Zane. Zane thesz presses him and hits mounted shots. 

CN stands on Jake's throat. Zane back elbows Jake for 2. Jake escapes a falaway slam and holds his knee. Jake enzugiri's Zane and tags out. CN and Henare go at it. CN facekicks Hen down. 

CN and Hen trade shots. CN flying lariats him. Zane top rope elbows Hen in the head then does it off the 2nd rope. Zane jumps at Hen and is caught with a samoan drop. CN spits at Hen and they trade forearms. CN pumping knees Hen. CN hits oblivion on Jake. Hen berzerker bombs CN.

Zane fallaway slams Hen for 2. Hen hits Zane in the gut and full nelson's him. Zane then taps out.

Thoughts: I think Jake got hurt here. He escaped a fallaway slam then started selling his knee. We didn't see that much of him after. They sped through the rest of this and it felt like something was off. This was not that good.

G1 Climax 2026 Block A Match - Shingo Takagi vs. SANADA

Shingo back elbows him. San dropkicks him in the knee and chest. Shingo pulls him down on the apron then San sends him into the rails. San is sent into the rails. Shingo backs San's head off the apron. San magic screws Shingo on the floor.

San russian legsweeps Shingo. San chinlocks him. Shingo knees him in the gut then San dragon screws him. Shingo teases a shot, San ducks and Shingo ddt's him. Shingo corner lariats San then hits punches on him. Shingo suplexes San. Shingo superplexes San for 2.

San dropkicks Shingo in the knee. San then magic screws Shingo. San basement dropkicks Shingo in the back then shining wizard's him. Shingo goes for skull end then hit San with his own magic screw. San boots Shingo out of the corner. Shingo pop up death valley drivers him. Shingo running lariats San then hits a made in Japan for 2. Shingo hits a burning dragon for 2.

San hits deadfall on Shingo. San top rope moonsaults Shingo. San shining wizard's him from behind. Shingo sliding forearms him in the back of the head.

Shingo hits forearms on San. Shingo headbutts him in the chest and hits a last of the dragon. Shingo foes for a lariat but San backrolls him and pins him with a bridge pin.

Thoughts: It was acceptable. Sanada didn't do his stupid heel tactics here and they played it straight. I do think Sanada should have sold more at the end after taking all of those big moves from Shingo though.

G1 Climax 2026 Block A Match - Hirooki Goto vs. Yuto-Ice

Ice grabs Goto before the match and Goto shoves him. Goto shoulders him over and Ice hits forearms. Goto shoulders him over again. Goto hits a forearm flurry on him then Ice does the same. They slap each other. Icefacekicks him then lariats him over the top rope. 

Goto is sent into the rail outside and he forearms Ice off of it. Ice facekicks Goto on the rails. Goto chops him outside and Ice slaps him down. Goto's head is banged off the apron edge. Ice foot chokes him in the corner after hitting knees to the body.

Ice running knees him in the corner for 2. Goto blocks Ice's PK. Goto lariats him down. Goto spinning heel kicks Ice in the corner then backdrops him for 2. Goto ushigoroshi's Ice. Ice grabs him by the hair and lariats him down. Ice PK's him for 2.

Ice slaps Goto around. Goto reverse GTR's him then lariats him. Goto chest kicks Ice down and hits a GTW for 2. Ice gordbusters him and buzzsaw kicks him. Ice hits a straight punch. Ice drops him with high kicks then forearms him down. Goto dropkicks him in the knee. Goto ties his legs up and pins him.

Thoughts: It was disappointing that this didn't go longer. It was going well and ended before it really got to where it should have been. It was mostly strikes and lariats here. What we got was fine, but it was just half of what we could have gotten.

G1 Climax 2026 Block A Match - Jake Lee vs. Yota Tsuji

Jake wore his clown mask out and has his face half-painted in white.

Yota flying headscissors him to start. Yota hits mounted elbows to the head then he shoulders him over for 2. Jake suplexes Yota. Jake knees him in the gut then step up kicks him in the chest. 

Jake grabs a marker and tries to write on Yota. Yota blocks it. Yota superkicks him. Jake knees him in the gut and armbars him. Jake backs up Dakai Nagai outside. Jake bangs Yota's arm off his shoulder and jawbreakers him. Yota does his flatliner > curbstomp combo on Jake.

Yota armdrags Jake. Yota goes for a dive but Jake stops him. Jake chokeslams him on the apron. Yota is sent into the rails outside. Jake ties up Yota on the rails and puts red paint on Yota's face like a clown.

Yota is sent into the rails. Jake then tries to pin Yota with a foot on the chest. They trade forearms. Yota hits a big chop. Jake's head is banged off the buckles. Yota corner lariats him and bangs Jake's head off the buckles. Yota running meteora's Jake in the corner. Yota then curbstomps Jake on the apron. Yota 2nd rope curbstomps Jake on the floor.

Yota misses a spear inside and goes into the buckles. Jake rebound germans him and curbstomps him. They trade forearms. Yota headbutts him in the chest. Jake chokeslams him for 2. Jake suplexes him for 2. Yota spears him for 2.

Yota runs into 2 knee's. Jake high kicks him and Yota fireblasters him into the buckles. Yota pins him. 

Thoughts: Jake was sadly back to doing his shenanigans here and brought down the match some with it. Yota tried, but there's only so much you can get out of Jake. It wasn't Jake's worst match but this would have been better with anyone else in it. This was so-so.

G1 Climax 2026 Block A Match - Great-O-Khan vs. Oleg Boltin

Oleg backs up Khan on the ropes and Khan spits at him. Khan eye rakes him. Oleg shoulders him over and splashes him for 2. Oleg chops Khan in the corner. Oleg misses a corner charge and goes into the exposed buckles. Khan then hits Oleg with the turnbuckle pad. Oleg is sent into the rails outside. Oleg has a chair put around his throat and Khan sends him into the post. Khan then sits on a chair on top of him.

Khan trips Oleg. Oleg hits forearms. Khan mongolian chops him. Oleg double chops him. Oleg then slams him down. Oleg standing dropkicks him then vader bombs him for 2. Khan chairs Oleg in the gut outside then sends him into the seats. Oleg's head is put on a chair and Khan chairs him with another chair.

Two tables are set up next to each other outside. They fight on the apron near them. Oleg slams Khan from the apron into the ring. Oleg karelin's lifts him for 1. Khan eye rakes Oleg and throws him over by the shoulder. Oleg fireman's carry takeovers him and they belly to belly suplex each other. 

Khan blocks a belly to belly then hits his own. Oleg germans Khan and both go down. Khan pump kicks Oleg and Oleg lariats him down. Oleg is pushed into the ref then Oleg is sent into the exposed buckle. Khan chairs him in the gut and back. Oleg finlay rolls him for 2. 

Khan forearms Oleg down then TTD's him for 2. Oleg armdrags him then F-5's him for 2. Khan eye rakes him on the buckles. Oleg bang Khan's arm off his shoulder. Khan pump kicks Oleg on the apron and tries to send him through the tables. Khan then kicks the ropes into Oleg's crotch. 

Khan chokeslams him from the apron through the 2 tables. The ref does the countout count. Khan gets in and Oleg doesn't. Oleg is counted out.

Thoughts: It was a disappointing end to this one, but at least they sold the table bump as something meaningful. There was some fighting outside that didn't accomplish a lot and they didn't quite get a real good flow going here, mostly due to Khan's various heel shenanigans. 

G1 Climax 2026 Block A Match - Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ryohei Oiwa

They collide and shoulder battle. Oiwa goes down. Oiwa side headlock takeovers him and side headlocks him. Oiwa shoulders him over. Oiwa side headlocks him again. Oiwa tries a pin on him and KT headscissors him. KT hurricanrana's him. Oiwa is sent into the post. 

They go outside. Oiwa side headlocks him there and KT pushes him into the apron edge. Oiwa side headlocks him and Oiwa ddt's him. Oiwa sentons him in the ring for 1. KT backdrops him. KT hits forearms and flying lariats him. 

KT hits forearms to the gut. KT 2nd rope sentons but Oiwa gets his knees up. Oiwa backdrops him then side headlocks him. They fight over a top wristlock. KT tries to pin him to the mat. They do a double knuckle lock. KT package tombstones him and Oiwa side headlocks him. KT backdrops him. Oiwa cradles him for 2.

KT backslides him for 2. KT knees him in the face and rolls him up for 2. KT exploders him twice for 2. Oiwa side headlocks him and uses the buckles to take him over. KT backdrops Oiwa. KT flying forerms him in the corner. They collide with lariats and trade forearms. Oiwa headbutts him in the chest.  

Oiwa spinning lariats him in the corner. KT spinning forearms him. KT pumping knees him for 2. Oiwa trips him and gets a 2 count on him. Oiwa backrolls him into a german for 2. Oiwa side headlocks him and KT backdrops him. Oiwa keeps the hold on. Oiwa side headlocks him. Oiwa running lariats him and pins him.

Thoughts: Man what was this? This is the main event of a G1 show and Oiwa's doing side headlocks and other basic moves...and he's winning with it. It was one of the most toned down Takeshita matches I have seen. What we got wasn't bad, but this was not a main event quality match at all. It was like we only saw half the match here.

Oiwa talks on the mic after. He says he proved he's the stronger man. He says he won due to the fan's support. He says he went from having a spot in the tournament to having a shot at winning it. 

Overall thoughts: I'd say it was disappointing, but it's 2026 NJPW and the expectations aren't that high. The undercard was nothing special. Shingo/Sanada was acceptable but didn't get enough time and Goto/Ice was similar. Jake/Yota wasn't that good as expected. The main was going well but then ended way before it should have. I'd give it a 4 out of 10. This could have easily been rated much higher, but the matches weren't give enough time and it limited things. This show was underwhelming. 

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/16/2026 G1 Climax 36 Day 19

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/16/2026 G1 Climax 36 Day 19

El Desperado, Masatora Yasuda, Ryusuke Taguchi & YOSHI-HASHI vs. House Of Torture (DOUKI, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)

Sho insults the crowd before the match.

The heels pound on the faces. Taguchi fights off a 2v1 and hip attacks Yujiro. Masa back elbows YK. Yoshi chops and neckbreakers YK. Yujiro trips Yoshi from the outside. Yoshi's head is banged off the apron and Despy's crotch is rammed into the post. YK basement dropkicks Yoshi in the back of the head.

Yujiro running boots Yoshi for 2. Yoshi has all 4 limbs pulled on. Yujiro forearms Sho and Sho eye rakes him. Yujiro suplexes Sho. Yoshi dropkicks Yujiro in the knee. Despy comes in and beats up on the heels. He backdrops Sho. 

Despy eye rakes Sho then Sho spears him. Despy kicks the middle rope into Sho's crotch then he backdrops Douki. The faces get the edge and Douki takes running corner attacks. Masa dropkicks Douki. Douki eye rakes Masa. Masa trips him and crabs him. Sho hits Masa with some kind of object. Sho puts a Mistico mask on Masa then Douki triangles Masa. Masa submits.

Thoughts: It wasn't too much of note. HoT heeled it up and Masa took the fall here. Sho put a Mistico mask on Masa and maybe there's going to be some kind of Mistico vs Douki match.

Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe & Toru Yano) vs. United Empire (Francesco Akira & Zane Jay)

Togi and Zane trade shots. Zane eye rakes him then Togi shoulders him over. Zane misses a corner charge and Yano goes into the exposed buckle. Zane hits mounted shots on Yano. Akira boots and knee chokes Yano in the corner. Akira standing moonsaults him for 2. 

Akira hits mounted punches on Yano. Yano atomic drops Akira. Togi comes in and corner lariats Akira. He then hits mounted punches on him. Togi lariats Akira for 2. Akira dropkicks Togi in the knee then leg lariats him. Zane top rope elbows Togi in the head. Zane back elbows Togi then 2nd rope elbows him in the head. Zane fallaway slams Togi for 2. Zane misses a top rope elbow drop. 

Togi hits forearms on Zane. Akira kicks Togi from the apron. Yano pulls Akira's throat down over the top rope and Togi lariats Zane. Togi death valley drivers Zane then top rope diving knee drops him. Togi pins Zane.

Thoughts: It was a shorter one. It's always nice to see Togi as his style isn't that affected by his age. It was average for the most part here. 

Master Wato, Oleg Boltin & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Tat dropkicks Kosei then hits forearms on him in the corner. Tat low running euros Kosei for 2. Kosei eye pokes Tat and chops him down. Kosei then does Wato's taunt. Kosei and Wato trade forearms. Wato dropkicks him. Wato hits chest kicks. Kosei trips him. Hart elbow drops Wato and Zack twists Wato's head with his feet.

Kosei chops down Wato and bangs his head off the buckles. Zack euros Wato in the corner and Hart chops Wato down. Hart suplexes Wato. Zack catches Wato's flying headscissors and ankle locks him. 

Wato runs into Hart and Hart knocks him over. Wato dropkicks him in the knee. Oleg shoulders Hart in the corner and corner splashes him. Hart euros Oleg then corner splashes him. Oleg double chops Hart then suplexes him. Oleg splashes him for 2.

Hart back body drops him then crossbodies him. Hart sentons him. Zack PK's Oleg and hits chest kicks. Oleg chops Zack down. Zack hits euros on Oleg and Oleg chops him down again. Oleg throws Zack off of him and Zack rolling armbars him. Oleg powerbombs him to escape.  

Kosei chops Tat down and pounds on him in the corner. Tat forearms Kosei then Kosei slaps him. Tat slams Kosei. Kosei armbars Tat and Oleg breaks it up. Oleg runs into a Hart lariat. 

Wato comes in and cleans house. Wato slingshot plancha's Zack. Tat shoulders Kosei over then running euros him. Tat flying euros him for 2. Tat takes him over on the mat then slaps Kosei. Kosei slaps him down then guillotines him. Tat is out and Kosei wins.

Thoughts: It was a fun tag. Oleg and Zack did some nice work together. Tatsuya got fired up vs Kosei and Kosei was a nice little jerk to him. This worked out well and it's a shame it didn't get double the time.

Unbound Co. (Daiki Nagai, OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & HENARE)

Ice and Henare grab each other by the throat pre-match. They then forearm each other and the ref starts the match. Ice hits a strike combo on him then running boots him in the head. Hen shoulders him over and bangs his head off the buckles. They hit each other in the corner. Hen chops and forearms him. Ice knees him and foot chokes him in the corner. 

Hen corner lariats Ice then PK's him. Hen chops Ice in the corner and puts his foot in his throat. Khan throws Oskar into the seats. Hen sentons Ice for 2. Ice hits forearms on Hen. Hen chokes him in the corner. 

CN spits on Ice in the corner. Ice grabs him and hits forearms. CN flying back elbows him. CN then does Ice's hand gestures. Khan mongolian chops Ice. Khan iron claws Ice then stands on him for 2. Ice throws Khan down backwards.

Oskar comes in and clubs on Khan. Os is 2v1'd by Khan and Hen. Os chops Khan and Hen. Os spinning slams Hen. Os running back elbows Khan then elbow drops his back for 2.  

 Khan stomps Os' foot. Khan bangs Os' face off the mat. SN running knees Os for 2. CN facekicks Os. Os stun guns him and running facekicks him. Nagai comes in and hits forearms on Os. Nagai corner dropkicks Os. CN facekicks Nagai. Ice slapsdown CN then is mongolian chopped and punched in the gut. Ice takes a double pump kick.

Os double lariats the heels. CN spinning forearms and superkicks Os. Nagai spinning ddt's CN for 2. CN hits oblivion Nagai. Nagai hurricanrana's CN. Nagai slaps down CN. CN hits a hard lariat on Nagai. CN F-5 swinging side slam's Nagai and pins him.

Thoughts: It was alright. Nagai's section at the end kind of saved this one. What we got wasn't bad, just these are all throwaway tags and without a big point to them and with them having various limits, there's only so much that can be done.

Ice takes out Henare and Khan after. Togi Makabe and Toru Yano then attack Ice and Oskar from behind after. Oskar chases Toru to the back and Togi/Ice fight to the back. Newman then attacks Nagai after and sends a young lion into the rails. Newman boots over another young lion. Nagai is sent hard into the rails and goes over them onto the commentary table. Newman double stomps Nagai's back. Newman then holds a sword at Nagai's throat and Gedo tries to stop Newman. Gedo tells him to calmdown on the mic. He says people know he is strong and ask what he is doing. He says he doesn't respect his attitude and says this man can fix his attitude. Jeff Cobb then comes out. 

Cobb and Newman butt heads. Cobb shoulders him over. 

War Dragons (Drilla Moloney & Shingo Takagi) vs. Death Riders (Gabe Kidd & Wheeler Yuta)

DM and Gabe stare down face to face. They trade chops. Gabe rebound lariats him. Shingo lariats Gabe down then shoulders Yuta over. Yuta germans Shingo. DM step up enzugiri's Yuta. Gabe elbow drops DM's back. Gabe hits a big forearm on him then DM dropkicks Gabe. DM dropkicks Gabe through the ropes. 

DM and Gabe trade forearms in the aisle then they go up into the stands. Yuta and Shingo also fight in the aisle and Shingo's head is banged off seats. Gabe piledrivers Drilla on steps. Yuta sends Shingo into the post.

Back in the ring, Shingo is held for chops. Yuta knee chokes Shingo and Shingo is held for more chops. Shingo and Gabe forearm each other and Shingo goes down. Shingo takes a giant swing and a basement dropkick. 

Shingo headbutts Yuta, Yuta step up enzugiri's him and Shingo sliding lariats him. Shingo ddt's Gabe. DM comes in and chops Yuta. DM corner spears him. DM spinebusters Yuta. DM spinning forearms Gabe down. 

DM hits chops on Gabe in the corner. Gabe germans DM. DM backdrops him in return. DM superkicks Gabe then Gabe brainbusters him for 2.  DM death valley drivers Gabe. Shingo corner lariats Yuta then hits punches and chops in the corner. Yuta suplexes Shingo for 2. Yuta jumps at Shingo in the corner and Shingo suplexes him. Shingo hits another suplex for 2. 

Yuta takes a corner spear + corner lariat combo. Shingo is pushed into DM. Yuta facekicks Shingo. Gabe tombstones Shingo and Gabe rocket launchers Yuta onto Shingo for 2. Shingo running lariats Gabe. DM pop up powerbombs Yuta. Yuta takes a nasty war dragon for 2. 

Gabe headbutts and chops DM. DM dropkicks Gabe. Shingo lariats Yuta then DM hits a drilla killa on Yuta. Shingo hits a last of the dragon on Yuta to pin him.

Thoughts: It was an okay tag here. They tried and got enough time to turn this into something. It was hard hitting and they took some hard neck bumps here. I liked this.

Dm and Gabe have words after. 

Team 100 (Satoshi Kojima & Taichi) & Konosuke Takeshita vs. House Of Torture (Ren Narita, SANADA & Shun Skywalker)

This is Shun's first match as an NJPW roster member.

KT is hit from behind before it starts. KT facekicks Sanada then Ren eye rakes KT. Ren takes a double boot from Tai and KT. Koji boots Ren in the gut and mongolian chops him.

Tai chops Ren in the throat. Tai hits Kawada kicks on Ren and Ren forearms him back. Tai spinning chops him. Tai tries to sumo throw Ren and gets sent into the exposed buckle. Tai is group stomped by HoT outside. 

Shun eye rakes and chokes Tai in the corners. San eye rakes Tai. Tai hits chops and kicks on San. Tai running facekicks San. KT comes in and running forearms San. KT flying lariats San. KT hurricanrana's Ren out. KT is tripped as he goes for a dive and he is sent outside. Togo 2nd rope chops KT in the nuts for 2.

KT hits forearms on Ren and Ren chokes him. Togo trips up KT. Ren exploders KT and KT exploders him back. Koji and Shun get in. Shun facekicks him. Koji hits a chop flurry on Shun in the corner. San then gets chop flurried and Shun gets another round. Koji spinning forearms Shun and ddt's him. KT forearms San down.

KT hits forearms on Shun then blue thunders him. Koji cutters Shun. Koji lariats Shun down for 2. Kanemaru spits whiskey in Koji's eyes. Yujiro hits Koji in the throat with a cane. Shun standing moonsault double knee drops Koji and pins him.

Thoughts: Shun thankfully won here as this was his debut. It was not that good with the usual HoT heel shenanigans. There were a lot of people coming in and out during this one. 

HoT pose over Koji after. Taichi comes in with a chair and the heels leave. 

Unbound Co. (Taiji Ishimori & Yota Tsuji) vs. Goto Revolutionary Army (Hirooki Goto & YOH)

Yota and Goto lock up and rope break. Yota side headlocks him. Goto hiptosses him and shoulders him over. Yota takes a double shoulderblock. TI's back is double clubbed on. Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers Yoh. TI twists Yoh's head with his feet. TI does a triangle cobra clutch and Yoh ropebreaks. 

Yota chops TI. Yota forearms him down and TI dragon screws him. Goto comes in and hits both opponents. Goto spinning heel kicks Yota in the corner and backdrops him. Yota curbstomps Goto. Goto hits a reverse GTR then lariats him. 

Yoh hits forearms on TI then flying forearms him. TI superkicks him in the face and goes for the border city stretch. Goto ushigoroshi's TI then Yoh falcon arrows TI. Goto ushigoroshi's Yota. TI la mistica drops Yoh into a border city stretch. TI lifting drops Yoh onto the knee. TI pins Yoh.

Thoughts: It was a shorter one and didn't really get enough time. Taiji was more of the focus here than anything else. They definitely pushed the idea that TI will get a title shot off of this. This was just a match.

TI holds up the title after and puts it on Yoh. 

Tanahashi speaks before the main and Tenzan heads to the commentary desk. 

G1 Climax 2026 Final Match - Yuya Uemura vs. Ryohei Oiwa

Oiwa wore orange Tenzan headgear out.

They grapple. Oiwa front facelocks him and is backed up in the corner. They lock up and Yuya side headlocks him. Yuya side headlock takeovers him. Yuya uses the buckles to side headlock takeover him. Yuya side headlocks him. Oiwa trips him, goes for the side headlock and Yuya puts his own side headlock on.

Oiwa side headlock takeovers him and Yuya puts another side headlock on him. Oiwa shoulders him over a few times. Oiwa side headlock takeovers him. Oiwa shoulders him over and sentons him. Yuya chops Oiwa down and armdrags him into an armlock. Oiwa goes for an armdrag but Yuya armdrags him back. 

Yuya armlocks him. Oiwa back elbows him then Yuya armdrags him into an armlock. Yuya wristlocks Oiwa. They snapmare each other and take each other down by the wrist. Yuya keylocks him and Oiwa tries a pin off of it. Yuya rolls him around and keeps the hold on.  

Yuya hammerlocks him. Yuya armdrags him and is put in a headscissors. Oiwa puts another headscissors on him. Yuya headstands out. Oiwa side headlocks him. Yuya chops Oiwa in the corner. Oiwa side headlocks him while he's on the apron then drags him into the ring while keeping the hold on. 

Oiwa cravates Yuya. Yuya throws him over by the arm and bangs his arm off the mat. Yuya basement dropkicks Oiwa in the arm. Yuya goes up and over, armdrags him, crossbodies him and dropkicks him. 

Yuya corner splashes him and underhook suplexes him for 2. Yuya pulls back on Oiwa's arm with his feet. Oiwa side headlocks him then ddt's him. Oiwa backslides him for 2. Oiwa doctor bombs him for 2. Yuya flying lariats him and backdrops him. Oiwa backdrops him. Yuya flying spinning armdrags Oiwa. They german suplex each other and Yuya dragon suplexes him for 2. Yuya top rope frogsplashes him for 2. Oiwa belly to belly suplexes him for 2. Oiwa side headlocks him again. Yuya backdrops him but Oiwa keeps the side headlock on. 

Oiwa headbutts him then Yuya enzugiri's him. Yuya hits a front suplex. Yuya shining elbow drops him. Yuya armdrags him into an armlock. Yuya wristlocks him. 

Oiwa lariats him and lariats his way out of a wristlock. Yuya wristlocks him. Oiwa slams him but Yuya keeps the armlock on. Oiwa germans him for 2. Yuya goes back to the wristlock. Oiwa backdrops him. Yuya goes for deadbolt and Oiwa lariats him. Yuya headbutts him and Oiwa spinning lariats him. Oiwa spinning lariats him for 2. Oiwa side headlocks him and Yuya taps out.

Thoughts: It was based around the side headlock vs armwork. The problem with the side headlock is that it's maybe the weakest hold in wrestling lore. It took Oiwa almost 30 minutes of doing it to tap out Yuya while a simple armbar can tap someone out in 5 seconds in real life. He's not tapping people out due to extreme pain, he's almost tapping them out via boredom or exhaustion. To rehab this hold into a true believeable finisher would take as long as it did to make it into a weak hold in the first place. 

I appreciated the logic and the attempts to keep it simple and safe. I'd even say it worked to some degree and was fine. But it's just not believeable, especially with 5'8, 200lb Ryohei Oiwa doing it. It's also not believeable when you have people like Takeshita and Tsuji dropping each other on their heads with dangerous holds and still being able to kick out time after time.

Tenzan is seemingly crying in happiness or close to it after on commentary.

Oiwa does a speech after. He says he and Yuya are 1-1 and it's to the benefit of NJPW that they continue this rivalry. He says he couldn't be apart of Tenzan's retirement ceremony but it means a lot to be able to win with Tenzan on commentary. He says he will challenge for the IWGP Title and win the belt. He says he's Mr. Summer and the G1 winner.

Overall G-1 Climax thoughts: Yuya and Oiwa in the final was absolutely random. It was not that well built to this year and I'm not even convinced that they were the initial plan this year, just Shota Umino was out. I don't think either was pushed that well prior to the G1 to make the most of this. I'm glad they are trying, and I think they have no other choice with so many wrestlers aging out or getting taken. There's been worse G-1's, and there's been much better G-1's. We had a couple of good matches this tournament but this was not NJPW's best work. The undercards were largely terrible and a lot of good matches didn't really get enough time. Maybe by 2028 or so this generation will finally mature and we will finally get the classic tournament we deserve. People like Ishii, Taichi and Yoshi-Hashi were definitely missed from this tournament and it's too bad they couldn't wrestle. People like Evil were not missed. I'd say the tournament was average overall.

Overall thoughts: The undercard was a little better than it was on previous nights as the matches got more time to play out.TMDK had a fun tag. Nagai's tag was alright and I was fine with Shingo's tag. Goto's match wasn't that good. The main was okay but didn't meet the hype. I'm glad they get that less is more, but trying to make the side headlock into a true finisher and asking someone like Ryohei Oiwa to do it isn't the right call. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 as it was a little better than some of the other shows we got. It was okay overall.

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/11/2026 G1 Climax 36 Day 15

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/11/2026 G1 Climax 36 Day 15

Day 14 is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/08/new-japan-pro-wrestling-892026-g1.html

Masatora Yasuda & Oleg Boltin vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young)

Oleg gets hit from behind by Jake to start. Khan then hits Oleg from behind. Oleg fireman's carry takeovers Khan then trips him. Khan rakes the eyes of Oleg and dumps him over the top rope. Oleg is sent into the rails. Khan chokes Oleg with a chair outside. 

Khan then hits Oleg with the chair in front of the ref and the ref doesn't do a thing about it. Jake eye rakes Oleg and facewash kicks him. Khan holds Oleg for a baseball slide. Khan then trips Oleg and laughs.

Oleg hits forearms on Khan. Khan mongolian chops him. Oleg double chops him. Khan blocks a karelin's lift. Khan uppercuts him and is dropicked down. Masa and Jake go at it. Masa hits chops. Jake back elbows him then Masa slams him. Masa dropkicks Jake for 2.

Jake rolls up Masa for 2. Masa trips him into a crab. Oleg chops Khan and pump kicks him. Oleg flying shoulders him over. Jake chops Masa in the corner. Masa sunset flips him but Jake rolls through and shining wizards him for 2. Jake twisting brainbusters him and pins him.

Thoughts: It got more time than I expected but wasn't too much of note. Khan hit Oleg twice with a chair right in front of the ref and the ref didn't care at all. It was just a match and was little of note.

Oleg helps out Masa after. Khan hits Oleg with a chair. Oleg rams Khan into the corner. They butt heads and shove each other.

House Of Torture (SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Unbound Co. (Shingo Takagi & Taiji Ishimori)

San boots Shingo and throws him out. YK stomps TI. TI handspring double back elbows his opponents. TI stomps YK. San trips TI and sends TI into the rails. San then bangs TI's head off of seats. YK rakes Shingo's face with a towel in the seats.

YK ddt's TI for 2. YK chokes TI on the bottom rope. San elbows and punches TI. San paradise lock's TI. San then hits TI in the butt with a turnbuckle pad. TI hits chops on San then flying knees him. Shingo hits punches on San and chops him. San is sent into YK. Shingo then hits a ddt + flatliner combo on the heels.

Shingo suplexes San for 2. San dropkicks Shingo. San magic screws Shingo. YK and TI go at it. YK dropkicks TI in the knee. YK bangs TI's knee off the mat and pulls on his leg. YK kneebreakers TI. TI cradles him for 2. TI rolls him up for 2 then YK rolls him up for 2. YK backslides TI.  TI pushes the ref, low blows YK and pins YK.

Thoughts: It was short and not that good. Them needing to do a low blow finish in the 2nd match is pretty lame. No one impressed here.

United Empire (Jake Lee & Zane Jay) vs. Unbound Co. (Daiki Nagai & Yota Tsuji)

Jake wore a clown mask out and has paint on half his face. Zane sits in a chair in the ring.

Nagai dropkicks Zane out of the chair to start and Yota throws Jake out. Zane is snet into and over the rails. Yota grabs a makrer from Jake's pants and draws on his face. Jake begs off in the ring then eye rakes Yota. Jake then tries to write on Yota's face. Yota armdrags Jake.

Nagai topes Jake outside. Yota flying pumping knees Jake in the ring for 2. Jake suplexes Yota. Zane and Nagai get in. Zane 2nd rope elbow drops him in the head and hits punches. Zane then thesz presses him and hits mounted punches. Nagai dropkicks him and spinning ddt's him.

Jake knocks Yota off the apron. Nagai hits chest shots on Jake and Jake flying knees him in the chest. Jake running facekicks Nagai in the corner and pins him.

Thoughts: This was a dumb waste of time. Yota got almost nothing in and they spent time coloring each other's faces with markers.

Jake puts marker on Nagai's face after then stares down Yota. 

Unbound Co. (Gedo & Yuto-Ice) vs. Goto Revolutionary Army (Hirooki Goto & Tatsuya Matsumoto)

Goto and Ice grab each other and shove each other pre-match. Tat and Gedo go at it. Tat backs him up on the ropes. Gedo then backs him up on the ropes and eye pokes him. Gedo eye rakes him and then hits shots. Tat running euros Gedo over.

Tat misses a dropkick. Tat is tripped into the ropes and Ice facekicks him. Ice then nails Goto. Ice sends Goto into the rails. Gedo punches Tat in the gut then bangs his head off Ice's foot. Tat hits forearms on Ice. Ice snapmares him and kicks him in the back. Ice slaps Tat. Tat running dropkicks Ice.

Goto comes in and cleans house. Goto spinning heel kicks Ice and backdrops him for 2. Ice and Goto trade forearms. Goto hits a reverse GTR and is thrown down backwards by the hair. Gedo jawbreakers Goto and superkicks him for 2.

Gedo eye pokes Goto. Goto reverse GTR's him and running lariats him. Goto ushigoroshi's Ice. Tat low diving euros Ice. Gedo cradles Goto for 2. Gedo eye pokes Goto then Goto GTR's him. Goto pins Gedo.

Thoughts: We didn't get all that much of Goto and Ice here and it was just a throwaway match with Matsumoto mostly getting picked on. Gedo had a cute nearfall on Goto here near the end.

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match - Zack Sabre Jr. vs. HENARE

Zack facekicks Hen, they trade strikes and Hen shoulders him over. Zack hits more facekicks and Hen shoulders him over again. Hen forearms and boots him in the corner. Hen chops in the corner. Hen headbutts Zack and boots him. Zack's head is banged off the buckles. Hen kicks him in the back. Zack gets his knees up on Hen's senton attempt. 

Zack euros Hen in the corner and boots him in the face. Zack stomps Hen's arm. Zack works Hen's arm. Zack traps one arm and pulls on the other while hooking his legs around Hen. Zack top wristlock Hen and stomps his arm.

Zack boots Hen around and kicks him in the leg. Zack wristlocks him. Hen berzerker bombs him. Hen chops him and samoan drops him. Hen sentons Zack for 2. 

Zack kicks Hen in the arm. Hen spinning heel kicks Zack. Zack tornado ddt's Hen. Zack does an octopus to Hen but Hen samoan drops him out of it.  

Zack hits kicks to Hen's arm then PK's him. Hen lariats Zack. Hen running lariats Zack for 2. Hen step up knees Zack in the corner. Zack armbars Hen up top. Hen 2nd rope superplexes Zack. Hen hits a lanzarse/rampage on Zack for 2. 

Zack armbars Hen. Hen boots Zack in the face to break it. They trade shots and Zack euros him a few times. Zack slaps him around. Hen punches him in the gut and headbutts him. Hen PK's him. Hen flies at him and is put in a triangle. Hen tries to powerbomb him out of it but Zack holds on. Zack headscissors him with an armbar. Hen is out and Zack wins.

Thoughts: It was fine. Zack targeted the arm here and Hen tried to fight him off with his usual offense. Henare didn't get a ton in here and should have to really put this one over. Zack tends to bully his opponent in his matches and that kind of happened here.

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match - Drilla Moloney vs. Ren Narita

Kanemaru hits DM from behind as he enters. Ren hits elbows on DM and sends him into the rails. The bell rings. Ren stomps on DM and throws him out. DM is sent into the post. Ren bangs DM's head off of the seats then sends him into them. Ren chokes DM over the rails. Togo hits DM with a chair outside.

Ren back elbows DM in the ring then chinlocks him. DM ropebreaks. Togo pulls DM's throat over the top rope then Togo holds him for a kick from Kanemaru. Ren flying presses DM down. Ren then chinlocks him again.

DM dropkicks Ren out then dropkicks him through the ropes. Ren boots DM out of the corner and DM spinebusters him. Ren does a grounded guillotine to DM. Ren then headscissors him and grounded guillotines him. DM death valley drivers Ren. 

DM goes up top and Ren pushes the ref into the ropes to crotch DM. Ren 2nd rope guillotines DM. Ren bridges him on the rope and northern lights suplexes him for 2. DM rolls him up for 2.

Ren chinlocks him and is thrown over the shoulders. DM pop up powerbombs him for 2. DM is nearly sent into the ref. Ren facebusters DM for 2. Ren misses a top rope move and gets speared. DM goes for the pin, HoT pulls the ref out then beat up Ren in the ring.

Togo is sent into Kanemaru. Ren low blows DM then chinlocks him. Togo throws powder in Ren's eyes on accident. DM flying superkicks Ren. DM drilla killa's Ren and pins him.

Thoughts: I hated it. It was filled with House of Torture shenanigans and the ref was somehow oblivious to all of it. How does the ref think he got pulled outside during a pin count exactly? Teleportation? This sucked.

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match - Callum Newman vs. Aaron Wolf

CN boots Wolf in the gut and forearms him. They duck each others shots and CN goes down. Wolf shoulder throws him and elbow drops him for 2. CN trips him and kicks him in the arm. Wolf is sent into the rails outside. Wolf is put in a chair and CN spits at him. CN facekicks him over while he's in the chair.

Wolf gets in and CN chinlocks him. CN euros him over.CN kicks him in the back. Wolf corner lariats him and hits judo throws. Wolf suplexes him and shoulder throws him. Wolf elbow drops him. 

They trade forearms and CN goes down. They chop each other. CN forearms him and superkicks him. Wolf uranage's him. CN knees him in the chest on the apron. Wolf shoulder throws him from the apron to the floor.

Wolf is facekicked over in the ring and CN hits Finlay's oblivion on him for 2. CN low flying knees for 2. CN jumps at him and gets powerslammed for 2. Wolf head and arm chokes him. CN pulls the hair to break it up then pounds on him. 

CN PK's him. Wolf hits an AA. CN hits forearms and Wolf drops him with one. CN high kicks him and Wolf lariats him for 2. CN pumping knees him then lariats him for 2. 

CN lariats him down. Wolf canadian destroyers him, angle slams him then does a reverse triangle. Wolf submits him.

Thoughts: It was a slower paced match and bordered on being boring at times. I was surprised to see Wolf win here. Wolf busted out a canadian destroyer in this. It was acceptable overall but it could have been better.

G1 Climax 2026 Block B Match - Gabe Kidd vs. Yuya Uemura

They stare down for a bit. Gabe side headlocks him. They butt heads and trade forearms. Gabe slaps him around a little and drops him with a forearm. Gabe hits chops. Yuya armdrags, hiptosses and armdrags him. Gabe grabs a chair and sits in the crowd. Gabe stalls outside. 

Gabe bites him in the head and throws him out. Gabe forearms him outside. Yuya sends Gabe into the buckles. Yuya armdrags Gabe into an armlock. Yuya is sat up top and Gabe pushes him down to the floor. 

Gabe pushes the ref down and throws a chair at Yuya's head. Gabe chops him in the seats and forearms him down there. Gabe then suplexes Yuya onto the seats. Yuya gets in and hits some shots. Gabe then drops him with a forearm. They chop each other and Gabe gets the edge. Gabe stomps him while he's down. 

Yuya shoulder throws him and bangs his arm off the mat. Yuya corner dropkicks him. Yuya then armdrags him into a dropkick. Yuya backdrops him for 2. Yuya hammerlock ddt's him.  

Yuya elbow drops Gabe's shoulder into the mat for 2. Yuya kimura's him. They forearm each other then german each other. They no sell the germans and Gabe lariats him down. Gabe brainbusters him then sitout powerbombs him for 2. Gabe boots Yuya in the head and forearms him down. Gabe stomps him while he's down. Gabe clubs his back then hits slaps on him. Yuya gets in his face and slaps back.

Yuya double underhook suplexes Gabe for 2. Yuya top rope frogsplashes Gabe for 2. Yuya then armbars him off of it. Yuya wristlocks him. Gabe bites his head. We hit 20 minutes. Gabe forearms him and Yuya headbutts him. Gabe hits some punches. Yuya pele kicks him. Yuya dragon suplexes him for 2.

Gabe forearms him down and hits knees to the chest. Yuya jack knifes him for 2. Gabe then piledrivers Yuya for 2. Yuya throws him down by the arm, rolls him up and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a bit of a weird match. They went out early and lost the pace. Yuya was beaten up for most of this and ended up kind of winning by surprise. The finish wasn't done well. Gabe didn't really give Yuya enough to get any momentum going and the pacing between Gabe's shots could have been better. They had the story right idea was but the overall product wasn't that great. This was so-so overall.

Yuya talks on the mic after but there's no translations.

Overall thoughts: The undercard sucked as usual. Henare/Zack was fine but Henare needed more offense. Ren/Drilla wasn't good. Newman/Wolf was acceptable. The main was so-so. Yuya got a fluke win, they didn't get the pace going and Gabe didn't give Yuya enough time between shots. I'd give it a 4 out of 10 overall as this was below average

AEW Collision 8/15/2026

AEW Collision 8/15/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/08/aew-collision-882026.html

We are in Las Vegas, NV. Tony Schiavone, Excalibur and Paul Wight are on commentary.

AEW World Trios Title Match - Adam Page & Brodido (Bandido & Brody King) (c) vs. The Lethal Twist (Blake Christian, Jay Lethal & Lee Johnson)

Page and Blake go at it. Page shoulders him over. Blake flying headscissors him. Page side headlocks him. Blake jumps up and is slammed. Jay boots Page in the corner. Page dropkicks Jay into a moonsault on Lee. Page slams Lee. Page slingshot swantons him.

King sentons Lee for 2. Band hits Jay on the apron then Lee hits Band from behind. Blake stomps Band in the corner then pulls on his mask. Band does the finger gun taunt at Blake and corkscrew headscissors him. Lee eye rakes Band. Band is put in tree of woe and takes a 619 and a dropkick. Blake 2nd rope moonsaults Page outside. We go to PiP break and return.

Band pump kicks Jay out of the corner. Band top rope tornillos Jay. King tags in and cleans house on the heels. King hits corner lariats on the heels and corner splashes 2 of them together. King corner cannonballs 2 of them. Page hits punches on Lee. Page springboard triangle lariats Lee then slingshot plancha's Lee. 

Page sends Jay into the rails and King sends Blake into the rails. Lee is sent into the rails. King crossbodies Blake and Lee against the rails. Page moonsaults Blake and Lee from a rail in the stands. Page top rope moonsaults Lee for 2.

Blake, Jay and Page get shots in. King catches Blake's dive outside, Jay topes King and King is held for an apron splash on the floor. Lee top rope splashes King and Blake springboard 450's King. Blake is monkey flipped and Page buckshot lariats Blake. Band hits a ripcord GTS on Lee. Lee is swung into a double superkick and a piledriver. King pins Lee.

Thoughts: It was an okay match as expected. There were some nice spots here and the faces retained as expected. Blake and Lee appeared to take a lot of the bigger bumps here instead of Jay.

Ricochet comes out and tells the fans to shut up. He says he loves to rain on the faces parade. He says as he told them, if the land hand doesn't get you, the right hand will. Kaun and Toa then attack the faces. Toa shoulders over Band. Page fights off Toa and Kaun then takes a 4v1. King lays on Page to try and protect him. Page takes a t-gimmick. Ric says when you are in demand, you can make demands. Kaun says if you don't follow demands, you get put down. 

The Don Callis Family are interviewed. Don says he's not worried about the Brian Cage vs Hechicero match tonight. Don says there's a 100% chance one of his men advances. Don asks that they shake hands and they do. Don tells Lance Archer, "tonight, nobody dies".

The Conglomeration of Roderick Strong, Orange Cassidy and Kyle O'Reilly are interviewed. OC says he could face whoever wins tonight and that makes him feel pressure. Kyle says his relationship with Strong has been a rollercoaster. He says nothing will change no matter what happens. Strong says he won't treat him different and expects the same from him.

Continental Challenge Cup First Round Match - Brian Cage vs. Hechicero

They lock up. Hech trips Cage then drops down on his leg. Cage chops and forearms Hech. Hech goes up and over and tries to shoulderblock him. Hech lariats him and boots him in the gut. Hech dropkicks Cage in the knee then ddt's him for 2. 

Hech clubs on Cage's chest. Cage death valley drivers him. Hech boots Cage out of the corner. Cage pump kicks Hech in the corner. Cage 2nd rope superplexes him. Cage poses. We go to PiP break and return.

Cage hits forearms on Hech. Hech sleepers Cage over the top rope then crucifixes him there. Cage bridging ddt's Hech down for 2. Cage sitout powerbombs him for 2. Cage goes for a reverse slam and Hech headscissors him into a double leglock. Cage ropebreaks. Hech step up knees Cage in the corner. Cage spinning lariats him.

Cage and Hech trade forearms. Cage superkicks him. Hech facekicks him and headscissors drops him for 2. Hech then rolls up Cage while holding the ropes and pins him.

Thoughts: It was acceptable but nothing too great. Their style didn't 100% gel with each other and they had to work with that. It could have been a little cleaner at times. It was a new match though and something we haven't really seen before.

Darby Allin does a promo. He says his biggest fear is that when he looks at himself in the mirror someday, he won't know who he looked back at. He says he had to sacrifice everything in AEW and Sting told him he didn't have to change one thing. He says Kevin Knight has changed. He says he hopes he likes it at the top as the foundation he built his house on won't last. Darby says he sees the potential he saw in Kevin in Sting's son Steven. He says he won't attack him or use explosives before Wembley as he wants the beat the best in Kevin at Wembley. He says Kevin won't recognize who he looks at mirror at after All In as he will beat him within an inch of his life.

The Rascalz are in the back with smoke. Zach says they are rolling after a big win. Reed says he lost last week and isn't rolling. Reed says he's not rolling nothin'. Lio Rush appears from below. He talks about "the rain". I couldn't figure out what else he said. Li then does The Rascalz taunt.

Divine Dominion (Lena Kross & Megan Bayne) vs Mazzerati & Rachelle Riveter

Lena locks up with RR. RR's flying headscissors is blocked and Meg side slams her. Lena back elbows RR. RR takes corner facekicks from both. Meg release germans RR. Maz hits forearms on Meg. Meg lariats Maz down. Maz and RR take forearms. One of them is dropped on the other from the suplex position. Maz is double chokeslammed and pinned.

Thoughts: It was a quick squash and not much more. RR wasn't in place in the corner for Meg's kick and Meg nailed her from behind.

The Brawling Birds come down and attack Meg and Lena. Meg is double lariated over the top and Lena is hit with a double headbutt. The steps are put against the timekeeper's rail edge and Lena saves Meg. Meg and Lena then escape.

We see a taped Zayda Steel interview. She says she's hyped for Collision. Mercedes Mone comes in and asks who she is. Zay says she knows her name but tells her it anyway. She says she used to admire her but lost all respect for her after she attacked Willow. Mone forearms her down. 

Continental Challenge Cup First Round Match - Nigel McGuinness vs. Katsuyori Shibata

KS and Nigel lock up. KS takes him down by the arm. KS twists his ankle. Nigel side headlock takeovers him and KS headscissors him. Nigel handstands out. KS armlocks him then wristlocks him. KS hammerlocks him and wristlocks him. KS lets go.

Nigel hammerlocks KS and KS reverses it. Nigel kicks the rope into KS' jaw. Nigel offers a handshake. KS kicks and elbows him off of it. KS kicks Nigel in the back. KS chops Nigel in the back. Nigel snapmares him into the ropes.

We go to PiP break and return. Nigel euros him. KS pump kicks him and Nigel headbutts him in the gut. KS guillotines him. Nigel suplexes KS. Nigel side headlocks KS then euros him. KS grounded sleepers him. Nigel uses his legs to pull on KS' legs and KS has to rope break. Nigel euros KS in the corner. Nigel back elbows him and double throat thrusts him. KS sleepers Nigel. KS kicks him in the back. Nigel kicks him in the leg as he goes for a PK. Nigel ankle locks KS. 

Nigel figure fours KS' legs while standing on his ankle. KS backrolls him for 2. KS PK's him. Nigel hits mounted shots on KS. KS hits mounted shots on him and sleepers him. Nigel back rolls, turns it into a pin and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a good match here. Nigel had some clever stuff like kicking Shibata's PK leg and he did some other neat technical stuff. Shibata also brought some technical skills. These two worked well together and did a good job.

Renee interviews Will Ospreay and says he needs to find 2 partners against The Don Callis Family. Will says it will be a difficult phone call but says he will call his boys in Japan. He says Francesco Akira and Henare will be okay but it will be a difficult conversation with Callum Newman.

Lio Rush & The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier, Myron Reed & Zachary Wentz) vs. Frescomatic, Ice Williams, Jeaux Braxton & Watson

Lio low topes all opponents to start. Lio lariats Ice (a former WWE Evolve wrestler). Lio stunners one of the jobbers. The one jobber takes corner attacks and is held for a senton on the back off a codebreaker. Lio jumps off one of the jobbers back onto another to bite him. The Rascalz hit a triple team basement dropkick.

Lio bites a jobber's hand and that jobber takes a triple superkick. The Rascalz hit stereo slingshot topes out. Zach top rope swantons a jobber, Reed top rope 450's that jobber and Dez spiral taps that jobber. Lio then tapes that jobber out with a bridging neck hold.

Thoughts: It was just a short squash and not much else. Lio's tope on all 4 guys was cool and it was interesting to see Ice Williams since he was an Evolve wrestler at one point.

The Hurt Syndicate come out and pose before The Rascalz and Lio leave.

Shane Taylor Promotions (Lee Moriarty & Shane Taylor) & The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) vs Jake Redondo, Ro Montana, Sonico & Willie Montana

The jobbers all get hit to start. Shelton spears one of the Montana's outside. Bobby release germans Sonico. Shelton step up knees a Montana in the corner then germans him. Shelton spears a Montana outside. Bobby and Shelton then walk out and MVP shows the money they got. Lee hits a hard low tope on Sonico. 

Shane headbutts Jake. Shake then package piledrivers him and pins him.

Thoughts: It was another quick squash. The Hurt's leaving during the match once they did their damage was kind of funny.

Tomasso Ciampa does a promo. He says the stakes couldn't be higher in the casino gauntlet. He tells Andrade and MJF to pray he's not #3.

Mercedes Mone vs. Zayda Steel

Random isn't the word for this one.

Mone waistlocks her and piefaces her. Zay piefaces her back. Zay rolls her up for 1. Zay 2nd rope diving armdrags her then side headlock takeovers her for 1. Mone throws her down backwards. Zay codebreakers her over the 2nd rope for 2. Mone drops Zay chest first onto Mone's knees. Mone hits mounted shots on Zay. 

Mone snapmares her and chinlocks her. Zay rolls her up for 2. Mone dropkicks her. We go to PiP break and full break then return. Zay stunners her then thesz presses her. Zay hits mounted shots on her. Zay hits forearms and spin kicks her in the gut. Zay STO's her. 

Zay crossbodies her in the corner. Zay top rope crossbodies her for 2. Mone backcrackers her then hits a money maker. Mone then crossfaces her and submits her.

Thoughts: It didn't get a ton of time here. Zay got a little in, we went to break and Mone finished her as we came back. It was average.

Christopher Daniels helps out Zay after. Mone attacks him then whips Zay and Daniels with her title belt. Willow Nightingale comes out and Mone runs. Willow gets on the mic and says if Mone wants to fight, she'll fight right now. WIllow tells Mone that she knows she can beat her. Mone teases coming in but doesn't.

We get a Jack Perry promo from after Dynamite. He says he was told to go to the doctor's because he's bleeding. He says he doesn't have time to bleed himself. He says he needs to prepare himself because he will be AEW champ. He thanks Mox for showing him what it will take to get there. He says iron sharpens iron. He says he needs to face everyone who has been to that level including Samoa Joe, Adam Page and Kenny Omega. He then points at Swerve Strickland. Swerve says he beat all those guys he mentioned and all his friends. He says he hasn't figured out Mox yet and says Jack isn't ready to walk with killers like them. Swerve goes to leave and Jack stops him. Jack says he thinks he is. Swerve says to be careful about bringing a knife to a Swervefight.

Kenny Omega does a promo. He says The Don Callis Family are the crap stain on the underpants that are his life. He says he doesn't like them or bullies. He is with The Bucks and says they can fight 3 of Don's crew. The Bucks say they always have Kenny's back. Adam Copeland and Christian Cage come in. Cage asks what happened last week in Mexico. Cope asks if they are up for the trios match when they face them at Wembley in a few weeks. A Buck asks what happened when Cope had Mox pinned last week. Cope says one of The Bucks was 3 when he started this. A Buck says Cope is old and old enough to be his father. Cage says, "Who says I'm not?". Cage tells Cope, "let me know when you are done trusting these guys".

Continental Challenge Cup First Round Match - Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O'Reilly

They lock up. RS chops him and Kyle chest kicks him. They trade shots and RS ropebreaks. Kyle does a grounded abdominal stretch variation. They trade strikes. Kyle legsweeps him. Kyle snapmares him and kicks him in the back. RS uranage backbreakers him. 

RS chops Kyle in the corner then he suplexes him. Kyle tries to flying knee him but is dumped over the top. They go out and Kyle is backdropped on the rail top. We go to PiP break and return.

Kyle chest kicks him and boots him out of the corner. Kyle 2nd rope flying knees him. RS backbreakers him. RS chops Kyle in the corner. Kyle knees RS in the gut. Kyle hits chest kicks on RS. 

Kyle triangles him. Kyle flying knees him off the apron. Kyle is up top and is enzugiri'd. RS backbreakers Kyle on the top buckle. They trade forearms. Kyle hits a big lariat then brainbusters him for 2. Kyle armbars him. They trade armbars.

RS enzugiri's him for 2. They trade forearms. Kyle rolls him and pins him.

Thoughts: They didn't make much of the friend vs friend story here and they just wrestled it like any other match. The wrestling was fine though. Kyle won but it really didn't matter either way.

Kyle goes to shake his hand after and RS shoves him down. RS then helps him up and hugs him. Orange Cassidy gets on the stage and they all walk out together.

Overall thoughts: It was a bunch of random and close to random matches. We had a couple squashes we didn't really need as well and we got some appearances from The Bucks, Swerve, Kenny, Darby and Ospreay. The matches despite being random were mostly okay. I'd say Nigel vs Shibata was the match of the night but the opener was close too. I'd give this a 6 out of 10 and I thought it was an okay show.