New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/13/2025 G1 Climax 35 Day 16

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/13/2025 G1 Climax 35 Day 16

Day 15 is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/08/new-japan-pro-wrestling-8102025-g1.html 

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuya Murashima vs. Masatora Yasuda & Taichi

KM and Tai shoulder battle. KM hits forearms and Tai facekicks him. KM shoulders him over then Tai side kicks him. Tai does a single leg lion tamer on KM. KM ropebreaks. KM's head is banged off the buckles and Masa hits forearms then a hiptoss. Masa bangs KM's knee off the mat then stomps it.

Tai hits facekicks on a downed KM. KM hits forearms. Tai spin kicks him in the gut. KM shoulders Tai over. Tana flying forearms Tai. Tana slams him then 2nd rope swantons him. Tai facekicks Tana over. Tai urakens him then takes a dragon screw. Tai lariats him and both are down.

KM and Masa get in. KM hits forearms. Masa headscissors him then dropkicks him. Masa dropkicks KM off the apron. Masa brainbusters KM. Tai then flips Masa onto KM for 2. Masa crabs KM and KM ropebreaks. Tana slingblades Masa. KM powerslams Masa then crabs him. Masa submits.

Thoughts: It was short and your average opening with the young lions. There wasn't a lot of note here but KM was fun as usual.

United Empire (Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young) vs. TMDK (Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa)

CN and Oiwa go at it. Oiwa side headlock takeovers him. CN headscissors him then headlock takeovers him. They get up and lock up. CN running facekicks Oiwa. Oiwa shoulders him over, catches his enzugiri and bangs his knee off the mat.

Oiwa gutwrenches CN then armdrags him with an armlock. CN sweeps and then knees Oiwa in the side of the body. Jake hits shots on Oiwa in the corner. Jake kicks Oiwa in the back for 2. CN hits knees to Oiwa's face. Oiwa is then ddt'd.

Hart gets in and shoulders over CN. He then splashes him. CN high kicks Hart. Jake hits chops on Hart then knees him in the face. Hart powerslams CN for 2. Hart corner splashes Jake. Oiwa slams and sentons Jake. Hart then sentons Jake.

Jake ddt's Hart. Hart fling back elbows Jake then death valley drivers him for the win.

Thoughts: It was short filler and not too much of note. Hart hit a nice powerslam on CN. 

Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano vs. House Of Torture (SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

Yano and Oleg get hit before it starts. Oleg is sent out and YK stomps on Yano. Sanada eye rakes Oleg. YK and Yano play hot potato with a turnbuckle pad. Yano throws it out then is dropkicked in the knee. YK dropkicks Yano in the knee. Yano is then thrown into the rail while Oleg is sent into the seats.

Yano's legs are split and Sanada stomps him. Yano pulls Sanada down by the hair. Oleg gets in and shoulders over Sanada. Oleg hits a double suplex on his opponents. Oleg karelin's lifts Sanada. Sanada dropkicks Oleg then Oleg is pulled to the apron. Sanada kicks the middle rope into Oleg's crotch.

Oleg suplexes Sanada. YK and Yano get in. YK dropkicks Yano in the knee and ddt's him for 2. YK figure fours Yano and Oleg breaks it. YK comes off the 2nd rope and Oleg catches him. Oleg then throws him onto Yano's knees. Yano then pins YK at a little over 5 minutes.

Thoughts: It was just another match where they got people on the card and didn't do much else. They only went about 5:30 here. Oleg throwing YK into Yano's knees was a new spot. Either YK or Yano were losing here and it was YK's turn today.

Shoma Kato & Yuya Uemura vs. Daiki Nagai & Yota Tsuji

Kato and Nagai lock up and go to the ropes. Nagai slaps him and they chop each other. Nagai shoulders Kato over, then he snapmares him into a kick to the back. Nagai slams him for 2. Kato is hit with a double shoulderblock for 2.

Yota chops down Kato. Kato hits forearms on Yota. Kato then slams him. Yuya gets in. He back elbows and dropkicks Yota. Yuya splashes then bulldogs Yota for 2. Yota side headlock takeovers Yuya then tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him.

Yota corner splashes Yuya then Yuya dropkicks both opponents. Kato and Yota shoulder battle. Kato hits a nice dropkick and a brainbuster for 2. Yota curbstomp combos Kato for 2. Yuya hits forearms on Kato then Nagai dropkicks Yuya. Yota crabs Kato then does a reverse rocking chair on him. Kato then taps out.

Thoughts: It was similar to the other matches so far. Nagai had a good showing and came across as tough. Kato showed some good fire and did a rare brainbuster here. It was fine for what it was.

House Of Torture (Dick Togo & EVIL) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (David Finlay & Gedo)

The fight starts as DF teams heads to the ring and they end up fighting in the dark for a bit. Evil and DF square off and go outside with it. They eye rake each other. Evil throws DF into the seats then chokes him with a towel. DF chokes Evil with a towel and sends him into the wall.  

They get back in the ring. Evil chokes DF. DF hits forearms then Evil eye rakes him. Togo pulls the turnbuckle off and DF goes into the exposed buckle. Evil then goes into the exposed buckle and takes a uranage backbreaker.

Gedo eye rakes Togo then hits punches. Togo eye pokes him then hits punches. Gedo superkicks him for 2. Gedo does a gedo clutch but the ref is distracted. DF chokes Evil with a weapon and Fale comes in and nails Gedo. Togo then pins Gedo.

Thoughts: It was short and little but heel vs heel shenanigans with a dirty finish. I didn't like this.

G1 Climax 2025 Block B Match - Shingo Takagi vs. Drilla Moloney

DM side headlocks Shingo then they shoulder battle. They trade forearms. Shingo blocks a corner boot then lariats him in the corner. DM hits chops and forearms on Shingo. DM dropkicks Shingo. Shingo's head is banged off the buckles then DM is sent into the rail. Shingo is thrown into the rail.

They headbutt each other in the seats. DM bangs Shingo's head off the seats then DM is thrown into the post. DM suplexes Shingo on the floor. DM corner enzugiri's Shingo then Shingo back body drops him. Shingo drops him with a punch and ddt.

Shingo hits a corner lariat. Shingo superplexes him then hits a twist and shout for 2. Shingo hits neck chops then he lariats him. DM superkicks him. Shingo lariats him then DM spinebusters him for 2. DM hits a top rope elbow drop. Shingo lariats him from behind then hits a death valley driver. Shingo hits forearms. DM forearms him down then Shingo hits a made in Japan for 2. DM misses an enzugiri then Shingo sliding lariats him. Shingo avoids a drilla killa and DM avoids a sliding lariat, hitting a piledriver off of it. 

Shingo blocks a spear then DM spears him after ducking strikes. They trade forearms. Shingo headbutts him down and sliding lariats him for 1. Shingo hits a death valley driver. Shingo then running lariats him for 2. Shingo then hits a last of the dragon and wins.

Thoughts: We know what this match looks like at it's peak - it'll be them trading lariats and hitting big power moves on each other. We got that, but not quite the early stuff that leads up to it and builds to bigger things. What we got was fine and good but the early part wasn't as good and that hurt the later part from being great.

G1 Climax 2025 Block B Match - Zack Sabre Jr. vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Zack running facekicks him. They trade chops and forearms. Yoshi hits more chops. Zack pele kicks the arm and twists Yoshi's neck with his feet. Zack headscissors Yoshi then pulls on his leg. Both fall over and the hold breaks.

Zack hits euros then foot slaps Yoshi. Zack stomps on Yoshi then stomps his arm. Zack facekicks him. Yoshi dropkicks him in the knee. Yoshi hits chops then headhunters him. Zack is laid on the rope rope and Yoshi dropkicks him for 2. Yoshi hits chops. Zack face shoves him and Yoshi chops him down.

Zack triangles Yoshi over the top rope. Yoshi is sent into the rails. Zack euros him outside. Yoshi neckbreakers him on the floor. Yoshi top rope diving headhunters Zack for 2. Zack armbars him. Yoshi ropebreaks. Zack chest kicks him. Zack lifts him and Yoshi reverse ddt's him off of it. Zack pump kicks his arm and Yoshi lariats him. Yoshi does a backbreaker on him for 2. Zack spinning michinoku drivers him. 

Zack hits slaps then Yoshi flips him with a lariat. Yoshi superkicks him in the face then brainbusters him for 2. Yoshi corner lariats Zack then misses a top rope swanton. Zack then triangles him. Yoshi ropebreaks.

Zack stomps Yoshi's arm and PK's him for 2. Zack rolls him up for 2. Yoshi ushigoroshi's Zack for 2. Yoshi superkicks him. Yoshi top rope swantons Zack for 2. Zack sleepers Yoshi. Zack euros Yoshi.

Zack hits a bunch of slaps and Yoshi rolling armbars him. Zack ties up both of Yoshi's arms and submits him.

Thoughts: I liked it. Zack focused on the arms a bit more and Yoshi sold the arm. Yoshi made comebacks and tried to stay in there, even doing his own armbar but he was beaten in the end. It was a good match.

G1 Climax 2025 Block B Match - Great-O-Khan vs. Shota Umino

Shota sunset flips Khan and they trade pin attempts. Khan lariats him then hits a flatliner. Khan goes for another move and Shota slides out. Shota clubs on Khan and Shota is sent into the rails. Khan double chops Shota outside then uppercuts him. Khan shoulder throws Shota on the floor.

Khan slams Shota into the rail. Khan sends Shota into the seats. Khan hits knees to the gut inside the ring and hits an AA. Khan then does a head and arm choke and slams Shota off of it.

Khan suplexes him. Khan does a sheep killer then spinning drops him off of it for 2. Shota tornado ddt's Khan. Shota step up knees him from behind in the corner then running knees him from behind in the corner. Shota 2nd rope superplexes him for 2. 

Shota forearms Khan then Khan hits a TTD on him. Khan double chops him and punches him. Shota enzugiri's him then he runs into Khan's straight punch. Shota lariats him for 1. Khan flying forearms him for 2. Shota running knees him. Shota then powerbombs him for 2. Shota hits a big running lariat. Khan suplexes him for 2.

Khan pop-up claw slams him for 2. Shota fisherman busters him and wins.

Thoughts: I liked it. The action was fast and Shota hit Khan hard. There wasn't a lot of downtime in this one either. Shota avenges Khan after a loss months ago where he cut his hair after losing to him.

G1 Climax 2025 Block B Match - Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ren Narita

Ren grabs the ref and KT gets nailed by House of Torture on the ramp. KT is lariated into the rails and goes into the seats. KT gets up and the match starts. They trade shots and KT is knee'd in the gut.

Ren is swept on the apron and takes a bridging ddt on the floor. KT hits forearms on Ren in the corner then knees. They go into the crowd and fight. Ren is sent into the seats. Ren's buddies beat up KT in the crowd. Ren puts a chair on KT's knee then chairs it. Ren stomps on KT's leg then bangs it off the post. Ren then bangs KT's knee off the mat.

Ren pulls on KT's leg. Ren twists KT's foot then wraps it around the post. Ren exploders KT then goes for a legbar. Ren and KT trade forearms and Ren goes down. KT ends up getting caught in a grounded guillotine. KT then brainbusters him. KT tries to run but can't due to this knee. KT 2nd rope superplexes him for 2. KT ddt's him. KT goes up top and Fale trips him.

Ren legbars KT. KT germans Ren. KT then hits a big lariat. KT is pushed into the ref then Fale chairs KT. Togo chokes KT with a weapon. Rocky Romero helps out KT and topes Togo outside. KT fights off Ren and Fale then tope con hilos both.

Rocky fights Togo to the back then fale is pushed to the back. KT chickenwings Ren and is kicked in the knee. KT flying knees Ren then exploders him for 2. KT pumping knees him then Kanemaru pulls the ref out. Kanemaru hits KT in the knee with the whiskey bottle. Ren rolling figure four legbars the ref.

Ren grabs KT from behind and germans him for 2. Ren facebusters KT for 2. Ren comes off the top and is caught with a last ride. Ren grabs the ref and Kanemaru grabs KT. Kanemaru spits whiskey in Ren's eyes on accident. KT chicken wings Ren and makes him pass out to win.

Thoughts: It was all garbage here with HoT interfering constantly, grabbing refs and using weapons with the wrestling just being a side show to all of that. I didn't like this this at all. Ren at least stuck to working the knee most of the match, but he lost anyway. 

KT then talks on the mic to close the show.

Overall thoughts: I felt like this one dragged. The undercard stuff with the young lions wasn't bad but none of it got much time and none of it is anything that hasn't been seen 20 other times this tour. Drilla/Takagi was what it looked like and was fine. I liked Zack/Yoshi and Khan/Umino. Ren/KT was filled with House of Torture shenanigans with the wrestling just being a side show to that. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 due to the 3 of the 4 G-1 matches delivering.