Published: 2 minutes ago by Sanchez Taylor | Last Updated: 1 second ago by Sanchez Taylor
Sanchez has over six years of pro-wrestling news writing experience, covering the biggest news stories in WWE, NXT, AEW, TNA Wrestling and more. He has personally interviewed a number of top stars, producing exclusive content with the likes of AEW’s Swerve Strickland and WWE’s Nick Aldis.
NJPW
Here’s an update on the NJPW G1 Climax 36 tournament following Saturday’s show, with an AEW star wrestling his first bout in the tournament.
With G1 Climax 36 tournament block action officially kicking off on July 11 at the NOW Arena in Chicago, Illinois, NJPW’s first Japan-based event of this tour has now taken place.
The July 18 show in Hokkaido saw six matches take place across both the A and B blocks of the tournament.
Notably, this marked Gabe Kidd and Drilla Moloney’s first matches as part of the tournament, with neither star wrestling on the July 11 show.
Drilla Moloney was ultimately victorious in their bout, handing the AEW star a loss in his opening match of the tournament.
Elsewhere on the card, AEW/NJPW/DDT-Pro contracted star Konosuke Takeshita picked up his first win in this year’s tournament, defeating Jake Lee. Takeshita is now 1-1 in the tournament, having lost to IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji in Chicago.
Tsuji was less successful in Hokkaido, coming up short against Hirooki Goto.
Here are the results from the G1 Climax tournament matches which took place on July 18:
Drilla Moloney def. Gabe Kidd – B Block
Great-O-Khan def. SANADA – A Block
Konosuke Takeshita def. Jake Lee – A Block
Boltin Oleg def. Yuto-Ice – A Block
Shingo Takagi def. Ryohei Oiwa – A block
Hirooki Goto def Yota Tsuji – A block
It is still very early in the tournament, with every star set to face every other wrestler in their respective blocks to determine a points leader and runner up for both the A and B blocks.
These leaders and runners-up will face off in semi-final play-off matches to determine the two stars who will compete in the G1 Climax 36 grand final on August 16.
With Gabe Kidd recently indicating that he’s currently dealing with US visa issues, NJPW featuring the AEW talent in its premier heavyweight tournament is a good way to maintain the partnership between the two companies.
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