The playoffs of the G1 Climax are set following the last night of round-robin matches on Wednesday.
The B Block was won by David Finlay, who will receive a bye to the semi-finals while Konosuke Takeshita and Yota Tsuji will meet in the quarterfinals.
Wednesday’s show at Hamamatsu Arena in Shizuoka featured HENARE playing the spoiler role as he pinned Hirooki Goto after hitting Streets of Rage to eliminate the 45-year-old and end the story of Goto’s quest to win a second G1 in his career.
David Finlay secured the top placement in the block by defeating El Phantasmo after interference by Gedo led to a shillelagh shot on Phantasmo and won using Overkill. Finlay ended the round-robin stage with a 6-3 record and advances to the semi-finals this Saturday.
Konosuke Takeshita stayed alive by overcoming the House of Torture and pinned Ren Narita following a forearm smash and secured a playoff spot by ending the round with a 5-4 record while eliminating Narita.
The main event saw Yota Tsuji eliminate Jeff Cobb and a repeat of their opening match in the New Japan Cup earlier this year. Tsuji won after hitting back-to-back Gene Blasters to set up a quarterfinal match with Takeshita on Thursday.
Thursday’s quarterfinals will see Shingo Takagi take on Great O-Khan and the winners will advance to face Zack Sabre Jr. In the B Block, Takeshita takes on Tsuji and that winner faces David Finlay on Saturday. The finals will be on Sunday with the final two nights to be staged at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Final Standings:
BLOCK A:
– Zack Sabre Jr. – 14
– Shingo Takagi – 10
– Great O-Khan – 10
– EVIL – 10
– Tetsuya Naito – 10
– SANADA – 8
– Jake Lee – 8
– Gabe Kidd – 8
– Shota Umino – 8
– Callum Newman – 4
BLOCK B:
– David Finlay – 12
– Konosuke Takeshita – 10
– Yota Tsuji – 10
– Jeff Cobb – 10
– Ren Narita – 10
– Hirooki Goto – 8
– HENARE – 8
– Oleg Boltin – 8
– Yuya Uemura – 8
– El Phantasmo – 6
Wai Ting & Kate from Montreal will have a review of Wednesday’s G1 Climax show at POSTWrestlingCafe.com
