Title belt changes hands on latest G1 Climax show

G1 Climax 32 had its sixth show on July 26. With today’s show at Korakuen Hall, each of the record-setting 28 competitors in this year’s tournament have wrestled at least once.

That was the key element for three of the Block matches, with Great O-Khan, EVIL, and Tom Lawlor finally getting a chance to pick up some points. Only one of them succeeded however. O-Khan overcame Chase Owens’ early chicanery but still lost, KENTA joins fellow big names like Tetsuya Naito & Tomohiro Ishii as potential comeback stories after House of Torture nonsense gave EVIL two points, and a touch of overconfidence cost Filthy Tom in his G1 debut.

Night six’s main event featured a clash between former IWGP and Impact Tag champs David Finlay & Juice Robinson. Robinson’s been a roll since turning heel & joining the Bullet Club, looking like a strong contender in D Block, and still holding a version on the IWGP United States championship.

Or I should say he did, because Finlay claimed the version of the belt Juice’s has been carrying along with two points when he beat Robinson for the first time.

• Chase Owens def. Great O-Khan via pinfall after a C-Trigger & package piledriver

• EVIL def. KENTA via countout

• Lance Archer def. Tom Lawlor via pinfall after Blackout

• David Finlay def. Juice Robinson via pinfall following Trash Panda

With the officially recognized U.S. champ Will Ospreay also in Block D, this sets a possible unification match at some point during the G1.

Here’s where things stand in the chase for the main prize of the tournament — a contract for a Wrestle Kingdom main event IWGP World Heavyweight title match.:

A Block

Kazuchika Okada (2-0-0): 4
Toru Yano (1-1-0): 2
Bad Luck Fale (1-1-0): 2
Jeff Cobb (1-1-0): 2
Lance Archer (1-1-0): 2
Tom Lawlor (0-1-0): 0
JONAH (0-1-0): 0

B Block

Jay White (2-0-0): 4
Taichi (1-1-0): 2
Tama Tonga (1-0-0): 2
SANADA (1-1-0): 2
Chase Owens (1-1-0): 2
Great-O-Khan (0-1-0): 0
Tomohiro Ishii (0-2-0): 0

C Block

Zack Sabre Jr. (2-0-0): 4
Hirooki Goto (1-0-0): 2
EVIL (1-0-0): 2
Hiroshi Tanahashi (1-1-0): 2
Aaron Henare (1-1-0): 2
Tetsuya Naito (0-2-0): 0
KENTA (0-2-0): 0

D Block

Will Ospreay (1-0-0): 2
Juice Robinson (1-1-0): 2
El Phantasmo (1-1-0): 2
Shingo Takagi (1-1-0): 2
Yujiro Takahashi (1-1-0): 2
David Finlay (1-1-0): 2
YOSHI-HASHI (0-1-0): 0

Finlay is back in action on Saturday, and his opponent already has his eyes on the prize...

But the guy NJPW says is champ is not impressed...

You can see all the remaining matches on the full schedule here, and watch every show with a subscription to the NJPWWorld streaming service here. Key matches from this year’s G1 will also start airing on New Japan’s English-language AXS series this Thursday (July 28).