NJPW G1 Climax 26 Day 18 Results (8/13): B Block Finale, Naito Vs. Omega, Elgin Vs. Nakajima

NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING G1 CLIMAX 26

8/13/16- SUMO HALL TOKYO, JAPAN

AIRING LIVE ON NPWWORLD.COM WITH ENGLISH COMMENTARY PROVIDED BY ROH'S KEVIN KELLY, STEVE CORINO & ROCKY ROMERO

This is the final day of B block action in the G1 Climax tournament. 4 competitors enter today's event still in contention to win the B block and qualify for tomorrow's G1 final against A block winner, Hirooki Goto.

The Undercard

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Manabu Nakanishi defeated David Finlay, Yoshi Tatsu, Ryusuke Taguchi & Captain New Japan

Tenzan with his moonsault pins the Captain.

Tomohiro Ishii & Naomuchi Marufuji defeated Togi Makabe & Juice Robinson

Marufuji with the Shiranui on Juice Robinson.

Jay Lethal, Sanada & Bushi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Kushida

Bushi with the MX on Kushida to get the win. Fun 6 man tag. Very entertaining.

Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa, Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe & Gedo in 6:31

The Bullet Club wins this 10 man tag when Yujiro hits the "pimp juice" on Gedo.

G1 CLIMAX 26

B BLOCK

TOMOAKI HONMA DEFEATED YUJI NAGATA

The commentators focused in on the injuries to these two men coming into the 18th day of this tournament. Honma with a broken rib and Nagata with a myriad of injuries too long to list. Both men wrestling this match for pride. Neither man held back in this contest. Physical battle with a lot of heavy duty striking. Both crowd favorites put on a good final showing. It ended with a Honma flurry of moves and his signature Kokeshi flying headbutt on Nagata for the victory. Honma and Nagata both finish the tournament with 6 points each.

TORU YANO DEFEATED YOSHI-HASHI

One last cheap win for the road. Typical Toru Yano antics in this one. Tricking Hashi, trying to mess with and fool the referee. Taking off the turnbuckle pads, trying to pull an Eddie Guerrero and get Hashi disqualified. The circus comes to an end when Yano hits his signature double low blow followed by an inside cradle for the victory in under 4 minutes. Yano has been the ultimate spoiler in this year's G1 and his wins over Shibata and Elgin have directly cost those men a shot at main eventing WrestleKingdom 11 in January.

"KING OF DARKNESS EVIL DEFEATED KATSUYORI SHIBATA

Coming into this match. Shibata needed a victory to stay alive and Michael Elgin also needed a Shibata victory to keep his G1 final hopes alive. It wasn't meant to be. Evil plays the role of the ultimate spoiler here defeating Shibata with the STO. The big part of the story in this match was the injury to Shibata's shoulder. Like most G1 competitors, Shibata has been a part of the walking wounded. Heavily taped up and every opponent has used these injuries wisely as targets. No exception here. Shibata was his usual self the entire match. Extremely violent especially early on. I don't know how Evil still has a head on his shoulders after this match. Just life threatening type strikes from wrestling's greatest striker in Shibata. Eventually, Evil was able to overcome Shibata's barrage and targeted the shoulder even using a steel chair to his advantage. A lot of this year's tournament has been reminiscent of late 90's ECW and even Japan's infamous FMW. No such thing as a disqualification. Evil dominated the end of this match. Consistently doing damage to Shibata's shoulder to the point where the ref checked in on him but Shibata refused to quit. As a result of this match, Shibata is now eliminated.

KATSUHIKO NAKAJIMA DEFEATED MICHAEL ELGIN

Great clash of styles in this 16 minute battle. Michael Elgin's power skill set on display vs Nakajima's striking ability. Finishing sequence saw Nakajima with several kicks on Elgin but he kept yelling for more. Elgin rises and knocks down Nakajima with a very stiff elbow then follows that with a stiff lariat to turn Nakajima inside out. Elgin then hits a Deadlift superplex out of the corner into a Falcon Arrow for a close fall. He connects with the Buckle Bomb but Nakajima rolls through the Elgin Bomb with a sunset flip for a 2 count. After a series of Superkicks from Nakajima and a flurry of kicking combinations. Nakajima finishes Elgin off with an impressive looking brainbuster especially considering Elgin's size for the victory. Both men finish wih 10 points overall and had strong showings throughout this year's G1. They both shined and in the post match. Nakajima bowed towards Elgin in an ultimate show of respect. The loss here officially eliminates Michael Elgin and now that sets the stage for the main event to be a win and you are in scenario for Kenny Omega and a don't lose and you are in scenario for Tetsuya Naito.

KENNY OMEGA DEFEATED TETSUYA NAITO TO WIN THE B BLOCK

The crowd began chanting for Naito as soon as this match began. The Sumo Hall crowd in full support of Naito who has become one of the most popular acts in all of Japan after initially being rejected by the fan base. Great psychology in this match. Not your standard feeling out process here as both took turns disrespecting one another by spitting in each other's faces. Evenly contested early on with both men trading dropkicks and suplexes until Naito targets Omega's knee and begins working on it throughout the entire match. Both men wrestling heel styles in this one but Kenny being treated as the villain initially. Naito starts applying submissions to target Omega's knee and refusing to break the holds when Omega would reach the ropes. Anytime, Omega would amount offense. His knee would give out or give him problems.

Kenny was eventually able to turn the tide in this one and a good portion of his best offense took place on the outside of the ring. Omega drop kicks Naito to the outside of the ring into the barricade. He then teases a powerbomb spot over the barricade but instead throws Naito over the barricade and through a table. Omega is in a position to take the countout victory but instead, He springboards over the barricade onto Naito and in the process takes himself out. Both men struggle back into the ring. Omega gets his bearings and hits two straight Dragon suplexes. He then attempts to finish Naito with one winged angel. This leads to a series of counters and reversals with both men attempting their finishing moves. Hectic back and forth action with several near falls. They both start trading blows in the center of the ring. Omega attempts a suplex but his injured knee gives out on him. Naito applies the knee bar and Omega teases tapping out but doesn't. Omega eventually escapes only to eat a kneebreaker from Naito. Kenny is crying out in pain as Naito is laughing. The crowd starts to root for Omega because of the great storytelling in this match.

Naito goes for his Destino finish but Omega counters for a near fall. Omega hits a huge knee strike and then tries to follow it with the one winged angel but it is countered by Naito into the destino for an extremely close near fall. Time is expiring. We are down to 5 minutes left as the commentators mention the possibility of a repeat of yesterday's final. Naito then hits a reverse huracanrana and then goes for the destino yet again only for it to be countered for another near fall by Omega. Omega tries for the One Winged Angel but his knee gives out again. Both men start slapping each other as time is expiring. Omega fires up as the crowd is rallying with him. Kenny hits two knee strikes and a german suplex for near falls before finally connecting on The One Winged Angel for the victory with less than 2 minutes remaining in the match.

What an amazing match. Must see for any wrestling fan. Not quite the famous crowd turn of Austin-Bret at WrestleMania 13 in 1997 but this had some elements of it. Great action but what made this match was the storytelling. Kenny Omega will now face Hirooki Goto in the G1 final tomorrow. With the winner having the opportunity of main eventing Wrestle Kingdom 11 on January 4th for The IWGP World Title. Great moment for Kenny who has all the talent in the world and this victory is all about him taking the next step.

G1 Climax 26 – Day 18 – (ENG) – (13.08... by mr-jester

G1 Climax 26 – Day 18 – (ENG) – (13.08... by mr-jester

G1 Climax 26 – Day 18 – (ENG) – (13.08... by mr-jester

FINAL G1 STANDINGS

A BLOCK STANDINGS

*HIROOKI GOTO-6-3 (12 POINTS) A BLOCK WINNER*

-KAZUCHIKA OKADA- 5-3-1 (11 POINTS)
-HIROSHI TANAHASHI- 5-3-1 (11 POINTS)
-NAOMICHI MARUFUJI- 5-4 (10 POINTS)
-BAD LUCK FALE- 5-4 (10 POINTS)
-TOGI MAKABE- 4-5- (8 POINTS)
-TOMOHIRO ISHII- 4-5 (8 POINTS)
-TAMA TONGA- 4-5 (8 POINTS)
-SANADA- 4-5 (8 POINTS)
-HIROYOSHI TENZAN-2-7 (4 POINTS)

B BLOCK

*KENNY OMEGA- 6-3 (12 POINTS)B BLOCK WINNER*

-TETUSUYA NAITO- 6-3 (12 POINTS)
-MICHAEL ELGIN- 5-4 (10 POINTS)
-KENNY OMEGA- 6-3 (12 POINTS)B BLOCK WINNER
-KATSUYORI SHIBATA- 5-4 (10 POINTS)
-KATSUHIKO NAKAJIMA- 5-4 (10 POINTS)
-TORU YANO- 5-4 (10 POINTS)
-EVIL- 4-5 ( 8 POINTS)
-YUJI NAGATA- 3 -6 (6 POINTS)
-YOSHI-HASHI- 3 -6 (6 POINTS)
-TOMOAKI HONMA- 3 -6 (6 POINTS)

Here is tomorrow's scheduled lineup for the final G1 Climax 26 event.

G1 CLIMAX 26 FINAL

HIROOKI GOTO VS KENNY OMEGA

ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH

JAY LETHAL VS SATOSHI KOJIMA

IWGP WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH

THE BRISCOES VS YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & HANGMAN PAGE