NJPW G1 Climax 35 finals results: Takeshita vs. EVIL
Ariake Arena in Tokyo hosts today’s G1 Climax 35 finals with a shot at NJPW immortality at stake in the tournament’s conclusion.
Konosuke Takeshita, the third place finisher in B Block, will face EVIL, the first place finisher in A Block, in today’s finals. The winner will earn a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship currently held by Zack Sabre Jr.
Tradition would say that today’s winner will challenge for NJPW’s top prize at Wrestle Kingdom on January 4, 2026, but that tradition was bucked just last year by Sabre, who won the G1 and then cashed in his title shot at King of Pro Wrestling last October, where he went on to defeat Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Takeshita defeated David Finlay in the quarterfinals, then Sabre in yesterday’s semifinals. EVIL earned a bye into the semifinals where he defeated Yota Tsuji yesterday.
EVIL is a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, holding the now-retired title for 48 days in 2020. Takeshita has not held IWGP gold, but held NJPW’s NEVER Openweight Championship for 162 days earlier this year.
Neither Takeshita nor EVIL have won the G1 before, meaning that first-time winners will be crowned in back-to-back years for the first time since the 2007 to 2013 stretch where there were seven consecutive first-time winners.
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Zane Jay & Masatora Yasuda vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto & Shoma Kato
We kick things off with some Young Lions action. Basic, non-flashy start by Jay and Masatora working over Matsumoto. Matsumoto finally hits a big dropkick on Jay to get the hot tag. Kato starts a house of fire and even gets a pin attempt off a scoop slam of all things. Jay escapes a vertical suplex attempt and shoots Kato into the corner with a dropkick of his own. Yasuda tags back in and locks a Boston Crab on Matsumoto, eventually forcing him to tap out. This marks Zane Jay’s first win in NJPW in the U.S.
Match Result: Zane Jay & Masatora Yasuda defeated Tatsuya Matsumoto & Shoma Kato
Satoshi Kojima & Taichi vs. Katsuya Mirashima & Togi Makabe
TAKA Michinoku is out with Kojima and Taichi. Taichi and Mirashima start out and exchange blows immediately. Kojima tags in he and Mirashima and they trade rapid-fire chops in the corner. Kojima follows up with an elbow drop off the turnbuckles for a two-count and Makabe tags in. A 10 punch series in the corner is followed by a lariat for a two count by Makabe.
Kojima tags in Taichi and they try for a double clothesline, but Makabe floors them both with a double clothesline of his own. Young Lion Mirashima gets to try his luck against Taichi and hits a power slam against one falf of the IWGP Heavyweight tag team champion for a two-count. Makabe is back in and Taichi hits a head kick, followed by a stunner from Kojima.
Mirashima almost gets the win against Taichi with a small package, but eats and Axe Bomber lariat for his troubles. Another lariat by Kojima and a back drop driver by Taichi seals the fate of the Young Lion for tonight, but I see great things in the future of young Mirashima in New Japan.
Post-match: Taichi shakes Kojima’s hand after the bout when the music of the Bullet Club War Dogs hits and Dave Finlay walks out and pauses on the stage, calling out some backup. It is the return of Young Blood: Yuto Nakashima and OSKAR Leube. We see those two back in NJPW for the first time since New Year Dash in 2024, after their European excursion in RevPro and wXw and a brief interlude in New Zealand over the summer. Nakashima now has white hair and is dressed in all-white while OSKAR is dressed in black. They promptly destroy Kojima, Taichi and Michinoku, ending things with a kick assisted jumping tombstone piledriver on Taichi. They pose with Taichi’s tag team title, making their intentions very clear, as they War Dogs pack seemingly just grew by two very aggressive and violent puppies.
Match Result: Satoshi Kojima & Taichi defeated Katsuya Mirashima & Togi Makabe
Master Wato, Toru Yano & Yoh vs. El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi & YOSHI-HASHI
Desperado and Yoh start off with Phantasmo getting the better of the exchange. Yano and YOSHI-HASHI are next and Yano immediately removes a pad from the corner and slams YOSHI-HASHI back first into it. Master Wato tags in and works over YOSHI-HASHI, who finally manages to tag in Taguchi.
Taguchi runs wild with hip attacks, almost taking Wato’s head off with a running hip attack in the ropes. Yoh tags back in, but both him and Wato get taken out by another springboard flying hip attack. All six men are in and it boils down to Desperado vs. Yoh before Wato flies in to take out Desperado, then immediately dives onto everyone else on the floor. Yoh hits the double underhook DDT and pins Desperado, potentially earning himself a future shot at the the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight championship.
Match Result: Master Wato, Toru Yano & Yoh defeated El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi & YOSHI-HASHI
El Phantasmo, Oleg Boltin & Tiger Mask vs. House of Torture (Don Fale, SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
We get our first taste of House of Torture for the night, as SANADA comes out with the broken guitar, that recently was smashed over the head of Drilla Moloney.
Phantasmo and SANADA start, as Phantasmo looks for guidance to Milano Collection AT at commentary on how to correctly apply the Paradise Lock. Fun times don’t last long as SANADA drags Phatasmo into the crowd and hits him in the head with a water bottle. Kanemaru is in next and applies some nasty head scissors on Phantasmo, who finally makes the ropes but it takes the referee’s intervention to finally break the hold. Phantasmo sends him to ringside, then hits a hurricanrana on SANADA but his partners get dragged off the apron as he is about to make the tag.
He finally manages to tag in Boltin, who clears house on SANADA and Kanemaru but runs into Fale. The big men clash and Boltin gets beaten down, necessitating a tag to Tiger Mask. Fale comes in for the other team and briefly gets tripple-teamed.
Kanemaru hits a blatant kick to the nether regions with the referee distracted, followed by a Shining Wizard by SANADA and an elbow drop by Fale for the win. Post-match, Fale and Boltin clash, with Boltin getting the better of the exchange and hitting a big splash on Fale to send House of Torture packing for the time being.
Match Result: House of Torture defeated El Phantasmo, Oleg Boltin & Tiger Mask
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura vs. United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young)
Tanahashi and The Great-O-Khan start out with some mat wrestling before getting the crowd going with opposing chants. The President hits a cross body, then attacks the throat and poses over Khan in the corner, before getting kicked by Newman and Young.
It is now Great-O-Khan’s turn to pose over his opponent in the corner, as he strums the air violin, instead of the air guitar. Young is in next, holding his own against Tanahashi. New man is in next, but falls victim to a Dragon Screw by Tanahashi. Shota Umino is in next and sends Newman spinning with a shoulder block, before Great-O-Khan eats a dropkick and is sent to the outside. A fisherman’s suplex against Newman scores a two-count.
After Newman escapes a tornado DDT, Umino hits it on the second attempt, before both men are down and make tags respectively to Young and Uemura. Young with a rana, a sling blade and twisting suplex for a two-count. Jacob Austin Young briefly holds hiw own against all three opponents, before getting wiped out by a triple dropkick.
Chaos briefly ensues as everyone comes in at rapid succession trading moves, before Uemura pins Young with a dead bolt suplex. Tanahashi and Great-O-Khan have words as United Empire exits, as the announcers plug Tanahashi’s final match in the UK next week in the Lights Out cage match at AEW Forbidden Door.
Match Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura defeated United Empire
Bullet Club War Dogs (David Finlay, Drilla Moloney, Gedo & Taiji Ishimori) vs. Daiki Nagai, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji
Nagai is pumped and gets into the faces of the War Dogs, who laughed him off. Gedo starts out with him, using cheap tactics to keep the Young Lion in check. Hiromu and Ishimori are in next, with Hiromu using Nagai to gain the advantage. Ishimori hits a handspring somersault kick to take Hiromu out, as Finlay takes over. Moloney is in next, as Hiromu is in trouble.
Ishimori is in next as things look dire for Hiromu, who finally makes the tag to Tsuji. Finlay is on the other side, who hits the Irish Curse on Tsuji. They go back and forth, until Finlay hits a spear. Moloney and Nagai are in next and trade blows, with the Young Lion not backing down. Shingo comes in for some backup, allowing Nagai to hit a spinebuster and a sliding D by Shingo.
Moloney hits a gore on Shingo, before a powerbomb, a buckle bomb by Finlay, another gore and the Drilla Killer seal the fate of Nagai and gives the War Dogs the victory.
Post-match, Moloney and Shingo further get into it, before Shingo sends Moloney and Gedo packing. Shingo asks for the mic and challenges Gabe Kidd for the NEVER Openweight title, telling him he should vacate the title if he can not defend it and vows to take care of all the War Dogs.
Match Result: Bullet Club War Dogs defeated Daiki Nagai, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji
House of Torture (Douki, Ren Narita, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)
SHO cuts a promo before the match, insulting the crowd. Fujita grabs it but instead of a cutting a promos of his own, attacks SHO. After some brief action with Fujita, Oiwa and Douki in the ring the action spills to ringside as everybody brawls outside.
Douki and Oiwa return to the ring, with Oiwa receiving more punishment at the hands of SHO and Narita. With the ref distracted, House of Torture hits Oiwa on the outside with chairs, bats and whatnot. Takahashi is in with Oiwa, who finally hits a suplex and manages to tag in Zack.
The IWGP Heavyweight loses no time going on offense, before trading abdominal stretches with Narita. They keeb things mat-based, trading holds and hooks, as Narita locks in a nasty guillotine. Zack finally comes back with a PK and tags in Hartley Jackson, who steamrolls Narita with a running cross body. He misses a senton and finds himself trapped in a desperation knee bar before making the ropes.
The senton hits on the second attempt and Sho needs to make the save. Narita and Takahashi double team Jackson as the ref is distracted, but Oiwa comes in to clean house. Narita hits Jackson in the knee with a wrench, the push up bar is brought into play and Jackson gets hit with yet another foreign object, allowing Narita to hit Hell’s Guillotine for the pinfall victory.
Immediately post-match, ZSJ flies in to lock in a rear naked choke on Narita, but gets triple teamed right away. HoT is looking to hit ZSJ with a pipe before Fujita makes the save and then makes it very clear, he wants a shot at the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight tag team titles held by Douki and SHO. Zack then grabs a chair and goes on the hunt for Narita.
Match Result: House of Torture defeated TMDK
G1 Climax 2025 Finals: Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Rocky Romero) vs. EVIL (w/ Dick Togo and House of Torture)
Before the match, five-time G1 Climax winner Masahiro Chono comes out to hype the crowd and asks them, if they are ready for the finals. A video package then shows how we got here. EVIL in the finals feels very underwhelming, but I’ll try to keep an open mind. All the seconds get sent away from ringside, let’s see if they stay there.
EVIL with a side head lock to start things off, Takeshita escapes and hit a shoulder block to send EVIL to the mat. Roman knuckle lock and a test of strength follows, with some back and forth, like it’s Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior in 1990. EVIL locks in an abdominal stretch but Takeshita throws him off right away.
Three minutes in and here is the first interference of House of Torture with an attack by Dick Togo. EVIL distracts the referee and everyone beats down Takeshita on the outside, while EVIL already poses with the G1 trophy in the ring. EVIL works over Takeshita’s left knee as we reach the five minute mark. Takeshita misses an enzuigiri and EVIL locks in the STF, as Masa Chono looks on stoically from the commentary position, before Takeshita makes the ropes.
Takeshita is visibly hurt as his knee buckles under pressure and he again has to fend off House of Torture, which he does, even hitting a vertical suplex on Fale and hitting a dive on some of the rest. Rocky meanwhile drags some other members of HoT to the back with he help of some Young Lions.
Back in the ring, Takeshita flies at EVIL with a spinning punch, then hits a Yakuza kick in the corner before locking in the cross face chicken wing. Narita pulls Red Shoes out of the ring, who for some reason does not disqualify EVIL. He is about to hit Takeshita with the push -up bar but Zack Sabre Jr. comes in and drags Narita away by the ankle. Takeshita and EVIL trade punches, with Takeshita getting the better of the exchange, before EVIL kicks him in the knee again.
A lariat by EVIL scores him a two count. EVIL has Takeshita on his shoulders for Darkness Falls, but Takeshita hits a Gotch-style tombstone piledriver, then dead lifts EVIL for a wheel barrow suplex. Both men hit lariats at the same time, and for the first time, this match feels like a G1 finals, about 13 minutes in. Both are back up, hit synchronized lariats again, this time not leaving their feet, Takeshita misses a fling knee in the corner and tumbles over the ropes, hurting his knee some more. EVIL hits a superplex for another two-count, then locks in the Scorpion Deathlock, but Takeshita gets tot he bottom rope.
EVIL hits Darkness Falls for another close two-count. Takeshita evades Everything is Evil and eventually counters with an exploder. Takeshita counters Everything is Evil with an “Everything is Alpha” (as the announcers called it) of his own and gets a two-count. He hits a huge Blue Thunder Bomb for another close near-fall, then hobbles to the corner and wills himself to the top rope for a big senton off the top, but still only gets a two count.
EVIL hits his spinning face buster for a two, then follows up with another Scorpion Deathlock. Takeshita manages to crawl to the ropes after a long time. EVIL goes for another Everything is Evil, but Takeshita’s knee gives out and he collapses before EVIL can hit the move. Takeshita blocks the move a second time and receives a hard right to the jaw for his troubles. Takeshita still comes back with a huge suplex, even bridging with just one leg, but it only gets him a narrow two-count.
Takeshita hits a flying knee for another two, then takes his knee brace off to hit another one, but collapses again during the sprint. Red Shoes checks on Takeshita, allowing EVIL to hit a low blow from behind and a lariat for the sure victory. But Takeshita KICKS OUT ONCE MORE!!!
Takeshita counters Everything is Evil into a back slide, then hits a huge Last Ride. He does for another knee, but EVIL catches it. Takeshita hits a knock-out punch and follows up with Raging Fire for the victory. The second half of the match delivered and I am glad we got no more HoT shenanigans after its mid-point.
Konosuke Takeshita has won the G1 Climax 35 in 26:26 and will go on to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, presumably at Wrestle Kingdom 2026.
It is time for the ceremony and Takeshita is in tears as he receive the trophy and the G1 flag. He is still crying as he starts his promo, talking about achieving his dream and making dreams come true. He tells everyone who wants to become a professional wrestler, that he is the best professional wrestler there is. He says that the wrestling world has seen nothing yet and declares himself the Alpha once more.
Match Result: Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Rocky Romero) defeated EVIL (w/ Dick Togo and House of Torture) to win the 2025 G1 Climax
