NJPW Sets Card For G1 Climax 36 Semifinals, Tenzan Retirement Bout Headlines

New Japan Pro-Wrestling has finalized the lineup for the G1 Climax 36 semifinals, a show topped by the retirement match of longtime ace Hiroyoshi Tenzan against Satoshi Kojima. The two G1 Climax semifinal bouts pit Yota Tsuji against Yuya Uemura, and Ryohei Oiwa against Callum Newman, with the winners advancing to the tournament final.

Tenzan’s farewell match carries obvious emotional weight. A three-decade fixture of New Japan and a former IWGP Heavyweight and Tag Team Champion, Tenzan has been one of the promotion’s most durable and respected figures since debuting in the early 1990s. Pairing him with Kojima for his last match is fitting — the two have shared rings, tag titles and rivalries across their careers, and Kojima remains one of the few contemporaries who can send Tenzan off with the credibility the moment deserves. Placing that match atop the semifinals card, rather than burying it beneath the tournament action, signals how much value New Japan is putting on properly honoring his career.

On the in-ring side, the semifinal pairings tell their own story about where the G1 field has landed. Tsuji and Uemura represent two of New Japan’s most closely watched younger stars, both groomed as part of the promotion’s next core of main-event talent, and a semifinal meeting between them is as much a measuring-stick match as it is a step toward the final. Oiwa against Newman offers a similar dynamic — Oiwa has been steadily built up as a rising homegrown prospect, while Newman, part of New Japan’s Australian pipeline through the Newman/Bad Dude Tito lineage, has been carving out his own reputation on the tournament circuit. Neither semifinal features a G1 veteran with multiple tournament wins under his belt, which underlines how much this year’s block stages have shaken up the usual hierarchy of favorites.

That lack of a clear elder statesman in either semifinal makes the final itself difficult to project. Whoever emerges from Tsuji-Uemura and Oiwa-Newman will be fighting not just for the trophy, but for a claim to being the future face of the tournament. G1 wins have historically been springboards to Wrestle Kingdom main events and IWGP title pushes, so there’s more on the line here than just a semifinal victory.

For longtime fans, though, the night may ultimately be remembered first for Tenzan’s exit. Retirement matches in New Japan tend to draw entire rosters and alumni to ringside, and given his ties throughout the promotion’s history, it wouldn’t be a surprise if his farewell becomes the most talked-about moment of the show regardless of who lifts the G1 trophy days later.