The semi-finals are here.
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Zack Sabre Jr. and EVIL vs. Yota Tsuji took place and the night ended with some surprising results.
The first bout was former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion EVIL vs. Yota Tsuji. Not surprisingly, EVIL kicked things off by ambushing Yota from behind. The House of Torture just beat the crap out of Yota in the early goings. There was a brief scare as EVIL seemingly had the match won via countout around the 7-minute mark, but Yota jumped back into the ring in time.
Yota didn’t really get any control until he hit a top rope Spanish fly and a flip powerbomb. He got a decent nearfall out of that. EVIL briefly came back with a discus elbow. Yota tried to come back with a Gene Buster (spear), but he actually hit the referee. That allowed the House of Torture to intervene again, but Shingo Takagi came out for the save. Meanwhile, Tsuji hit a Marlowe Crash that got him another nearfall.
He tried the Gene Buster again, but EVIL blocked it. EVIL attempted Everything is Evil, but Yota blocked that. Unfortunately, Takagi couldn't get rid of HOT as Togo grabbed the referee’s ankle. That distraction allowed Fale to come in and hit Razor's Edge. EVIL put Yota in Sharpshooter and he passed out, giving EVIL the submission win.
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Zack Sabre Jr was another rollercoaster ride. Unlike EVIL and Yota, this match didn't deal with interference and screw jobs. This was power vs. technical wrestling, and both men came at a stalemate early in the match. Zack Sabre Jr. did well reversing Takeshita’s power moves as he actually beat the former NEVER Openweight Champion early in the G1.
Zack almost did it again when applied an ankle lock after 24 grueling minutes. Takeshita was on the verge of tapping, but his power helped him get out of the submission. Both men fought on the ropes, but Takeshita busted out a Raging Fire brainbuster. That was the beginning of the end for Zack. Takeshita hit a Power Drive running knee and then a Raging Fire for a three count.
EVIL vs. Konosuke Takeshita is officially the final match that will determine the number one contender for the IWGP World Heavyweight title at Wrestle Kingdom 20.
Check out the Full results below:
- G1 Climax Semifinal: Konosuke Takeshita def. Zack Sabre Jr.
- G1 Climax Semifinal: EVIL def. Yota Tsuji
- House of Torture (Ren Narita, SHO & DOUKI) def. TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa, Kosei Fujita & Hartley Jackson)
- House of Torture (SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. War Dogs (Drilla Moloney & Taiji Ishimori)
- Shingo Takagi & Daiki Nagai def. War Dogs (David Finlay & Gedo)
- United Empire (The Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, El Phantasmo & Katsuya Murashima
- House of Torture (Yujiro Takahashi & Don Fale) def. Tomoaki Honma & Oleg Boltin
- Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura, YOSHI-HASHI, El Desperado & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Taichi, Satoshi Kojima, Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato