David Finlay can’t catch a break.
All the stars seemed aligned for Finlay when he won the New Japan Cup earlier this year; however, he failed to beat Hirooki Goto for the IWGP World Heavyweight title. Unfortunately, for Finlay, he’s not faring any better in the G1 Climax. The 32-year-old fought Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event and the veteran got the better of him in the early goings thanks to his speed and highflying.
But Finlay stopped him quickly by targeting the left leg. Finlay’s dominance didn’t last long as Tanahashi was able to make his comeback and the New Japan veteran almost got the win via countout after he slammed Finlay’s head into the ring post. Both men traded shots once they got into the ring, but Finlay regained control with a devastating neck breaker.
But that only fired Hiroshi Tanahashi up and he went through two sling blades and a high cross body before hitting the High Fly Flow. That resulted in a strong nearfall. Tanahashi went for another one, but Finlay blocked and nailed two Oblivions. That only got a two count! Tanahashi was out and Finlay was going for the kill when the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion locked in a cradle and got the three count.
Other notable wins earlier in the night saw Oleg Boltin beat former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA and EVIL has tied Boltin and Yota Tsuji for first place thanks to his win over Taichi.
Check out the full results below:
- United Empire (Jakob Austin Young & Great-O-Khan) def. Shoma Kato & YOSHI-HASHI
- Jado & El Phantasmo def. T.M.D.K. (Hartley Jackson & Zack Sabre Jr.)
- HOUSE OF TORTURE (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Ren Narita) def. Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino
- Rocky Romero & Konosuke Takeshita def. Daiki Nagai & Shingo Takagi
- NJPW G1 Climax A Block: Oleg Boltin (6) def. SANADA (2)
- NJPW G1 Climax A Block: Yuya Uemura (4) def. Callum Newman (2)
- NJPW G1 Climax A Block: EVIL (6) def. Taichi (4)
- NJPW G1 Climax A Block: Yota Tsuji (6) def. Ryohei Oiwa (4)
- NJPW G1 Climax A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) def. David Finlay (2)
A Block Standings:
- EVIL 6 points
- Boltin Oleg 6 points
- Yota Tsuji 6 points
- Hiroshi Tanahashi 4 points
- Ryohei Oiwa 4 points
- Taichi 4 points
- Yuya Uemura 4 points
- Callum Newman 2 points
- David Finlay 2 points
- SANADA 2 points
B Block Standings:
- YOSHI-HASHI 6 points
- Drilla Moloney 4 points
- Shota Umino 4 points
- Konosuke Takeshita 4 points
- Ren Narita 4 points
- Zack Sabre Jr. 2 points
- El Phantasmo 2 points
- Great-O-Khan 2 points
- Shingo Takagi 2 points
- Gabe Kidd (withdrawn) 0 points