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25): Narita Upsets Sabre Jr, Takeshita Defeats Kidd

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Lyric Swinton | Last updated Jul 19, 2025 11:20 AM ET

It's officially G1 season.

NJPW's signature round-robin tournament kicked off Saturday in Sapporo with all 20 participants in action. The main event featured the Ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi, entering his 23rd and final G1 Climax tournament to face Taichi in A Block action.

Now two of NJPW's elder statesmen, Tanahashi and Taichi battled for 20 minutes in a sentimental affair for both the fans and the wrestlers, especially considering that Taichi's presence in the tournament only came about after an unfortunate injury to Hirooki Goto. In the end, the Ace secured victory with his third High Fly Flow of the night to earn his first 2 points of the tournament.

Without any further delay, let's get into the highlights of G1 Climax 35 opening night.

The Good

Konosuke Takeshita [2] def. Gabe Kidd

Going into the tournament, AEW/NJPW/DDT star Konosuke Takeshita versus iWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Gabe Kidd instantly became one of the most highly anticipated matches of opening night as soon as it was announced After trading barbs at the G1 Climax 35 press conference a day prior, the two warriors had a stiff and hard-hitting 13-minute clash that the fans in Sapporo were into every step of the way. Takeshita won the match via referee stoppage but it's safe to say that these two will cross paths again at some point.

The Underwhelming

EVIL [2] def. Callum Newman

Callum Newman has a bright future ahead of him in NJPW. At the age of 22, he's on his second G1 Climax tournament and has held the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships on two separate occasions. Unfortunately, he fell victim to EVIL and House of Torture's typical hijinks, which produced the weakest match of the tournament so far.

The Surprise We Didn't See Coming

Ren Narita [2] def. Zack Sabre Jr. [0]

Speaking of House of Torture, Ren Narita had a surprisingly straightforward wrestling match with IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. The typical interferences associated with his faction were minimal, and the actual wrestling was at center stage. Ever the technical wrestling specialist, Sabre forced Narita to bring his A game and return to his strong style roots. Narita overdelivered and pulled off the upset victory over NJPW's top champion in the opening night semi-main event.