The G1 Climax will be taking over AXS TV’s Friday nights for the next three months as the network presents 12 all-new, hour-long episodes showcasing top matches from the tournament on NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING beginning this Friday, August 18 at 8pm ET. The 12 hours of tournament action will be presented by Jim Ross and former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NJPW veteran Josh Barnett.

AXS TV PRESENTS MORE G1 CLIMAX COVERAGE THAN EVER BEFORE WITH 12 NEW EPISODES OF ‘NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’ SHOWCASING THE TOURNAMENT FRIDAYS AT 8pE BEGINNING AUG. 18LOS ANGELES – Aug. 16, 2017 – NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’s biggest tournament—the G1 CLIMAX—takes over AXS TV’s Friday nights for the next three months as the network presents 12 all-new, hour-long episodes showcasing top matches from the tournament on the award-winning series NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING beginning this Friday, Aug. 18 at 8pE. The 12 hours of tournament action are the most coverage of the annual G1 CLIMAX in AXS TV’s history and will be presented by legendary wrestling broadcaster Jim Ross and former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NJPW veteran Josh Barnett.

Now in its 27th year, the G1 CLIMAX tournament is like no other televised event in wrestling, pitting 20 of NJPW’s top competitors against each other in a grueling, month-long series of matches spread across 19 separate events. For the round-robin tournament, the wrestlers are separated into two blocks (A & B), where they compete for the highest score (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw). The winners of each block then face off in the finals for the tournament championship and a right to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Title on NJPW’s biggest stage, Wrestle Kingdom in the Tokyo Dome Jan. 4.

Each of AXS TV’s first eight episodes will feature two of the best matches from an A or B Block event, along with highlights from other matches at the event, kicking off Aug. 18 with Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. and Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito.

The line-ups for the first eight episodes of AXS TV’s G1 Climax 27 coverage are as follows (subject to change):

Aug. 18 – A Block – Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Aug. 25 – B Block – Minoru Suzuki vs. Kenny Omega, SANADA vs. EVIL

Sept. 1 – A Block – YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale

Sept. 8 – B Block – Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega vs. Tama Tonga

Sept. 15 – A Block – Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi, Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito

Sept. 22 – B Block – Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL, Juice Robinson vs. Kenny Omega

Sept. 29 – A Block – Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito

Oct. 6 – B Block – Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki, Michael Elgin vs. EVIL

The line-ups for the final four episodes of AXS TV’s coverage will be announced at a later date.

Day 18 in the G1 Climax 27 tournament, featuring Block B. You can watch all of the shows on NJPW World for about $9 a month. It came down to Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada to decide the block and Omega was able to get the pinfall victory after hitting the One Winged Angel. Omega will now take on Naito in the finals for an opportunity to main event Wrestle Kingdom 12. Here are the results:

Tournament Matches
Juice Robinson defeated Michael Elgin
Tama Tonga defeated SANADA
Toru Yano defeated Minoru Suzuki
EVIL defeated Satoshi Kojima
Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada

Non-Tournament Matches
* El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Taichi defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, and Hirai Kawato
* Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Chase Owens, Tanga Roa, and Yujiro Takahashi
* Takashi Iizuka and Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Yuji Nagata and Togi Makabe
* Cody, Young Bucks, Hangman Page, and Bad Luck Fale defeated War Machine, Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Katsuya Kitamura

Day 19 in the G1 Climax 27 tournament and it came down to Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito in the finals of the tournament. In a match that went just over 36 minutes long, Naito was able to pin Omega to pick up the victory and get his IWGP Heavyweight Title shot in January. Taguchi and Ricochet were also able to win the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship away from The Young Bucks. Here are the results:

* Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Desperado, Taichi, and Taka Michinoku defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, KUSHIDA, and Hirai Kawato
* Guerillas of Destiny defeated Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
* Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Togi Makabe and David Finlay
* Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Juice Robinson, and Satoshi Kojima defeated Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, and Chase Owens
* Ryusuke Taguchi and Ricochet defeated The Young Bucks (c) (IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship)
* War Machine (c) defeated Cody and Hangman Page (IWGP Tag Team Championship)
* Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka defeated Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin
* SANADA, BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, and EVIL defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Gedo, and Toru Yano
* Tetsuya Naito defeated Kenny Omega (G1 Climax 27 Tournament Finals)

Katsuyori Shibata made his first appearance since sustaining a subdural hematoma earlier this year. While Shibata’s future as a wrestler is very much in the air still, he left the crowd with a simple message … saying, “I’m alive. That’s all.”

Later in the show, after the IWGP Tag Team Championship match, the Killer Elite Squad returned by ambushing War Machine and Guerrillas of Destiny. The tag team had been sidelined since February after Lance Archer suffered a herniated disc that required surgery.

Finally, the penultimate match of the evening saw the beloved Daryl Takahashi return from the dead. Daryl was brutally torn to shreds earlier in the G1 by Bad Luck Fale, but appears to be on the mend as he was sporting a cast while accompanying Hiromu Takahashi to the ring.

Sources: WrestlingINC and Pro Wrestling Sheet

Earlier today was Day 17 in the G1 Climax 27 tournament, featuring Block A. Below are the first two matches from today’s show. You can watch all of the upcoming shows on NJPW World for about $9 a month. It came down to Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the block and Naito was able to come out the victor with two Destinos for the pinfall.

Here are the results:

Tournament Matches
Bad Luck Fale defeated Yuji Nagata
Togi Makabe defeated YOSHI-HASHI
Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tomohiro Ishii
Hirooki Goto defeated Kota Ibushi
Tetsuya Naito defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

Non-Tournament Matches
* Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, and Taichi defeated Katsuya Kitamura, Hirai Kawato, and Tomoyuki Oka
* Guerillas of Destiny defeated BUSHI and SANADA
* Satoshi Kojima and Juice Robinson defeated EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi
* War Machine, Michael Elgin, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Ricochet defeated Young Bucks, Cody, Chase Owens, and Hangman Page
* Kazuchika Okada and Toru Yano defeated Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi

Current Standings

Block A
Tetsuya Naito 14 – Winner
Hiroshi Tanahashi 12
Bad Luck Fale 12
Kota Ibushi 10
Hirooki Goto 10
Zack Sabre Jr. 10
Tomohiro Ishii 8
Togi Makabe 8
YOSHI-HASHI 4
Yuji Nagata 2

Block B
Kazuchika Okada 13
Kenny Omega 12
EVIL 10
Minoru Suzuki 9
SANADA 8
Michael Elgin 8
Toru Yano 6
Tama Tonga 6
Juice Robinson 6
Satoshi Kojima 2

The next show will be on August 12 at 5:30am ET (with English Commentary) and will featured Okada vs. Omega, here is the full card:

* Tama Tonga vs. SANADA
* Minoru Suzuki vs. Toru Yano
* Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega
* Michael Elgin vs. Juice Robinson
* Satoshi Kojima vs. EVIL
* David Finlay, Kota Ibushi, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. .Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI, and Tetsuya Naito
* Katsuya Kitamura, Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi, and War Machine vs. Cody, Bad Luck Fale, The Young Bucks, and Hangman Page
* Yuji Nagata and Togi Makabe vs. Takashi Iizuka and Zack Sabre Jr.
* YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, and Hirooki Goto vs. Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, and Tanga Roa
* Hirai Kawato, Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger, and KUSHIDA vs. Taka Michinoku, El Desperado, Taichi, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Source: WrestlingINC