[7.0] "Despite the weaker matches towards the beginning of the show, especially the Yuto-Ice vs. Great-O-Khan bout, this ends up being a very good way to start this edition of G1 Climax."

[7.0] "Very good in-ring show that deserved a better crowd that could've brought a little more intensity to the action."

[6.0] "Good overall show with mostly good matches (Zabre vs Umino is outstanding) but the main event was disappointing and dragged show down a bit."

[6.0] "[6, 5/10] The first part of the show was really boring; it wasn't until the match between Umino and ZSJ that it got good. Frankly, I'm still disappointed by another New Japan show in the United States."

[7.0] "Nothing bad here, everything is a serviceable start to the G1 tournament and a fun show live. Top three matches being Sabre Jr/Umino, Newman/Yuya, and the Main Event."

[6.0] "Pretty meh overall, though still slightly above average. The lineup feels noticeably weaker than what we've come to expect from past G1 tournaments, with too many wrestlers who still need to take that next step before they truly belong at this level. The first half of the show drifts along without leaving much of an impression before things finally pick up with Zack-Shota, Newman-Uemura and the main event. I still can't bring myself to care much about Tsuji. He does everything right from a technical standpoint, yet somehow manages to leave me with no emotional investment whatsoever."

[7.0] "Aaron Wolf vs HENARE: Wolf winning was a nice surprise, the match was fine I guess, Wolf is still a bit green in the ring, HENARE had a fine showing, was not memorable except for the outcome [**]. Jake Lee vs Shingo Takagi: Was not a fan of this match, Lee with his goofy character is not that interesting, Takagi tried to get a decent match here but it was underwhelming [*3/4]. OSKAR vs Ren Narita: A somewhat fine match, OSKAR winning was good to see though, could have gone a bit longer [*3/4]. Yuto-Ice vs Great O-Khan: Slow and boring is two words that can describe this, was not worth watching and Ice winning was fine I guess [*]. Zack Sabre Jr vs Shota Umino: A great match as expected from these two, they have the chemistry in the ring to make matches work well and worth watching, ZSJ winning was good but Umino could have won all the same either way would have been just as great [****]. Hirooki Goto vs SANADA: This was fine at best, they did what they needed to do and the time given was appropriate for the action they delivered [**]. Callum Newman vs Yuya Uemura: A good delivery of action, Newman looked decent despite only being cleared following Dominion days before this G1 match, Uemura looked decent even in defeat [***3/4]. Ryohei Oiwa vs Boltin Oleg: Two promising up and coming guys competing in what was a solidly competitive match, both had a solid enough showing [***1/2]. Yota Tsuji vs Konosuke Takeshita: Good match but just under their WK match from January, they had a great main event with Tsuji getting the win which was interesting to see as thought Takeshita would have got the win [****1/4]"

[5.0] "[2.5 Stars] Beyond shocked to see this event getting such a high rating. Thought it was filled with some pretty awful matches - Lee/Takagi, OSKAR/Narita, Yuto-Ice/GOK, Sanada/Goto - and much of the other matches felt like great match ups on card that never quite delivered. The main event was one of the year's finest, don't get me wrong, but sheesh, this is what qualifies as a solid show?"

[7.0] "This was a very enjoyable opening night for the G1 Climax in Chicago. The show did an excellent job of introducing NJPW's style and atmosphere to a North American audience while delivering a consistently strong card. The standout match of the night was Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji, which felt like a true big-match encounter and delivered on expectations. Other tournament matches ranged from solid to very good, with no real disappointments on the card. The crowd was engaged throughout the event, adding to the overall experience. While the show may not be remembered as one of the greatest G1 events of all time, it was a strong and entertaining start to the tournament that showcased the depth of NJPW's roster and the excitement of the G1 format."

[7.0] "A pretty good opening night to this year's G1. The young guys got the biggest reactions on this show and i thought that the matches with them in it were by far the best on this card, with Zack/Shota, Takeshita/Tsuji and Oleg/Oiwa being the standouts for me. There were a lot of good matches on this show but there were also a couple of undercard bouts that were just not up to scratch. Lee/Shingo, Yuto/GOK and Sanada/Goto were the worst of the bunch here, not exactly terrible but just kind of boring and not nearly as thrilling as some of the other matches that featured the new guys. Production on this show also wasn't great but it was certainly a sight better than the barely audible crowds that we used to get on New Japan Strong shows. A mixed show for sure but one that i thought had more positives than it did negatives. I am hopeful for what's to come for this G1 going forward, especially for the younger guys but i do hope that the old guys do step up once things actually get rolling because they were easily the weakest part of this show for me. MOTN - Shota Umino vs. Zack Sabre Jr."

[7.0] "The first matches are disapointing, but we have some nice matches with Shota Umino vs Zack Sabre Jr, Callum Newman vs Yuya Uemura and Ryohei Oiwa vs Boltin Oleg, and a wonderful main event between Yota Tsuji and Konosuke Takeshita."

[5.0] "Oof, this G1 field does not look as good as it did on paper. Wolf, Lee, Ren, GOK, and SANADA were all in the minus column, while OSKAR and ICE are gonna need to step up. The biggest disappointment was therefore Oleg vs Oiwa, as I expected them to be two of the heat-bringers. The usual lychpins of ZSJ, Takeshita, and Tsuji did their work, while I'm happy to see Shota become more of a reliable top guy. Yuya needed to start hotter given his weird status as the favourite."

"A show that reinforced what much of NJPW's 2026 has shown, which is, when you put this new generation in big spots and just let them wrestle they will give you something to believe in. Therefore, their matches were the clear standouts on Night 1 after a relatively slow start to the show with some very average undercard matches."

[4.0] "A good main event, but a very packed card with too many average matches. I expected better for this US event, and I think the crowd did too. New Japan might benefit from inserting a few promos between matches rather than dumping everything at the end of an already packed show. Match quality: 4/6.5. Angles and non-match segments: 0.25/3.5. Bonus/penalty: nice atmosphere, though nothing special for a Chicago crowd (+0.25). Total: 4.5/10. Show watched on NJPW World."

[6.0] "As an opening match for "G1 CLIMAX, " it was acceptable. However, overall, the wrestlers' movements were too slow. In the main event in particular, there were several instances where Konosuke Takeshita had to wait for Yota Tsuji to make his move, and even compared to his matches in AEW, Takeshita's performance was underwhelming. Callum Newman, Oleg Boltin, Shota Umino, and SANADA competed while dealing with injuries, but I think they generally moved well. Ren Narita, Ryohei Oiwa, and Yuya Uemura put on entertaining matches with fighting styles distinct from the other wrestlers. I hope this "G1 CLIMAX" will be one where these three take center stage. Now, while this event managed to draw an audience of about 4, 100 on the day of the matches (a slight decrease from last year's "Windy City Riot"), only about 3, 800 people had registered by the morning of the event, and it appears that approximately 1, 500 tickets went unsold. In addition, there appeared to be numerous shortcomings in venue setup, sound, and camera work. These issues need to be addressed promptly. While I think the event itself was a success, it may have fallen slightly short of their own expectations."

[7.0] "(Grade:C) A Solid event for NJPW bringing the G1 Climax to Chicago! It started off very lukewarm and it kept ramping up with stars of our generation showcasing their prowess and what the New Japan has to offer. MOTN for me were Takeshita vs. Tsuji and Newman vs. Uemura! Early Prediction for the G1 Climax 36 Winner is a toss-up really as it feels like Shota Umino time to take the throne yet Takeshita & Uemura are around the corner as 2nd and 3rd place options."

[8.0] "The presentation of the wrestlers has improved greatly since other New Japan America events I have seen. I feel like everyone was presented as a legitimate threat and there was no one who felt like they did not belong in the tournament. This was a great kick-off night of action even if there is no instant classic or 5-star match it was consistent across the board and continues to improve upon the product. Newman/Yuya was great, Tsuji/Takeshita was a very good main event, and Sabre Jr. vs Shota was very solid as well. The low points I felt, were the Goto/Sanada match because of the obvious age of Sanada and the Wolf/Henare match just because it did not stand out in any way other than Wolf's continued development. The sound production was pretty bad throughout the night but that has nothing to do with the wrestlers so it does not really effect my grading of the show. Overall, a very solid night one that foreshadows what could be an exciting G1 Climax. Grade: B-"

[6.0] "I would say a pretty middling show to open this years G1. The show had some great to amazing matches such as Take/Tsuji, Shota/ZSJ and Newman/Uemura which were all lots of fun. I would say the big problem was the fact the first of those was the 5th match on a nine match card meaning the opening of the show was a bit of a slog to get through. Although positively it was nice to watch a G1 show without any complete disasters on the card mainly as H.o.T were not there to fuck shit around. The biggest negative was the sound the crowd and the desk were not sound mixed well. I had the volume on full both on my laptop and World and it still was pretty quiet which was not great. Overall a pretty solid show nice to have an American crowd bring a different atmosphere to a night of the G1 but please fix the sound mixing on shows in America NJPW."

[5.0] "A very mediocre first night of the G1, especially with the poor sound production the whole night. There was really only one match worth checking out, and mostly everything else was decent or fine. Henare vs Wolf was perfectly okay, just because of the interesting striker-vs-grappler story. Wolf is still a bit awkward and sloppy, seen with his disjointed sequences/spots and his tendency to get lost, but his judo attacks and his uniquely 'reckless' style remains quite fun. This followed a generic 'strong style' formula with big strikes and power moves, though they thankfully didn't get too cheesy or overkill. A bit more impact and energy would've been nice, but most of the bigger moments were well-executed and Wolf impressed when most required to. **3/4. Shingo vs Jake was aggressively fine. Jake is admittedly entertaining with his goofy character work, but I really miss him being a serious wrestler. Shingo was okay with his usual strikes and power moves but definitely on auto-pilot mode. Jake's moves all looked a bit too sloppy and slow, and even his bumping was awkward. Perhaps Shingo struggled to work around Jake's height. I liked the idea of Jake targeting Shingo's ribs and Shingo targeting Jake's knee, but neither guy sold very well in the long term. Even their big bomb trades were underwhelming, and Jake's finishing stretch wasn't very convincing. **1/2. Narita vs Oskar was okay. Narita grimed it up with his beatdown work and submissions, while Oskar had his typically plain big-man attacks. That made for an okay styles clash as Narita had to evade Oskar and then opportunistically strike with his underhanded tactics and aggressive targeting, namely as he went after Oskar's leg, while Oskar relied on his big strikes and power moves. I still wish Oskar could actually project as a threatening giant instead of just being a tall and moderately strong guy who pulls dorky faces. Props to him for keeping up his leg-selling and putting over the threat of Narita's submissions though, and also to Narita for continuing his leg-targeting. **3/4. O-Khan vs Yuto was poor and clearly the worst match here. I find both guys have quite unappealing characters. Yuto at least had decent strikes, even if they lack full intensity most of the time, but O-Khan annoyingly still relies on his awful gimmick attacks, and he isn't someone who can sell or bump well enough to make the strikes of someone like Yuto look as good as possible. At least O-Khan's showboating was a bit fun, but that's all he could offer. O-Khan trying to cheat for the win only for Yuto to simply survive and then straight-forwardly put him away was pretty underwhelming for a finish. **1/4. Sabre vs Shota was quite good but one of their weaker meetings, since it repeated a lot of what we've seen them do many times before. There was still the interesting focus of Sabre's grappling wizardry against Shota's fiery striking and compelling selling, but it didn't offer anything too unique. They got quite generically 50/50 with their big moves at the end but at least it all looked good in isolation. It was smart to have Shota start off this G1 with a loss, especially in the US against the always popular Sabre, so he can hopefully go on a big run to finish the tournament strong. ***1/4. Goto vs Sanada was okay. Their interactions were pretty generic and lethargic for a while, but things picked up as they went for their bigger moves and sequences. Sanada thankfully avoided going for any H.o.T shenanigans and actually looked kind of good with some of his classic spots, though that classic awkwardness still remains with some of them, and him being broken obviously doesn't help. There was a decent sense of struggle as they went for their big-move trades and sudden counters, but Sanada looked a bit awkward in some of the more complex set-ups, so Goto was often saddled with keeping the match together. **3/4. Uemura vs Newman was pretty easily MOTN. They had great speed, athleticism, and of course chemistry, and I really liked the idea of Uemura using his usual arm-targeting to go after Newman's apparently IRL injured arm, which added a lot more interest to all of their interactions, especially with how mostly very good Newman's arm-selling was. Uemura also impressed with his selling when it came to rallying for his slick comebacks. Their few 'fighting spirit' no-sell moments were silly, but the rest of their interactions were crisp and impactful, making for some really good counters and near falls in the final 1/3rd. ***1/2. Oiwa vs Boltin was alright. A big focus was on their grappling exchanges, and both showed nice technique but they never meaningfully picked up the intensity, even after they finally brought out their power moves and strikes. I think that's because both guys need speedier opponents for their own work to stand out, since the two of them together made for a frankly 'lumbering' pace. Oiwa's arm-targeting was mostly good, but Boltin wasn't a super compelling seller, and the match ended right as it started to finally become interesting. At least the finish had the surprise factor, but it still felt a bit rushed. ***. Takeshita vs Tsuji was even weaker than their already disappointing WK match. Both guys far too heavily rely on hitting all the same spots and sequences the exact same ways in every match, with there never being any real character work from them aside from super generic displays of fire. While they're both quite athletic, they simply don't have the sort of explosive offence or creativity you'd hope for from true top stars. They ended up robotically trading signature moves, counters, and near falls in the 2nd half, with many other big-match tropes annoyingly thrown in, especially the cheesy 'fighting spirit' no-sell nonsense. At least their chemistry was good, but there was nothing else to this. ***"

[8.0] "An very good show hampered by NJPW's terrible American production values. This is the best mic'ed show they have done in the US and it was still terrible with the crowd sounding like they were 10 miles away from the ring. You also got really poor sound from in the actual ring. The show was saved by two excellent matches and some shockingly good performance from wrestlers that usually are a bore (Sanada and Jake Lee). The main was excellent and Sabre V Unimo were excellent."

[5.0] "Kicking off the G1 with New Japan Strong production is so deflating. As others have said, it's not as if any of the matches were really awful. The biggest problem is the sound balancing. I had to constantly adjust the volume to hear the commentators at a reasonable level, and it became absolutely impossible to hear both the commentators and the audience. Not being able to hear the crowd made everything feel so weak and hollow. Also, they've got the KOB guys not coming out to their KOB music in front of an audience who were likely looking forward to seeing KOB be KOB, Oiwa has crap new music, and Tsuji is still using that pop song which doesn't fit at all. The main event was the only match close to being worth tuning in for, but I honestly wouldn't recommend anyone sticking this entire show out. It lacks energy and excitement. Apparently the live fans were really loud but you'd barely know it from the broadcast."

[9.0] "Having a front row seat to this made it so much better. Getting to be literally right there for newmans shotgun dropkick on yuya, jake lee's victory exit, HENARE's defeated exit, Naritas chair shot to OSKAR, and so on. This was so much fun, ZSJ and Shota stole the show, Yuto-Ice is OVER af, crowd was hot for basically every match."

[7.0] "There were no stinkers on this card but I've got some issues with the production. The camera work and sound mixing on this show are notably below par for NJPW. I swear, they just don't give a damn whenever they film in the States. The 2012 indie level production paired with their absolute refusal to understand that we have this little thing called Fair Use in the United States has made their western expansion a totally fruitless endeavor. That and I just don't like American wrestling fans in general (I can say this being one) because when in crowd form they're either extremely obnoxious or deathly silent."

[6.0] "A good opening night for the G1 Climax that delivers exactly what is expected from the tournament. Although the card contains one notable disappointment and a few matches that stay around the average mark, the stronger bouts in the second half help the event finish with solid momentum. Consistency and an enjoyable closing stretch make for a satisfying start to this year's tournament."

[7.0] "Ultimately it was alright. Some surprising decisions but the only appalling one was Jake Lee winning. The match quality didn't really pick up till ZSJ v Shota and then we got a couple of solid matches and a strong main event. I'd say this was a 6.5/10 heavily hampered by that Ice v O'Khan snoozefest."

[5.0] "The crowd and enthusiasm of G1 greatly helped this show. The performances of Sanada, Okhan, and Lee were absolute disasters, and even though the main event was enjoyable, largely due to Takeshita's talent and support among American fans, the rest of the good matches were no better than previous encounters and had nothing memorable to watch again in the future. Umino received another beating, this time from Zack, and the "new standard of strong style" that Uemura spoke about in his interview was not seen in his wrestling, nor did it help him win his match. Wolf continues his path of establishing his character and wrestling style, while also gaining confidence, which will be a gradual process. The only character cheered before having to kill himself was Yuto Ice"

[5.0] "Aaron Wolf looked good here, so we've got at least one takeaway. I wouldn't really recommend anything on this, there's nothing completely terrible though almost all of this is bland and uninspired. I like Aaron Wolf & HENARE but if their outing impressed me the most on the opening G1 card? That's a concern. **3/4."

[5.0] "If this show is anything to go by, I'm gonna have a very tough time keeping up with the G1 this year. I liked the last 3 matches but the undercard is pretty poor."

"Top to bottom, the best New Japan show post the mass exodus of talent. The crowd was fantastic, and everyone had their work boots on, even the House of Torture folks. G1 truly is the best time of year."