Oiwa Wins G1 Climax 36 And Continues Trend Set By Previous Victors

Ryohei Oiwa won this year's G1 Climax following an excellent final against Yuya Uemura from Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo earlier today.

The win was the culmination of a round robin tournament which spanned the past five weeks.

As I've written in previous posts, my initial pick to win - Shota Umino - was withdrawn following an injury suffered on the first night of the tournament. My next guess was Uemura, who finished second in B Block and defeated current IWGP Heavyweight Champion - Yota Tsuji - in one of yesterday's semi finals.

Oiwa was in a three-way tie in the round robin portion of the tournament. However, he finished second due to tiebreaker and progressed to today's final by beating A Block victor, Callum Newman, in the other semi.

Oiwa to continue trend set by recent G1 Climax winners

Per the rules of the G1 Climax, Oiwa should have secured a shot for NJPW's major title in the main event of January 4th's Wrestle Kingdom event. However, he has executed his right to challenge for the strap sooner.

He's now set to face Tsuji at NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling 2026 on October 12th. It'll take place in the same building as today's show.

This will be the third consecutive time a G1 Climax winner has brought their title shot forward.

How previous G1 winners fared in NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling title shots

In 2024, Zack Sabre Jr opted to challenge Tetsuya Naito for the strap at King of Pro-Wrestling so he could cone into NJPW Royal Quest IV - from Crystal Palace, London - as a local champion. 

Last year's tournament winner - Konosuke Takeshita - beat Sabre for the title at King of Pro-Wrestling 2025.

That's a perfect 2-0 for early cash-ins for those counting. Will Oiwa make it a hat-trick? We'll find out in fifty-seven days.

Last Night's Emergency Warnings

The UK Government sent out emergency alerts last night. The act resulted in a lot of discourse online. 

First things first, I initially received the alert in Welsh. Even though I live in Wales, I'm one of the 82.7% the 2021 Census counted as being a non-Welsh speaker. It was pointless sending the alert to me in a, as ironic as this will come across, 'foreign' language.

I received the English version of the message six minutes later.

Yes - SIX MINUTES!

That's not good enough. Not for what has evidently been classed as an 'emergency' by the Government.

Was it really an emergency?

I also found the content of the message to skip heavily in the 'this isn't an emergency' box. 

We were told there is a 'heavy risk of wildfires'. We knew that already. They then listed activities that could start a fire. Things we already know such as disposable barbecues, garden incinerators and fireworks.

Why didn't it mention arsonists? They start fires, too. 

Was it okay to send an alert in this manner?

Overall, I strongly believe last night's communication was a misuse of what the emergency alerts were designed for. To alert the public of hazardous weather or, dare I say it, war.

A modern day air raid warning, if you will. Not a lecture on what causes fires. Those could easily be sent via text message. The point still gets out there in that method.

What the alert stated

There is a very high risk of wildfires nationally. Residents, landowners and visitors should not undertake any activity that could start a fire, including disposable barbecues, firepits, garden incinerators, or fireworks. Even a small flame can rapidly develop into major wildfires placing lives, homes, businesses and emergency responders at risk.

Follow official updates and report signs of fire immediately by calling 999. Search gov.uk/alerts for more information.

As you can see, the English version of the message arrived six minutes after the Welsh version.

One Word For The 2026 Solar Eclipse

In a very short update to Wednesday's post, in which I wrote about the then upcoming eclipse and shared a memory about the 1999 eclipse, I'd like to share what will be a memory for the 2026 edition.

Years from now, when I recall my personal memory of watching the solar eclipse of 2026, one word will come to mind.

Crap.

It was crappier than '99. And that's a statement in itself.

The TV coverage was excellent, however. 

G1 Climax 36's Semis Set

The semi-finals of this year's NJPW G1 Climax have now been confirmed following today's final round of Block B matches.

Saturday's semis will see A Block winner - Yota Tsuji - take on B Block runner-up: Yuya Uemura. Then, in the other bout, Callum Newman - who topped B Block - will square off against Ryohei Oiwa, who finished second to Tsuji in their block.

The winners will go on to Sunday's final with the overall victor securing a main event match at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom on January 4th 2027.

Yota Tsuji is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Should he end up winning the G1, Tsuji will get to choose his dance partner for New Japan's opening event of next year.

The other three potential G1 Climax winners will obviously get to challenge whoever is holding the strap come January. 

Earlier this year, I predicted Shota Umino would win the G1. That guess fell after the first hurdle due to Umino sustaining a concussion in his opening night loss to Zack Sabre Jr. The injury ended my pick's tournament.

My reserve choice is still in it. 

Come on Uemura!

Partial Solar Eclipse '26

Ahh, a partial solar eclipse in the news.

Takes me back to 1999. It seemed the entire UK was hyped up for that one. I couldn't find any of the eclipse viewing glasses back then. I tried, though.

I also tried to create my own viewing device. All I recall from that experiment was standing out my backyard with my dad and our next door neighbour as we tried to 'view' the eclipse on a white bit of paper.

The Three Stooges would have done a better job.

That was one of the many fond memories I have of our neighbour, who passed away in the mid-2010s. 

As for this year's eclipse - things are set to begin at around 18:17. They forecast 93.24% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon at approximately 19:13.

Maybe I should get some paper. You know - for old times' sake.

A Few Words About Jimmy Cricket (And How Cool He Was To Me)

I looked through a few pages of my autograph collection last night. I was on the hunt for Benny from Crossroads (don't ask!), but came across one I really should have written about long before today.

Here is a personalised autograph from none other than Jimmy Cricket.

Jimmy passed away last week at the age of eighty.  I consider him to be one of the most iconic comedians from my childhood. I suppose a good part of that is knowing he had gone out of his way to send me the autograph when my dad wrote to him - on my behalf - back in the mid-80s.

It wasn't just the 1980s when Jimmy did me a favour, though.

During the 2000s, I contacted Jimmy myself. I had told him one of my friends had enjoyed looking through my autograph collection and one of the names which stood out to her was his. Jimmy sent over an autograph for me to give my friend on her  birthday.

That was very cool.

What others said about Jimmy Cricket

It seems the consensus all shared how genuinely nice Jimmy Cricket was. Following his passing, some other people who knew Jimmy shared their thoughts on the late comedian.

Roy Walker stated that Jimmy was a 'sincere wee fella..' and that he 'loved everyone and everyone loved him.' Christopher Biggins also shared his opinion that Jimmy was 'unbelievably fantastic' and reasoned that he had never met anyone nicer.

Those two examples, added to mine, prove Jimmy Cricket was the genuine article.

I've Finished The End Of The World As We Know It

I finished reading The End of the World as We Know It yesterday.

It's a collection of short stories based around Stephen King's The Stand. As I'm sure I've written numerous times over the years, the hefty apocalyptic novel is my favourite works by King. Checking out the anthology which spins off from it was a no- brainer.

To be frank, I ended up giving the collection four stars out of five. The sole reason is because there are some stories which seem to be too similar and it threw me off somewhat.

With all that said, the writers who worked on this project served The Stand well. It's absolutely something I'd recommend to those who have read The Stand in the past. Or, better yet, I'd push BOTH The Stand and this newer book, serving as its sidekick, to new readers.

Buy The End of the World as We Know It