NJPW G1 Climax 30
Night 3
A Block: Round 2
#G1CLIMAX30
Event Date: September 23, 2020 (18:30 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Toyohira, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Venue: Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center (Hokkai Kitayell)
Attendance: 1,961
Series: G1 Climax 30
Theme Song: “Blazing Souls” by 9mm Parabellum Bullet
Commentary (English – recorded remotely): Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero
Commentary (Japanese): Milano Collection AT, Miki Motoi, Haruo Murata
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (1 – 3), Makoto Abe (4 – 6)
Video
The opening video looks at the competitors in A Block.
Match 1
Gabriel Kidd vs Yuya Uemura
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Gabriel Kidd wins via pinfall after a butterfly suplex
Time: 7:21
Match Thoughts
Good match. This might not have been as intense as some recent young lion matches, but it was still a solid outing for both of these wrestlers. Uemura might have looked a little better throughout most of the match, but Kidd had some nice moments of strong offense at just the right times.
Match 2
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Shingo Takagi (0 pts) vs Jeff Cobb (0 pts)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Jeff Cobb wins via pinfall after Tour of the Islands
Time: 11:44
Match Thoughts
Very good match. This was a battle of power with lots of big slams and suplexes. The pace was methodical for most of the match as both men were trying to overpower their opponent or find some leverage advantages to take control of the next round of slams. There were some heavy strikes thrown in increasingly as the match went on (mostly from Shingo), and the pace did pick up as the match approached the ten minute mark. Shingo’s momentum seemed to be growing later in the match, but Cobb’s power shut Shingo down more than once.
Match 3
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Yujiro Takahashi (0 pts) vs Kazuchika Okada (0 pts)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Kazuchika Okada wins via submission with the Money Clip
Time: 12:01
Match Thoughts
Good match. We’ve seen these two men face each other a lot since NJPW returned from hiatus, and Okada has had an overwhelming advantage in the series. For that reason, I didn’t see a ton of tension or intrigue heading into the match. The biggest new factor in this match is that Okada had his lower back taped up, and Rocky Romero said on commentary that Okada has had lingering back issues. That didn’t play a huge role in the match though, so there wasn’t a whole lot here that we haven’t seen before between Okada and Takahashi. Plus, without Gedo or any other Bullet Club members at ringside, Yujiro struggled mightily. The action was fine, i just felt like we’d seen it all before (and probably a little better).
Intermission
The ring is cleaned and sanitized during a brief intermission.
Match 4
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Taichi (2 pts) (IWGP Tag Champ) vs Minoru Suzuki (2 pts) (NEVER Openweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Taichi wins via pinfall after Black Mephisto
Time: 12:11
Match Thoughts
Very good match. This started with an extended brawl outside the ring with all sorts of weapons including a whole lot of chairs. Referee Marty Asami was nowhere to be seen after getting knocked down early in the match, so Suzuki and Taichi just tried to kill each other at ringside. Eventually Asami woke up, and the match made it into the ring. From there Suzuki and Taichi started trading a few hard shots, but a lot of the rest of the match was focused on holds and counters with both men looking to hit their finisher as quickly as possible. It felt like the first finisher would win, and it was really either man’s match up until the very end. I liked the match, though the later parts of the match inside the ring were more entertaining for me than the earlier brawling outside the ring.
Match 5
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Will Ospreay (2 pts) (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) vs Tomohiro Ishii (0 pts) (NEVER 6-Man Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Will Ospreay wins via pinfall after Stormbreaker
Time: 18:20
Match Thoughts
Great match. Ospreay has put on a lot of muscle since before NJPW’s hiatus, and that helped him immensely in this match. Early on, it looked like Ospreay might try to fight Ishii in Ishii’s style of hard-hitting match, but Ospreay was able to pull Ishii into more of a hybrid of Ishii’s own style mixed with Ospreay’s faster-paced, counter-heavy exchanges. That mix seems to be exactly what this new version of Ospreay is going to bring to the ring, so in that sense, Ospreay had a strong advantage. However, Ishii is tough, and he’s angry all the time, so Ospreay still had a very hard time dealing with his fellow Chaos member. It was super fun seeing Ishii fight a different match than we’re used to seeing him have while still hitting Ospreay really, really hard with a whole lot of strikes. It was also super fun seeing Ospreay get frustrated when his own strikes seemed to do almost nothing to Ishii, so Ospreay varied his attacks until the started to have an effect. I think Ospreay’s new approach and his incredible confidence is going to serve him well in this year’s G1 Climax.
Match 6
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Jay White (2 pts) w/ Gedo vs Kota Ibushi (2 pts)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Jay White wins via pinfall after Blade Runner
Time: 20:28
Match Thoughts
Great match. Jay White had a game plan that he stuck to throughout the entire match, and it was a plan that could have ramifications throughout the rest of the tournament. Almost immediately, White attacked Ibushi’s knee, and he kept attacking the knee at every opportunity. Ibushi struggled for a while, but he eventually went into his zone where very little seems to affect him. Even then though, Ibushi was still limping and visibly slowed by White’s attacks. There were, of course, some distractions from Gedo and some stalling tactics from White, but for the most part White just fought a very smart match without resorting to some of his dirtier tactics. With the damage White did, it will be interesting to see how that affects Ibushi in his next few matches.
Show Impressions
The final two matches were better than the rest of the matches by a pretty large margin, but as a whole I still enjoyed the show quite a lot.
Match of the Night
Will Ospreay vs Tomohiro Ishii
Even though the main event felt like a more important match, I enjoyed the overall action more in Ospreay vs Ishii.
Standings After Night 3
A Block
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay White | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Taichi (IWGP Tag Champ) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Will Ospreay (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeff Cobb | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kazuchika Okada | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kota Ibushi | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Minrou Suzuki (NEVER Openweight Champ) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Shingo Takagi | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Yujiro Takahashi | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
B Block
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juice Robinson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| KENTA | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC & Heavyweight Champ) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Toru Yano | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Zack Sabre Jr. (IWGP Tag Champ) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| EVIL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Hirooki Goto (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| SANADA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| YOSHI-HASHI (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
C Block (Young Lions)
| Young Lion | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yuya Uemura | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Yota Tsuji | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Gabriel Kidd | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/255778?showResult=1