NJPW G1 Climax 30
Night 5
A Block: Round 3
#G1CLIMAX30
Event Date: September 27, 2020 (16:00 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Chuo, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
Venue: World Memorial Hall
Attendance: 2,548
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, Katsuhiko Kanazawa, Koki Yamazaki (1, 5), Yuichi Tabata (2, 4), Yohei Onishi (3, 6)
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 Yota Tsuji
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Gabriel Kidd wins via pinfall after a double-underhook suplex
Time: 7:40
Match Thoughts
Good match. Kidd wrestled a very smart match and managed to limit Tsuji’s use of power moves. Kidd went for a lot of holds early, then when things started to break open a bit, he almost always had an answer for whatever Tsuji would throw at him. This was a very nice match for Kidd, and it was a great opener for the show.
Match 2
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Yujiro Takahashi (0 pts) vs Taichi (4 pts) (IWGP Tag Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Taichi wins via pinfall with a Gedo Clutch (after a low blow)
Time: 11:03
Match Thoughts
Very good match. It’s felt like Yujiro Takahashi has been kind of coasting through the tournament up to this point, but Taichi got him to fight tonight. Taichi tended to dominate the early parts of the match (after a brief advantage off a pre-match attack by Yujiro), but Taichi’s attitude and repeated taunts pissed Yujiro off. Yujiro brawled with Taichi at ringside for a bit, and back in the ring Yujiro was pulling of some nice strikes and some smart moves. This was easily one of the better Yujiro Takahashi matches I’ve seen lately. It’s just a shame we’re still in the pandemic era and the staff is limited, otherwise we could have seen Miho Abe and Pieter in and around the ring at the same time.
Match 3
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Jeff Cobb (2 pts) vs Minoru Suzuki (2 pts) (NEVER Openweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Minoru Suzuki wins via pinfall after a Gotch-style piledriver
Time: 9:24
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Suzuki looked like he wanted to embarrass Cobb tonight. Suzuki had an unusually calm and conservative start to the match, and for a second I thought he might be respecting the power and danger of Cobb’s attacks. But as Suzuki continued to smile and laugh, and even invite Cobb down to the mat for a grappling session, it seemed clear that Suzuki was not taking Cobb too seriously. Cobb did pretty well at times, but Suzuki had the last laugh in pretty much every exchange they had. They seemed to lose communication a little in the middle of the match once or twice, but they quickly moved on and put on a solid match, though it wasn’t as intense as I was hoping for.
Intermission
The ring is cleaned and sanitized during a brief intermission.
Match 4
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Tomohiro Ishii (0 pts) (NEVER 6-Man Champ) vs Kota Ibushi (2 pts)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Kota Ibushi wins via pinfall after Kamigoye
Time: 15:41
Match Thoughts
Great match. After blocking or avoiding most of Ibushi’s quick attacks early in the match, Tomohiro Ishii drew Ibushi more into an Ishii-style fight. Unfortunately for Ishii, Ibushi has no problem taking and giving as many strikes as anyone in NJPW right now. Ibushi went into his zone where he’ll take a beating, then he’ll respond by giving his opponent an even greater beating. Ishii can absorb tremendous amounts of punishment though, so this match became a test of endurance and each wrestler’s ability to continue standing after taking increasingly hard strikes over and over. Even when it was all over, both guys were still trying to hit each other even though they were only semi-conscious and down on the mat. Not only was the action a whole lot of fun, but this was an important match for both guys. The loser here tonight is going to find it very difficult to stay competitive in the tournament as far as points go.
Match 5
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Shingo Takagi (0 pts) vs Will Ospreay (4 pts) (RPW British Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Shingo Takagi wins via pinfall after Last of the Dragon
Time: 22:03
Match Thoughts
Great match. It’s always magic when these two guys are one on one. Both men did what they do best. Ospreay flew, kicked, and sped his way around Takagi, while Takagi struck and slammed Ospreay with increasing ferocity. There’s some history between these two, so they were both off moves and variations of moves that we don’t normally see them do in order to try to surprise their opponent and get an advantage. Neither man ever really had a sustained advantage in the match, and that kept things extremely tense as the battle went on. There were bunches of great sequences with counter after counter, and by the end of the match both guys were looking for that one killing blow.
Match 6
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Jay White (4 pts) vs Kazuchika Okada (2 pts)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Jay White wins via pinfall after Blade Runner
Time: 18:48
Match Thoughts
Great match. White controlled the pace of the early part of the match in his usual fashion (by repeatedly rolling out of the ring). Okada might have gotten mildly frustrated, but he kept himself under control and took the fight to White. Most of the rest of the match was spent with Okada trying to build up sustained offense only to get thwarted time and time again by White, Gedo, or both at the same time. Later in the match, Okada seemed to start figuring out how to deal with both White and Gedo, and that forced White to start wrestling. White held his own and even got a good advantage over Okada, but Okada started to come back when White got too full of himself. Then some more cheating happened, and that led to a well-done finish.
Show Impressions
With the block really starting to split, there were some interesting results tonight. And overall, I think this round was better for A Block than the previous round.
Match of the Night
Shingo Takagi vs Will Ospreay
Any time this match is on the card, it’s going to be tough to beat.
Standings After Night 5
A Block
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay White | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Taichi (IWGP Tag Champ) | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Kota Ibushi | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Minrou Suzuki (NEVER Openweight Champ) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Will Ospreay (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Jeff Cobb | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Kazuchika Okada | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Shingo Takagi | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Yujiro Takahashi | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
B Block
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juice Robinson | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC & Heavyweight Champ) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Toru Yano | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| EVIL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Hirooki Goto (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| KENTA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Zack Sabre Jr. (IWGP Tag Champ) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| SANADA | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| YOSHI-HASHI (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
C Block (Young Lions)
| Young Lion | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabriel Kidd | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Yota Tsuji | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Yuya Uemura | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/255780?showResult=1