NJPW G1 Climax 30
Night 7
A Block: Round 4
#G1CLIMAX30
Event Date: September 30, 2020 (:00 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
Venue: Korakuen Hall
Attendance: 696
Series: G1 Climax 30
Theme Song: “Blazing Souls” by 9mm Parabellum Bullet
Commentary (English – recorded remotely): Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero
Commentary (Japanese – Samurai TV): Milano Collection AT, Haruo Murata, El Desperado (2 – 6)
Commentary (Japanese – NJPW World): Soichi Shibata, Yoshinobu Kanemaru (2 – 6)
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (1 – 3), Makoto Abe (4 – 6)
Video
The opening video looks at the competitors in A Block.
Match 1
Yuya Uemura vs Yota Tsuji
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Yota Tsuji wins via submission with a Boston crab
Time: 7:35
Match Thoughts
This was a very good opener. There was a little back and forth to start the match, but Tsuji hit a spear partway through the match that seemed to put him in complete control. Tsuji dominated Uemura in the latter part of the match, and he even broke out a giant swing in-between repeated Boston crab submission attempts.
Match 2
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Yujiro Takahashi (0 pts) vs Minoru Suzuki (4 pts) (NEVER Openweight Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Minoru Suzuki wins via pinfall after a Gotch-style piledriver
Time: 7:53
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Takahashi started out trying to take the fight to Suzuki, but it took a very hard elbow to Takahashi’s chin before he really started to get aggressive. Takahashi seemed to get mad, and that made him fight harder than he has in any other match in the tournament so far. Unfortunately for him, that aggression led him to get into Suzuki’s style of match. Specifically, Takahashi dared Suzuki to hit him again, and Suzuki was more than happy to oblige. Many times. Takahashi caouldn’t stand toe to toe with Suzuki’s strikes nor his technical skills, and that led to a fairly quick finish to Takahashi’s night. It was fun to watch though.
Match 3
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Jeff Cobb (2 pts) vs Kota Ibushi (4 pts)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Kota Ibushi wins via pinfall after Kamigoye
Time: 10:43
Match Thoughts
Great match! Jeff Cobb hasn’t looked any better in this tournament so far than he did in this match. Cobb and Ibushi started with a feeling-out process that had both men respecting the danger of their opponent. They ended up grappling a bit, and Cobb forced Ibushi to go for rope breaks a couple of times. Cobb seemed to want to pick up the pace though, and he started a striking series with a hard chop to Ibushi’s chest. Ibushi started to take over as the pace picked up, but after a while Cobb began to shut Ibushi down with some fantastic sequences involving Cobb just throwing Ibushi around the will at will. Cobb seemed to be in complete control of the match, but Ibushi only ever needs one well-placed kick to change the course of a match. This was really great, and I’d love to see them fight again with a match higher on the card so they get more time. I also love the respect both men showed to each other throughout and after the match. I love these guys.
Intermission
The ring is cleaned and sanitized during a brief intermission.
Match 4
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Taichi (6 pts) (IWGP Tag Champ) vs Kazuchika Okada (2 pts)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Kazuchika Okada wins via Referee Stoppage with the Money Clip
Time: 17:03
Match Thoughts
Great match. Okada’s lower back has been taped up in his previous tournament matches, and Taichi made that his target for the first part of this match. Following a pre-match attack, Taichi repeatedly slammed Okada’s lower back into the mat, the barricade, the side of the ring, and anything else that was near. He even had El Desperado, who was doing commentary, distract the referee at one point so he could slam Okada’s back with a chair. Okada was in a bad way, and he didn’t help himself by going for dropkicks and DDT’s, moves that end with Okada falling on his back whether he successfully connects or not. A DDT on the floor from Okada stunned Taichi, but it seemed to hurt Okada just as much. Later in the match, Okada started to figure things out a bit, and he began to mix up his attacks by alternately going for the Money Clip and the Rainmaker. That seemed to throw Taichi off, and Taichi began to get worn down. Taichi was still hitting strong moves (and well-timed cheats) as the match went on though. This was a very tough battle for Okada, and it was a great performance from Taichi.
Match 5
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Jay White (6 pts) w/ Gedo vs Will Ospreay (4 pts) (RPW British Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Will Ospreay wins via pinfall after Stormbreaker
Time: 18:46
Match Thoughts
Great match! As usual, Jay White had a great (and slightly frustrating) plan going into this match. After his stalling tactics at the beginning of the match, White slowly worked on Ospreay’s leg in between other attacks. The damage to Ospreay’s leg was sufficient enough to noticeably slow Ospreay down throughout the match, and that gave White some immediate advantages more than a few times. With Ospreay’s leg hurting, White also focused on Ospreay’s head and neck. Ospreay has a history of neck issues, and White was brutal at times in his attack. One particularly painful looking DDT from White when Ospreay was getting back into the ring had Ospreay checking his arm and hand for feeling. White wasn’t the only one with offense though. It took Ospreay a little longer to really get going (because White would repeatedly shut down Ospreay’s momentum with any of a multitude of stalling tactics), but as the match went on Ospreay seemed to figure out how to hit enough attacks in a row to start doing serious damage to White. It took a lot of high risk moves and a lot of learning how to deal with Gedo, but Ospreay looked better and better as the match went on.
Match 6
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Shingo Takagi (2 pts) vs Tomohiro Ishii (0 pts) (NEVER 6-Man Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Tomohiro Ishii wins via pinfall after a vertical drop brainbuster
Time: 26:01
Match Thoughts
Great match! This was a brutal strike-fest. Both men started to try to beat each other down right from the start, and didn’t stop for over twenty five minutes. There’s not really a whole lot to say about the structure of the match, because the match was really all about Ishii and Takagi trying to hit each other as hard and as often as they could. They went back and forth for a while, but when Ishii introduced the chops the throat he often throws into matches, Takagi responded with multiple chops to Ishii’s throat which had Ishii struggling to breathe. Takagai had momentum on his side for a long time after that, and Ishii had to absorb an insane about of punishment. Ishii made a push late in the match though, and that to a very nice finish to this fantastic main event.
Show Impressions
I loved this show. My opinion may change later, but this might be the best overall show so far in this year’s G1 Climax. A lot of people had their best matches of the tournament so far. Plus, a lot of people had extremely important matches as far as points go, so that got me invested in every result. This show set a high bar as we approach the halfway point of the tournament.
Match of the Night
Shingo Takagi vs Tomohiro Ishii
This was one of those nights where I was saying “this is the best match” after every match. So since every match got better as the night went on, naturally the main event would be at the top of my list. You could arguments for a few of tonight’s matches being the best of the night, but for me, Shingo and Ishii’s brutal battle was the most entertaining.
Standings After Night 7
A Block
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay White | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Kota Ibushi | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Minrou Suzuki (NEVER Openweight Champ) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Taichi (IWGP Tag Champ) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Will Ospreay (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Kazuchika Okada | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Jeff Cobb | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Shingo Takagi | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Yujiro Takahashi | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
B Block
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC & Heavyweight Champ) | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Toru Yano | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Juice Robinson | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| KENTA | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| EVIL | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Hirooki Goto (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| YOSHI-HASHI (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Zack Sabre Jr. (IWGP Tag Champ) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| SANADA | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
C Block (Young Lions)
| Young Lion | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yota Tsuji | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Yuya Uemura | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Gabriel Kidd | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/255782?showResult=1