NJPW G1 Climax 30
Night 9
A Block: Round 5
#G1CLIMAX30
Event Date: October 5, 2020 (19:00 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan
Venue: Takamatsu City General Gymnasium (Stadium 1)
Attendance: 1,247
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, Jushin Thunder Liger, Shigeki Kiyono
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: Yuya Uemura wins via submission with a high angle Boston crab
Time: 7:35
Match Thoughts
After the draw Kidd had with Tsuji on the previous show, this match felt a little like Kidd either had a bad night tonight or he had a good night against Tsuji. Still, this was a very entertaining opener. Kidd was outworked for much of the match, so this a a strong performance for Uemura.
Match 2
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Yujiro Takahashi (0 pts) vs Shingo Takagi (2 pts)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Shingo Takagi wins via pinfall after Last of the Dragon
Time: 13:38
Match Thoughts
Good match. At times it didn’t look like Takahashi was quite on the same page as Takagi, and some of Takahashi’s moves didn’t work out like he planned, but overall this was an entertaining match. Takahashi did try to fight Takagi in contests of strikes, but that never worked out very well for Takahashi. In the end, I liked Takagi in this match, but Takahashi was just okay.
Match 3
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Jay White (6 pts) w/ Gedo vs Jeff Cobb (2 pts)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Jeff Cobb wins via pinfall after the Tour of the Islands
Time: 12:24
Match Thoughts
Great match. At first, it seemed like Jeff Cobb needed to watch some more Jay White matches. White did his usual stalling and distraction tactics in the first part of the match, and even though Cobb wasn’t falling for any of it at first, it didn’t take too long for Cobb to get tricked. Gedo played a pretty big role in the first half of the match, and it looked like Jay White was going to outwit Cobb for a fairly easy win. Instead, Cobb started to figure White and Gedo out, and Cobb managed to get his hands on White for extended periods of time. Cobb started to get on a great roll with a few sequences of strong slams, but White is cunning so the tension was always very high. By the end, I was fully invested and buying into every near fall.
Intermission
The ring is cleaned and sanitized during a brief intermission.
Match 4
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Minoru Suzuki (6 pts) (NEVER Openweight Champ) vs Kazuchika Okada (4 pts)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Kazuchika Okada wins via pinfall with a double leg cradle
Time: 14:10
Match Thoughts
Great match. Minoru Suzuki started this match a little differently than most of his matches. Suzuki went to the mat with Okada, and the two of them grappled and trading holds for a while. Okada got a bit frustrated, and then he got a little angry when Suzuki wouldn’t give him a clean rope break and stomped Okada’s shoulder. That led to Okada initiating a striking session that had Suzuki really start to take control of the match. Okada struggled to get much sustained offense throughout the fight, and he began to fade when Suzuki started applying his sleeper hold more and more. Okada was in a very bad way, so he had to outsmart and out-counter Suzuki to stand a chance.
Match 5
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Taichi (6 pts) (IWGP Tag Champ) vs Tomohiro Ishii (2 pts) (NEVER 6-Man Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Tomohiro Ishii wins via pinfall after a vertical drop brainbuster
Time: 18:41
Match Thoughts
Great match. At first it looked like Taichi was going to fight Ishii face to face in the center of the ring, but it wasn’t long before the fight went to the floor. Taichi unleashed some of his dirty tricks (and a bunch of illegal chokes) to get an early advantage on Ishii. That forced Ishii to try to mount a comeback when the match got back into the ring. It took a while, but Ishii did start to put together some moves (mostly strikes). Seeing that the match might be starting to get away from him, Taichi attempted to get a little dirty, but Ishii kept his attack up enough to stop most of Taichi’s tricks. Taichi also got drawn into fighting Ishii’s style of match which made for a highly entertaining final few minutes. Taichi and Ishii match up very well, and I’m glad to see that this matchup once again delivered such a good fight.
Match 6
G1 Climax 30 A Block Match
Will Ospreay (6 pts) (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) vs Kota Ibushi (6 pts)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Kota Ibushi wins via pinfall after Kamigoye
Time: 15:56
Match Thoughts
Great match. We’ve seen these two men have breathtaking matches in the past, so tonight’s main event had a whole lot to live up to. Also, the way the matches turned out tonight meant there was a six-way tie for the top spot in the block with Ibushi and Ospreay both among that group. So not only was greatness expected from this main event, but it would also determine who would sit alone at the top of A Block halfway through the tournament. Expectations and stakes were high, and I think Ospreay and Ibushi mostly delivered under that pressure.
The match didn’t get off to a fast start like you might expect. Both men took their time and felt each other out for a while. Ospreay has had somewhat of an arrogant attitude since returning to NJPW for the G1, and that definitely came out early in this match. Ospreay didn’t cheat, but he was just being kind of jerky to Ibushi throughout the match. Ibushi didn’t like that very much, and that annoyance turned into aggression and strikes. That might have been Ospreay’s plan all along though, because even though Ospreay took a beating, he was also able to counter a fair number of Ibushi’s strikes into some nice offensive moves and sequences of his own. The match went back and forth like this, and it built up and up to bigger moves and strikes as the match went on. I don’t know if this was their best match against each (and my initial reaction is to say that it wasn’t), but it was still extremely entertaining. I particularly enjoyed how both men’s finishers were avoided repeatedly. That saved their strongest moves to the end of the match when it really mattered, and it made those moves look and feel completely devastating.
Show Impressions
This was a very good show. The block is continuing to tighten up with only Yujiro Takahashi sitting on the edge of elimination. I still think round 4 of A Block was probably the best night overall, but again, there hasn’t been a bad night in this tour yet.
Match of the Night
Will Ospreay vs Kota Ibushi
Ishii vs Taichi is very, very close, but I do think Ospreay and Ibushi get the win for me tonight. An honorable mention goes to Jeff Cobb vs Jay White for getting my biggest reaction for a finish tonight. I loved that finish.
Standings After Night 9
A Block
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kota Ibushi | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Jay White | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Kazuchika Okada | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Minrou Suzuki (NEVER Openweight Champ) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Taichi (IWGP Tag Champ) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Will Ospreay (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Jeff Cobb | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Shingo Takagi | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Yujiro Takahashi | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
B Block
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juice Robinson | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC & Heavyweight Champ) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Toru Yano | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| EVIL | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| KENTA | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Zack Sabre Jr. (IWGP Tag Champ) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Hirooki Goto (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| SANADA | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| YOSHI-HASHI (NEVER 6-Man Champ) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
C Block (Young Lions)
| Young Lion | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yota Tsuji | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Yuya Uemura | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Gabriel Kidd | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/255784?showResult=1