NJPW: G1 Climax 30 Night Seven
September 30th, 2020
Let’s gooo. Back to Block A we go. Also I’m super behind so I’m skipping the young lions match on this show DONT HATE ME.
1) Minoru Suzuki (2-1) (4 pts) vs. Yujiro Takahashi (0-3) (0 pts) - Block A Match
Godddd I love Suzuki’s theme. I feel bad for Yujiro here. But just as I type that he charges Suzuki with a boot and we get a pretty sick brawl to start. They’re on the outside for a while before it heads back in the ring and despite a few flurry attempts, Suzuki puts down Yujiro with the gotch style piledriver.
Match rating - **3/4
2) Jeff Cobb (1-2) (2 pts) vs. Kota Ibushi (1-2) (2 pts) - Block A Match
First time meeting here and it bangs! Not a blow away match, but you get what you’d want out of it. Crazy power and speed stuff from both dudes. Cobb hits a fuckin F-5,000 that spins Ibushi in the air and flattens him to the mat for a near fall. Ibushi won’t give up as usual and is able to hit a Kamigoye for the win. I want this rematch again down the line. Ibushi shows respect to a fallen Cobb post match and god damn I love him so much ugh.
Match rating - ***1/2
3) Kazuchika Okada (1-2) (2 pts) vs. Taichi (3-0) (6 pts) - Block A Match
Okada/Taichi is always a good match. With the circumstances this year it's no surpise it was indeed just that. Taichi is on arguably the run of his career as far as the G1 goes. He's 3-0 and Okada has been hit or miss. Can Taichi get this huge upset and 8 points to put himself in the lead of the block? Well, the answer is no, but he put in a hell of a fight, dominating the rainmaker from the outset and targeting his back. Some awesome exchanges down the stretch, it never felt like an epic or even the best match they've had together, but it was good. Taichi submits to the money clip.
Match rating - ***1/4
4) Will Ospreay (2-1) (4 pts) vs. Jay White (3-0) (6 pts) - Block A Match
I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Jay White is looking to continue billing this entire tournament as his - the J1 as he is undefeated with victories over Shingo, Okada, & Ibushi. Ospreay is trying to bounce back after his loss to Shingo. This match was honestly great from start to finish. It was basic Jay formula which helped keep Ospreay from getting out of hand and going off the deep end. It honestly hurt to see White take the pin here as I'm still very sour on Ospreay continuing to be pushed. But yeah, this match ruled.
Match rating - ****
5) Shingo Takagi (2-1) (4 pts) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (0-3) (0 pts) - Block A Match
These two tore the damn house down last year in a match where Shingo was victorious. This year, we have Ishii without a single victory yet in three nights of competition so you know he's gonna be pissed as fuck and add even more to this hoss fight. Ishii did just that and came out swinging, but Shingo was able to combat it and take control after a few minutes. This was pretty back & forth for the majority of it and ended up going almost 30 minutes which was a little too long, even for my taste. They weren't able to top or match their bout from last year which I felt is what they were going for, but they still delivered us one hell of an exhausting slugfest with a logical ending as Ishii finally hit the brainbuster he's been unable to hit all tournament and subsequently gets the victory.
Match rating - ****
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