NJPW: G1 CLIMAX 30
OCTOBER 6TH 2020
1) Hirooki Goto (1-4) (2 pts) vs. Toru Yano (4-1) (8 pts) - Block B Match
I am nervous for poor Goto here. But it turns out that there is no reason to be because this is the quickest match in G1 history as Goto defeats Yano with a roll up in 18 seconds. Lord jesus.
Match rating - **
2) Zack Sabre Jr (2-2) (4 pts) vs. SANADA (1-3) (2 pts) - Block B Match
Zack defeated Sanada at Wrestle Kingdom this year to retain the RPW British Heavyweight Title. Circumstances are a little different here as SANADA is coming off a massive victory over Naito that could turn his tournament around. ZSJ is hot off a flashy victory over Goto and they open this thing trading roll ups and pinning combinations. Fucking great, hot start honestly and it stayed that way for pretty much the entire stretch and I really kinda fucking loved this. Hold for hold, near fall for near fall. It felt like it could end at anytime and was different than any match either man had in the tournament prior. Let’s go! SANADA wins with a moonsault.
Match rating - ***1/2
3) EVIL (w/ Dick Togo) (2-2) (4 pts) vs. Juice Robinson (3-1) (6 pts) - Block B Match
Idk I just could not get into this. Juice rules and is the ultimate baby face but EVIL is such a drag. My favorite part of this aside from the action in the last minute or two was Togo and Juice going at it on the floor. EVIL wins and no one is very surprised. Pretty forgettable average match despite not being outright bad (like a lot of these lowercard G1 matches this year sadly :/)
Match rating - **3/4
4) Tetsuya Naito (3-1) (6 pts) vs. YOSHI HASHI (1-3) (2 pts) - Block B Match
Yoshi continues his trend of giving hell to all his big name opponents in the tournament and Naito continues his trend of never delivering a bad match. This did seem to go a little long considering it’s almost 25 minutes, but the entire final 10 minute stretch fucking rules. If you take out some of the filler in the first 15, this could’ve probably been a four star match, but as it sits, it’s a solid 3.5. Naito wins, but Yoshi looked fucking great. Match of the night.
Match rating - ***1/2
5) Hiroshi Tanahashi (2-2) (4 pts) vs. KENTA (2-2) (4 pts) - Block B Match
Vintage face vs heel pro wrestling here. Last year, KENTA defeated the Ace in their first and only singles match in the G1. A big moment as it was essentially NOAH vs NJPW. Fast forward a year later and KENTA has become a despised character and wants to one up the Ace and embarrass him again. KENTA works the leg early. Tana fights but gets caught with stuff like a dragon screw off the apron to the floor. This also plagued Tana when he went for the clover leaf and couldn’t quite hang on or lock it in like he wanted. Things break down and KENTA nails Tana with his briefcase following a ref bump. But Tana still kicks out! Baby face fire ~~~~ this leads to the comeback and he taps Tana forces him to tap. Good main event.
Match rating - ***1/4
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