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Kevin’s NJPW G1 Climax 30 Night Two Review

September 20, 2020 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
NJPW G1 Climax 30
7.5
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Kevin’s NJPW G1 Climax 30 Night Two Review  

NJPW G1 Climax 30 Night Two
September 20th, 2020 | EDION Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 2,640

I got the wrestling equivalent of, “Shut up and dribble” on my night one review because of what I said about Will Ospreay. So, that’s going well. Anyway, the first night of the tournament was solid but unspectacular. Can night two best it?

B Block: Juice Robinson [0] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [0]
YOSHI-HASHI enters the G1 with a title as a third of the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions. Juice rocked a new look that resembled a Blues Brother or something along those lines. He’s the perfect guy for these G1 openers because he always brings energy and the crowd loves him. Thankfully, HASHI seemed just as game to bring the fight and the effort. You got the sense that winning a title has him feeling confident after years of being a scrub. It went for longer than I expected but that was a good thing in this case. It felt like two guys who haven’t had great G1 runs in the past desperately giving their all to start on the right foot. Juice seemed genuinely surprised that he couldn’t put HASHI away. The reaction from the crowd when YOSHI countered Pulp Friction into a rollup for a near fall was masterful. Ultimately, Juice put him down with Pulp Friction after a wild 15:57. Maybe I’m just happy that the G1 is back so I might be going high on this but it was really good. Lots of fire, great drama late, and two guys putting on a show for two points. A welcome surprise in quality here. [***¾]

B Block: SANADA [0] vs. Toru Yano [0]
It’s the annual G1 MVP, Toru Yano! These two met in the G1 27 (**¼), 2018 New Japan Cup (**½), and G1 28 (***). SANADA is 3-0 against our Sublime Master Thief. He also had new sparkly gear. Meanwhile, we got t-shirt Yano here. Apparently, SANADA isn’t worth his top effort. This featured the typical Yano antics, which are always welcome in a tournament that features so many similar matches. Yano eventually got put in the Paradise Lock in the aisle. It seemed like a clear countout. However, Young Lion Yuya Uemura undid the lock. SANADA went to tied up Uemura but the now freed Yano used a roll of tape to tie SANADA to Uemura and then rushed back inside to win via countout in 6:16. The G1 MVP strikes again. Just book him to win the whole thing, Gedo. Don’t be a coward. [**½]

B Block: Hirooki Goto [0] vs. KENTA [0]
These two met at Wrestle Kingdom over the NEVER Openweight Title (***). KENTA has a briefcase with a US Title shot. Remember that title? I love midcard Money in the Bank. KENTA was at his smarmy dick heel best here. That’s the KENTA I usually really enjoy. The issue is that it’s just so incredibly hard to care about Hirooki Goto after Gedo booked him into oblivion. There’s almost no sympathy for him when he’s fighting from underneath because there’s no reason to want him to win. The action was good and there wasn’t really anything technically wrong with this, it just lacked something to really grab me. KENTA won with his Game Over submission after 17:15. A quality wrestling match from start to finish but nothing more. [***¼]

B Block: EVIL [0] vs. IWGP Tag Team Champion Zack Sabre Jr. [0]
I forgot to list Taichi as a tag champ yesterday. These guys met three times in 2019. Once at New Beginning in Sapporo (***¾), once in the New Japan Cup (***¾), and then in the G1 Climax (***), with EVIL holding a 2-1 record. EVIL attacked quickly and the two traded shots outside. I always appreciate that Sabre’s hubris gets him in trouble. He tries to hang with NJPW’s toughest in strikes and always takes an ass kicking for it. The most interesting thing here was that Sabre Jr. got to play the role of a babyface of sorts. EVIL is a top heel now and he got help from Dick Togo and we even saw a ref bump. That’s becoming all too common in the G1 in recent years. Guys like Yujiro and Suzuki-Gun members have avoided it so far but now it has happened for both top Bullet Club guys, who were each in the semi-main. That’s not a good sign. While that bogged the match down, I do think it really helped the finish. Sabre Jr. trapped EVIL in his signature European Clutch pinning combination to score the 1-2-3 after 14:54. The pop for that win was pretty great. There were the bones of something really good here but it got weighed down by shenanigans. I understand that EVIL is a top heel but booking him as a bruiser against a smaller guy like Zack, who then scored the flash upset, would’ve made more sense. [***]

B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi [0] vs. IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito [0]
I still say that these two had a better trilogy in 2017 than the more-hyped one between Okada and Omega. Of the matches between them that I reviewed, this is how they line up: Destruction 2011 (****), G1 23 Finals (**¾), G1 25 (****), King of Pro Wrestling 2015 (***¾), Wrestle Kingdom 11 (****½), Dominion 2017 (****), and the G1 27 (****½). This got off to a slower start as it was both a case of Naito doing Naito things and this being two guys who know each other so well. They understand not to get caught in the traps of the other. Naito got the upper hand but Tanahashi had counters ready for things like his corner dropkick. Again, the experience and history comes into play. That turned the tide and put Tanahashi in control. Considering Tanahashi’s age, things like his High Fly Flow to the outside take on extra meaning. You can tell that it kills him but he needs stuff like that against the likes of Naito. The entire match felt like a true battle with each guy having to dig deep to outwit a classic rival. In typical NJPW fashion, the closing minutes were filled with tremendous counters, close calls, and more. The difference between this and other NJPW matches is that the early stuff never felt like filler and it all mattered. The crowd exploded for that final segment before Naito won with Destino in 27:16. A spectacular main event that overdelivered. I know they’re capable of great but you sometimes expect them to play the hits for a pop. Instead, they had one of their best matches ever that I’d rank only slightly behind the G1 27 meeting. [****½]

A BLOCK POINTS B BLOCK POINTS
Kota Ibushi 2 (1-0) Tetsuya Naito 2 (1-0)
Jay White 2 (1-0) Zack Sabre Jr. 2 (1-0)
Minoru Suzuki 2 (1-0) KENTA 2 (1-0)
Taichi 2 (1-0) Toru Yano 2 (1-0)
Will Ospreay 2 (1-0) Juice Robinson 2 (1-0)
Kazuchika Okada 0 (0-1) Hiroshi Tanahashi 0 (0-1)
Shingo Takagi 0 (0-1) EVIL 0 (0-1)
Tomohiro Ishii 0 (0-1) Hirooki Goto 0 (0-1)
Jeff Cobb 0 (0-1) SANADA 0 (0-1)
Yujiro Takahashi 0 (0-1) YOSHI-HASHI 0 (0-1)
7.5
The final score: review Good
The 411
A step above night one, mostly due to the opener and main event. Juice/YOSHI was awesome and Naito/Tanahashi was incredible. The middle of the card was solid but unspectacular and the whole thing moved along nicely for an enjoyable night.
legend

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G1 Climax 30, NJPW, Kevin Pantoja