wrestling / TV Reports
Kevin’s NJPW G1 Climax 30 Night Ten Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW G1 Climax 30 Night Ten
October 6th, 2020 | Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Nishi-Ku, Hiroshima | Attendance: 1,423
The B Block is back up and we are passed the halfway point of the G1 Climax. That came quickly. Hopefully, Gedo does the right thing and books Toru Yano to win the whole thing.
B Block: Hirooki Goto [2] vs. Toru Yano [6]
They’re 5-5 against each other in their previous ten. I’ve seen the G1 24 (**), G1 28 (*¾), and G1 29 (**). The longest of those matches lasted 2:34. Needless to say, they work quick. Goto threw Yano’s shirt, clocked him from behind and rolled him up to win in 0:18. I believe that’s a G1 record! [NR]
B Block: SANADA [2] vs. IWGP Tag Team Champion Zack Sabre Jr. [4]
Sabre Jr. holds a 3-2 advantage. They met in the 2018 New Japan Cup (***½), G1 28 (****), and G1 29 (***½) that I’ve seen. I feel like they are more but I’m not seeing any on my ratings spreadsheet. These two are known for being smooth in the ring and that’s just what this was. Everything that they do just happens to look like it’s effortless when it comes to them. The biggest issue here was that it felt like a lot of the rest of this G1 Climax. It never seemed to really get going. There were great counters and exchanges but a severe lack of drama, despite not knowing who would win. Sabre Jr. had his variation of a dragon sleeper countered and then SANADA hit the moonsault to win in 14:31. Good wrestling and not much more. [***¼]
B Block: EVIL [4] vs. Juice Robinson [6]
EVIL beat Juice at a Road to Destruction show in 2016 (***¼) and again in the G1 27 (***½). EVIL jumped him as he took off his entrance gear. This was a quality back and forth match that saw EVIL use the underhanded tactics he’s known for. That means using chairs like classic EVIL and involvement from Dick Togo like new EVIL. What helped here is that Juice is pretty much the ideal underdog babyface. He’s someone who can draw sympathy and who you want to see rally for a comeback. He did well with that position but would keep running into roadblocks, again including Dick Togo interference. Juice avoided a low blow but a few more bits of interreference and distraction from Togo led to him falling to Everything is EVIL in 15:35. Another good but not great match. The theme of the G1 Climax 30. [***¼]
B Block: IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Title Champion Tetsuya Naito [6] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [2]
Naito is unbeaten against HASHI. I saw the NJC 2016 (***¼), G1 26 (***¾), G1 27 (***¼), and New Beginning in Osaka 2018 (**¾). However, this is a rejuvenated YOSHI-HASHI who has been putting in arguably the best work of his career. That showed again here, as he was more than up to the task of taking the top guy to the limit. At first glance, when you see that YOSHI-HASHI took Naito to 24:43 you’d probably think it was a waste. However, HASHI put up a valiant effort and you actually bought that they might have him pull off the ridiculous upset. Early on, Naito didn’t take him seriously and he was kind of toying around with him. As this progressed, HASHI showed more and more that he wasn’t some easy to beat pushover. They had quality exchanges the crowd was into it. I didn’t dig the long Butterfly Lock segment as I never bought the finish coming via submission. Naito put him down with Destino in what was the best match of the show to this point. [***½]
B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi [4] vs. KENTA [4]
KENTA beat him in last year’s G1 (****). Ultimately, I don’t think this quite reached those levels. What worked there still did so here. KENTA continues to be a fantastic jerk heel and Tanahashi is as good as it gets in terms of being a top babyface. I loved little things like KENTA mocking the air guitar stuff. Someone watched Finn/Kyle from the weekend. KENTA focused on the leg, which Tanahashi is probably used to by this point. He always sells things well and this was no different. He’s also able to captivate with his ability to rally from behind and fight from underneath. His hope spots came off well and KENTA was usually there to stop them and keep his chances of winning low. Tanahashi’s counter of the Go to Sleep was tremendous as he turned it into Twist and Shout. He added a few more and instead of going for High Fly Flow, he wisely went with the Cloverleaf for the submission win in 23:41. A very good main event with KENTA continuing to be strong and Tanahashi once again finding a way to overcome and win. [***¾]
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Kota Ibushi | 8 (4-1) | Tetsuya Naito | 8 (4-1) |
| Taichi | 6 (3-2) | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 6 (3-2) |
| Will Ospreay | 6 (3-2) | EVIL | 6 (3-2) |
| Jay White | 6 (3-2) | Juice Robinson | 6 (3-2) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 6 (3-2) | Toru Yano | 6 (3-2) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 6 (3-2) | KENTA | 4 (2-3) |
| Jeff Cobb | 4 (2-3) | SANADA | 4 (2-3) |
| Tomohiro Ishii | 4 (2-3) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 4 (2-3) |
| Shingo Takagi | 4 (2-3) | Hirooki Goto | 4 (2-3) |
| Yujiro Takahashi | 0 (0-5) | YOSHI-HASHI | 2 (1-4) |
