New Japan Pro-Wrestling
G1 Climax 30: Night 10
October 6, 2020
Hiroshima Sun Plaza
Hiroshima, Japan

Watch: New Japan World

G1 Climax 30 B Block
Hirooki Goto [4] def. Toru Yano [6]

This match was only 18 seconds with Goto just immediately rolling up Yano and pinning. Both of Goto’s last two matches have been pretty short and the rumour is that he has a legitimate injury.

G1 Climax 30 B Block
SANADA [4] def. Zack Sabre Jr. [4]

A good if slightly disappointing match. I went into this with high hopes as Zack had been delivering at a very high level so far and has had great chemistry with SANADA in the past. This match just never seemed to get out of second gear though. As expected with these two this match had a ton of technical wrestling but it seemed to lack urgency. It was still a good match though and overall enjoyable, but a victim of high expectations.

G1 Climax 30 B Block
EVIL [6] def. Juice Robinson [6]

As opposed to the previous match this actually exceeded my expectation, albeit they were much lower as well. EVIL pounces on Juice early and we are brawling at ringside. Both men are fairly decent brawlers so their styles are actually meshing pretty well.

After EVIL’s initial dominance, this develops into more of a back and forth afterwards. While this is not a blow away match by any stretch of the imagination, it is still rather fun and about as good as a match between these two can be. Both men were trying hard and did well within their limitations. The interference was kept to a minimum as well, which is refreshing for an EVIL match. It actually helped the match and got some more heat on EVIL, who just about managed to escape with a win here.

G1 Climax B Block
Tetsuya Naito [8] def. YOSHI-HASHI [2]

YOSHI-HASHI has been the surprise of the tournament so far. He has really put on his working boots for the G1 Climax this year and is more than justifying his inclusion in the tournament. Naito is just kind of playing around with him early on and is not taking him seriously. Then slowly but surely YOSHI-HASHI is getting more and more offense to show Naito that he is not a pushover.

But as he gets more serious Naito is showing that he is still a step above YOSHI-HASHI and gets the better of him on most of their exchanges. The only bad part of the match was a really long butterfly lock; it is not as bad as Okada’s terrible submission but it is not much better either. From there we go into an excellent closing sequence though. YOSHI-HASHI gets a very close nearfall after countering the Destino and that was the only time I very briefly though he might win. Regardless the crowd is really into the finish of the match clapping nonstop. In the end Naito is just better and beats YOSHI-HASHI. Great effort though and another fantastic match.

G1 Climax B Block
Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] def. KENTA [4]

They had a great match in last year’s G1 that was arguably KENTA’s best match in that tournament. A match between these two at the heights of their powers would have been tremendous. This match did not quite reach the level of their encounter last year but it was pretty good nonetheless.

This was a fairly straightforward face vs heel match. KENTA is working over Tanahashi’s legs for the majority of the match. Tanahashi’s legs have been targeted all year by Dangerous Tekkers, so it’s a nice bit of continuity that KENTA is targeting them as well. Even after he has slowed down a bit, Tanahashi is still great at playing the underdog babyface and it shows in this match. This was two veterans of the craft going at it about as well as their bodies allow them to at this stage. Tanahashi’s comeback is also still fire and he manages to avenge his loss from last year.

B Block Standings

Tetsuya Naito [8]
Hiroshi Tanahashi [6]
EVIL [6]
Juice Robinson [6]
Toru Yano [6]
KENTA [4]
SANADA [4]
Zack Sabre Jr. [4]
Hirooki Goto [4]
YOSHI-HASHI [2]

Overall Thoughts

Overall a pretty good night for the B Block. I liked the top three matches and the Goto vs Yano match was fun diversion. The only match that was disappointing was Zack vs SANADA but even that was a good match overall.