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NJPW G1 CLIMAX 30: NIGHT 3 SPOILER FREE VIEWERS GUIDE
I will provide a list of matches for people to watch after each show at the top of my review.
NIGHT 3
(3) Minoru Suzuki vs. Taichi. (****½)
(4) Will Opreay vs. Tomohiro Ishii. (****½)
(5) Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi (****)
RADICAN’S G1 CLIMAX 30: NIGHT 3 REPORT
SEPT. 23, 2020
HOKKAIDO, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
(a) GABRIEL KIDD vs. YUYA UEMURA
Uemura got the upper hand late in the match and got a single leg crab on Kidd. Kidd struggled to the ropes, but Uemura pulled him back to the middle of the ring. Kidd went for the ropes again and got them. They went to a back and forth exchange of strikes in the middle of the ring. Kidd hit a big strike across Uemura’s neck and he went down to his knees. They went back and forth and Kidd caught Uemura with a dropkick off the ropes. Kidd then hit a double arm suplex for the win.
WINNER: Gabriel Kidd at 7:21. (***)
(Radican’s Analysis: I’m enjoying this round robin series on the undercard between the Young Lions so far. They’ve been really impressive.)
(1) SHINGO TAKAGI (0) vs. JEFF COBB (0) – A Block match
They traded chops right away and Shingo took Cobb down with a shoulder tackle, but Cobb fired right back with a dropkick. Cobb hit some big suplexes on Shingo. They went back and forth and Shingo finally took Cobb down with a big clothesline. Shingo went for a sliding lariat, but Cobb caught it. They went back and forth and Shingo bounced Cobb off the ropes into a high angle suplex. Cobb and Shingo traded suplexes and both men went down. Both men butted heads from their knees. They then got to their feet and traded blows. Cobb finally wiped out Shingo with a clothesline.
Shingo slipped out of the Tour of the Islands and hit Noshigami. Shingo then caught Cobb off the ropes with a Pumping Bomber for a nearfall. Cobb hit a series of rolling gutwrench suplexes capped by a big powerbomb. He then hit a standing moonsault for a two count. Cobb set up for a F5, but Shingo turned it into a DDT. Shingo then hit several Daniel Bryan style elbows. He hit a sliding lariat. He finally hit Made in Japan, but Cobb kicked out at the last second.
Cobb fought out of Last of the Dragon. Cobb ended a big strike exchange by bouncing Takagi off of the ropes right into a slingshot German. He then hit TOI for the win.
WINNER: Jeff Cobb (2 pts) at 11:44. (***½)
(Radican’s Analysis: This took a little while to get going, but it was really good late. The finishing sequence was really good. Cobb looked very comfortable wrestling this style match on the G1 stage, which is a good sign for him going forward in the tournament.)
(2) YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (0) vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (0)
Okada caught Takahashi with a tombstone after a dropkick. He went for the Money Clip, but Takahashi fought out of it and hit an Angle Slam. He hit Miami Shine a short time later for a nearfall. They went back and forth and Takahashi caught Okada with a clothesline. Takahashi went for Tokyo Pimps, but Okada slid out of it. Okada went for the MC, but Takahshi escaped and then held onto the ropes on a dropkick attempt.
Okada slipped out of Tokyo Pimps again and hit a big lariat. Okada locked in the MC and Takahashi tapped out.
WINNER: Kazuchika Okada (2 pts) at 12:01. (**½)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was at the high end of what I’d expect out of a Takahashi match. The closing stretch was solid.)
(3) NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPION MINORU SUZUKI (2) vs. IWGP HVT. TAG TEAM CHAMPION TAICHI (2) – A Block match
Suzuki got into the ring and choked Taichi and went after his eyes. WOW! He got on top of Taichi and hit several punches. The ref pulled Taichi off of Suzuki, but they went right at it again. Both men got chairs and had a chair battle. The ref ended up going down. Suzuki’s chair broke, but he managed to cut off Taichi before he could hit him with his chair. Suzuki hit a big chairshot over Taichi’s back. Suzuki got a chair and used it to choke Taichi against the guardrail on the floor. Suzuki got several chairs, but the ref took them away. This allowed Taichi to hit Suzuki with his mic stand.
They went back to the floor and Taichi whipped Suzuki into the guardrail. A short time later he choked Suzuki with a chair in the middle of the entranceway. Taichi tossed Suzuki back into the ring and took off his pants, but not with the usual flair. Suzuki took the Kawada kicks and shook them off with a smile. They exchanged blows until Suzuki decked Taichi with a big forearm. They went to another exchange and both men were down after Taichi caught Suzuki with a jumping kick to the head.
The fans fired up with both men down on the mat. Taichi suddenly hit a snap high angle belly to back suplex. He hit another jumping kick to Suzuki’s head. Suzuki suddenly raced around Taichi and grabbed a choke. He went for the Gotch piledriver, but Taichi fought out of it. Suzuki went for the choke again, but Taichi countered and hit Black Mephisto out of nowhere for the win. WOW!
WINNER: Taichi (4 pts) at 12:11. (****1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: Just a barnburner of a match between the Suzuki Gun stablemates. What a war!)
(4) WILL OSPREAY (2) vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII (0) – A Block match
A much bigger WIll Ospreay traded shoulder tackles with Ishii and actually managed to win the exchange. Ospreay offered a handshake to Ishii only to get kicked in the gut. They went back and forth trading counters until they came to a stalemate. Ospreay continued to try to play Ishii’s game. He slapped Ishii in the face and then they began trading big chops in the corner. Ishii got the upper hand finally and began working over Ospreay.
Ospreay mounted a comeback and the fans fired up. He hit Pip Pip Cheerio after connecting with a standing moonsault. The fans fired up as Ospreay hit Ishii with some big forearms in the corner. They went back and forth near the apron. Ospreay finally caught Ishii with a dropkick that sent him to the floor and the fans fired up. They had a crazy exchange on the floor that ended with Ospreay hitting an Os-Cutter off the guardrail!
Ishii barely made it back into the ring and Ospreay immediately hit him with a springboard dropkick for a two count. They battled near the ropes and Ishii hit a jumping headbutt on Ospreay, who was seated up top. The fans fired up and Ishii hit a superplex and both men were down on the mat. They had another crazy exchange. Ishii missed a sliding lariat and then ducked a Hidden Blade from Ospreay, but he couldn’t avoid a big kick to the head. Ishii ducked an Os-Cutter and they went back and forth until Ishii decked Ospreay with a big forearm.
Ishii hit a sliding lariat on Ospreay for a two count. Ospreay then caught Ishii off the ropes with a one man Spanish Fly for a nearfall! WOW! Osprey went for the Os-Cutter and connected and the announcers went crazy with the clapping fans, but Ishii kicked out at the last second! Ospreay went for the Stormbreaker, but Ishii slipped out of it. Ishii no-sold a hook kick and hit a big clothesline and both men were down once again.
Ospreay slid around Ishii’s clothesline attempt right into a Liger Bomb for a nearfall. This match is just insane. I cannot believe the high level of wrestling in this match. Ishii went for a lariat once again and connected. The fans fired up with Ospreay down. Ishii went for the Vertical Drop Brainbuster, but Ospreay countered it into a Stunner. Ishii no sold a poison hurricanrana and Ospreay hit a rolling elbow. He then looked like he was going for Stormbreaker, but he turned it into a crazy piledriver, but Ishii kicked out. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
Ospreay hit Hidden Blade and then Stormbreaker for the win.
WINNER: Will Ospreay (4 pts) at 18:20. (****1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was just an epic match from start to finish. The counters these two men traded were incredible. Ishii is truly Mr. G1, as he puts on one incredible performance after another in tournament matches. This was truly an amazing rollercoaster ride from both men.)
(5) JAY WHITE (W/GEDO) (2) vs. KOTA IBUSHI (2) – A BLOCK MATCH
White tried to get the fans to chant Ibushi’s name, which they aren’t allowed to do. Ibushi kicked him as soon as he got back into the ring. He then nailed him with a slingshot splash to the floor. Ibushi then asked the fans to clap to the sound of the syllables in his name. White fired back a short time later and dropped Ibushi neck-first over the top rope. He then drove Ibushi’s leg into the apron. White continued to target Ibushi’s leg inside the ring.
Ibushi mounted a comeback, but he missed a moonsault. Ibushi landed on his feet and sold his leg, which allowed White to spring up and hit a DDT. Both men were down as the fans fired up. White went on the attack and capped a big sequence with a deadlift German. He then mocked the fans by clapping and smiling in their direction. White went back after Ibushi’s leg with a dragon screw variation, but Ibushi caught him with a quick German and both men were down once again.
Ibushi set up for his outside in German off the ropes. White blocked it, but Ibushi got a sleeper. Ibushi was about to hit the outside in German, but Gedo grabbed White’s leg. White then hit a dragon screw on Ibushi’s leg around the ropes. White tried to block the Bastard Driver a short time later by punching at Ibushi’s leg, but Ibushi fought through the pain and hit it. Once again, the crowd clapped with both men down on the mat.
Ibushi told White to bring it and White kept punching his leg. Ibushi shrugged it off and sent White to the floor with one forearm. Ibushi shrugged off all of White’s strikes. It looked like White was about to take him down with a combination of strikes, but Ibushi obliterated him with a clothesline. He went to lift White, but he dropped down and hit a dragon screw.
White blocked a Boma Ye attempt a short time later and went for Blade Runner, but Ibushi got out and hit a high kick. White countered a Kamigoye attempt and hit a dragon screw and an inverted dragon screw. He then got a leg submission with a grapevine. It looks like White’s got a trailer hitch with a grapevine. Ibushi struggled, but managed to get to the ropes.
The fans fired up behind Ibushi with claps. White hit a sleeper suplex, but Ibushi didn’t go all the way down and hit a running knee. Ibushi then hit a Last Ride for a nearfall. White grabbed the ref when Ibushi tried to set up for Kamigoye. Ibushi held onto White’s wrist and smiled at White when he hit a pair of forearms. Ibushi then decked White with a big forearm. He then nailed him with a buzzsaw kick to the head.
Gedo got up on the apron and teased throwing in the towel when Ibushi was about to the Kamigoye. This allowed White to hit a low blow with the ref distracted. White hit a leg capture suplex, but Ibushi fired back and hit a V-Trigger. He then knocked Gedo off the apron with a roundhouse kick. Ibushi took his knees pads down and went for the Kamigoye, but White turned it into a Blade Runner for the win.
WINNER: Jay White (4 pts) at 20:28. (****)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a little slow to get going, but overall excellent. White’s heel act is just tremendous. Ibushi seemed to be able to overcome all of Gedo’s interference throughout the match, but it was shocking to see White hit his finish out of nowhere to get the win at the end of the match. White is going to be a problem in the A block the entire way.)
White cut a promo after the match. He mocked the fans clapping. He mocked Ibushi for caring what the fans think. White said there’s no way anyone in the back can prepare for him. He said Okada was up next. He said he is the best. He’s the man that sold out MSG. White said all Okada could do was breathe with the Switchblade because it’s his new era.
Radican note: It was hard to understand a lot of the promo, as there was a lot of echoing in the building with each of White’s words.
G1 CLIMAX 30 STANDINGS
A BLOCK
Jay White (4)
Will Ospreay (4)
Taichi (4)
Kota Ibushi (2)
Minoru Suzuki (2)
Jeff Cobb (2)
Kazuchika Okada (2)
Shingo Takagi (0)
Tomohiro Ishii (0)
Yujiro Takahashi (0)
B BLOCK
Tetsuya Naito (2)
Zack Sabre Jr. (2)
Juice Robinson (2)
Kenta (2)
Toru Yano (2)
Hiroshi Tanahashi (0)
Evil (0)
Hirooki Goto (0)
Sanada (0)
Yoshi-Hashi (0)
Contact Sean at radicansean@pwtorch.com. Follow Sean on Twitter @SR_Torch.
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