Results: NJPW G1 Climax 30 Day 16
G1 Climax 30 Day 16 Results
Yota Tsuji def. Yuya Uemura (7:56)
Once more, the classic and always compelling dynamic of technique versus power was on display between Uemura and Tsuji. Uemura took advantage early with a keylock to weaken Tsuji’s arms in preparation for his “deadbolt” double arm suplex. Tsuji showed that he’s not all brute force as well, when he rolled through Uemura’s hold to get on top and apply a single leg Boston crab. Uemura was able to break the hold, but Tsuji landed a spear followed by a giant swing, then the Boston crab for the submission victory.
B Block: KENTA def. YOSHI-HASHI
Soon into the match, KENTA left the ring and started playing with the staff that YOSHI-HASHI carries to the ring. Perturbed by this, YOSHI-HASHI would follow him to the outside, but be thrown head-first into the ring post. From there, KENTA went about systematically dismantling YOSHI’s left arm. YOSHI’s comebacks were short-lived, and KENTA hit a diving foot stomp and went for the Go 2 Sleep. YOSHI-HASHI managed to avoid it and hit a spin kick to grant himself some reprieve. He hit a running powerbomb and tried to apply the Butterfly Lock even with one bad arm. KENTA did not tap, and YOSHI broke the hold to hit a running double knee attack, but KENTA got out of the way and punished YOSHI-HASHI with heavy kicks. He attempted the Go 2 Sleep again but YOSHI would reverse it into a DDT to the crowd’s pleasure. He hit the Kumagoroshi for a near fall and went for Karma, but KENTA avoided it and applied the Game Over facelock. YOSHI-HASHI nearly earned a rope break, but KENTA rolled him back into the center of the ring and YOSHI-HASHI submitted.
KENTA goes to 8 points
B Block: Zack Sabre Jr. def. Juice Robinson
To the surprise of likely everyone, the match began with Juice Robinson grinding Zack Sabre Jr. down on the mat, using his weight advantage to keep the spindly submission artist beneath him. All the skill and leverage in the world won’t help if you can’t move. Eventually, Juice stood up and started trying to lift Zack for power moves, at which point Zack was able to mount a comeback, targeting Juice’s left arm to weaken the left handed punch that often signals the end for his opponent. Juice still had one good arm and was able to put up a fight, but Zack would repeatedly interrupt his comebacks with guillotine chokes and bodyscissors attacks. He kept going back to the left arm, and when Juice tried to powerbomb him out of an armbar, he needed two tries to do so. Juice hit a big right-handed punch and went for the Pulp Friction, but Zack dropped out of it and rolled him into the European Clutch for the three-count.
Zack Sabre Jr. goes to 10 points
B Block: Tetsuya Naito def. Toru Yano (8:04)
Tetsuya Naito was walking especially slowly to the ring as he entered, which made Yano get restless. Of course, when the bell rang, Yano was not actually interested in wrestling Naito, and spent a long time going in and out of the ring to delay the inevitable. Soon, though, he had pushed both Yota Tsuji at ringside and Tetsuya Naito down and taped their wrists together between the guardrail, but they were able to make it back in the ring before before Naito was counted out. Naito offered Tsuji a fist bump after they had delivered a double clothesline to Yano and freed themselves from the tape. Tsuji was going to accept it, but it was just a fake out; Naito kicked Tsuji and body-slammed him on top of Yano. Yano hit a sneak low blow on Naito and tried to roll him up, but Naito kicked out. Naito retaliated with a pop-up kick to the groin and a jackknife pin to defeat the Sublime Master Thief.
Tetsuya Naito goes to 12 points
B Block: EVIL def. Hirooki Goto (15:33)
With Naito now at 12 points, Goto is ostensibly out of the running, while EVIL has the best chances of defeating him since he has the tiebreaker victory. If Goto does win, it will be a matter of honor and sportsmanship conquering… evil. With the aid of Dick Togo at ringside, EVIL dominated Goto in the early stages of the match. Goto fired back up to lift the running EVIL and hit the Ushigoroshi, but Togo’s distraction enabled EVIL to stop Goto as he climbed to the top rope to capitalize on his first bit of momentum. EVIL hit a heavy lariat followed by Darkness Falls only for Goto to kick out, and attempted the EVIL STO, but EVIL avoided it. He forced EVIL out of the ring and hit a plancha on both EVIL and Togo! Goto hit a headbutt and a reverse GTR on EVIL for a near fall. He tried for the regular GTR, but EVIL dodged it. He attempted a discus lariat and EVIL caught his shoulder to transition into the STO finish. The G in G1 does not stand for Goto this year.
EVIL goes to 12 points
B Block: SANADA def. Hiroshi Tanahashi (28:25)
Matches between Hiroshi Tanahashi and SANADA are always interesting because a trained eye can spot all the ways that they wrestle like each other. Being both proteges of Keiji Mutoh, their offense, largely based on attacking the neck and knees to make them more susceptible to both submissions and bursts of high-speed offense. Tanahashi exemplified this, as he caught SANADA with his first dragonscrew, sending him reeling to the outside, and then landed on him with a High Fly Flow crossbody. He brought SANADA back and continued attacking his legs with Dragonscrews, but SANADA was able to make it to the ropes to break Tanahashi’s Texas Cloverleaf. SANADA was able to make it to his feet and fight back with a rope-hung Magic Screw and a springboard dropkick. SANADA went for the top rope moonsault, and he could see that Tanahashi had moved while he was in flight. When he landed on his feet, he felt it in his knees, and his stumble allowed Tanahashi to hit a Sling Blade. He followed up with a bridging full nelson suplex for a near fall, and looked to capitalize with the High Fly Flow. SANADA lifted his knees to block the move, but it hurt him just as much as Tanahashi. He managed to trap Tanahashi in the Skull End and soon went for the top rope moonsault again, but Tanahashi got his knees up! Feeling the pressure, SANADA tried for a hurricanrana, but Tanahashi caught his legs in midair and twisted SANADA into the Texas cloverleaf again! SANADA scratched and clawed and made it to the ropes. Tanahashi hit another Sling Blade and tried for the High Fly Flow, but SANADA hit him with a cutter in midair! With two top rope moonsaults, he stays in G1 contention.
SANADA goes to 10 points
G1 Climax 30 Standings
A Block:
- 12 points – Kota Ibushi, Jay White, Kazuchika Okada
- 10 points – Will Ospreay
- 8 points – Jeff Cobb, Taichi
- 6 points – Minoru Suzuki, Tomohiro Ishii, Shingo Takagi
- 0 points – Yujiro Takahashi
B Block:
- 12 points – Tetsuya Naito, EVIL
- 10 points – SANADA, Zack Sabre Jr.
- 8 points – Hirooki Goto, KENTA
- 6 points – Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, Juice Robinson
- 2 points – YOSHI-HASHI
