G1 Climax 30 Day 18 Results

Gabriel Kidd def. Yuya Uemura (8:16)

Based on the math, Yota Tsuji has already clinched his place as the winner of the unofficial “C-Block” between these three young lions. Neverthe less, Uemura and Kidd did not give off the impression that they were any less motivated to fight their hardest. Both men jockeyed for position, trying to attack each other’s arm to set up for their finishing arm-trap suplex, before the match devolved into an energetic slugfest. Gabriel Kidd’s standing dropkick followed by the double underhook suplex sealed the deal for Uemura. This would put Kidd, unofficially, in second place, and Uemura in last.

B Block: YOSHI-HASHI def. Toru Yano (6:10)

Yano spent all of fifteen seconds calling for a “clean fight” before he attempted to remove a turnbuckle pad. As it turned out, YOSHI-HASHI had hidden a roll of tape in his own trunks that the referee did not find before the match. He used them to tape his staff to Yano’s wrist between the bars of the guardrail on the outside. Yano was barely able to find a way to get his hand free and make it back in the ring before being counted out. From there, he tried to roll YOSHI up repeatedly, and even hit a low blow from behind. As he did, YOSHI-HASHI caught Yano’s arm between his own legs, and used that to roll into an arm-trap cradle for the pinfall victory over his CHAOS stablemate. He has truly performed well above his station and I’m glad he ended his tournament on a happy note.
YOSHI-HASHI finishes with 4 points (2 wins, 7 losses).
Toru Yano finishes with 6 points (3 wins, 6 losses).

B Block: Juice Robinson def. Hirooki Goto (12:07)

Both Goto and Juice have ended up with fairly unfavorable G1 records after starting off strong. Goto in particular, his story the whole tournament has been his hurt arm, which KENTA caused by targeting it relentlessly in their match together, and has dragged his performance down since. At first, Juice went to targeting the hurt arm as well, before switching gears to trying to prove that he could brawl with a weakened Goto. Juice won a battle of lariats, but Goto caught the running Juice with an Ushigoroshi. Still, Juice had the werewithal to catch Juice’s kick and rise to his feet, then rock Goto with a right-handed punch. He called for Pulp Friction, but as he was setting it up, Goto applied a sleeper hold and tried to transition it into a pinning combination, but only achieved a near fall. Out of nowhere, Juice landed a big left-handed punch, then one more, and finally the Pulp Friction to end his G1 with a win.
Hirooki Goto finishes with 8 points (4 wins, 5 losses)
Juice Robinson finishes with 8 points (4 wins, 5 losses)

B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Zack Sabre Jr. (12:01)

I wonder if Zack Sabre Jr. spins a wheel with different names of body parts to decide what he’s going to focus on for his match on any given day. Today, it would be Tanahashi’s neck. With locks and cranks, Zack did his best to immobilize the Ace with neck work. Tanahashi, being technically-versed in his own right, was never at Zack’s mercy for too long. He turned a headscissors neck lock into a modified cloverleaf. Tanahashi used all his bursts of momentum to attack the leg, as he usually does, and it was a battle of who could be clever and creative enough to take control long enough to steal the win. Suddenly, Tanahashi was able to hit a Sling Blade, then immediately went for the High Fly Flow. He managed to land it on a standing Zack, but Zack rolled through it to apply an armbar. Thinking quickly, Tanahashi got to his feet and, with his arm-still trapped, rolled Zack into a lateral press cradle for the victory! He even kept pinning Zack after the three had been counted, because he’s just that cool.
Hiroshi Tanahashi finishes with 8 points (4 wins, 5 losses).
Zack Sabre Jr. finishes with 10 points (5 wins, 4 losses).

B Block: KENTA def. Tetsuya Naito (21:06)

No one who knew what KENTA was like before entering NJPW would have thought that this match with Tetsuya Naito would be a battle of mischevious personalities. At first, KENTA tried to provoke Naito by repeatedly bailing from the ring, but he had a clever plan in mind. As KENTA left the ring again, Naito followed him, but KENTA picked up his IWGP US Heavyweight Championship #1 contender briefcase and hit Naito with it as he leaned over the ropes, making a loud smacking sound. He was trained on Naito’s neck in much the same way that Zack just was against Tanahashi, hoping to hurt it before finishing with the Go 2 Sleep. After landing the Shibata-style corner dropkick into the diving foot stomp, Naito was really struggling to find any breathing room for himself. However, as KENTA lifted Naito onto his shoulders, Naito sat up and hit a reverse frankensteiner, and then went after KENTA with repeated elbows to the back of the neck. He pressed his new advantage with a super frankensteiner and the Gloria slam for a near fall. He tried for the Destino, but KENTA elbowed him away easily, and then lifted Naito’s feet onto the second rope for a DDT. He tried again for the Go 2 Sleep, but Naito would turn it into a counter Destino! He followed up with Valentia and went for the arm-trap Destino, but before he could lock it in, KENTA turned it into an inside cradle roll up for the flash pinfall victory on Naito. KENTA can’t win the G1, but now Naito is out.
KENTA finishes with 10 points (5 wins, 4 losses).
Tetsuya Naito finishes with 12 points (6 wins, 3 losses).

B Block: SANADA def. EVIL (27:01)

EVIL left the ring immediately upon the first bell and offered a too-sweet to Hiromu Takahashi, who was a guest commentator at ringside. Hiromu just gave him a goofy grin and a thumbs-up. SANADA eventually got tired of waiting for EVIL to fight him, and chased him, but this gave EVIL the opportunity to suplex him on a pile of chairs that he had taken out on the outside. The hurt SANADA was a sitting duck for EVIL’s offense, and a smattering of well-timed aid from Dick Togo. SANADA finally rose up and delivered a standing dropkick and plancha to EVIL to take him out. He then brought Dick Togo into the ring and put him in the Paradise Lock, and would do the same to EVIL upon his recovery. He followed up with a springboard dropkick and a bridging tiger suplex for a near fall on the former double champion. SANADA then landed the giant swing into the Skull End, but released it too soon to hit the moonsault and EVIL was able to move out of the way. EVIL would rise to his feet first to deliver a superplex before applying the scorpion deathlock, and held it for a good long time before SANADA finally managed to grab the bottom rope to force the rope break. Still reeling, he barely managed to kick out of Darkness Falls as it was announced that the time limit would come in 10 minutes. EVIL tried for the EVIL (STO), but SANADA blocked it and locked in the Skull End with bodyscissors once again. SANADA stood up and landed two top rope moonsaults on EVIL, but Dick Togo pulled the referee out of the ring and started hitting SANADA with a chair. The two of them landed the Magic Killer on SANADA, but Hiromu, having seen enough, got out of the commentary chair and laid Togo out with a superkick, but EVIL would hit a low blow on Hiromu. Togo and EVIL then hit the Magic Killer on Hiromu as well. EVIL picked up SANADA and threw him back down with a running lariat, and then Dick Togo started choking SANADA. Hiromu came back again to hit another superkick on Togo. But, finally, SANADA pushed EVIL into Dick Togo, and then pinned him with the Japanese leg roll clutch!
EVIL finishes with 12 points (6 wins, 3 losses).
SANADA finishes with 12 points (6 wins, 3 losses).

Due to his victories over both other men who have 12 points, Tetsuya Naito and EVIL, SANADA is the winner of the B Block. He will face Kota Ibushi and one of them will leave tomorrow the 30th G1 Climax winner!

G1 Climax 30 Final Standings

A Block:
  • 14 points – Kota Ibushi (Block winner)
  • 12 points – Jay White, Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay
  • 8 points – Jeff Cobb, Taichi, Shingo Takagi, Tomohiro Ishii
  • 6 points – Minoru Suzuki
  • 2 points – Yujiro Takahashi

B Block:
  • 12 points – SANADA (Block winner), Tetsuya Naito, EVIL
  • 10 points – Zack Sabre Jr., KENTA
  • 8 points – Hirooki Goto, Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • 6 points – Toru Yano
  • 4 points – YOSHI-HASHI