G1 Climax 30 SummaryThat's right, yet more paragraphs about the G1 Climax!
Yujiro Takahashi (2 points)Takahashi confirmed his status as the shittiest wrestler on the roster, if not the world. Got a consolation prize victory over Jeff Cobb.
He did have one entertaining moment. I say moment, as it was more of a segment than a match. Takahashi vs White, both Bullet Club. Jay, dressed in casual clothes, wants Takahashi to lay down. He doesn't. Two minutes of excitement follow. It's the only exciting thing Takahashi has done in his entire career.
YOSHI-HASHI (4 points)
YOSHI-HASHI takes home the most improved/biggest surprise award. Exceeded expectations. For his entire career YOSHI has been a career midcarder, and a low midcarder at that. Essentially the Yujiro Takahashi of CHAOS. Exists to take pinfalls in tag team matches.
While it's true he was the jobber of the B Block, every single match of his was very high quality. He came very close to beating top guys like Naito, EVIL, and Tanahashi. He defeated the block finalist SANADA. Suddenly I am having high hopes for his future. Maybe a run with one of the lesser singles belts?
Some of YOSHI's opponents put him over in their post-match interviews. Many comments to the effect of "I thought this guy was shit, but he's actually pretty good." One example from promo master Zack Sabre Jr.
Minoru Suzuki (6 points)
In terms of points, a disappointing year for Suzuki. You'd expect him to win more than three matches, but not this year. That said he did put on solid matches every single round, and a couple of great ones. Put a ton of guys over, as a wrestler of his age should do. I particularly liked his matches against Ospreay and White where he got to show off his more sadistic side.
Toru Yano (6 points)
One of my favourite wrestlers of the whole tournament. I know I say that about Yano every year, but this was definitely Yano's best G1 ever. He brought something completely different to the table in every single match. A myriad of genius sequences involving wrestlers being taped to objects and people in an attempt to win by countout. Different match structures. Different wrestling styles. He lost in under 30 seconds to Goto, and went over 10 minutes with Zack Sabre Jr.
Absolute highlight, and had a legitimate ***** career best match with ZSJ.
Shingo Takagi (8 points)
Consistently good, sometimes great, but never outstanding.
Juice Robinson (8 points)
Consistently good, sometimes great, and even outstanding in one match, against Naito.
The difference between Juice and Shingo, besides that one oustanding performance, is that I don't expect Robinson to wrestle at that high quality. So he exceeded expectations amd impressed me a lot. Solid promos too. Juice really sells the grind of the tournament and his often mediocre performance (in kayfabe). Next year maybe he will get that 10 points he seeks so much.
I dislike his personality, but that's never going to change. He's flamboyant, charismatic, energetic. He's very over. Doesn't work for me, but it works for him and, most importantly, it works for the crowd.
Interesting thing about Juice is that he uses a closed fist punch to set up his finisher. Blatant cheating. When EVIL uses a low blow to set up his finisher, it's a dickhead heel move. Why has Juice been able to cheat for years, in front of the referee, and not be booed or even reprimanded for it?
Tomohiro Ishii (8 points)
As usual, Ishii churning out the great matches and making everybody look awesome. A redditor made an interesting observation about Ishii after he defeated Jay White in the final round.
That's who Ishii is. The unsung hero. Wrestling is his life. He lives only to wrestle. He doesn't care about looking good or pleasing the crowd. He doesn't want the accolades or the recognition. That's why we love him. I honestly think he would be a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion if it wasn't for his height or his look. Shibata has essentially the same character, but he fit the desired aesthetic, and no doubt would have become Champion if not for that untimely injury.
Unfortunately, Ishii's love of wrestling costs him in every G1. He goes full pelt, 100% every single match. You gotta pace yourself in the G1. But Ishii doesn't know how to wrestle in any other gear but full gear. God bless Tomohiro Ishii.
Shares match of the tournament honours with Jay White.
Hiroshi Tanahashi (8 points)
Tanahashi scores under 50% for the first time since 2004, if I recall. However his journey throughout this G1 was incredible and further proof of how fantastic a storyteller he is. Not that we need any further confirmation.
In the past few years Tanahashi has had his low periods, but always bounced back to the top. For a moment in the middle of the tournament it looked like Tanahashi would do it again, but he is getting too old and too broken down to make that full recovery.
His first match was an incredibly strong performance against Naito, and I felt like he would have defeated Naito in any previous year. But now Naito has become too strong, Tanahashi too weak, and even the best possible outing by Tanahashi is no longer good enough to beat the Cjhampion. His following matches against Robinson and YOSHI were a different story. Perhaps he used too much gas in the Naito match. He was completely dominated by Juice and YOSHI, but was able to scrape together a victory.
However by this point he had found his groove. He scored a very impressive victory against KENTA. Although he lost to EVIL, we were seeing a revived Tanahashi, nearly at his peak. But perhaps his stamina failed him again, as he couldn't keep up with Goto, even an injured Goto. Tanahashi finished strong in his last two matches, losing to SANADA in another close contest and then defeating ZSJ in a match where Tanahashi was never in any real trouble.
Great performance from a master storyteller, and his emotional post-match promos really sold how his self-awareness and how he felt about his clear decline as a wrestler.
Jeff Cobb (8 points)
I never paid much attention to Cobb before, and now I wonder what I've been missing all these years. Has Cobb always been this good, or did he step up like Juice and YOSHI?
Cobb really played to his strengths, throwing wrestlers around like ragdolls and wowing everyone with his offense. However he also sold well and made his opponents look great. Had the best opener of the tournament against Ishii, an absolute classic hossfest.
Hirooki Goto (8 points)
I don't find Goto interesting in general. He was a little more interesting than average this year, with three notable performances. His first match against KENTA was a surprisingly technical affair, with the normally strong-headed Goto on the back foot for most of the match. KENTA submitted Goto and simultaneously injured Goto's shoulder, which would plague him for the rest of the tournament.
His battles against Zack and YOSHI were interesting matches, purely because Goto worked differently from how he normally does. But in general, he was as mediocre as ever.
Taichi (8 points)
I've long felt that Taichi is the most underrated wrestler in the company. He's been a way above average worker since he graduated to heavyweight a couple of years ago, and he isn't slowing down.
Great matches against White, Ishii, Takagi, and a five star kick-fest against Ibushi to close his tournament.
Zack Sabre Jr. (10 points)
Wrestler of the tournament. Even your average ZSJ match is light years ahead of what most of his fellow wrestlers are doing, but in 2020 Zack experimented with a number of different styles and excelled in all of them.
He worked a pure underdog babyface against EVIL in the first round. He worked a strong style sprint with Goto. He worked a comedy tekkers match with Yano. All incredible. Averaged above ****. Never mind what that cretin Will Ospreay says, Zack Sabre Jr. is the real best wrestler in the world.
He displayed more variety in his promo game as well. In addition to the above promo putting over YOSHI, here's his post-match promo against Yano, almost as funny as the match itself.
Another great one after his match with Juice, again putting his opponent over in his snide, snarky way.
Kazuchika Okada (12 points)
Okada wins so much it becomes insufferable (@ness ), but at least he was always putting on great matches. Now he's beating everyone and not even doing that. The main reason for his decline in quality is that he has refused to use the Rainmaker lariat to win matches, instead relying on an awful version of the Cobra Clutch he calls the Money Clip.
Much like SANADA's Skull End, Okada spams his hold ad nauseam, sucking the heat out of his matches. Yet he is booked to beat Taichi, Ishii and Takagi with this hold, submitting them or passing them out. Fuck that bullshit.
Okada only had one standout match in the tournament, the final round against Ospreay. That was a great match even without the shocking conclusion.
KENTA (10 points)
Promo of the tournament. KENTA likes to talk directly to the cameramen. Throughough his post-match interviews he told a long and compelling story. The cameraman KENTA likes (or loves?) did not appear at every show. Whenever he showed up, KENTA won. The second cameraman was, according to KENTA, an overweight stalker who carries rice balls in his pockets. Whenever he showed up, KENTA lost. Here's an example.
KENTA didn't have any great matches, but he has found himself as a character and wrestler. In a sense he is like Jay White. He works very smart, psychologically manipulating his opponents to get the edge, but is also capable of roughing people up with his nasty strikes (something he should do more). He brings something different to the table, and I like that.
Tragically, he only hit the Go 2 Sleep once in the entire tournament, despite winning five matches.
Jay White (12 points)
Best wrestler of the A block. Like Zack, I reckon he averaged above ****. Gave Yujiro his only good match. Great matches against most of the rest of the block. He's a phenomenal counter wrestler and always has a great personalised strategy for each opponent.
He still tends to talk too much and repeat himself during promos, but in general he's pretty good on the mic.
Shares match of the tournament honours with Tomohiro Ishii.
Tetsuya Naito (12 points)
Disappointing performance, but still better than Okada. Great opener with Tanahashi, then coasted through most of the block. His inspiration picked up in his latter matches against Juice, Yano and KENTA.
I love Naito's promo style in general. He's pretty introspective and can be quite cunning in the remarks he makes towards some of his opponent. Also love how he sold his final round loss to KENTA, both in the ring and in the post-match interview. It's a down-on-his-luck side of Naito I've not seen before.
Will Ospreay (12 points)
My opinion of Ospreay changed drastically throughout this tournament, even before he shocked the world when he brought in his girlfriend and betrayed Okada. He entered in as an unbearably cocky cunt, I hated him. I genuinely thought he was trying to get more over as a babyface but was completely tone deaf to how he was perceived. Midway through the tournament something clicked. I realised he was doing it deliberately to make himself less likeable.
Fantastic promo before his match with Okada. Watching it again, I realise that his foreshadowing was very clever. He cut another great promo after that match to explain his actions and introduce his new stable The Empire. Now I am interested in Ospreay's character, which I have never been before.
How was he in the ring? Generally very good. He's a convincing heavyweight now, with big wins over heavyweight gatekeepers like Ishii and Suzuki. Still I would say his 2019 G1 performance was a tad better.
EVIL (12 points)
The new EVIL is slightly more tolerable than the EVIL working 30+ minute borefests with Naito, but only slightly.
However he's still completely one dimensional. His blatant cheating shtick was effective in some matches, against the stronger babyfaces and against Zack (who was roleplaying as a strong babyface). In those matches I was really rooting for the face to beat that cunt, with a fervor I very rarely display because wrestlers don't really get heel heat with me.
Despite that, I'd say he's regressed as an in-ring perfomer, and he was never that good even before Bullet Club.
SANADA (12 points, Block B winner)
I don't like SANADA. He's not actively bad like Yujiro, he's just not very interesting. He's a guy who looks cool and does cool things but has absolutely no substance. There's nothing to latch onto. Never understand why the company pushes him so hard.
Another great quote from reddit.
Kota Ibushi (14 points, Block A winner, G1 winner)
Ibushi has always been hit and miss. This year was the same, but I'm pleased to say he was more hit than miss. Like Jay and some others, he adapted to his opponents, offering something different in the ring. Five star match with Taichi in the final round.
Wouldn't be my first, or second, or third choice as the G1 winner, but I can understand why NJPW chose him.
In his promos he keeps going on and on about becoming God with a capital G. No idea what the guy is on about, he's in a world of his own.
Best Matches
Zack Sabre Jr. vs Toru Yano - Day 12 - *****
Kota Ibushi vs Taichi - Day 18 - *****
Jay White vs Tomohiro Ishii - Day 18 - *****
Tetsuya Naito vs Juice Robinson - Day 12 - ****3/4
Tomohiro Ishii vs Jeff Cobb - Day 13 - ****3/4
