NJPW G1 Climax 30 10.11

Gabriel Kidd vs. Yota Tsuji - 5/10

Ok match, wasn't as impressed, I've noticed that the ones I like the most have Uemura in them. Also, Kidd has been getting on my nerves for a while, I get the impression that he keeps trying to get himself over outside of his wrestling, which is perfectly ok, but it's not something that Young Lions do, they respect their position and Kidd, not being Japanese or born out of the dojo, I get the impression that he goes into business for himself and it rubs me the wrong way. Totally personal opinion, he's still a fantastic wrestler.

G1 Climax 30 Block B Match
Zack Sabre Jr. (6) vs. YOSHI-HASHI (2) - 7.5/10

This was great, Sabre worked over YH's arm until YH couldn't take it anymore. We saw a focused Sabre and a YH that worked through the pain, but that completely lacked a plan against Sabre. Why would anyone think it's smart to think that they can rely on a submission like the Butterfly Lock against Sabre over chasing KARMA to begin with. This was on the weaker performances of YH, his fire works best against brawlers. Sabre won with a double Omoplata, something between the Cremation Lily and the Young Boy Killer.

G1 Climax 30 Block B Match
KENTA (4) vs. Toru Yano (6) - 5/10

A lot of shenanigans, but enjoyed KENTA doing some heelish comedy. There was a lot of play using the hand sanitizer bottle that Yano brings to the ring, and if we suspend our disbelief and take the contents of that bottle as legit alcohol, this would had been a gruesome match, getting alcohol in your eyes. Finish saw KENTA tie up Yano's hands against the entrance structure for the countout. Ok stuff, weaker on the Yano spectrum of funny.

Also, I never really paid attention to it, but we're no night 14 and KENTA came in with only 4 points. Wow.

G1 Climax 30 Block B Match
SANADA (6) vs. Juice Robinson (6) - 7/10

Good stuff, but it took a while to really hit second gear, and even when it did, I kinda felt that Juice's larger size was becoming a problem between them as he seemed to have trouble getting into Skull End position as he had to really bend back to adjust to SANADA's height.

I did really enjoy the latter half of the match where SANADA was already chasing the Skull End and Juice was just out there hitting lefts and rights all over the place. There was soo much pandering to the crowd that I thought I was watching Friday night's CMLL show, and maybe that was part of what made me think that the chemistry between these two is not strong enough and needs to be worked on, I would had imagine that the contrast between charisma could lead to an interesting clash, but we're not there yet. SANADA won with the Skull End Moonsault combo.

G1 Climax 30 Block B Match
Hiroshi Tanahashi (6) vs. Hirooki Goto (6) - 7/10

This was surprisingly short, and given his previous matches, I think we can assume that Goto must be hurting bad, he had a quick match with Sabre, Yano, and now a semi with Tanahashi, that is not normal for New Japan. They are making it seem like Goto woke up after that loss from Sabre and is now so focused that he is winning matches within minutes, so at least they're getting something out of this problem.

The match saw Goto go after Tanahashi's neck, he landed a top rope Ushigoroshi that just looked brutal on Tana's neck. Tanahashi worked over Goto's leg, but didn't really get close to slowing down Goto before falling to the GTR. They really made it seem like Tana and Goto were all business, straight for the kill approach, so it really helped sell this match.

This I believe is the first time that Goto has ever beaten Tanahashi in a G1 Climax.

G1 Climax 30 Block B Match
Tetsuya Naito (10) vs. EVIL (8) - 8/10

This was the ONE result that I was dreading the most in the whole tournament, but also one that I think, deep inside, I knew we were getting. I have no problems with EVIL or his current heel tactics, but I know that this will make a thousand geeks complain that EVIL sucks and that cheating and that the IWGP title is worthless and that EVIL is going to kill NJPW.

Anyway, we saw pretty much the same stuff we've seen in the last months between these two. A lot of cheating from Togo and EVIL, low blows and chairs all around, Togo choking Naito, and Naito kinda fighting against all odds. I did like that the finish wasn't a direct consequence of a low blow like in 98% of all EVIL matches, they went for the finisher race at the end and EVIL landed Everything Is Evil as a counter to Destino, and THAT is what used to make EVIL so exciting to watch, he always had those killer finisher races because an STO is a nice counter to a lot of moves.

Post-match - EVIL cut his winner's promo, saying everything is evil and real. Maybe he's thinking of wrestling Kurt Angle?

OVERALL THOUGHTS

It's not that this was weak, it was actually a good show for the most part, but I was still riding the wave from yesterday's show and this just wasn't at the level. Each match had their shortcomings due to time or positioning, but I really enjoyed the Tanahashi and Sabre matches the most.<