Andrew’s G1 Climax 30 B Block Results & Match Ratings: Day 8

G1 Climax 30 action returns for the fourth B Block day! With Naito and Yano standing above everyone; does anything happen to shake up the block?

Notably we have two faction pairs with Bullet Club and LIJ in the last two matches. KENTA is trying to establish himself in New Japan, while EVIL is trying to prove he’s a new and improved EVIL. While SANADA is just trying to stay alive in the tournament, Naito would look to continue pacing the field.

Let’s see what kind of show we get!

Ratings:

• Toru Yano vs Juice Robinson: Juice wins via Double Leg Cradle @6:42 – ** ¼
• Hirooki Goto vs Zack Sabre Jr: ZSJ wins via Double Wrist Prawn Hold @3:59 – ***
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs YOSHI-HASHI: Tanahashi wins via High Fly Flow @18:41 – ****
• KENTA vs EVIL: EVIL wins via Everything is Evil @15:40 – *** ¼
• Tetsuya Naito vs SANADA: SANADA wins via Moonsault @27:08 – **** ¼

Results:

Toru Yano vs Juice Robinson

Yano gives Juice a T-Shirt under the guise of present. Juice tells him “No Bullshit”, Yano says he promises, but he’s Yano. Roll-Up before the shirt is on, spray bottle to the face, another roll-up; all for two, but Juice’s banter is great. Yano keeps saying sorry and Juice calls him an asshole and then Hogan rips the T-Shirt and flosses his ass with it.

Yano and Juice keep mouthing off, eventually Juice goes out to Yano. Manhattan Drop, and then Yano tapes Juice’s feet and you could say…he’s hopping mad. Juice manages to beat the 20 count, yells at Yano that it’s not funny and Yano gives out the most obnoxious fake laugh ever before some Benny Hill stuff starts.

Juice manages a Full Nelson Bomb on Yano to get time to untape his legs. Yano tries to use the referee as a shield and sneak a low blow, Juice blocks it, tries Pulp Friction, Yano slips down for a cradle, but Juice sits back in the Double Legged Cradle and picks up the win! No more undefeated KOPW!

Highlights from “#G1CLIMAX30 Night8” (Oct 1st)
Watch full matches on New Japan World!

B Block action gets underway!

Juice Robinson (2-1) faces the undefeated @YTR_CHAOS (3-0)!

WATCH NOW▶︎https://t.co/Tj7UBINesh#njpw #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/SwJqulXMPC

— njpwworld (@njpwworld) October 1, 2020

The banter between Yano and Juice made this a little more enjoyable. This may have also been my most profanity laden review, but I also left out a few gems. Juice really doesn’t hold back on comments.

Hirooki Goto vs Zack Sabre Jr

After a little quick back and forth, ZSJ uses the corner to misdirect and sink in a nice Cobra Twist. Goto powers out, since it’s early, but since Goto came in with his right arm heavily taped, it’s a smart attack from the vegan bendy man.

A wild swing from Goto has him off balance, Zack manages to roll through, maintain both wrists and apply that Double Wrist Prawn Hold, for a flash victory! Wow…Goto lost in like 4 minutes. Not unprecedented, and helps play up the arm injury since the hold puts pressure on the shoulders, but wow.

If I give Kazushi Sakuraba credit for 200IQ in the N-1 Victory, ZSJ is getting the same nod. Smart and very surprising.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs YOSHI-HASHI

This match should be interesting, since HASHI has seen the most success of his career this year, and he’s facing the man who at one point wanted him to leave CHAOS and become his own person. Yes, then HASHI ate the side of the ring and we forgot about that story. But it wasn’t that long ago, so it’ll be interesting to see what it pulls from that.

Initially it’s a fairly equal trade, but HASHI starts attacking Tanahashi’s knees, which helps his subsequent strikes look better since The Ace is off balance. HASHI also dodges the low drop kick by just side stepping and totally punks out Tanahashi. Probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen YOSHI-HASHI do. That however pisses off Tana…so HASHI ends up on his back shortly after.

HASHI eats some Tana signatures, but manages to start a comeback with his Spinning Mule Kick, Thrust Kick and then a Jumping Powerbomb. Tanahashi manages to go behind HASHI before much more offense can be done and lands a Shutdown German Suplex, but only for 2. A small strike trade, then Sling Blade and Tana goes for High Fly Flow! But HASHI gets his knee up and they are both laid out for a few seconds.

Tanahashi struggles mightily through the Butterfly Lock for a while, YOSHI-HASHI drags him back twice, applying a Hammerlock as well, but the Ace won’t quit, so HASHI stands up with a Sleeper, hits the Backstabber and looks for Karma. Tanahashi fights off Karma, and gets some space, a few Dragon Screw Leg Whips, leads to a Texas Cloverleaf attempt, but HASHI counters with a Roll-up. We get another Roll-Up attempt from Tanahashi, and then another Dragon Screw.

Tons of back and forth. HASHI counters the Sling Blade, Tana wiggles out of Karma again, and it’s just a struggle. Tanahashi finally hits a Sling Blade, and moves quickly to the turnbuckle. Aces High, and then High Fly Flow, give the Ace another victory!

Highlights from “#G1CLIMAX30 Night8” (Oct 1st)
Watch full matches on New Japan World!

Ready to go with @YOSHIHASHICHAOS (1-2) 🆚 @tanahashi1_100 (1-2)!

WATCH NOW▶︎https://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP#njpw #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/80ByHJLXzb

— njpwworld (@njpwworld) October 1, 2020

They have words after and it seems like Tanahashi is telling HASHI he’s proud of him or something.

KENTA vs EVIL

Our first inter faction match up of the day! Bullet Club face off, EVIL and his Darkness Club squares off again KENTA and his Fang Club! Will EVIL prove that everything is evil, or will KENTA make him go 2 sleep?

The match builds slowly, with KENTA powdering early and making a lot of gestures to Dick Togo for help. Togo denies the requests of course, but it’s fun to watch KENTA poke at his own faction and obvious loyalties not just to Bullet Club. Togo finally gets involved by tripping KENTA and EVIL takes control.

EVIL grabs a chair while Togo distracts the ref, wedges it into KENTA’s bad shoulder and drives him into the corner post. The shoulder is the focus of all of EVIL’s early attacks, including exposing the turnbuckle and driving him in. It’s not until a well-timed Kick and Power Slam, that KENTA recovers some momentum. As KENTA puts some offense together like his Tornado Throat Hang and Diving Lariat, the crowd rallies behind him. It’s really funny knowing how hated he was last year, that the crowd is making KENTA the babyface in this match.

KENTA runs into Red Shoes obviously to bump him, DDT’s EVIL and calls for Togo again, but Togo says no. KENTA goes for the briefcase, cracks Togo and EVIL, to pretty solid applause. Double Foot Stomp, Busaiku Knee, but only a near fall. As KENTA fires a little, EVIL manages to quell the fire with a shove into the exposed buckles and Darkness Falls, for 2. The dynamic where KENTA is trying to be a heel, but the crowd and the pieces in the match force him babyface, actually adds a lot. Since when KENTA fires into his old self, we see he gets the reactions he always should have been getting.

Togo proves useful once again with distraction, KENTA tosses him in, puts him in Go 2 Sleep position, but Togo grabs Red Shoes, Low Blow and Everything is Evil is all she wrote.

KENTA showed glimpses of his old self again, but fell victim to heel tactics. I wonder if KENTA is starting an alignment change.

Tetsuya Naito vs SANADA

The match starts off with some playful aspects, where Naito tries to duck away from SANADA’s plancha, but he takes a Tranquilo page out of Naito book and just flips back in the ring and waits. There’s some solid enough back and forth, where the crowd really is heavily behind SANADA, so much so that he does the “bend an ear” thing he hasn’t done in a while.

Even with Naito cutting him off at times, no one really gets a clear advantage until SANADA hits an Avalanche Neckbreaker, and we start to see a change in the vibe of the match. SANADA seems more determined to beat Naito, and Naito has to lean into the set of 3 Back Elbows that he’s started recently to try and slow does SANADA. Naito attempts Gloria, but SANADA flips out into a Dragon Sleeper. Naito gets some distance and hits Esperanza. Naito counters the TKO with a Destino and then SANADA counters the Destino with TKO. So the even feeling of this match is palpable, but the crowd really wants SANADA to succeed.

After dueling elbow strikes, Naito sends SANADA into the corner, SANADA backflips and sinks in the Dragon Sleeper perfectly. Giant Swing, and Naito goes down, allowing SANADA to sink in Skull End. Now the crowd seems to the trying to rally Naito, which is common when there isn’t a clear bad guy, Japanese crowds tend to try and rally the underneath wrestler often. Naito refuses to give up, so SANADA tries the Moonsault, but Naito barely rolls out of the way. No water in the pool, and they’re both down for a bit.

At the 25 minute call, Naito tries quite hard for Destino, SANADA blocks, tries to counter but gets caught with the running variety for 2. Once Naito sees the Destino is asking a bit much, he attempts Valentia, but SANADA counters. After an Enzuigiri, Naito tries Valentia again, but SANADA counters with Destino. After the Destino, we get 2 Moonsaults from SANADA, and SANADA WINS!

Overall Score: 7.5/10

I appreciated the variety of what the matches brought on this show. Yano’s comedy act proved ineffective on Juice being Juice. ZSJ took advantage of a banged up Goto in quick fashion. HASHI proved himself against The Ace. KENTA wrestling a weird babyheel combination was entertaining. Plus the double fan favorites in the main event was a nice way to end things.

SANADA getting a win is huge for him as well, since it gives him a title opportunity in the future and finally gets him a win! No one is undefeated anymore, so it gives life to everyone who started off a little slow. Very fun day with matches that delivered well, sometimes in unexpected ways.

B Block Standings:

1. Tetsuya Naito: (3-1) – 6 Points
2. Toru Yano: (3-1) – 6 Points
3. Juice Robinson: (3-1) – 6 Points
4. KENTA: (2-2) – 4 Points
5. Zack Sabre Jr: (2-2) – 4 Points
6. EVIL: (2-2) – 4 Points
7. Hiroshi Tanahashi: (2-2) – 4 Points
8. Hirooki Goto: (1-3) – 2 Points
9. YOSHI-HASHI: (1-3) – 2 Points
10. SANADA: (1-3) – 2 Points