G1 Climax 30 Night 17 Results: A shocking heel turn highlights the A Block Finals
The A Block was to be decided on this evening in Ryogoku for the G1 Climax 30 Night 17. Heading into this show, four competitors had the chance to win with only Switchblade Jay White being able to control his fate. However, the results of the block were not the only things that surprised many fans coming out of this huge show.
The main event of the was the aforementioned match where Jay White faced Tomohiro Ishii. Switchblade took the block with a win here. Our semi main event featured Kota Ibushi battling Taichi with Ibushi needing a win and loss by White to take the block. The two other men still in the running to take the A Block, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay, were to meet one on one. The rest of the block matches were Shingo Takagi against Minoru Suzuki and Yujiro Takahashi meeting Jeff Cobb.
There was another limited-capacity crowd in Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan for the first of three straight nights here. We also had live English commentary from Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero and Chris Charlton for the last three nights of the tournament. The A Block standings heading in to G1 Climax 30 Night 17 were:
- Jay White, Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi (6-2)
- Will Ospreay (5-3)
- Taichi, Jeff Cobb (4-4) *eliminated
- Minoru Suzuki, Shingo Takagi, Tomohiro Ishii (3-5) *eliminated
- Yujiro Takahashi (0-8) *eliminated
For Night 17, your "Matches To Watch" are:
- Shingo Takagi vs. Minoru Suzuki
- Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada
- Kota Ibushi vs. Taichi
- Jay White vs. Tomohiro Ishii
The opening contest for the G1 Climax 30 Night 17 was another Young Lions battle with implications in the "unofficial" C Block.
G1 Climax 30 Night 17: Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd
The night kicked off with Yota Tsuji meeting Gabriel Kidd. Kidd defeated Tsuji on G1 Climax 30 Night 14. A win here for Yota would win him the C Block.
This G1 Climax 30 contest began with Tsuji coming out with a running dropkick on Kidd. Yota laid in the stomps and hit a running splash for a near fall. Kidd then went for some small package rollups for two counts.
Kidd worked over Tsuji with chops and strikes. After a leverage battle, Tsuji hit a suplex. Tsuji hit an elbow in the corner. He then hit a slam and senton, but Kidd reversed into a crucifix for a near fall. The two men traded strikes until Kidd hit a dropkick for a near fall.
Kidd went for the butterfly suplex which Tsuji reversed into an inside cradle for a two count. Tsuji hit a spear followed by a powerslam for a near fall. Tsuji then did his Giant Swing into the Boston Crab for the submission win in seven minutes. Yota Tsuji got his seventh win of the tour. He has won the C Block of the G1 Climax 30 now. This was another solid opener here.
Results: Yota Tsuji defeats Gabriel Kidd via submission
Star Rating: **3/4