Top 10 best G1 Climax 30 matches
The G1 Climax 30 tournament is finally over. Kota Ibushi defeated SANADA in the finals to become the first back-to-back winner of the G1 since Tenzan in 2003 and 2004. After the month-long tournament, it is hard to remember better professional wrestling than this in 2020. There have been a multitude of fantastic matches, moments and angles in NJPW throughout this tournament. Making a list of the best matches is a daunting task to say the least.
We witnessed a rematch from WrestleKingdom 14 between Kota Ibushi and Kazuchika Okada, a breakout performance from Juice Robinson against Tetsuya Naito, and the 52-year-old Minoru Suzuki go move for move with Will Ospreay. The G1 Climax 30 also saw Ospreay battle it out with Switchblade Jay White, SANADA pull off a victory against his fellow Los Ingobernables de Japon stablemate in Naito, and Ishii in a stiff war against Suzuki.
Those great matches just miss the cut on this list. In this article, we will take a look at the top 10 best G1 Climax 30 matches of the entire tournament. The one honorable mention that was not included and got a high rating during our results was Will Ospreay against Kazuchika Okada from the A Block Finals. Their match was great, but it will be remembered more for the amazing angle and heel turn for Ospreay. There was also two other matches that will be remembered more from Day 17.
#10 Kota Ibushi vs. Taichi (G1 Climax 30 Day 17)
This was the most unique encounter of the entire G1 Climax 30. On Day 17 with the A Block Finals, Kota Ibushi needed a win over Taichi to have a chance to take the block. Taichi got the win over Ibushi back in the New Japan Cup 2020, and the Dangerous Tekkers defeated Ibushi and Tanahashi to win the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles at Dominion. These two are known for their stiff kicks, but no one could have expected this.
There was a G1 Climax 30 A Block encounter that featured basically only three to four moves. There was an attempted suplex, the finisher and kicks. This match featured 156 kicks between the two men. There were kicks to the hamstrings, kicks to the chest and kicks to the head.
In the end, Ibushi won this kicking battle and scored with the Kamigoye for the win. This contest was different from any other match in the G1 Climax 30 and probably the entire year.