The B Block got things started for Korakuen hall, but now A Block is going to blow the roof off the place with another stacked night of action. Block leaders are Taichi & Jay White at six points each, while Minoru Suzuki, Will Ospreay & Kota Ibushi are in the middle at four points each. Jeff Cobb & Kazuchika Okada are below them with two points, while Tomohiro Ishii & Yujiro Takahashi come into this night still at zero. The situation will become even clearer after tonight, but Jay White is looking like the strongest bet at this point.
G1 Climax 2020 Block A Match: Minoru Suzuki vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Yujiro Takahashi might become the first man to be mathematically eliminated from this year’s G1 Climax, having lost his first three matches and having Minoru Suzuki up next. It takes about twelve points to make the finals, making tonight do or die as Takahashi has six matches left. He’s never beaten Suzuki in singles action, dropping matches in the 2012, 2013,& 2014 G1 Climaxes to the current NEVER Openweight Champion. This all sets up a potential upset to start the night, but it’s more likely Takahashi just gets mauled.
Takahashi came ready for a fight, hitting Suzuki with a boot before the bell rang, cementing this one’s status as an all out brawl. This was a mistake, and Takahashi, despite getting a few good blows in, crumbled before Suzuki after he was locked in the sleeper hold and dropped on his head with the Gotch Style Piledriver. Suzuki moves to six points, and Takahashi can play spoiler at best in this tournament. It was a short but sweet match, exactly what it needed to be.
Match Rating: 2.75/5 (** ¾)
G1 Climax 2020 Block A Match: Kota Ibushi vs. Jeff Cobb
In a first time singles match, Jeff Cobb matches up very nicely with Kota Ibushi. Both are around the middle of the pack in the tournament points wise, and they’re both agile hard hitters. If it goes towards striking, Ibushi wins just about every time, but Cobb has those dangerous suplexes at his disposal. Ibushi is one of the front runners in this tournament, with his only blemish being a loss to Jay White, and a win against Cobb will get him one step closer to his goal.
First time matches can often have this unique type of magic to them, and that was the case with this one, as their chemistry was instant. Cobb has been needing that one signature match in NJPW, and he might have just had it. He took Ibushi to his limit with a flurry of suplexes and an F5 that’d make Brock Lesnar blush. However, it doesn’t take much for Ibsuhi to turn a match around, with a few big strikes and the Kamigoye dropping Cobb. If this one was decided by points, Cobb would have won, but Ibushi moves to six points.
Match Rating: 3.75/5 (*** ¾)
G1 Climax 2020 Block A Match: Taichi vs. Kazuchika Okada
In their second singles match in Korakuen Hall this year, Okada looks to get things started in this tournament against unlikely front runner Taichi. Okada’s been having a rough time since NJPW restarted, and that continues into the G1 where he dropped big matches to Kota Ibushi & Jay White, only managing a win over Yujiro Takahashi. Meanwhile, Taichi is riding high after a good New Japan Cup and winning the IWGP Tag Team Championships, and having a perfect record thus far in the tournament. Okada needs to get the led out, and toppling Taichi might just do that.
Taichi made sure to take advantage right out of the gate, attacking the hurt back of Okada and riding this advantage for most of the match. We got brief glimmers of the Okada everyone has been wanting to see, but Taichi had an answer for everything thrown his way. Okada’s playbook is so well known, relying on simple moves done to perfection, but moves that are easy to counter.
He fought through punishment, and almost used the rainmaker before getting low blowed, but his best looking Cobra Clutch yet would be what put away Taichi on this night. Okada is up to four points, and needs a near perfect run to reach the finals at this rate, and he remains one of the most interesting players in this year’s G1 Climax. This was a great showing from both men, with Taichi again showing he’s becoming one of the best in NJPW.
Match Rating: ⅘ (****)
G1 Climax 2020 Block A Match: Will Ospreay vs. Jay White
Right now, this is Jay White’s tournament after beating Shingo Takagi, Kota Ibushi & Kazuchika Okada, but now he has to deal with a new and more deadly Will Ospreay. They’ve met only once in NJPW, with White winning but Ospreay has heavily bulked up since then, now being dubbed Hosspreay by whatever fans he has left. Ospreay plowed through Yujiro Takahashi & Tomohiro Ishii, before going to war with his new rival in Shingo Takagi. Now, he has a chance to knock Jay White off the top of the A-Block, in what should be a classic.
White quickly realized how strong Ospreay is now in this one, when a chop levelled him, setting the tone for this match. The pace was frantic, the action was crisp as it comes, while remaining brutal. White had to play this one smart, being unable to outpower or outspeed Ospreay for long, but he can out wrestle him, and submissions would grind him down, keep the pace slow, and keep White in control.
This wouldn’t work forever, and when Ospreay got moving? White was completely overwhelmed at the best of times, but his work on Ospreays leg kept giving him openings to regain control. Ospreay in the end would overcome White’s carefully laid plans, knock Gedo out, block the Low Blow & Blade Runner, and nail Hidden Blade into Stormbreaker for the win. It was just a perfectly set up and executed match, that didn’t feel half as long as what it was. Much like how Ospreay & Shingo are great rivals, White fits in that picture as well, their chemistry is excellent. Ospreay moves to six points, where White started the night, and is now tied for first place with White, Ibushi & Taichi.
Match Rating: 4.5/5 (**** ½)
G1 Climax 2020 Block A Match: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi
Korakuen Hall has seen it’s fair share of hard hitting matches from all promotions in Japan, and it’s time to add another to that list. This tournament hasn’t really been going how either Tomohiro Ishii or Shingo Takagi planned, with Ishii losing three in a row, and Takagi avoiding the same fate with a hard fought win over Will Ospreay. That means there is a lot of frustration to let out in a hard hitting matchup, one which happened in last year’s G1 Climax as one of the best the tournament had to offer. Takagi has two wins over Ishii, including one earlier this year when Takagi won the NEVER Openweight Championship, but The Stone Pitbull is backed into a corner and ready to bite.
Much like his classic matches with Katsuyori Shibata & Minoru Suzuki, this was a fast paced and down right violent brawl from two of the heavy hitters in NJPW. It’s straight to the point, and your body aches just watching it. They crashed into each other, brawled on the outside, and all around kicked each other’s ass for about twenty five minutes, and it was exactly what fans wanted from these two. The crowd was as hot as they can be without shouting, and in the end Ishii would claim his first two points of the tournament, and they were well deserved.
Match Rating: 4.75/5 (**** ¾)
What was your favorite match of Night Seven? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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