The marquee match of the G1 Climax 30 Night 18 event saw the final block match of G1 Climax 30 and decided who would win B Block. The former Cold Darkness tag team were two-time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and winners of the 2017 & 2018 World Tag League tournament.
The former IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ and Bullet Club member Evil and the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) member Sanada both came into the match only needing a victory to advance to the G1 Climax 30 Finals to face A Block winner “Golden Star” Kota Ibushi.
The former tag partners had rarely interacted going into the match since Evil turned on LIJ after winning the New Japan Cup 2020 tournament on July 11, 2020.
The Ryogoku Kokugikan arena was tense and firmly behind Sanada who had to overcome Evil’s mind games, his manager Dick Togo, and the under-handed tactics Evil was willing to deploy to win a spot in the finals on October 18th.
However, Sanada was able to combat Evil’s strategy well, until Togo got into the ring, causing LIJ member Hiromu Takahashi, who was providing guest analysis, to get involved.
Sanada would eventually completely neutralize Dick Togo and gain the fall at the 27 minutes and 1-second mark with the O’Connor Bridge clutch technique.
The victory means Sanada advances to his first-ever G1 Climax Finals and sets him up to possibly challenge current IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ and LIJ unit mate Tetsuya Naito at Wrestle Kingdom 15 (Date Pending Announcement).
The loss for Evil means his path back towards being IWGP Heavyweight Champion will be longer than he would have liked, it also means he will likely have a long discussion with “Switchblade” Jay White if both are to coexist together in Bullet Club.
