G1 Climax Night 4 saw an interesting encounter between CHAOS member former two-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, five-time NEVER Openweight Champion, and G1 Climax 18 winner Hirooki Goto against Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) member Sanada.
Sanada was unable to defeat CHAOS member Toru Yano on G1 Climax Night 2, while Goto came up short to rival and New Japan Cup USA 2020 winner, Bullet Club member Kenta.
This was the first match between the two since Sanada defeated Goto in a New Japan Cup 2019 epic first-round encounter on March 11, 2019. Before his defeat to Yano, Sanada was untouchable after losing to Evil during New Japan Cup 2020.
Goto needed a signature win to get his G1 Climax 30 campaign on the right track after his disappointing result against Kenta. The contrasting clash of styles saw Goto’s lariat and impactful slam laden offense take on the Llave style of Sanada.
While Sanada looked as if he had Goto’s number several times throughout the match, he was never able to quite put Goto away. Sanada sometimes has issues gaining victories with his Skull End technique, forcing him to rely on his Moonsault.
When he was unable to get the victory through those means, it opened the door for Goto, who was able to grab victory at the 11 minutes and 3-second mark with his GTR technique.
The loss put Sanada behind the pace within the G1 Climax 30 B Block, making his path to the tournament finals that much more difficult. While Goto grabbed a signature win from an individual many thought was one of the favorites going into G1 Climax 30.
As their careers have proven, neither Goto nor Sanada are going to be an easy matchup for any of their B Block competition, meaning they have a chance to stay alive deep into the tournament.