The marquee match of G1 Climax 30 Night 17 was to decide the winner of the A Block as former IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental, IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, and Bullet Club member “Switchblade” Jay White went war with former five-time NEVER Openweight Champion, two-time Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion, and CHAOS member “Stone Pitbull” Tomohiro Ishii.
Switchblade was coming into the match with 12 points and with the potential to advance to the G1 Climax 30 Finals with a victory over current NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki. Switchblade was dominated throughout his match against Suzuki, yet his manager Gedo did enough to help him secure the win against his violent adversary.
While Ishii suffered from a tough slate of G1 Climax 30 results, he remained aggressively competitive against everyone he stepped into the ring against.
The match was physical with Ishii bringing his best form of the entire tournament, answering every question Jay White put forth. However, Switchblade used his uncanny savvy to throw unique propositions towards Ishii, who met them head-on with his physical in-ring style.
Ishii was able to gain the fall at the 24 minutes and 35 seconds mark with his Sheer Drop Brainbuster technique to move to 8 points and Jay White’s G1 Climax 30 campaign.
The victory for Ishii meant former IWGP Intercontinental Champion “Golden Star” Kota Ibushi would advance to his record-setting third straight G1 Climax Finals match.
Jay White showed a great deal of frustrating after the match, but gave somewhat sarcastic words of confidence for former IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ and Bullet Club unit mate Evil.
The result gives Ishii a great deal of momentum going forward as he returns to being a serious threat for a singles championship opportunity after his impressive victory. It’s yet to be known what title Ishii would set his sights on.
