The headline match for G1 Climax 30 Night 18 was an opportunity for IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ and Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) leader Tetsuya Naito to keep his hopes of advancing to the finals alive.
Naito would need to defeat the former NEVER Openweight Champion, New Japan Cup USA 2020 winner, and Bullet Club member Kenta and have LIJ unit mate Sanada defeat Evil. A loss by Naito would eliminate him from G1 Climax 30 Finals contention.
Kenta would ruin the LIJ celebration for Naito during Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2 after Naito became the first-ever IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ by defeating then IWGP Heavyweight Champion “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada on the V6 defense of his fifth reign with the title.
The two would wrestle at the Osaka Jo Hall in Osaka, Japan on February 9, 2020 for the ‘Double Championship’ during The New Beginning in Osaka 2020 feature event. The 11,411 person crowd drew a gate of over one million dollars. Naito would win the match, despite being bloodied by Kenta.
The two played mind games with one another early on, yet the match would eventually intensify with Kenta battering Naito with his physical style. However, Naito would show his fighting spirit and fight back, putting Kenta on his back foot during several moments of the match.
Despite nearly being beaten, Kenta was able to use a Horizontal Cradle at the 21 minutes and 6 seconds mark to move to 10 points and eliminate Naito from winning the B Block.
Naito showed a great deal of frustration after the match, but his amazing form during the G1 Climax will likely help him during future defenses of the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships.
Kenta winning means he may have a claim for one of the titles Naito currently holds along with the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship currently held by Jon Moxley.
