G1 Climax 30 Night 16 saw IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ and Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) leader Tetsuya Naito take on current KOPW (presumably King of Pro Wrestling) titleholder and CHAOS member Toru Yano.
Naito came into the match sitting on 10 points and coming off a loss to former IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ and Bullet Club member Evil. He needed a win to remain atop of the B Block.
Yano came in with 6 points, and a string of bizarre matches focused around his deceptive tricks. He lost his G1 Climax 30 Night 14 match to former NEVER Openweight Champion Kenta.
The match lived up to expectations as Yano continued his attempts to gain victories through underhanded methods, despite his B Block opponents having caught on during the latter stages of the tournament.
Naito stalled early on, likely an attempt to frustrate Yano who thrives when he can mentally frustrate his opponents. However, he was unable to do so against Naito, who also has a reputation for getting under the skin of his opposition.
Despite his best attempts, Yano simply couldn’t one-up Naito throughout the match. Naito would gain the fall at the 8 minutes and 4 seconds mark with a Jacknife Hold to move his point total to 12.
Naito faces former NEVER Openweight Champion and Bullet Club member Kenta on October 17th in his final B Block campaign match. In order to advance to the G1 Climax 30 Finals, Naito will have to defeat Kenta and hope his LIJ unit mate defeats Evil in the marquee match.
Yano faces fellow CHAOS mate Yoshi-Hashi on the final day of block action. Yoshi-Hashi will be desperate for a victory after falling a little short of getting the results he’s wanted throughout the tournament.