The G1 Climax 30 Night 10 marquee saw former eight-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and G1 17, G1 Climax 25, and G1 Climax 28 winner Hiroshi Tanahashi against former NEVER Openweight Champion and New Japan Cup USA 2020 winner Kenta.
Tanahashi is coming off a G1 Climax 30 Night 8 victory against CHAOS member Yoshi-Hashi, while Kenta was coming off a loss to former IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ and Bullet Club unit mate Evil.
Tanahashi and Kenta were both coming in with 4 points, and both needed a victory to keep their G1 Climax 30 Finals hopes alive. Last year in G1 Climax 29, Kenta was able to defeat Tanahashi and brought an even more aggressive style into the match.
Throughout the majority of the match, Kenta worked over Tanahashi’s knee, making it difficult for the former prolific IWGP Heavyweight Champion to find his form during the match.
However, as he has throughout his career, Tanahashi showed the courage and fighting spirit that has led him to success. Eventually, Tanahashi would begin working on Kenta’s knee as well with a group of Dragon Screw Legwhips.
Tanahashi was able to get the submission fall with the Texas Clover Hold at the 23 minutes and 41 seconds mark to move his points total to 6 in B Block.
The loss for Kenta makes it extremely difficult for him to have a path towards the G1 Climax 30 Finals, but there remains a slight chance if those in front of him hit a stumbling block.
Tanahashi keeps himself in the hunt and showed he still has the fight within him that has made him a legendary figure in the history of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
With the second half of block action underway, Tanahashi is a dangerous individual who could see himself in another G1 Finals match.
