The opening tournament match of G1 Climax 30 Night 18 saw CHAOS member Yoshi-Hashi and the KOPW (presumably King of Pro Wrestling) titleholder Toru Yano battle for pride after both were long since eliminated from possibly winning the B Block.
While Yoshi-Hashi had put on numerous quality performances during his G1 Climax 30 campaign, including nearly defeating current IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ and Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) leader Tetsuya Naito.
Toru Yano, on the other hand, had his tricks found out and went on a streak of losses, including an 18-second loss to fellow CHAOS member, two-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, and five-time NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto.
At the onset of the match, Yoshi-Hashi demanded his long-time CHAOS unit mate dispose of the many roles of athletic tape he was hiding within his gear, even pointing extra rolls he knew Yano was hiding.
However, Yoshi-Hashi’s demand for Yano to wrestle a clean match led to Yoshi-Hashi nearly winning by ring out after using athletic tape to tie Yano to the barrier on the outside.
Yano would also resort to his typical antics in an attempt to catch Yoshi-Hashi off guard with low blows and various cradle techniques. Yet, Yoshi-Hashi was prepared for that as well.
Yoshi-Hashi would gain the fall at the 6 minutes and 10 seconds mark with a cradle to move his G1 Climax 30 point total to 4. He may enter World Tag League against with “Stone Pitbull” Tomohiro Ishii, who is also one-third of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions (w/Hirooki Goto) and Yoshi-Hashi.
Yano ends his G1 Climax 30 campaign with a respectable 6 points after providing a number of headaches for his B Block opposition, despite the six-match drought to end the tournament. Yano will likely have to defend the KOPW title in the near future.
