G1 Climax 30 Night 5 was a loaded card that featured two headlines to go along with the marquee. The first of those headline matches saw former IWGP Intercontinental and NEVER Openweight Champion Kota Ibushi (defending G1 Climax 29 champion) face former two-time Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) Undisputed British Heavyweight and five-time NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS).
After defeating Ibushi during a NEVER Openweight Championship defense on May 25, 2014, Ishii had lost his last two singles matches to Ibushi. Those matches took place during G1 Climax 27 & 28. He also dropped his first two G1 Climax 30 matches with defeats to both NEVER Openweight Champion Suzuki-Gun leader Minoru Suzuki and fellow CHAOS member RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay.
Ibushi came into the match with a victory over former five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and a loss to former IWGP Heavyweight, Intercontinental, and IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jay White.
The two would embark on an intense battle of strikes. Ibushi mixed in several moments of aerial offense but mostly relied on standing toe to toe with the unbending “Stone Pitbull” Tomohiro Ishii.
The display of fighting spirit between the two is what made Ishii extremely popular among western fans of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and leads many to believe Ibushi will one day become IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
Ibushi would take the fall at the 15 minutes and 41 seconds mark with his Kamigoye technique to move him to 2-1 in G1 Climax 30 A Block action. With Ishii dropping to 0-3, his back was put against the wall.
With the spirit within Ishii, it’s unlikely he would go an entire G1 Climax tournament without finding his best form. While Ibushi is looking to become the first back to back G1 Climax winner since Hiroyoshi Tenzan did so by winning G1 Climax 13 & 14 in 2003 and 2004.
