The G1 Climax isn’t stopping anytime soon, and the B-Block continues to lag behind the A-Block in terms of match quality, but have another night to change this. Faction members clash in the top two matches, while everyone looks to get ahead before victory becomes impossible.
G1 Climax 2020 Block B Match: Toru Yano vs. Juice Robinson
Somehow, Toru Yano is still undefeated in this year’s G1 Climax, but tonight he faces Juice Robinson. Robinson has never lost to Yano, and has faced him the previous three G1’s, always being able to defuse the devious traps of Yano. Robinson has been having a good tournament, and he’s the only one who can stop Yano from reaching eight points.
Yano started with an act of kindness, giving Robinson a T-Shirt, and then tried to roll him up. He would goad Robinson to the outside and tie him with tape hidden in his trunks for a count out, but none of this stopped Robinson. He would hit a Full Nelson Slam, untie his legs, and pin Yano. This great comedy match gets Juice to six points, and makes him 4-0 to Yano, a fantastic stat in its own right.
Match Rating: 2.5/5 (** ½)
G1 Climax 2020 Block B Match: Hirooki Goto vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Coming into this tournament tied in points, and with two wins against each other, Goto & ZSJ are evenly matched. Goto can throw heavy strikes, but ZSJ has a clear submission edge, but clearly this one can go either way historically.
However, Goto came into this one with a taped up right shoulder, which might as well have been a bright neon sign saying “ZSJ ATTACK HERE”. The arm would be brutalized, and helped ZSJ make insanely quick work of Goto, winning in just 4 minutes! This brings ZSJ to four points.
Match Rating: ⅖ (**)
G1 Climax 2020 Block B Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI
After slow starts in this year’s tournament, both YOSHI-HASHI & Tanahashi were able to get on the board in their last matches, and now one will push forward even more. Tanahashi has a 3-0 record over YOSHI-HASHI, but we’ve never seen YOSHI-HASHI on a better run than right now. He’s taken EVIL to his limits, won a championship, but can he beat the ace?
YOSHI-HASHI was determined to find out, and was absolutely relentless in this match. He threw everything at Tanahashi, who made YOSHI-HASHI’s offense look deadly, even the Butterfly Lock. This would all lead to a classic comeback from Tanahashi after resisting Karma, who would hit the High Fly Flow for the win. This puts Tanahashi to four points, keeping him in this tournament.
Match Rating: ⅗ (***)
G1 Climax 2020 Block B Match: KENTA vs. EVIL
Bullet Club clashes in the semi main event of this show, as KENTA faces EVIL. Last year in the G1, they met and KENTA won, but a lot has changed since then. Both joined Bullet Club, EVIL became IWGP Double Champion, and KENTA has a first class ticket to Jon Moxley’s IWGP United States Championship. They’re the best Bullet Club has had to offer in 2020, but who is stronger?
KENTA would come ready for EVIL and control the opening section of this match, but once Dick Togo got involved and EVIL attacked the fragile left arm of KENTA, he’d take control. Following the referee being knocked down, KENTA hit both Togo & EVIL with his briefcase, and nailed EVIL with everything but the Go To Sleep. Not being able to hit that move was crucial, and after he’d try to hit it on Togo to remove him from the match, EVIL hit a low blow & the STO to win this one, moving him up to four points.
KENTA played a more babyface role in this match, showing more of his old self. It’s kind of impossible not to play that role with EVIL though. Regardless, it made for a good match, but with the typical EVIL formula at the end dragged it down.
Match Rating: 3.5/5 (*** ½)
G1 Climax 2020 Block B Match: Tetsuya Naito vs. SANADA
Los Ingobernables De Japon members don’t give each other an easy time when they meet, and that will be the case as SANADA faces the leader of their group, Tetsuya Naito. They’ve only met once before, with Naito beating SANADA in the 2018 G1. SANADA has yet to get a win in this tournament, and if he loses tonight he can kiss the finals goodbye.
Like every Naito match in this tournament, it was destined to go very long. Naito is only doing epics in this tournament, and it suits him well. It was a back and forth war, with both men knowing the tricks of the others and having counters ready to go along the way. After 27 minutes, SANADA would hit a modified Destino and two moonsaults, putting Naito away and ending his losing streak. SANADA moves to two points, and just needs to keep winning at this point.
Match Rating: 4.25/5 (**** ¼)
What was your favorite match of Night Eight of the G1 Climax? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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