The marquee match of G1 Climax 30 Night 6 saw former two-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, former five-time NEVER Openweight Champion, G1 Climax 18 winner, and CHAOS member Hirooki Goto battle current IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ and Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) leader Tetsuya Naito.
Naito, who also the winner of G1 Climax 23 and G1 Climax 27 came into the match riding a wave of momentum after two hard-fought victories against former eight-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Suzuki-Gun member the former four-time Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr.
Goto lost his G1 Climax 30 opening match to Bullet Club member and former NEVER Openweight Champion Kenta and was able to bounce back and win his second match of the campaign against LIJ member Sanada.
Goto had the advantage of Naito having logged a lot of ring time through his first two B Block matches, and having been stretched out by Zack Sabre Jr just several nights before. However, that didn’t deter Naito from sticking to his gameplan and going toe to toe with a prepared Goto.
However, Goto couldn’t ever find the right combination to put Naito away. Naito was able to gain the fall at the 21 minutes and 58 seconds mark with his Destino technique to move his G1 Climax 30 B Block record to 3-0.
While falling to 1-2, Goto has looked sharp, meaning he will remain a danger as G1 Climax 30 moves to its latter stages of tournament action. Yet, B Block to this point has seen Naito ride the momentum of recapturing the ‘Double Championship’ during Summer Struggle in Jingu.
Despite logging a lot of ring time during his first three matches, it’s difficult to foresee Naito struggling to pick up victories as the tournament continues.
