The stacked G1 30 Climax Night 7 event featured the first singles match between former IWGP Intercontinental Champion, NEVER Openweight Champion, and G1 Climax 29 winner Kota Ibushi and former NEVER Openweight Champion Jeff Cobb.
Cobb, who was coming off of a tough defeat to current NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki, was in need of a win to get his G1 Climax 30 campaign back on track and avoid a 1-3 start to A Block action.
Ibushi came into the match after gaining a victory over two-time Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion and former five-time NEVER Openweight Champion and CHAOS member Tomohiro Ishii in a physical match.
Ibushi was able to use his speed and agility to counter Cobb during the match, unleashing the pace that has been kept under wraps during several of his previous tournament matches. While Cobb continued to use his brutal Greco Roman inspired suplexes to slow down the “Golden Star.”
The two would also engage in strikes as Cobb used his high impact offense and weight advantage to batter Ibushi at times. However, Ibushi was up to the task and fired back with his Kick Boxing influenced striking ability.
Eventually, Ibushi was able to gain the fall over Cobb after utilizing his Kamigoye technique at the 10 minutes and 43 seconds mark. After the match, the two competitors showed respect to one another.
Cobb looked strong throughout the match, controlling Ibushi through the majority of the contest. However, the victory moved Ibushi to 3-1 in the A Block while Cobb fell to 1-3.
Ibushi is making the case for being past the era where he would lose focus during big opportunities, meaning that he should be able to make a serious challenge to become a back to back G1 Climax winner.
Jeff Cobb proved that he can compete against, and even dictate matches when dealing with one of the best wrestlers in the world.
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