G1 Climax 30 Night 13 saw former five-time NEVER Openweight Champion and two-time Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii face former NEVER Openweight Champion Jeff Cobb in the opening tournament match of the event.
Cobb came into the match after suffering a loss to former five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, in a contest where he controlled the prolific champion throughout. The loss left him at 4 points and without a path towards the G1 Climax 30 Finals.
On the same night, Ishii was able to defeat former NEVER Openweight Champion and Bullet Club member Yujiro. The win moved Ishii up to 6 points in tournament action.
In a match that saw Ishii using his straightforward brawling techniques and Cobb utilize his Greco Roman suplexes, the match was decided by the slightest of margins. Cobb showed confidence after his performance against the wildly believed to be the best wrestler in the world during his previous match and made sure to take the fight to Ishii.
Ishii welcomed the fight and against showed the fighting spirit that has led to him having success throughout his New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) career.
However, Cobb was able to gain the fall at the 14 minutes and 57 seconds mark with his Tour of the Islands technique and move him to 6 points. While Cobb cannot win A Block, he will take away confidence from his victory over Tomohiro Ishii.
Ishii has the opportunity to ruin the campaign for his CHAOS unit mate Kazuchika Okada (October 13th) and former IWGP Heavyweight Champion “Switchblade” Jay White (October 16th) with his remaining tournament matches.
Cobb has the opportunity to spoil current Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay’s tournament on October 13th in what is a return match from the G1 Supercard on April 6, 2019. Cobb won the match and the NEVER Openweight Championship from Ospreay in 12 minutes and 52 seconds.
