G1 Climax 30, Night 3 Preview

September 15, 2020
By: Lou Pickney

Here is a preview of the third night of G1 Climax 30, the annual two-block heavyweight round-robin tournament in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. In recent years, the G1 has featured a flurry of ultra high-end matches.

The star ratings are from highly respected journalist Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON). The number next to it is the cagematch.net (CM) score for the match as of last check before publication.

IMPORTANT: A subscription to the New Japan World streaming service (¥999/month) is required to watch the linked videos.

G1 Climax 30, Night 3 (A Block)
September 23, 2020 — Sapporo, Japan

1) Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi

Series tied 1-1. Ibushi beat White in the 2019 G1 Final, their lone previous G1 match.

Previous singles matches

1. Ibushi: August 12, 2019 — Tokyo (Nippon Budokan)
G1 Climax 29 Final
WON: *****1/2 & CM: 9.39

2. White: January 5, 2020 — Tokyo Dome
Wrestle Kingdom 14
WON: ***1/2 & CM: 7.80

2) Tomohiro Ishii vs. Will Ospreay

This will be the first-ever time for Ishii and Ospreay to be on opposite sides in a match. I anticipate this being one of the best matches of the entire tournament.

3) Minoru Suzuki vs. Taichi

Minoru leads the series 1-0. The stablemates in Suzuki-gun will have not only their first G1 match, but also their first singles meeting in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Previous singles match

1. Minoru: December 30, 2016 — Tokyo (Shin-Kiba 1st Ring)
TAKA & Taichi Produce 3rd Anniversary Convention
WON: N/A & CM: N/A
This match is not currently available on New Japan World

4) Kazuchika Okada vs. Yujiro Takahashi

Okada leads the series with Yujiro 3-0 overall, two of which were G1 tournament wins by Okada.

Previous singles matches

1. Okada: August 3, 2014 — Osaka, Japan
G1 Climax 24
WON: ***1/2 & CM: 6.50

2. Okada: August 9, 2015 — Tokyo (Korakuen Hall)
G1 Climax 25
WON: ***1/4 & CM: N/A

3. Okada: July 25, 2020 — Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Sengoku Lord
WON: **1/4 & CM: 4.38

5) Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi

Cobb leads the series 1-0 thanks to his victory over Shingo in the 2019 G1.

Previous singles match

1. Cobb: August 1, 2019 — Fukuoka, Japan
G1 Climax 29
WON: ****1/4 & CM: 7.46

MORE:

G1 Climax 30, Night 1 Preview
G1 Climax 30, Night 2 Preview
G1 Climax 30, Night 4 Preview

See any mistakes, omissions, or needed corrections? Please let me know: @LouPickney