The G1 Climax 30 was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

tournament produced by

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

(NJPW). The tournament commenced on September 19 and concluded on October 18, 2020. It was the thirtieth edition of

G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winners ...

, and forty-sixth edition of the tournament counting its previous forms under different names. A Block winner

Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), but is currently inactive due to suffering a shoulder injury. In March 2021, he became the company's inaugural IWGP World Heavyweight Champion by ...

defeated B Block winner

Sanada Sanada is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Asami Sanada (born 1977), Japanese voice actress *, Japanese shogi player * Juzo Sanada (1923–1994), Japanese baseball player * Hiroki Sanada (born 1984), Japanese basebal ...

in the final to win the tournament. Considered NJPW's most important tournament, the G1 Climax features twenty wrestlers, divided in two blocks of ten ("A" and "B"). Each participant faces all nine other wrestlers within the same block in singles matches. The winner of each block is determined via a point system, with two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no point for a defeat; each night of the event sees the ten members of one block compete for the tournament. On the final day of the event, the winners of both blocks face each other to determine the winner of the G1 Climax, who will gain a future match for the

IWGP Heavyweight Championship The was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IWG ...

Wrestle Kingdom The January 4 Tokyo Dome Show is a professional wrestling event produced annually on January 4 in the Tokyo Dome by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), a Japan-based professional wrestling promotion. NJPW has promoted events in the venue every Janua ...

, NJPW's biggest yearly event. The event was broadcast live on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

and in Japan, and

New Japan Pro-Wrestling World , also referred to as NJPW World and New Japan World, is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). On December 1, 2014, NJPW and its minority owner TV Asahi a ...

worldwide.

Production

Tournament rules

The tournament features twenty wrestlers, divided in two blocks of ten ("A" and "B"). Each participant faces all nine other wrestler within the same block in singles match, with the winner of each block being determined via a point system, gaining two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no point for a loss; each night of the event sees the ten members of a same block compete for the tournament. In case of several wrestler sharing the top score, the results of the matches those wrestlers had when facing each others in the tournament act as tiebreaker, with the one having the most wins over the other top-scorers determining the winner of the block. On the final day of the event, the respective winners of both blocks face each other to determine the winner of the G1 Climax, who would gain a future match for the

, NJPW's top championship, at

, NJPW's biggest yearly event; if the IWGP Heavyweight Champion himself wins, he gets to pick his opponent at Wrestle Kingdom. The Young Lion matches have a fifteen-minutes time limit, while the matches of the tournament have a 30-minutes time limit (with the time limit being reached resulting in a tie); the final match between the two block winners has no time limit.

History

In January 2020, NJPW announced that the 2020 edition of the G1 Climax would take place from September to October, instead of its usual July–August schedule, to avoid conflict with the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. During the New Japan Road event on September 9, NJPW announced the full tournament bracket for the G1 Climax.

Storylines

The event includes matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. The tournament saw the in-ring returns of

Juice Robinson Joseph Ryan Robinson (born April 10, 1989), better known by his ring name Juice Robinson, is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Robinson is also a member of the Bullet Club stable and also wrestles ...

and

Will Ospreay William Peter Charles Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler who is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion in his first reign and leader of the ...

to NJPW for the first time since the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

began.

Jay White Jamie White (born 9 October 1992), better known by the ring name Jay White (ジェイ・ホワイト ''Jei Howaito''), is a New Zealand professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is current IWGP World Heavyweight Ch ...

Jeff Cobb Jeffrey Cobb (ジェフ・コブ　''Jefu Kobu'', born July 11, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he is a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion with United Emp ...

, and

Kenta Kenta (written: , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese film director *, Japanese kickboxer *, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese profession ...

returned to NJPW in August on their weekly TV show, ''

NJPW Strong ''NJPW Strong'' is a professional wrestling television series produced by Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) which debuted on August 7, 2020. It currently airs Saturday at 8pm ET on NJPW World and FITE TV. H ...

'', which was taped in America. However, this tournament was White, Cobb, and Kenta's returns to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

since the start of the pandemic.

Venues

Results

Night 1 (A Block)

The first night of A Block took place on September 19, 2020 at the

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium is an indoor sporting arena located in Namba, Osaka, Japan. It first opened in 1952 and the current building was constructed in 1987. It is the venue of a professional sumo tournament (honbasho) held in March every year. The capacity of the a ...

Namba is a district of Osaka, Japan. It is located in Chūō and Naniwa wards. Namba is regarded as the center of so-called ''Minami'' ("South") area of Osaka. Its name is one of variations on the former name of Osaka, '' Naniwa''. Namba is be ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

Tournament scores

Night 2 (B Block)

The first night of B Block took place on September 20, 2020 at the

Tournament scores

Night 3 (A Block)

The second night of A Block took place on September 23, 2020 at the

Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center is an indoor sporting arena located in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Japan. Sometimes called Kitayell, the capacity of the main arena is 8,000. It hosted some of the group games for the 2006 FIBA World Championship and also for the 2006 Women's Volleyba ...

Toyohira-ku, Sapporo is one of the 10 wards in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. The ward was established in 1972, when the Sapporo Olympics was held in Sapporo. Four other wards in Sapporo are bounded on Toyohira-ku. As of April 1, 2012, the ward has an estimated populatio ...

Tournament scores

Night 4 (B Block)

The second night of B Block took place on September 24, 2020 at the

Tournament scores

Night 5 (A Block)

The third night of A Block took place on September 27, 2020 at the

World Memorial Hall or World Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Chūō-ku Ward of Kobe, Japan. It has a maximum capacity of 8,000 people and is optimized for large-scale meetings, sport events, trade shows and concerts. It is located on the artificial isl ...

Chūō-ku, Kobe is one of 9 wards of Kobe, Japan. It has an area of 28.46 km², and a population of 127,602 with 74,814 households as of January 31, 2012. The ward was formed from the 1980 merger of the former Fukiai-ku () and Ikuta-ku (). The Consulat ...

Tournament scores

Night 6 (B Block)

The third night of B Block took place on September 29, 2020 at

Korakuen Hall is a famous sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many notable boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with ...

in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Tournament scores

Night 7 (A Block)

The fourth night of A Block took place on September 30, 2020 at

in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Tournament scores

Night 8 (B Block)

The fourth night of B Block took place on October 1, 2020 at City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka in

Nagaoka, Niigata is a Cities of Japan, city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It is the second largest city in the prefecture, after the capital city of Niigata, Niigata, Niigata. , the city had an estimated population of 264,611 in 109,283 households and a ...

Tournament scores

Night 9 (A Block)

The fifth night of A Block took place on October 5, 2020 at the

Takamatsu City General Gymnasium Takamatsu City General Gymnasium is an arena in Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan. It is the home arena of the Kagawa Five Arrows of the B.League, Japan's professional basketball league. References External linksTakamatsu Gymnasium
{{coord, 34, 20, ...

Takamatsu, Kagawa 270px, Takamatsu City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Takamatsu city center 270px, View from Yashima to Takashima port is a city located in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 414,134 in 190120 households and a popul ...

Tournament scores

Night 10 (B Block)

The fifth night of B Block took place on October 6, 2020 at the

Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hiroshima Sun Plaza (広島サンプラザ) is an arena in Hiroshima, Japan. With a capacity of 6,052, it is primarily used for indoor sports and concerts. In addition, the annual Seijin shiki (the Japanese coming-of-age ceremony) is held there ...

Nishi-ku, Hiroshima is one of eight wards in the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The Hiroshima–Nishi Airport was located in Nishi-ku. Geography The ward of Nishi-ku is in the southwest part of Hiroshima. There are many mountains, but the other wards are mostly larger ...

Tournament scores

Night 11 (A Block)

The sixth night of the A Block took place on October 7, 2020 at the

Tournament scores

Night 12 (B Block)

The sixth night of the B Block took place on October 8, 2020 at Zip Arena Okayama in

Okayama, Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

Tournament scores

Night 13 (A Block)

The seventh night of A Block took place on October 10, 2020 at the

Tournament scores

Night 14 (B Block)

The seventh night of B Block took place on October 11, 2020 at the

Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium , also known as , is a multi-purpose gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan, built in 1964. Overview Located on the site of the secondary enclosure of Nagoya Castle, it is host to numerous concerts and events. The gymnasium has 4,375 fixed seats, and can ...

Nagoya, Aichi is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

Tournament scores

Night 15 (A Block)

The eighth night of A Block took place on October 13, 2020 at the

Hamamatsu Arena is a　multipurpose indoor sporting arena located in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan. It is a 15-minute walk from Tenryūgawa Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line railway, or a 10-minute drive from the Hamamatsu Interchange on the Tōmei Expressway. W ...

Hamamatsu, Shizuoka is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview H ...

Tournament scores

Night 16 (B Block)

The eighth night of B Block took place on October 14, 2020 at the Yokohama Budokan in

Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 230,401 and a density of 9,650 persons per km2. The total area was 23.88 km2. Geography Kanagawa is located in ...

Tournament scores

Night 17 (A Block Final)

The ninth night of A Block took place on October 16, 2020 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in

Sumida, Tokyo is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Sumida City. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 257,300, and a population density of 18,690 persons per km ...

was declared the winner of A Block after

Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He also makes additional appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his work with the independent Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling ( ...

pinned

Tournament scores

Night 18 (B Block Final)

The ninth night of B Block will take place on October 17, 2020 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in

was declared the winner of B Block after pinning

Evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

Tournament scores

Night 19 (Final)

The final night took place on October 18, 2020 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in

. A Block winner

defeated B Block winner

to be declared the winner of the tournament.

Participants

Aftermath

On night 17, during the match between

Kazuchika Okada (born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramati ...

and

Bea Priestley Beatrice St. Clere Priestley (born 22 March 1996) is an English-New Zealand professional wrestler, best known by the ring name Bea Priestley. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Blair Davenpor ...

, Ospreay's girlfriend, made her debut appearance in NJPW, at ringside. As Okada locked his ''Money Clip'' submission onto Ospreay, Priestley attempted to enter the ring, distracting the referee in the process, allowing

Tomoyuki Oka Tomoyuki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Tomoyuki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *友之, "friend, of" *友幸, "friend, happiness" *友行, "friend, go" *友恭, "frie ...

to make his return to the company as Great O-Kharn (later changed to Great O-Khan, in reference to

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

of the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

), attacking Okada with an ''Eliminator'', helping earn the victory for Ospreay. Afterwards, Ospreay turned heel on Okada by attacking him after the match from behind with his ''Hidden Blade'' elbow. In a backstage interview, Ospreay announced that he would officially leave

Chaos Chaos or CHAOS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements * Chaos (''Kinnikuman'') * Chaos (''Sailor Moon'') * Chaos (''Sesame Park'') * Chaos (''Warhammer'') * Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy'' * Cha ...

to start a new

faction Faction or factionalism may refer to: Politics * Political faction, a group of people with a common political purpose * Free and Independent Faction, a Romanian political party * Faction (''Planescape''), a political faction in the game ''Planes ...

with him, Priestley, and O-Khan called The Empire (later changed to United Empire). On November 7, 2020,

unsuccessfully defended his briefcase, being the first man to do so, by losing it to

Power Struggle In political science and political history, the term power vacuum, also known as a power void, is an analogy between a physical vacuum to the political condition "when someone in a place of power, has lost control of something and no one has repla ...

Notes

References

External links

G1 Climax official website
{{New Japan Pro Wrestling events New Japan Pro-Wrestling tournaments New Japan Pro-Wrestling shows 2020 in professional wrestling September 2020 events in Japan October 2020 events in Japan