Top 5 G1 Climax 30 Opening Weekend Matches

2. Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii

When the blocks were first announced and people saw that Minoru Suzuki and Tomohiro Ishii were in the same block, it got fans excited. Little did they know hard-hitting the match was going to be because it surpassed anyone’s expectations.

The duo spent the first few minutes stood in the ring just throwing forearms and elbows at each with a monumental force. Like many good Suzuki and Ishii matches, it looked more like a fight than a wrestling match and soon made its way outside of the ring. No matter what was thrown at them, neither man stayed down for long. They threw everything but the kitchen sink into this match. We even saw some new moves out of the men like a variation on Suzuki’s sleeper hold. It was full of action from the start to end.

However, another reason why it was such a good match because there were shades of light and dark. In the end, all it took was a beautifully executed roll-up from Suzuki into a Gotch Style Piledriver for the win.

For two men of that size prized on being brawlers, it a surprisingly fast-paced that had the audience on the edge of their seats.

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1. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito

Even though we’ve only had a few days of matches, people have already Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito as ‘Match of the Year’ contender. Going into the bout, the determination was etched upon Tanahashi’s face. He wanted to prove that he is still the amazing wrestler we all know and love.

However, Naito wasn’t going to let Tanahashi achieve that dream easily. From the second the bell rung, we saw the Ungovernable One try to play his mind tricks on The Ace. This meant that, for two highly athletic men, the start of the bout was oddly slow and methodical. It focused on submissions and targeting body parts. Luckily, that didn’t last long and the two wrestlers started flying around the ring at top speed.

Both Naito and Tanahashi seemed to be on an equal footing throughout putting their all into the match. This meant that fans saw the best of the two men and their amazing wrestling talents. There was a Reverse Frankensteiner, a beautiful Twist and Shout and, of course, a Slingblade.

In the end, after two Destinos and a failed High Fly Flow, Naito got the win in just over 27 minutes. It was a match of different layers between two men who know each other so well and have amazing in-ring chemistry.

What has your favourite G1 Climax match been so far? Let us know on Twitter!

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