G1 Climax 30, Night 4 Preview

September 16, 2020
By: Lou Pickney

Here is a preview of the fourth night of G1 Climax 30, the annual two-block round-robin heavyweight 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 4 (B Block)
September 24, 2020 — Sapporo, Japan

1) Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Naito and Sabre are 2-2 in singles matches and 1-1 in G1 matches.

Previous singles matches

1. Naito: August 4, 2017 — Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan
G1 Climax 27
WON: ***3/4 & CM: 7.29

2. Sabre: March 11, 2018 — Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan
New Japan Cup, First Round
WON: ****1/2 & CM: 8.29

3. Sabre: August 11, 2018 — Tokyo (Nippon Budokan)
G1 Climax 28
WON: ****1/4 & CM: 8.71

4. Naito: November 3, 2018 — Osaka, Japan
Power Struggle
WON: ****1/4 & CM: 7.85

2) EVIL vs. Yoshi-Hashi

EVIL officially leads the series 2-1 (1-1 G1). Yoshi-Hashi also had a pair of wins over Takaaki Watanabe (as a young lion before the EVIL gimmick).

The "NAT" flag is an indication that it's nat-sound only.

Previous singles matches

1. Yoshi-Hashi: February 10, 2012 — Osaka, Japan
NJPW NEVER.8
WON: N/A & CM: N/A
This match is not currently available on New Japan World

2. Yoshi-Hashi: April 15, 2012 — Tokyo (Shin-Kiba 1st Ring)
NJPW NEVER.9
WON: N/A & CM: N/A
This match is not currently available on New Japan World

3. Yoshi-Hashi: July 30, 2016 — Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
G1 Climax 26
WON: ***3/4 & CM: 7.11

4. EVIL: July 16, 2018 — Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
G1 Climax 28
WON: ***1/4 & CM: 5.26

5. EVIL: July 2, 2020 — Tokyo (Korakuen Hall)
New Japan Cup, Quarterfinal
WON: N/A & CM: N/A

3) Juice Robinson vs. KENTA

This will be a first-time ever singles match in NJPW. They've been in three tag team matches previously, including Juice & David Finlay vs. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi in the 2019 World Tag League.

Going back to their time in NXT, Hideo Itami (KENTA) was 5-0 against CJ Parker (Juice) in singles matches on the "coconut loop" house show circuit in Florida between October 2014 and March 2015.

4) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano

These two have a long history, and Tanahashi leads the all-time series 16-3-1. In G1 matches, Tanahashi is 6-1 against Yano.

However, their last singles match was more than five years ago in the 2015 G1. I'm not going to list all 20 matches here (the bulk of them are missing from World) but here are two you might enjoy.

One is the only time Toru Yano ever challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in 2011. The other is their most recent singles match from the 2015 G1.

Notable previous singles matches

1. Tanahashi: November 12, 2011 — Osaka, Japan
Power Struggle
WON: N/A & CM: N/A

2. Tanahashi: August 2, 2015 — Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
G1 Climax 25
WON: ***1/4 & CM: 5.47

5) Hirooki Goto vs. Sanada

Sanada has the edge in singles matches 2-1, though they are tied at 1-1 in G1 competition.

Previous singles matches

1. Sanada: July 28, 2016 — Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan
G1 Climax 26
WON: "Good match" (8/8/2016 issue) & CM: N/A

2. Goto: July 15, 2018 — Tokyo (Ota City Gymnasium)
G1 Climax 28
WON: ****1/4 & & CM: 7.72

3. Sanada: March 11, 2019 — Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan
New Japan Cup, First Round
WON: **** & CM: 7.61

MORE:

G1 Climax 30, Night 1 Preview
G1 Climax 30, Night 2 Preview
G1 Climax 30, Night 3 Preview
G1 Climax 30, Night 4 Preview
G1 Climax 30, Night 5 Preview
G1 Climax 30, Night 6 Preview
G1 Climax 30, Night 7 Preview
G1 Climax 30, Night 8 Preview

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

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