NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Night 11 (July 30) - A BLOCK: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best

3. KENTA Vs. SANADA

Heads, legs, chests, doors down - KENTA’s kicked them all this year in a worthy reinvention of himself as a battle-worn New Japan Pro Wrestling warrior, but a recent addition of some open-hand strikes has layered his nuanced portray with even more in-ring wickedness.

It is not, thankfully, triggering a turn from the crowd. 50/50 reactions for the former NOAH star at the start of the G1 have since skewed positive, with crowd cheers between the former Hideo Itami and the ever-popular SANADA fought over before the two even locked up in Takamatsu-shi.

This was vindication and a victory in its own right for KENTA, even if his evening ended in defeat. Unable to win the Block at this point, SANADA looked to use this contest as a tune-up for his death-or-glory encounter with long-standing bogey opponent Kazuchika Okada this weekend. Bending KENTA to breaking point with a Skull End before landing the moonsault to complete the combo for the first time in the tournament, ‘Cold Skull’ exhibited elements of the charisma management seem to see in him, despite increasingly louder takes from the wider wrestling community that he may not have everything needed to be what NJPW see for him.

Ironically, his win here was a gift to the IWGP Champion from a points perspective, but SANADA will hope it lowers Okada’s defences. Little will halt his charge to A Block supremacy if the LIJ man can’t stop the rain.