NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Night 7 (July 20) - A BLOCK: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best

5. Kota Ibushi Vs. SANADA

A match that only approached the sort of beauty the two competitors in this handsome battle provided on entrances alone, Kota Ibushi's victory over SANADA skirted around the intense quality of their battle last year without ever quite reaching a grand finale.

An elegant story elegantly told, 'The Golden Star' represented another chapter in the long tale being explored by 'Cold Skull' since he first started losing, repeatedly, to Kazuchika Okada. Can he beat the New Japan elite before he joins them? And if so, does belong alongside them?

With Kota's 2018 toppling proving something of a false dawn for SANADA and this very narrative, the notion that he considered Ibushi, Keiji Mutoh, Naomichi Marufuji and AJ Styles hung over his latest failed attempt.

A rousing finishing sequence saw the Los Ingobernables de Japon lieutenant come close to finally cracking the code by using Ibushi's weapons against him, before a Kamigoye smashed his face with the strength of the cement that continues to keep him rooted in the midcard.

Okada is now just three shows away. SANADA feels like he has much further to travel.