NJPW G1 Climax 2018, Week 1: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best

3. Koba Ibushi Vs Zack Sabre Jr (July 15th)

Kenny Omega Tetsuya Naito
NJPW

Rating: ****3/4

Kota Ibushi was touted by many as a heavy favourite in this year's tournament, embedded as he's been in steering Kenny Omega to the summit NJPW with his glorious IWGP Championship victory. His survival of Zack Sabre Jr's unfathomable submission assaults was thus an enormous statement of intent, particularly considering the Brit's success over him in the New Japan Cup earlier this year.

Ibushi's ring awareness game was stronger than last time, finding ropes when escapes were impossible before wearing Sabre out with teeth-rattling strikes any time pocket of air opened up between them. The match went only 30 seconds shorter than the slightly better main event that followed it (more on that later), but due to the exhausting pace maintained throughout an exhausting pace throughout both wore the scars of a war twice as long.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett