NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Night 3 (July 14) - A BLOCK: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best

3. Kota Ibushi Vs. EVIL

EVIL Kota Ibushi
NJPW

Carrying an ankle injury and all the trouble it could potentially offer, Kota Ibushi remained at his insane, elite level against EVIL before the Los Ingobernables de Japon man finally got severe and serious and lived up to his name to take big points from 'The Golden Star'.

Ibushi's Golden Lover Kenny Omega nursed a heel injury on the same side last year, but notably went unbeaten through much of the field until falling afoul of Toru Yano's insanity. Ibushi wasn't as fortunate here, again taking quite a hammering en route to his second consecutive loss.

Waves across the world to Shinsuke Nakamura added some drama to his attempt to shut down EVIL in spite of his obvious knocks, but SANADA's tag team partner obviously wasn't willing to go into their battle against one another during the next A Block meeting on a lower points tally. Stomping at Kota's bad ankle before an electric finishing stretch, he showed colours that were both true and truthful.

Ibushi has donated his remarkable athleticism to two encounters but sits on a big fat zero thus far. If he wants to better or repeat his feats from last year, he'll need to get something out a Wrestle Kingdom rematch with Will Ospreay on the very next A Block event.

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, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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