Kota Ibushi made history on Monday. The 39-year old Golden Star became the first wrestler in NJPW history to advance to the G1 Climax finals four years in a row. With his victory over KENTA, Ibushi is not only made history by advancing to the finals, but he is now poised to possibly win three G1 Climaxes in a row, which would be its own historic achievement.
Ibushi’s route to the finals was a rocky, weird ride. He started the tournament by losing to Yujiro Takahashi and Zack Sabre Jr., and even went into the final night of A Block needing a series of circumstances to clear his path. First Yujiro Takahashi removed fringe contender Shingo Takagi from the finals with a double countout, then Tanga Loa defeated block favorite Zack Sabre Jr. to make KENTA vs. Ibushi a true-blue A Block final.
SEE ALSO: G1 Climax Results (NIGHT 1) (NIGHT 2) (NIGHT 3) (NIGHT 4) (NIGHT 5) (NIGHTS 6 & 7) (NIGHTS 8& 9) (NIGHT 10) (NIGHT 11) (NIGHT 12) (NIGHTS 13 & 14) (NIGHT 15) (NIGHT 16)
Ibushi and KENTA battled for over 25-minutes in a match that featured stiff kicks and an insane table spot from Ibushi. KENTA tried every underhanded tactic he could, including a series of near-countouts that could be debated for years to come. Ibushi willed out and put KENTA down with a series of Kamigoyes. He will face the winner of Jeff Cobb vs. Kazuchika Okada on Oct. 20th in the G1 Climax Finals on Oct. 21st.
.@ibushi_kota "Body Splash"
Sign up Now & Stay tuned to https://t.co/CcdQ1XrpWA#G131 #njpwworld #njpw pic.twitter.com/8XgImZCXaW
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) October 18, 2021
Here are the full results:
10/18
NJPW G1 Climax 31 A Block Finals
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- Non-Tournament Match: The Great-O-Khan def. Satoshi Kojima by pinfall via Eliminator.
- A Block: Toru Yano (10) def. Tomohiro Ishii (10) by pinfall via Backslide.
- A Block: Yujiro Takahashi (5) wrestled Shingo Takagi (13) to a Double Countout.
- A Block: Tanga Loa (6) def. Zack Sabre Jr. (12) by pinfall via O’Connor Roll.
- A Block: Kota Ibushi (14) def. KENTA (12) by pinfall via Kamigoye to advance to the finals.
The G1 Climax will continue on Oct. 20th at 4:30am ET on NJPWWorld.com
