Kota Ibushi Advances To The NJPW G1 Climax 30 Finals

Heading into the final day of A Block matches, four men could have advanced to the G1 Climax 30 finals on October 18. Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi and Jay White were all tied on 12 points, while Will Ospreay remained in contention on 10 points.

Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada were the first men in contention to wrestle as they went one on one in the third match of Day 17. The Chaos stablemates battled back and forth for 17 minutes, but The Ariel Assassin shockingly betrayed Okada and aligned himself with Great O-Kharn to defeat The Rainmaker. This eliminated the five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion from contention, but Ospreay was still relying upon losses from Ibushi and White to stand any chance of making it to the finals.

It wasn't to be for Ospreay, as Kota Ibushi managed to defeat Taichi in the very next match. Both men wrestled a unique bout as their offence consisted wholly of kicks for 17 minutes until The Golden Star managed to connect with the Kamigoye to pick up the win.

The fate of the A Block still remained in Jay White's hands heading into the main event, but the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion had to get past Tomohiro Ishii. White used every heel trick in the book during their 24-minute encounter, including interference from Gedo and a Low Blow. Switchblade wasn't resilient enough, though, and The Stone Pitbull overcame the odds and delivered a hellacious Vertical Drop Brainbuster to win the match.

With that, Kota Ibushi advances to his third G1 finals in a row. Who he will face on Sunday will be determined tomorrow. Tetsuya Naito and EVIL are currently on 12 points heading into day 18, while SANADA and Zack Sabre Jr. remain in contention on 10 points. The King Of Darkness ultimately holds the advantage, however, as he defeated Naito earlier in the tournament.