G1 Climax 2020 Final Match: Kota Ibushi vs SANADA - 18/10/2020
Apart from a few mishaps here and there, I thought this match was very, very good. The only thing I thought was missing was the vocal crowd which is hampered by the clapping rule. I have little doubt that they would’ve been red hot for this match otherwise. But still, I thought they brought the weight of the G1 Finals with their work. There was a lot of table setting, so to speak, but it was all very focused and solidly tight. SANADA utilized his athletic ability superbly to outmaneuver Ibushi at times on the mat. Then the match got a bit more broad with SANADA going for Ibushi’s injured leg (from the Taichi match) to gain the advantage. Ibushi in return threw more kicks and suplexes. These two don’t always connect their sequences together perfectly but the set up for the stomp on the apron from SANADA’s dropkick attempt was absolutely perfect. And SANADA sold the stomp perfectly, even after he regained offence a bit later. He was still in clear agony and couldn’t fully capitalise on a rolling neckbreaker on the outside. The finishing stretch was maybe the weakest point but there were a few incredible nearfalls for SANADA, one of which caused the crowd to audibly cheer and gasp in shock but I think they rounded out the match perfectly well. A super good tournament. Sure if you look at previous tournaments, you could call this a step down but it was still a quality match in a vacuum. ***3/4
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