Kota Ibushi defeated Kenny Omega in the main event of today’s G1 Climax 28 show in Tokyo, Japan. In front of a sold-out Nippon Budokan, Ibushi pinned Omega after delivering his second Kamigoye.
With the win, Kota Ibushi will advance to tomorrow’s finals against Hiroshi Tanahashi. The winner of the tournament will earn the right to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, 2019.
The winner of the G1 has earned the Tokyo Dome title shot dating back to 2012. As of yet, no wrestler in that time has dethroned the champion after winning the G1.
Guts, strength and spirit: the duel of the Golden Lovers ?G128?https://t.co/zTmECtL14M#njpw #g128 pic.twitter.com/Ynuvuqs14Q
— njpw_global (@njpwglobal) August 11, 2018
Kenny Omega vs Kota Ibushi III
Tonight’s match was the third all-time between the Golden Lovers and Golden Elite teammates. Ibushi has won all three matches between them.
- DDT, August 6th, 2008 – Kota Ibushi defeated Kenny Omega (2:1 best 2-of-3 falls hardcore match)
- DDT, August 18th, 2012 – Kota Ibushi (c) defeated Kenny Omega (KO-D Openweight Title)
- NJPW G1 Climax 28 B-Block. August 11th, 2018 – Kota Ibushi defeated Kenny Omega
Kota Ibushi vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
Tomorrow’s final between Ibushi and Tanahashi will be the 4th time the two wrestlers have met. Tanahashi leads their all-time series 2-1.
- G1 Climax 2015 Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kota Ibushi
- G1 Climax 2017 Block A: Kota Ibushi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi
- NJPW Power Struggle 2017: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Kota Ibushi (IWGP Intercontinental Championship)
The rest of the lineup for tomorrow’s finals has yet to be announced. Rey Mysterio is also scheduled to be on the card but his match has yet to be announced as well.
G1 Climax 28 Night 18 (B-Block) Results
- David Finlay and Michael Elgin defeated Shota Umino and Toa Henare
- Bad Luck Fale and Tanga Loa defeated Chase Owens and Hangman Page
- Marty Scurll and the Young Bucks defeated Jay White and Roppongi 3K
- Bushi and Evil defeated El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, and Tomoaki Honma defeated Gedo, Kazuchika Okada, and Yoshi-Hashi
- B-Block
Toru Yano (10) defeated Tama Tonga (6) via DQ - B-Block
Juice Robinson (6) defeated Hirooki Goto - B-Block
Tomohiro Ishii (10) defeated Sanada (8) - B-Block
Zack Sabre Jr (12) defeated Tetsuya Naito (12) - B-Block
Kota Ibushi (12) defeated Kenny Omega (12)
Kota Ibushi advances based on having the best record of all 4 wrestlers tied with 12 points in the block.
