Ever since his win over Zack Sabre Jr. in the opening of the G1 Climax tournament, SANADA has been on been on a downward spiral, which continued with his loss to Kota Ibushi.
The former NEVER Openweight Champion is slowly starting to find his groove within the competition, as Ibushi successfully picked up his first win over IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay last week. The match-up between Ibushi and SANADA was a fast-paced back-and-forth affair filled with inventive counters from both men.
In the end, once Ibushi countered the Skull End, he was able to connect with Boma Ye, but only got the nearfall. The 37-year-old would then nail Kamigoye and got the three count within 20-minutes. Kota Ibushi’s record in the G1 Climax tournament is 2-2 (4 points), whereas SANADA’s score is 1-3 (2 points).