The last time these two met inside the ring was at Wrestle Kingdom 13, with the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion scoring the big victory over Kota Ibushi. The “Golden Star” walked into the bout winless; however, Ospreay’s neck and shoulder was heavily taped and Ibushi made sure to take advantage of the injured IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
Not surprisingly, this was a fantastic match-up between the New Japan stars that also played off some moments from their bout back at Wrestle Kingdom 13, but Ibushi was able to keep the pressure on Ospreay and got the win by pinfall after connecting with a Kamigoye around the 28-minute mark.
Kota Ibushi gets his first win of the G1 Climax tournament and his score is now 1-2, whereas Will Ospreay’s record moves to 1-2.