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Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White
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Ibushi came to the ring clean, bringing no fighters to support him. 'Switchblade' White, on the other hand, brought Gedo, Tonga, Loa, KENTA, Fale, Owens, Takahashi...every member of Bullet Club available! Ibushi had unimaginable odds, but Red Shoes Unno has a deep-seated hatred of Bullet Club that reaches back to Prince Devitt (Finn Balor)'s BC era. Unno refereed and determined that all BC members other than the competitor.
Unno held the bell until BC truly left ringside. Once Ibushi and White stood on more even footing, Unno called for the bell. White rolled outside of the ring straight away, taunting the cool, calm 'Golden Star' Ibushi. That didn't phase Ibushi, and White relented, coming back into the ring. Gedo came back to the ring and Unno personally came out to walk Gedo out, and though White bullied him, he came right back to see the match through.
The moment Ibushi came outside the ring, White had the advantage. He torqued Ibushi's leg around the blue barricade and followed up by smacking the leg into the ring post. Ibushi's tender knee has taken a lot of damage during this tournament, and it was inevitable that White's offense would target it mercilessly. The low attacks didn't lead to a successful pinfall.
White begged Ibushi to climb to his feet and taste more violence, and Ibushi answered with elbows to White's face. White returned the favour with a quick rana meant to destroy White's knee. A snap rana from Ibushi brought the fight to White, but he didn't dominate Bullet Club's leader for long.
Everything Ibushi did was one-legged, which made his strike-strike kick combo hard to complete. He still threw himself into White with a moonsault, and reckless knee drop from him did more damage and caused the Golden Star to double up in pain. White found his way back to a Blade Buster move that couldn't keep the famously resilient Ibushi down for the count, however.
Ibushi had a hard time using any suplexes until he got some distance, but once he did, he used his back and neck to stun White. The problem was that Ibushi had a damaged knee and a history of neck and spine issues! White was able to regain himself and pull Ibushi up to the top rope to hit a superplex. He wasn't able to follow up with his Kiwi Crusher finale, so Ibushi countered with a pair of short piledrivers.
White was aching but he didn't stop fighting. The men traded elbow strikes on their knees in the middle of the ring, dragging themselves up. Ibushi struck White in the face four times and White rallied with a lariat and urinage. He finished his Kiwi Crusher move on his second attempt, and even still he couldn't keep Ibushi's shoulders down.
Ibushi rolled out of White's Blade Runner finisher and the men traded sleeper suplexes that made the crowd scream wildly. Ibushi fed off of the crowd's support and chanting, pulling White up by his hair. White refocused, threw Ibushi into Unno, and completed a low blow on Ibushi.
Unno remained dazed outside of the ring, and Gedo came back to the ring with a steel chair. White took the chair to Ibushi's knee twice, and Unno didn't see any of the cheating even as Gedo rolled Unno back into the ring. White put Ibushi into a terrifying figure four hold that lasted for what seemed like forever and Ibushi held onto Unno's knee to keep his fight intact. He scooted to the bottom rope and Unno made sure White broke the hold.
The crowd wanted Ibushi to win so badly that they chanted and cheered in a wave of sound. It blanked the entire match and pushed Ibushi to rally: Japanese crowds are notoriously quiet and respectful of the matches.
Ibushi deadlifted White from the second rope and delivered a German Suplex to the Switchblade, somehow preserving the integrity of his knee. He fought into his Last Ride finisher, but White fought harder and avoided it entirely. Ibushi absorbed White's strikes and returned them with slaps and a T-kick, putting White into the corner. Unno pulled Ibushi off of White gently and firmly, but Ibushi had truly had enough of White.
They met forehead to forehead in the ring, and Ibushi dropped him with a stiff right hand to the neck. He failed at his signature move and White connected with a dragon screw lariat. It knocked the dust off of Ibushi's stamina, and Ibushi finished his Last Ride move. YEAOH! Ibushi honoured Shinsuke Nakamura and dragged White into the center of the ring. Gedo tried to ruin Unno again, but Unno called for one of the most famous fighters in the world, Rocky Romero who was on commentary, to take care of the Gedo Issue.
Ibushi couldn't connect with his Kamegoye knee strike, but White did eat a pair of loud head kicks that threw White's sweat into the audience. White ran towards Ibushi, who attempted his finale, but White finished his Slingblade move. White didn't cover Ibushi; he decided instead to attempt a cross arm brainbuster, and Ibushi made him pay when he fought back. A straightjacket German Suplex from Ibushi led to two sleeper suplexes and a brainbuster from White.
Ibushi got to his feet through sheer willpower and once he slammed his tender knee into White with his Kamagoye finisher twice, Ibushi used the last of his energy to keep White's shoulders on the mat. Unno slammed his hand down three times, and the Golden Star became the G1 Climax Tournament Winner! Exhausted, Ibushi went backstage to cheers, beers, and a huge gold trophy.
Results: Kota Ibushi def. Jay White via pinfall
Congratulations to Kota Ibushi for winning the most prestigious tournament in Japanese pro-wrestling! I'll see you next time for the most prompt results and hottest news from NJPW!
