Following today’s Day 16 of the 2018 NJPW G-1 Climax tournament in Kamagawa, IWGP Champion Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito still remain in contention in B Block heading into the B Block Finals on Saturday at the Budokan Hall.
Naito defeated SANADA in the main event to move to 12 points, tying now with Omega, who lost to Toru Yano following interference from Tama Tonga. Ibushi also lost to Tonga on Wednesday, remaining at 10 points.
On Saturday, Omega and Ibushi meet for the first time in a New Japan ring, their first match since their famous match for DDT in 2012 at the Budokan that led to Ibushi being banned from the building for a long time.
Should Omega defeat Ibushi, he wins B Block as even with a Naito win over Zack Sabre Jr., Omega would hold the tiebreaker with a win over Naito on Day 2. Omega then becomes the first man in the history of the G-1 Climax tournament to go to the Finals in three consecutive years.
Should Ibushi defeat Omega, he would win B Block and a Naito loss as Ibushi would have the tiebreaker over both Omega and Naito as he defeated Naito on Day 14 with all three tied at 12 points.
For Naito to win B Block, he would have to win over Zack Sabre Jr. and then hope that Omega-Ibushi go to a 30-minute time-limit draw. That would put Naito at 14 points and Omega at 13 points to win Naito the block.
Also on Wednesday, Zack Sabre Jr. def. Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii def. Juice Robinson in B Block action.
The block finals and finals of the tournament begin on Friday live on New Japan World from the Budokan Hall with Okada vs. Tanahashi in the main event, followed by Omega vs. Ibushi headlining on Saturday and the finals of the tournament on Sunday.