The second night of action in Budokan Hall will determine the B Block winner, who will face off against Hiroshi Tanahashi this Sunday morning in the G1 finals.

Three people are still alive in this block: Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega, who will face each other, and Tetsuya Naito, who will face Zack Sabre Jr. There’s a number of scenarios that could go down where any of these three emerge as the B Block winner (a full list can be seen in today’s update). Naito needs to win or draw in his match tonight no matter what, and Ibushi needs to win his match no matter what. 

Other matches that don’t have any implications in tonight’s tournament winner include Toru Yano taking on Tama Tonga, Tomohiro Ishii against SANADA and Hirooki Goto facing off against Juice Robinson.

Check in tonight at 5:30 a.m. EDT for live play by play action. There will be English commentary.

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DAVID FINLAY & MICHAEL ELGIN DEFEATED SHOTA UMINO & TOA HENARE (7:01) 

A nice little opener here. 

Henare and Umino opened up the action with some cool teamwork spots. Elgin cut Umino off with a belly-to-belly, and Elgin and Finlay hit some hard chops. Umino hit Elgin with a dropkick, and both men made tags. 

Henare hit a top rope tackle on Finlay, and Umino tagged himself in. Umino hit a top rope dropkick, then applied a crab to Finlay. Elgin jumped in for the save, but it took two forearms and a chop before Umino broke the hold. 

Elgin accidentally hit Finlay, allowing Umino to go for two cradles, earning two nearfalls. Finlay made his own comeback, hit Umino with an uranage, and followed with a stunner, getting the pin. 

BAD LUCK FALE & TANGA LOA DEFEATED CHASE OWENS & HANGMAN PAGE (3:59)

A quick brawl, with the Bullet Club OGs coming out on top. 

Page and Owens jumped Fale and Loa while they were making their ring entrance. Page sent Fale to the floor, and Owens and Page doubled up on Loa. Page hit a buckshot lariat and Owens made a cover on Loa, but Fale came in for the save. 

Loa hit a blue thunder bomb on Owens for a nearfall. Page ducked a lariat from Loa and did a tope suicida on Fale. Owens went for a package piledriver on Loa, but Loa slipped out, hit a lariat, and hit apeshit for the pin. 

THE YOUNG BUCKS & MARTY SCURLL DEFEATED ROPPONGI 3K & SWITCHBLADE JAY WHITE (5:57)

This was more storyline than match, as they continue to highlight the issues between White and the rest of CHAOS. The Bucks were only in for  alittle bit, but their stuff looked crisp. 

Scurll and White started off as the legal men. White worked on Scurll’s arm, and tagged SHO. YOH jumped in illegally, and Roppongi briefly took out Scurll and the Bucks. The Bucks jumped in and hit a series of double team moves on SHO & YOH. 

Scurll tagged in and used a crab on YOH, while SHO was stretched on his back. The Bucks hit a series of superkicks. White and Scurll tangled, but YOH jumped in to make the save for White. White was pleasantly surprised, thinking that perhaps he had finally turned YOH to his side. 

YOH then accidentally hit White, and White bailed to the outside. Scurll put the chicken wing on YOH, and the Bucks applied cease and desist on SHO. White had the opportunity to make the save, but he refused, and YOH tapped out. 

EVIL & BUSHI DEFEATED MINORU SUZUKI & EL DESPERADO (7:39)

This was a wild brawl. Suzuki had his working shoes on, and they teased a future match between EVIL & Suzuki at a Rev Pro show. 

They went at it before the bell, and brawled around ringside. Suzuki used a chair on EVIL, and EVIL sold it as though his spine was caving in. Once the action went to the inside, Suzuki worked over BUSHI’s arm. 

EVIL got a tag, and went back and forth with Suzuki. EVIL hit a senton, but Suzuki hit a yakuza kick in the corner. Suzuki went for a PK, but EVIL caught it. Suzuki finally hit the PK on EVIL, and Desperado jumped in and hit a spear. 

Suzuki used a rear naked choke and went for the Gotch, but BUSHI hit a missile dropkick and broke it up. BUSHI used a codebreaker on Suzuki, who rolled outside. EVIL hit everything is EVIL on Desperado, and got the pin. 

HIROSHI TANAHASHI, TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA, GEDO & YOSHI-HASHI (9:02) 

This was really cool. Honma looks to be in good shape cosmetically. He still clearly has some recovery ahead of him, and probably shouldn’t be in the ring. Still, wrestling here clearly meant a lot to him, and the crowd loved him. 

Tana and Okada started off, and picked right up where they left off yesterday. They each teased tombstones, but the sequence ended with Tanahashi hitting a dragon screw. Honma got a tag, and the place went crazy. 

Honma hit a a chop and a slam on Okada. He went for kokeshi, but missed, and Okada went to work on his neck. Okada, Gedo, and YH all worked over Honma’s neck, until Honma was able to hit a desperation suplex on YH, and tagged Makabe. 

Makabe and YH went back and forth. Everyone jumped in and hit a signature move. Okada hit a DDT, Tana hit a dragon screw, and then Honma hit a series of kokeshis, each one getting a bigger reaction. Makabe hit the king kong kneedrop on Gedo, and got the pin. 

Honma was emotional after the match, and posed on the turnbuckle with tears in his eyes. 

B BLOCK MATCH: TORU YANO DEFEATED TAMA TONGA (5:09)

You know what you’re getting when it comes to a Bullet Club OG match in this tournament. This one was no exception. 

Loa accompanied Tonga to the ring, but was ejected from ringside before the opening bell. 

Yano got an immediate roll-up for a quick nearfall. Yano untied two turnbuckle pads. He sent Tonga into one, but Tonga then sent him into the other. Tonga beat Yano all around the ring, and sent him into the barricade. 

Back inside, Tonga refused to break a chokehold, and he shoved the referee down. Fale and Loa ran down, and New Japan referees and officials ran down to cut them off. Tonga beat up some refs, and got DQ’ed. 

B BLOCK MATCH: JUICE ROBINSON DEFEATED HIROOKI GOTO (10:38) 

They worked a very deliberate pace, but the match was quite good. 

They opened with some basic offense, drop downs, tackles, lock-ups, and clean breaks. Juice went to the apron, Goto locked on a sleeper, but on the break, Juice snapped Goto’s injured right arm over the top rope. 

Juice went to work on the arm, then Goto baited him into attacking his head and neck instead. Juice hit a pair of headbutts and a couple of chops, but Goto came back with a mid kick. Goto hit a suplex for a nearfall, but Juice regained control, and hit a high cross off the top. 

They hit simultaneous lariats. Goto went down, while Juice stayed on his feet. Juice went for an attack off the ropes, but Goto caught him with an ushigoroshi. Goto could not follow up, and Juice hit a juice box. Juice was also too drained to follow up. 

Goto blocked a strike with his head, hit a headbutt, and an inverted GTR, but could not follow up. Juice went for pulp friction, but Goto slipped out. Juice hit a big left hand, then hit pulp friction, and got the pin. 

They made an announcement that the Bullet Club OG had been escorted out of the building. 

B BLOCK MATCH: TOMOHIRO ISHII DEFEATED SANADA (17:01) 

Ishii continued his run of incredible performances in the G1. They started slowly, but the last several minutes were full of ridiculously great action.

They had a very nice opening sequence, with SANADA doing flips and handsprings, and Ishii slipping out of the way of strikes at the last moment. Ishii wanted to turn it into a striking battle, but SANADA realized quickly that he could not match Ishii’s power, so he hit a dropkick, sending Ishii to the floor. SANADA hit a plancha, then sent Ishii back inside, and applied  a chinlock. 

Ishii almost went out from the chinlock, but reached the ropes. SANADA hit a series of strikes to the chest and neck, but Ishii dared him to hit more. Ishii walked right through a series of shots to the chest, and hit a second rope brainbuster, picking up a two count. 

SANADA was able to rebound, and hit a frankensteiner and springboard dropkick. Ishii bounced to his feet and applied skull end, but SANADA slid out and hit Ishii’s sliding lariat. SANADA hit a moonsault into skull end, into a draping neckbreaker. SANADA hit a TKO for a nearfall. 

They traded big suplexes, but both immediately got back to their feet. Ishii hit a huge lariat, a last ride for a nearfall, and a sliding lariat for another two count. Ishii escaped a DDT, but ran into a lariat.

SANADA applied skull end, as the crowd chanted for Ishii. Ishii escaped the hold once, but then appeared to pass out in the hold. SANADA went up top for a moonsault, but Ishii popped up. SANADA tweaked the knee on the landing, and Ishii hit a sliding lariat to the same knee. SANADA survived an onslaught of strikes, then hit a tiger suplex for a nearfall.

SANADA went for the Mutoh special, but Ishii escaped and hit a shining wizard. They did an incredible series of reversals, ending with Ishii hitting a pair of hard lariats, and getting a two count. Ishii then hit the vertical drop brainbuster, and got the pin. 

B BLOCK MATCH: ZACK SABRE JR. DEFEATED TETSUYA NAITO (18:18) 

This was neither man’s smoothest work, but they had an excellent match.  

Sabre was frustrated with Naito for stalling at the beginning. Naito hit his tranquilo pose, but Sabre grabbed his arm and tried to tie him up, then mocked the tranquilo pose. Naito hit a series of deep armdrags, but Sabre transitioned to a headscissors, then twisted Naito’s neck. Sabre applied a pair of submissions, but Naito slid out. 

Naito went for the slingshot dropkick in the corner, but Sabre swept the legs and sent him to the floor. Sabre used a half crab into a headscissors, Naito slipped to a headscissors of his own, then Sabre slipped back to a half crab, then stepped on Naito’s head. 

Naito hit an inverted DDT and a dropkick to the back. Naito hit a rana, then hit the slingshot dropkick in the corner. Naito hit an inverted atomic drop, a draping neckbreaker, and a standing neckbreaker, picking up a nearfall. 

Sabre hit a pair of uppercuts, and caught a leg lariat and turned it into an STF. He transitioned to another hold, but Naito reached the ropes. Naito hit a pair of chops, and Sabre sold the cumulative damage of the match to his neck. Naito hit a hard back elbow to the neck, then a tornado DDT. He went for gloria, but Sabre turned it into a triangle choke. Naito bridged into a cover for a nearfall. 

Sabre hit a PK and went for the Zack driver, but Naito reversed it into an inverted DDT, leading to a double down. Both men got to their feet at the same time, and they traded strikes. Naito hit a hard slap, and hit gloria for a two count. Sabre blocked a destino, then blocked a flying forearm, and applied an octopus hold. Sabre sold as though he was having grip issues with his hands due to the damage to his neck, and Naito was finally able to reach the ropes. 

Sabre hit one PK, then another. He went for a third, but Naito caught it and hit a german. Naito hit a flying forearm, but Sabre used a european clutch for a two count. Sabre then used a cradle into a bridge for another two count. Sabre slipped to the octopus, but Naito slid out and hit destino. Naito went for a second destino, but Sabre reversed it into a Zack driver, and got the upset win. 

B BLOCK MATCH: KOTA IBUSHI DEFEATED KENNY OMEGA (23:14) IBUSHI WINS THE B BLOCK

A fantastic main event. The emotion was incredible. The crowd was into every second of the match.

I don’t think this was the best match of the tournament, but I don’t mean that as a negative in any way, I’m just trying to give it a little bit of context within the framework of all the great wrestling we’ve seen over the last month. 

They exchanged holds and dropdowns for the first minute, but Omega hit the first strike of the match, landing a chop. Ibushi kipped up after the chop, and sent Omega to the floor. He went for a plancha, but Omega moved, and Ibushi landed badly on the floor. Omega sent Ibushi into the barricade, then slammed him on the apron. He hit a kotaro crusher inside, but Isbushi popped up and hit a series of kicks to the back. 

They traded standing strikes. Omega missed a charge into the corner, ate a powerslam, but got the knees up on the follow-up moonsault. Omega went for you can’t escape, but Ibushi got the knees up on the moonsault. They traded frankensteiners. Omega rolled to the floor. Ibushi went for the golden triangle, but Omega cut him off. Ibushi teased a german into the ring, but Omega reversed it into a spike package piledriver on the apron. 

Omega hit a missile dropkick to a kneeling Ibushi, then hit Aoi Shoudou. He hit croyt’s wrath for a nearfall. Ibushi rolled to the floor, and Omega hit the terminator dive. Omega went up top, but Ibushi connected with a backflip kick. Ibushi hit a reverse frankensteiner off the top for a nearfall, and Omega rolled to the floor. Ibushi hit a golden triangle off the top to the floor. 

Ibushi hit a standing moonsault into double knees for a nearfall, which looked brutal. Omega blocked a kamigoye, and hit a v-trigger, sending Ibushi face-first into the buckle. Omega hit another v-trigger to the back of the head, then placed Ibushi on the top turnbuckle. 

Omega went for a top rope dragon suplex, but Ibushi landed on his feet. Omega hit a v-trigger, but Ibushi no-sold it, hit a kick, and a power lariat. Ibushi hit a last ride for a two count. He connected with a kamigoye, but Omega kicked out at two. 

Ibushi pulled down his right knee pad. Omega got to his feet and they traded strikes, but Ibushi maintained wrist control. Ibushi hit a high kick, but gave up the wrist, and Omega hit a v-trigger. Ibushi no-sold and hit a combination, but Omega hit another v-trigger. Ibushi stumbled, but stepped forward and hit a huge strike. 

Ibushi went for a phoenix splash, but missed. Omega hit another v-trigger, and hit a jay driller for a nearfall. Omega hit a v-trigger and lifted Ibushi for the one-winged angel, but Ibushi blocked it. He went for a reverse rana, but Omega stopped him, and spiked him on his head, and got a two count. 

Omega hit a v-trigger, then teased a second rope one-winged angel, but Ibushi escaped, and with Omega seated on the top rope, hit a double footstomp to the back of the. Ibushi hit a top rope tiger driver for a nearfall, then followed up with another kamigoye. 

Ibushi covered, and got the pin. He’ll face Tanahashi in the finals.

FINAL B BLOCK STANDINGS

Kota Ibushi 12 (block winner)
Kenny Omega 12
Zack Sabre Jr. 12
Tetsuya Naito 12
Tomohiro Ishii 10
SANADA 8
Hirooki Goto 6
Tama Tonga 6
Toru Yano 6
Juice Robinson 6