[8.0] "Very good. Great start to the G1. Not a single bad match. The last three matches were ****+. MOTN: Ishii Vs Suzuki ( ****1/2)"

[7.0] "[Tsuji vs Uemura] - 2 1/2 stars (Worst of the night). [Takahashi vs Ospreay] - 3 stars. [Taichi vs Cobb] - 3 1/4 stars. [Ishii vs Suzuki] - 4 1/2 stars (Match of the Night). [Takagi vs White] - 3 1/2 stars. [Okada vs Ibushi] - 3 3/4 stars. Average match rating: 3. 42 of 5 stars (or 6. 84 of 10). Rounded to 7 for Cagematch."

[8.0] "Grande show da NJPW, está primeira noite do G1 CLIMAX 30 foi incrível, YUYA UEMURA VS YOTA TSUJI ***, WILL OWSPREAY VS YUJIRO TAKAHASHI **3/4, TAICHI VS JEFF COBB ***1/2, o começo do combate foi um bocado lento, MINORU SUZUKI VS TOMOHIRO ISHII ****1/2 para quem gosta de ver dois gajos a chapada, recomendo. JAY WHITE VS SHINGO TAKAGI ***3/4, KAZUCHIKA OKADA VS KOTA IBUSHI ****adorei, mas o combate que eles tiveram na ultima TOKYO DOME foi bastante melhor que este, mas recomendo. Se não tiverem tempo para assistir o show inteiro, vejam o MINORU SUZUKI VS TOMOHIRO ISHII e o KAZUCHIKA OKADA VS KOTA IBUSHI."

[9.0] "I was actually in the arena live for this show. First off hats off to the crowd who were awesome and up for everything the whole show. Ospreay vs Yujiro was a decent opener and better than expected. Cobb vs Taichi started slow but great by the end. Ishii vs Suzuki was an all out war and MOTN for me. Shingo vs Jay was great even with the typical Jay finish. The main event was great even though I feel it could of been even better if it had of been given another few mins but I liked the story they were telling and it was nice to see Ibushi win so emphatically. Overall a great night of action that was consistently good to great"

[9.0] "Great first night of G1. Uemura/Tsuji *** Good young lion opener. Ospreay/Yujiro ***1/2 really good for a Yujiro match and good tuneup for Ospreay. Taichi/Cobb ***3/4 kinda surprisingly good hard hitting match. Suzuki/Ishii ****1/2 exactly what you would expect out of them, just great. White/Shingo **** really good but all the interference hurt it a little. Ibushi/Okada **** definitely not the great match I expected but still very good, hopefully Okada at least tones down the money clip attempts and goes back to rainmakers because since New Japan restarted he? s been very dull in most matches, and this block is too stacked to have dull Okada matches"

[7.0] "For this very anticipated - to me - G1 Climax start, I was very surprised. The Young Lion Battle came out pretty well to me, the Uemura finish looked pretty good, Overhook Suplex into Boston Crab transitioned in a Lion Tamer-ish submission that surprised me. *** (might have overrate it tho). I shivered so much for the return of Will Ospreay as he is my favorite active wrestler and he delivered as ever an impressive performance. Yujiro Takahashi did pretty well, maybe his best performance, targeting the head of Ospreay as a set up for his finisher, Pimp Juice. Ospreay appeared like a total fan favorite here, the clapping was so loud for his return. This G1 is not for him, but, someday, he will definetly win it. *** The surprise of the night came from the Taichi vs Jeff Cobb bout, a very story-telling affair - Taichi working the left leg of Cobb as did KENTA the week previous to win the match, and as he personaly did all summer long on the left leg of Ibushi. Taichi letting down his underhanded tactics for this one was pretty convincing and Cobb looked amazing too, hope he will get at least a US title someday ***1/2. The best match of the night was the Suzuki vs Ishii one, a violent fight where every shot was realistic, on the verge of the shoot fight. Having these two mad dogs slapping at each other during 13 minutes was so enjoyable. Both targeted the head in preparation of their finishers, simple story yet effective as it produces the best match of the night ****1/4. After the best match of the night came the first deception of the night for me in the match between Jay White and Shingo Takagi. The execution was good but i excpected more from Shingo. I happened to get upset with the White bullsh*t as ever. I know he's Bullet Club but can we please have no more ref bumps please ? There is other ways to cheat than hitting this poor Red Shoes. ***1/5 (for me of course - i saw a lot rate it better and i understand that). The main event, a rematch of the best bout of the year so far for me (Wrestle Kingdom 14) was less epic, more psychologic here, Kota Ibushi showing a ton of heart and even ending hit in an anticlimatic way with a surprise Kamigoe that surprised me, wasn't expecting the finish coming this way. As an Okada match, this was shortpaced with The Rainmaker working the head for his Cobra Clutch. Maybe wasn't the rematch that I expected but this time, Ibushi gets the w (he lost at WK). The match could have been so much more, but it convinced me most of the time ****"

[7.0] "Decent show and based on the circumstances a crowd makes it a million times better. Suzuki and Ishii was fantastic even though the main event was a slight let down."

[8.0] "A very good show for a lot of reasons. Every match was at least good, one was a potential classic and most importantly, there was no fluff and the run time from opening promo package to the main event finish was just about 2 hours 10 minutes. Ratings wise, the Lions match was worthy of a **1/2 or **3/4, Yujiro vs Ospreay was the best Yujiro singles match in a long time (***1/4, ) Taichi/Cobb started slow before a great finishing stretch bumped it up to ***1/2 quality, and then we get to the brunt of the show. Shingo vs Jay was **** worthy but I have to downgrade it a bit due to the interference hurting it. The main event underdelivered, sadly, but it was still worthy of a ***1/2 rating at least. Ishii vs Suzuki was clearly the match of the night, as a 13-minute striking clinic that is reminiscent of the type of matches that both men have become legends for. That match gets a ****1/2. All in all a 7. 5/10 show, maybe an 8. Nothing was too long or too short. It may not have been a legendary show, but it was still really good."

[8.0] "The first NJPW show I've watched live for a while and it was a blast loved the shorter format with no pointless filler matches and I hope to see them stick with this streamlined method long term. The matches were all fun with Ishii vs Suzuki being the obvious highlight although I really enjoyed Shingo vs White as well except for the finish but I've become used to that from White matches. Overall a very good show that has me hyped for the rest of the tournament."

[7.0] "Decent show, decent start to the G1. 1) Ospreay/Takahashi - **. What can I say. It is what it is. Good to see Ospreay back. New Japan is definitely pushing him this G1, and I think he's ready. 2) Cobb/Taichi - ***. Solid match. They both look a hell lot better than I expected, especially Taichi who has gradually becoming a solid mid-carder. And NO CHEATING! Very cool. 3) Ishii/Suzuki - ****. Great match. The way Suzuki looks, and the way he wrestles at the age of 53 is absolutely mindblowing. They did their usual "Lets beat the fuck out of each other" formula, and it's amazing as usual. Very intense, great stuff. 4) Takagi/White: ***3/4. They worked a lot better than their previous meeting, White improved a bit, looks fluid in the ring, and Takagi looks like the best wrestler in the world. Very enjoyable before the inevitable White/Gedo fuckery, but oh well, New Japan insists on overbooking all Jay White matches, what the fuck can we do about it? 5) Okada/Ibushi - ***1/2. Probably their worst match together, and yes, that includes the Tiger Mask anniversary match. This is exactly the structure that I hate the most, you go very slow within the first 10-15 minutes, luring the viewers into thinking it's gonna be a long 30 minute epic, but then shortly after kicking into second gear, around 20 minute or so, immediately start the finishing stretch, then end the match abruptly, without taking it into the third gear, which it rightly deserve to be ended on. Very disappointing stuff. Oh yeah, by the way, Okada's cobra clutch is fucking terrible. Overall, a decent show and a decent G1 starter. Now it's B-block turn, let's go!"

[8.0] "Overall an easy and fun opening night. Yujiro/Ospreay was a nice opener to reintroduce Ospreay ***1/4. Cobb/Taichi was a really good match to showcase both ***3/4. Ishii/Suzuki was absolutely awesome. What a war with amazing selling by both. Suzuki is having one hell of a year ****1/2. Jay/Shingo was great, Jay had a fantastic return performance here. He does very well selling for the hard hitting guys, always trying to square up and then getting knocked on his ass. Only negative is the same finish as always for every Jay White match ****. Okada/Ibushi was a great match, but a huge step below their last 2 and possibly their weakest overall. It was well worked, but just lacked something, beyond just the crowd, which other matches tonight managed to work with. They both just felt a step slower and holding back ****."

[7.0] "Well, that was a good show and had good matches that were all well placed. G1 Climax 30 kicked off in a good way and I'm happy about this."

[8.0] "A good event with Great matches. White vs Takagi MOTN ****3/4, Suzuki vs Ishii ****1/2, Okada vs Ibushi ****1/4, Cobb vs Taichi ****, Takahashi vs Ospreay ***1/2."

[8.0] "Good first night with the positives (Suzuki vs Ishii) outweighing the negatives (The Goddamn Money Clip). Uemura vs Tsuji * * 3/4. Ospreay vs Yujiro * * * 1/4. Cobb vs Taichi * * * 1/2. Ishii vs Suzuki * * * * 3/4. White vs Takagi * * * *. Okada vs Ibushi * * * * 1/4"

[9.0] "Best NJPW show since their rerun after pandemic. Final 3 matches were all good. Ishii vs Suzuki was 5* followed up by Shingo vs White 4. 5* and then Okada vs Ibushi 4*. The final one being kinda a disappointment but still a good match"

[10.0] "Amazing first night, all matches were at least good and the last three were more than great. I believe people have weird expectations from NJPW, this more than delivered."

[9.0] "Feels like New Japan is properly back now with these stacked cards and a much increased capacity. Nothing was bad (even with the presence of Yujiro) with the last 3 matches all very good/ excellent. Looking forward to another month of great wrestling."

[9.0] "Excellent opener to the best tournament in sports. Will Ospreay Vs Yujiro Takahashi: **1/2. Jeff Cobb Vs Taichi: ***1/2. Tomohiro Ishii Vs Minoru Suzuki: ****3/4(MOTN). Shingo Takagi Vs Jay White: ****1/4. Kazuchika Okada Vs Kota Ibushi: ****1/2. Overall I definitely recommend checking out the show, especially the final 3 matches. Excited for the next A-Block day, but tomorrow we've got B-Block's time to shine."

[7.0] "A good show. I didn't like Ospreay vs Takahashi, mostly for the latter. Cobb and Taichi had a decent match, nothing else. Ishii vs Suzuki was match of the night, and the 7 is mostly for this match. I had a great time. White and Takagi went on for too long in my opinion, plus i'm over all the Gedo/BC interfering every single match. Okada and Ibushi had a pretty disappointing match, maybe i had my hopes too high. I was waiting to get to that next level, but it never came. Anyways, i'm very hopeful it will pick up in the next few days. Love to see NJPW back in action!"

[8.0] "A good first show that unfortunately got dragged down a little bit by Ospreay vs Takahashi but still overall very enjoyable and high quality wrestling. I'd say this is a very promising start for the Covid G1."