New Japan Pro Wrestling 7/16/2023 G1 Climax 33 Day 2

New Japan Pro Wrestling 7/16/2023 G1 Climax 33 Day 2

G1 Climax 33 Block C - Tomohiro Ishii vs David Finlay

 

They trade forearms and Ishii shoulders him over. They trade more forearms and Ishii hits a string of them on him in the corner. DF chop blocks him then ddt's his leg. DF works the leg and DF hits forearms and chops in the corner. Ishii powerslams him then Ishii does a chop and forearm combo in the corner.

Ishii suplexes him then backdrops him. Ishii is thrown neck first onto the ropes and backdropped. DF hits an irish curse backbreaker then indian deathlocks him. DF hits punches then Ishii shoulders him over and makes him fly. Ishii superplexes him then germans him. DF hits a spinning forearm then release germans him.

DF hits a dominator for 2 then Ishii drops im with a forearm. DF spears him for 2 then is dropped with a headbutt. Ishii powerbombs him for 2 then takes a headbutt. DF then blue thunders him for 2. DF hits a big powerbomb then takes a nasty battering ram headbutt. Ishii sliding lariats him for 2 and misses an enzugiri, but DF sells it anyway. Ishii does a stiff lariat then DF does a lift from the reverse ddt position into a stunner. DF neckbreakers him over the knee and wins it.

It was good but I'm not a big fan of people kicking out of powerbombs and other big moves in the first match. I'm also not a big fan of opening matches going longer lik this did. It makes it harder for everyone else to get over and starts to tire you out from the start. The two matched up well and Ishii's headbutts were pretty lethal here. Finlay really took some shots from him here.

G1 Climax 33 Block D - Hirooki Goto vs Toru Yano

Yano came out with a mascot. Goto runs at him and takes a backslide. Goto avoids a low blow then gets his pin attempt reversed. Go to is sent over the top then Yano grabs a turnbuckle pad. Yano misses with a shot and is sent into the rails. Goto and Yano reverse tons of irish whip attempts outside and both end up dizzy.

Goto is sent into the rails. Goto is put under the ring then Yano and the mascot go under the ring after him. The ref even goes under there too. Goto ends up with the mascots head on him somehow. Goto goes into the exposed buckles then lariats Yano. Goto spinning heel kicks him then bulldogs him for 2.

Goto goes into the exposed buckle then Yano takes him down. Yano firemans carry rolls him up then has his low blow blocked. Goto headbutts him then completely misses the next. Goto slices him and wins it.

This was all comedy. The joke went a little long but not too long.

G1 Climax 33 Block C - Mikey Nicholls vs Henare

They shoulder battle and knock each other over. They trade forearms then hockey fight. Both fall out then Mikey is thrown into and over the rail. Henare jumping headbutts him then does a pop-up samoan drop. Henare hits a bunch of punches to the gut then hits kicks to the back and front. Henare sentons him then curb stomps him.

Mikey hits shots then takes a spin kick. Mikey ddt's him then tornado ddt's him. Mikey slaps him as he sits on top then superplexes him. They butt heads on the mat then stand up and do it. Mikey gets busted open hard as they trade shots then hits a blue thunder driver for 2.

Mikey death valley drivers him then hits a lariat as he is down for 2.  Mikey misses a top rope moonsault then Henare jumping knees him. Henare hits a step up knee in the corner then takes a nasty pumphandle driver on his head for the Mikey win.

It went a little long and the crowd wasn't the best, but I liked seeing them stiff each other. The finish was botched and totally nasty.

G1 Climax 33 Block D - Shane Haste vs Alex Coughlin

Alex running forearms him to start then hits a nice fallaway slam. Alex drops him with a forearm. Shane hits a nice dropkick. Shane topes him, is caught then belly to belly suplexed on the floor. Shane is put into the rails then Alex is backdropped on the apron. Alex 2nd rope gutwrench suplexes him.

Shane is thrown into the buckles then he backdrops him. Shane hits kicks and flips him off the backdrop. Shane then does a jumping kick for 2. Shane falcon arrows him for 2 then hits a bunch of kicks. Alex hits a big german on him then death valley drivers him for 2. Alex does a wild pop up powerbomb and throws him out.

Alex brings out chairs and bangs Shane's head off a table. Alex pushes the ref and is backdropped on a chair. Shane does a cool slam from the fireman's carry position and wins it.

It was decent but kind of slow, long and in front of a crowd that wasn't loud. Shane's finisher was nice and Alex's pop-up powerbomb was stiff.

G1 Climax 33 Block C - Eddie Kingston vs Shingo Takagi

They go face to face and shoulder battle. Shingo lariats him in the corner and they trade chops. Shingo hits punches then double chops him. They slap each other and Eddie uraken's him out. Eddie hits chops outside and throws Shingo into the rails. Eddie is thrown into the rails and shoulders him over.

Eddie hits machine gun chops then takes a chop and punch combo. Eddie hits more machine gun chops and exploders him for 2. Shingo knocks him over with a stiff lariat. Shing shoulders him over then suplexes him. Shingo top rope superplexes him then footslaps him.

Shingo hits more punches then Eddie hits backfists. Shingo backdrops him and Eddie enzugiri's him. Eddie then backdrops him. Shino hits back elbows and is chest slapped then they lariat each other. Eddie no sells it and half-nelson suplexes him then Shingo lariats him. Shingo punches him and spinning back elbows him. Shingo then northern lights bombs him for 1.

Shingo then lariats him for 2. Eddie lariats him. Shingo hits forearms then Eddie urakens him. More strikes are traded and Eddie wints with a brainbuster.

The finish was random and unexpected. I didn't like some of the no selling and while Eddie tries to do strong style wrestling, he never looks the part and it doesn't work half the time. It didn't work here.

G1 Climax 33 Block D - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Zack Sabre Jr.

Tana looks like awful with pink/red/blue sleeves. They trade headscissors and Zack headflips out. They trade euros and Tana keylocks him. Zack sleepers him over the top rope. Zack dragon screws him over the middle rope. Zack tries for holds and Tana hits the ropes.

Zack hits kicks to the body then takes forearms. Tana slams him twice then does a 2nd rope flip onto him. Zack dragon screws him then does a nice heel hook variation. Tana comes back with a twist and shout and dragon screws his arms. They slap each other, Tana avoids a knee dropkick and basement dropkicks him. Tana hits a slingblade then does a high fly flow crossbody that Zack rolls out of. Zack PK's him then Tana rolling armbars him. Zack reverses it then rolls him up for the win. 

They tried for something different here towards the end. It wasn't the greatest match but Tana trying some different submissions was interesting.

G1 Climax 33 Block C  - Tama Tonga vs EVIL

EVIL attacks Tama while he poses and chokes him with a shirt. Tama exploders him and bangs his head off the apron. Tama hits shots in the corner then hits him with an elbow. Dick Togo pulls the turnbuckle pads off and Tama splashes into the exposed buckle. Evil suplexes him on the ramp then throws him into chairs.

Evil gives a thumbs down to the commentators then rings the bell himself. Evil backbreakers him then toys with him. Tama dropkicks him. then hits a big slam. Tama splashes him. Evil grabs the ref then Tama grabs Evil and is suplexed. The ref goes own and Dick Togo gets in the  ring to beat up Tama. Tama takes a magic killer then Evil sharpshooters him.

Tama hits a tonga twist then an enzugiri and spinebuster. Tama top rope splashes him. Togo pulls Evil out of the ring then pulls Tama's throat down on the apron. Tama rolls up Evil for 2 and Evil lariats him out of the corner. Evil hits darkness falls for 2. Tama goes into the exposed buckle and lariats Evil.

Tama takes his shirt off and jumping cutters Togo, who is in the ring for the some reason. Tama then hits an elevated ddt on Evil for 2. Evil hits everything is evil and wins it.

This sucked. It went long and had the usual House of Torture nonsense all match long.

G1 Climax 33 Block D  - Tetsuya Naito vs Jeff Cobb

Naito throws Cobb out then Cobb trips him and throws him into the rails. Cobb hits a nice dropkick then does Naito's pose. This dropkick must have been something as Naito sold it forever. Cobb grabbed Naito's arms and made him do his pose. Cobb did Naito's pose as he wanted on him in the ring.

Cobb delay suplexes Naito for 12 seconds then does Naito's combination cabron. Cobb then does his pose again. Naito grabs him by the hair and neckbreakers him. Naito armdrags him and sliding dropkicks him in the back of the head. Naito wraps his legs around his head and gets lifted then hits back elbows. Cobb 2nd rope powerbombs Naito.

Cobb standing moonsaults him and they mess up a 2nd rope hurricanrana.  Naito tornado ddt's him off the ropes. Cobb hits a tour of the island backdrop and Naito hits destino. Cobb gives him a tour of the islands slam off the destino attempt.

Naito hits a koppo kick and rolls him up off a slam for 2. Cobb misses a punch that is sold then Naito no sells a german. Cobb then hits a tour of the islands slam and wins it.

Naito oversold too much early which slowed down the match. They probably would have matched up otherwise but they wasted too much time to give this a good rating.

Cobb puts on Naito's hat after. Cobb does an English promo after to a crowd that doesn't speak Japanese and naturally, he got no reaction. This was bad.

Overall thoughts:  It was rough to sit through as almost every match was over 10 minutes and the crowd was quiet. The matches weren't fast paced and the show just plodded along for me. I liked Nicholls/Henare and Ishii/Finlay.