New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/13/2023 G1 Climax 33 Day 19
This is the final day of the G1 Climax. This card is super lazy with only one singles match and a bunch of random tags. Here is what I saw:
Kaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa vs Oskar Leube and Toru Yano
Oskar and Oiwa start us off. Oskar slams him down then Oiwa crossfaces him. Oskar grabs an armlock and Yano gets in. Kaito gets in too and hits gut kicks. Yano takes off the turnbuckle pad and gives it to Kaito in full view of the ref, who doesn't put it back on. Yano hits him in the back then Kaito forearms and jumping elbows him.
Yano takes a double shoulder then Oiwa splashes him. Yano and Oiwa mess up a spot then Oskar facekicks Kaito off the apron. Oskar hits forearms on Oiwa then they trade. Oskar running back elbows Oiwa then does a chest kick. Oskar slams him for 2. Oiwa armdrags Oskar then Kaito dropkicks him. Kaito 2nd rope twisting forearms him then top rope dropkics him.
Oskar slams Kaito then Oiwa dropkicks Oskar. Yano takes a double dropkick then Oskar takes a double suplex. Kaito htis a shining wizard on him and wins it.
It was a short opener that accomplished little except making it seem like Kaito is on the level of the young lions.
Master Wato, Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma & Yuji Nagata vs. Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita) & Yuto Nakashima
Yuto gets in and hiptosses Wato. Yuto slams Wato for 2 then crabs him but Honma breaks it up. Despy slaps Wato a few times then Wato leg lariats him. Nagata and Suzuki get in and trade facekicks then forearms. Nagata running facekicks him. Nagata hits chest kicks then takes a PK. Suzuki headkicks him and they trade more forearms.
Suzuki puts him in a choke and Nagata backdrops him then hits a nice exploder. Yuto and Honma shoulder battle and Yuto knocks him down. Yuto hits kicks to the chest then Honma flying headbutts him. Shota and Ren want in. Shota makes Ren fly off the apron with a forearm then Shota dropkicks Yuto. He hits a double underhook ddt on Yuto and wins it.
Shota knocks Ren off the apron apron again after the bell and they trade forearms before being separated. Ren then runs at him again. Suzuki and Nagata shove each other after then Ren and Shota go at it more. Everyone then pairs off and trades forearms.
It was a fun tag match with lots of hate. It was short for how many people were involved and the finish felt random.
Eddie Kingston, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & YOH vs. TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima), Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe
Tana armdrags Togi then Togi shoulders him over. Tana 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him then Togi takes double dropkicks to the knees. Tenzan and Ishii trade forearms and Ishii shoulders him over. Tenzan hits mongolian chops and knocks Ishii down with them. Koji then hits a mongolian chop on Ishii and slingshots in with an elbow while Tenzan falling splashes Ishii. Ishii brainbusters Tenzan.
Yoh gets in and hits mongolian chops on Tenzan. Tiger hits kicks on Yoh then Yoh mongolian chops him. Yoh tries to headbutt Tenzan and hurts his own head off of it. Eddie gets in and hits Tenzan with mongolian chops then Tenzan mountain bombs him. Koji machine gun chops Eddie then Eddie does it to him. Eddie exploders him then enzugiri's him. Koji hits a cutter on him. Tiger leg sweeps and spin kicks Yoh.
Tiger forward flips and kicks Ishii off of it then tilt-a-whirl backbreakers Yoh. Tiger spin kicks Yoh in the gut then Yoh dragon screws him. Yoh single underhook suplexes him. Togi runs through a double clothesline and hits his own double clothesline. Togi lariats Eddie and Yoh then Yoh takes a Tenkoji 3D. Tiger hits a tiger driver on Yoh for 2. Tiger takes a sandwich lariat and sandwich enzugiri. Tana slingblades Tiger and Yoh superkicks tiger to win it.
It was too short for how many people were involved but it was entertaining and fun.
Tenzan and Ishii headbutt each other after.
TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI), Oleg Boltin & Ryusuke Taguchi
Mikey and Yoshi trade forearms to start. They chop each other and Mikey shoulders him over. Mikey takes a double shoulder then Goto hiptosses Yoshi onto him. Shane takes a double club flurry on his back. Taguchi and Kosei get in.
Taguchi shoulders over Kosei then Kosei armdrags him. Kosei misses an armdrag and goes down hard. Kosei hits a big forearm and dropkick. TMDK clear off the opponents on the apron. Zack armwringers Taguchi then everyone gets a turn to do a double armwringer on Taguchi. Taguchi then has both arms stomped on at the same time. Zack euros Taguchi in the butt then Taguchi goes for a hip attack and is hit in the butt. Taguchi then rolls into a hip attack on Zack.
Oleg gets in and hits a belly to belly then double shoulders over TMDK. Oleg slams Zack then takes euros from Zack. Oleg chops Zack down then takes euros. Zack guillotine clutches Oleg then is thrown over. Shane and Goto trade forearms. Shane euros him and is lariated over. Goto spinning heel kicks him then backdrops him.
Goto corner lariats Shane then takes a running euro. Taguchi goes for a hip attack but is atomic dropped out of it. Taguchi hip attacks then plancha's outside. Yoshi superkicks Shane then Shane takes a neckbreaker over the knee. Yoshi is lariated over the top then Goto takes a lariat + euro combo. TMDK holds up Goto and he takes a slam + neckbreaker combo called the tank buster. TMDK's team wins.
It was a light hearted, mostly comedic match. It was watchable and entertaining but nothing serious.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji) vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan, HENARE, Jeff Cobb & Will Ospreay)
LIJ is jumped at the bell and Will sends Shingo into the rail and post. Henare headbutts Bushi then Bushi step up enzugiri's and ddt's him. Henare takes a double shoulder then a senton and splash. Hiromu is then slammed onto Henare. Hiromu lariats Henare and gets nowhere. Henare pops him up and kicks him. Henare sentons Hiromu for 2.
Cobb one handed slams Hiromu and messes up his hair. Cobb then standing moonsaults him. Will chops Hiromu then euros him. Khan sits on Hiromu's neck on the buckles then Hiromu is backdropped by Khan. Hiromu dragon screws Khan. Shingo gets in and hits some offense, ramming Henare into Cobb. Shingo suplexes Henare then lariats Khan.
Khan grabs Shingo and licks him then makes him kiss his boot. Khan pump kicks Shingo. Will Kawada kicks Shingo then Shingo back elbows and ddt's him. Yota hits forearms on Will then armdrags him off the backbreaker attempt. Yota misses a corner splash and takes corner moves. Cobb spin cycle backdrops Yota. Will falcon arrows Yota then Shingo lariats Will. Everyone gets a move in and Cobb is hurricanrana'd out. Bushi topes Cobb over the rail then Henare berzerker bombs Hiromu. Yota v-triggers Henare out then Will and Yota do some flip counters into an orange crush. Will hits an os cutter on Yota for 2 then takes a spear. Yota then wins it.
It was a short but entertaining tag match. Everyone got to show off a little and Yota and Will's sequences were fun together.
G1 Climax 33 Final - Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada
Naito does a clean break in the corner. Naito side headlocks him then hits forearms. Naito armdrags him and throws him out, then does his pose. Naito blocks a kick and then chinlocks him. Okada flapjacks Naito then ddt's him on the apron. Naito is whipped into the rails. Okada ddt's him again in the ring then poses on him with a foot on his chest.
Naito hits forearms and takes a euro back. Okada runs the ropes fast and takes a bad neckbreaker over the knee. Naito back elbows him and baseball slides him in the back of the head. Naito brings his neck down over the knee twice more. Naito hiptosses him into a neckbreaker on the knee.
Okada is thrown into the rails then Okada neckbreakers him over the rail. Okada takes a reverse ddt over the knee then Naito puts his legs around Okada's neck and pulls. Okada neckbreakers him over the knee. Okada sits him up top and dropkicks him to the floor. Okada is thrown into the rails then tombstones him on the floor.
Okada hits a high german then lariats him. Okada hits a big dropkick then Naito tornado ddt's him. Naito hits back elbows then to rope hurricarana's him. Naito puts him in a koji clutch variation then diamond dusts him. Naito countes a move into a ddt. Naito hits a valencia for 2 then misses a corkscrew moonsault. Okada shotgun dropkicks him then Naito does a tornado ddt into a cradle for 2. Naito step up enzugiri's him and flying forearms him.
Okada hits a big dropkick and landslides him. Okada short arm lariats him then Naito rolls him for 2. Naito hits destino for 2. Okada landslides him off the destino attempt then Naito hits a destino. Naito hits another destino and wins it.
It was long and while it was okay, I didn't think it was super special. If you were looking for some special spots or moves, they didn't really have any here and they mostly stuck to their usual offense. I kept waiting for that big moment to really put this over the top and it never came. The crowd was into it though. You could maybe say this was a work the neck match for both guys, but the problem with that kind of match is that basically every wrestling move puts someone on their upper back/neck, so it's hard for it to be noticeable.
Overall thoughts: The show was very lazily booked with only one meaningful match and a bunch of random tags. Some of the tags ended up being okay, but there was no effort put into this show at all. The main was just a by the numbers Okada/Naito match and they didn't do anything out of the ordinary.
Overall G1 thoughts: It was a disappointing tournament. The four block format meant we didn't get to see a lot of various matchups, which is the whole point of the G1. The 20 minute time limit format also did a lot more harm than good as various promising matches were cut short due to the time limit.
Tanahashi is done and didn't provide anything of value here. It's over and it's sad to watch. People like KENTA and Naito looked like they weren't that far behind him, with lazy efforts. The youngsters like Yota, Shota and Ren were put in show carrying spots that they weren't ready for or really pushed for. The Bullet Club and EVIL broke every rule in the book and then some in some of the most unbelieveable and awful ways possible. They hit refs every time, they used weapons and they had full on matches before the bell even rang. And it couldn't stop at the group stage, as they had Evil make the semi-finals, robbing us of two potentially good playoff matches otherwise. The shenanigans was also a complete waste of people like Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd, who actually do have potential to do great things.
SANADA might be the IWGP champ, but you would never know it here as he was treated like an afterthought all throughout. And then there's Kaito Kiyomiya, the ace of NOAH, who was basically treated as a young lion here. He was expected to make the finals or at worst, the semi finals and didn't even make it out of the group stage. We also never ended up getting the Kaito/Okada match that everyone assumed was happening. And if that wasn't bad enough, he was put in opening matches with young lions and was on the losing side for many of them. It was one of the worst burials I've ever seen and I cannot believe NOAH or Kaito went through with it and I can't believe NJPW would be so greedy as to let it happen. Even Chase Owens was protected better than Kaito was here. They also tried to push Hikuleo here and while he wasn't awful, he isn't ready for the role as he is missing the fire and does not have the offense.
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