Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 33 Night 12 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 33 Night 12

August 2^nd, 2023 | Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima | Attendance: 2,006

Man, it took a lot to make me finally put time aside to watch this. If it wasn’t for 411mania, I would’ve just picked a few matches to check out instead of this whole thing. I’ve also got some family stuff planned for these few days, so this will be a shortened review.

D Block: Alex Coughlin [2] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [6]

We’ve got a first time matchup here and Coughlin attacked quickly, which has been the way these Bullet Club boys tend to do things. Tanahashi focused on working the leg as he tends to do. I did get a kick out of Coughlin slamming Oskar Leube at one point. Those aggressive BC guys. Tanahashi got going with a Slingblade barrage and he seemed to be gearing up to earn two points. Alas, this isn’t the Tanahashi of five years ago. Coughlin was able to weather the storm and score the biggest singles win of his career with a Jackhammer in 8:50. A good sprint to start the show. [***¼]

C Block: EVIL [8] vs. Mikey Nicholls [2]

In a regular review, I barely have time for House of Torture shenanigans. In a condensed review, I have no time for them. Dick Togo did Dick Togo things and Kosei Fujita helped even the score, breaking up Magic Killer and allowing Mikey to score an upset with a pinning combination in 9:30. [*½]

D Block: Shane Haste [4] vs. Toru Yano [2]

Haste got his notable win earlier against Naito so he’s ripe for a Yano upset. Indeed, this was filled with Yano antics that included the use of a blindfold, trying on Shane’s hat, a rare bucket, and the referee getting pulled into the shenanigans. This was all kept relatively short and within the usual Yano realm and won with a rollup in 6:09. Typical stuff here but I did appreciate the bucket because it was different. [**¼]

C Block: HENARE [2] vs. Tomohiro Ishii [2]

Ishii is 2-0 against HENARE and while both guys have been good performers in the tournament, they are way at the bottom of the standings. As a match, this was what we’ve come to expect from these two because, yes, it was a HOSS FIGHT. Just two tough dudes waging war and beating the hell out of each other. This was like those classic NEVER Title matches I liked so much. We’ve seen this kind of match a lot but they put a new twist on it. After they traded stiff bombs early, they had to up the ante as this went on and then we got the big closing stretch. Instead of the back and forth counter stuff New Japan is known for, HENARE kind of dominated that section en route to winning with Streets of Rage in 14:21. One of the better matches of the tournament. [****]

D Block: Hirooki Goto [4] vs. Jeff Cobb [8]

Man, even when he performs well, it’s just so hard to get interested in Hirooki Goto. They split their past meetings in the G1. Like the previous match, you knew what you were getting from this one. They had some hard hitting moments that weren’t on the level of HENARE/Ishii but it was still quality. Goto has been limited by his injury which was clear here too. Goto shocked me by going all in down the stretch, escaping Tour of the Islands and hitting a goddamn Code Red. I’m sorry, but who is this and what has he done with Hirooki Goto? He added GTR after to score the win in 11:33. Good, solid pro wrestling. [***]

C Block: Eddie Kingston [6] vs. Tama Tonga [7]

Both guys have been pretty good in this tournament so far. Kingston wanted to do his now signature chop exchange early on and Tama obliged by removing his vest. It’s only fair. They kind of remained even for most of this contest, trading suplexes and chops before moving onto bigger offense. Whenever it seemed like one of them was about to gain momentum, the other had a response in the way of an Exploder or something like that. Honestly, it was one of the more even matches of the entire G1. Tama survived the backfist and went for Gun Stun but ate another backfist and fell to a Northern Lights Bomb at the 11:39 mark. Another good outing from these guys though nothing I’d call great. [***¼]

D Block: Tetsuya Naito [6] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [8]

There’s a lot of history here as these guys have met in basically every G1 for the past few years and had some matches outside of it. Naito holds a 6-4 edge in their matches. A loss would eliminate Naito so you kind of knew what the result would be coming into this. Still, these two don’t really ever have anything but good matches so even with a lack of drama, they put on a quality performance. The idea here was one man targeted the arm and the other targeted the neck, giving us some really good limb work on both ends. They also included the personality quips that make them special from being snarky to one another and trying to one up each other. That stuff is so important in this company because it stands out. This one got close to the time limit and instead of the expected Destino or submission finish, Naito won with an inside cradle after 18:30. This was very good but it’s basically the basement for what they can do together. [***½]

C Block: David Finlay [8] vs. Shingo Takagi [5]

Finlay won their meeting in last year’s G1. Like the previous match, Shingo needs to win to remain alive so you kind of knew the result going in. Again, that took away some of the drama here. Still, I had a god time with this. It’s interesting to see that the bigger, stronger dude is the babyface and the heel is perceived as this violent, aggressive guy. Some of the early stuff didn’t really click for me but I did like the powerbomb table spot as it looked brutal and it isn’t something we see every night in New Japan so it was effective. Finlay played well to the crowd, flipping them off and drawing heat. Again, this teased the time limit as they hit the closing stretch filled with counters and such. Shingo avoided Oblivion and hit Last of the Dragon to stay alive in 18:45. [***¼]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was a good G1 show. It didn’t get me excited for whatever’s next but I mostly enjoyed it and there wasn’t anything I’d classify as bad on it outside of the House of Torture stuff.