wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 33 Night 14 Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW G1 Climax 33 Night 14
August 6th, 2023 | EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 3,275
After spending so much of my Saturday on SummerSlam and the G1, and knowing that Monday was a day off for the G1, I took Sunday for myself and avoided wrestling. Now I’m back at it to see how the B Block closes though we all knew how it would end as soon as the blocks were announced.
B Block: KENTA [4] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [4]
Meaningless match here outside of the idea that if HASHI wins, he could get a DEFY Title shot or whatever. So, what we got here was a mostly heatless match that felt very hollow. KENTA did heel stuff like beat him up outside and antagonize HASHI before we got a ref bump to set up the usual shenanigans. That meant KENTA got a kendo stick and then he set his eyes on HASHI’s staff that he was obsessed with a while back. That was legitimately an angle this company ran. KENTA tried for another late low blow but HASHI managed to block it and hit a lariat. However, Karma was countered into an inside cradle, giving KENTA the win in 12:16. Yawn. [**]
B Block: The Great-O-Khan [4] vs. Taichi [6]
New Japan loves to 50/50 guys in this tournament which further proves that basically everyone is interchangeable and the same except for like four dudes. Yes, so that means the outcome here was obvious before the bell. Like the previous match, this was kind of hollow but it had more life than KENTA/HASHI. Or maybe I just enjoy these guys more. Anyway, I liked the story of Taichi basically goading O-Khan into taking things to the mat. There, he showed off some impressive skills causing commentary to bring up his old team with Zack Sabre Jr. It worked for a bit but ended up backfiring because, as he has shown in the past, O-Khan can more than handle himself on the mat. That led to some solid technical wrestling exchanges that were up my alley. I will say that at 17:41, this was a bit long for a match with nothing on the line. O-Khan used a shoulder lock to win and e have to sit with the knowledge that these guys get to finish with the same number of points as Tanga Loa. [***]
B Block: Kazuchika Okada [10] vs. Tanga Loa [6]
Okada’s promo the other day that Tanga is less qualified to be in the G1 than Chase Owens was cold. Okada’s just like me, he said trim the fat of this G1. Give commentary teams awards because they legitimately sound excited for stuff that isn’t. Like they tried to sell Tanga as a threat here and put over how he has been “getting better” with each match. They also sold Tanga trying the same move he used to beat Will by countout as if that had a chance against Okada. Okada barely broke a sweat (not literally, obviously he was sweating out there) and won with the Rainmaker in 12:44. This existed. [**¼]
B Block: El Phantasmo [6] vs. Will Ospreay [8]
The only match with some actual stakes. Winner of this advances to the playoffs with Okada and will face the C Block winner. These guys met at juniors and I didn’t really like those but both guys have been better in the years since so we’ll see. I saw someone in the comments the other day say that ELP looks like Logan Paul but is cooler. I saw him jump into the camera to shout “E-L-P” with his theme and maybe that cool thing was off the mark. Though the bar is low. Anyway, this was worked like a BOSJ match in that it was done at a quick pace and they kind of wasted no time. This was all action. ELP looked like he had something to prove above his simple desire to make it to the playoffs. Will had to take some time to regroup to ward off his fast start but ELP just kept coming after him. I did laugh at commentary at one point. They were all “NOTHING CAN STOP THIS ROLL OSPREAY IS ON!” Yeah, except Gedo booking and a Tanga Loa countout L. I liked how ELP almost got counted out but when Will pounced, he met him with a big superkick. It was just a well-timed spot. They went into a strong closing stretch that was pretty great except for the drama it lacked. I never bought into ELP winning, even on close calls. He also kicked out of a bit too much for my taste before staying down after getting hit with Storm Driver ’93 in 18:52. One of the better matches of the tournament. [****]
So as expected, Ospreay and Okada come out of B Block. And unlike A Block, those were the right choices.
