Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 33 Night 16 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 33 Night 16

August 9^th, 2023 | Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Kanagawa | Attendance: 2,001

Alright, so it’s time to finally wrap up block play in this disappointing tournament and see how the playoffs shape up. The highlight here is that Eddie Kingston joins Kevin Kelly for commentary and WHY WASN’T HE DOING THIS FOR THE ENTIRE TOUR?

D Block: Alex Coughlin [4] vs. Toru Yano [4]

Our usual opener with nothing on the line. Gabe Kidd jumped Yano with a chair before the bell to give Coughlin the upper hand. OR SO THEY THOUGHT! That triggered the violent Yano of the past instead of the prankster we typically get. Yano was down to match them in violence and take it to the next level by putting Kidd through a table and bringing out the scissors he used on Chase Owens a while back. Their actual time in the ring for the match was only 5:07 but I was entertained throughout most of this. When the ref stopped Yano from using the scissors, Coughlin hit him with a title and won with the Jackhammer. [***]

D Block: Jeff Cobb [8] vs. Shane Haste [4]

A win for Cobb gets him in as he holds the tiebreaker over ZSJ and Naito. Haste held nothing back early, coming right at Cobb with offense and even hitting a powerbomb on the apron. Commentary was very impressed. The way Haste came out made sense since he’s a ZSJ stablemate and should do whatever he can to help his buddy since he’s already eliminated. That’s what I said should’ve happened in last night’s main event. Tama and LIJ should’ve gotten involved more. Anyway, they kept this match hard hitting and pretty aggressive throughout. The fight spilled outside and the referee let things slide but finally chose to make the count. In a GENIUS move, Haste just started playing defense. He avoided Tour of the Islands and applied a choke before simply latching onto Cobb’s legs and holding the guardrail to get a double countout in 11:10. Kevin Kelly was all pissy about the finish but that was so well done. Give me smart wrestlers over the ones worried about pride and finishing with a lame 6 points. The door is now open for ZSJ. [***]

D Block: Hirooki Goto [6] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [8]

ZSJ holds 4-2 edge in their history and for the most part, I enjoy this pairing. It can be hard to get past the inability to care about Goto but they make it work. Obviously, a win for ZSJ puts him in the playoffs. As usual, Goto brought the stiff strikes and shots while ZSJ brought the submissions. A prime example was ZSJ catching a Goto corner wheel kick into an ankle lock. That was kind of how this went throughout with neither gaining a clear advantage. The standout thing to notice here was that Goto looked like a beast in a way he hasn’t in years. At times, he overpowered and overwhelmed ZSJ and it was actually intriguing to watch. Then, things concluded in the best way possible. Sabre countered some of Goto’s best shots late and pulled him into one of those submissions that don’t even really have a name. It’s just ZSJ twisting somebody into an impossible position and it’s great. Goto submitted and ZSJ advanced after 14:30. One of their better matches together. [***¾]

D Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] vs. Tetsuya Naito [8]

These guys actually have an 8-8-1 record against each other and their 2017 trilogy was one of three that I still say are better than the hallowed Omega/Okada trilogy from that year (the other two are Bate/Dunne and New Day/Usos). Alas, those days are far behind us as Tanahashi is seemingly on his last legs and Naito’s prime is behind him too. Cobb advances with anything but a Naito win. I loved the way this started as Tanahashi got a quick two on a rollup, scaring Naito who couldn’t let his old rival play spoiler. They played the hits and did the usual case of Naito attacking the neck and Tanahashi working the leg with Dragon Screws and such. As this progressed, I was surprised to see Tanahashi show more desperation in his pin attempts. From pinning combinations to a straightjacket suplex, he was doing everything to win and Naito was kind of just Naito. Which I guess makes sense but still, I’d have liked some desire to win. Into the final five minutes, Tanahashi avoided Destino only to get hit with a BRUTAL tornado DDT that shockingly ended things in 17:54. That was pretty damn good though not a mark on their best. [***½]

So Naito and ZSJ are through. That means our quarterfinals are EVIL vs. SANADA, Okada vs. ZSJ, Finlay vs. Ospreay, and Naito vs. Hikuleo. That’s not exactly the most exciting batch of matches.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

A good night to end things for D Block but like the rest of the tournament, it didn’t really stand out. Now we have a quarterfinals set up that doesn’t sound interesting but at least tonight was good.