wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 33 Night 4 Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW G1 Climax 33 Night 4
July 19th, 2023 | Xebio Arena Sendai in Sendai, Miyagi | Attendance: 1,657
Oof, night three was abysmal. It has to get better here, right? Right? Again, trying to catch up after the concert so this might not be my longest review.
D Block: Toru Yano [0] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [2]
ZSJ holds a 3-1 lead here, winning at the G1 28 (***½), 30 (***), and 31 (***) but losing at Power Struggle 2020 (**½). Knowing what Yano gets up to, ZSJ sent Kosei Fujita out to impersonate him and he helped tape the corner pads up so Yano couldn’t use them. Honestly, that’s a smart strategy against him. From there it was an overly long countout sequence and some goofy shenanigans. Yano tried some rollups and ZSJ cut himself free from a trap (with help from Fujita). Yano got caught in an armbar that was turned into a cradle to end this in 5:37. Typical Yano antics here. [**]
C Block: David Finlay [2] vs. Mikey Nicholls [2]
I said it when TMDK came to New Japan but they’re perfect here. It’s a place where you can just have good, hard hitting matches and you don’t need to rely on personality and things like that. Nicholls might be a bland character but he’s throwing some tough shots in this G1 so far. He matched Finlay in aggression here, showcasing the violence he brought out against HENARE and Finlay attacked the cut that Nicholls got on night two. I actually bought Nicholls winning a couple of times before Finlay countered Master Blaster into Oblivion and got the three after 9:52. A good, hard hitting short match. Just what I want from the G1 on paper. [***]
D Block: Alex Coughlin [0] vs. Jeff Cobb [2]
They met in 2021 at a STRONG show with Cobb winning. Interestingly, Coughlin didn’t attack before the bell like his teammate loves doing. This was another match felt like it was worked at a relatively slow pace but it made sense for Coughlin to try and wear down the powerhouse. Coughlin showed impressive strength of his own including a spot where he slammed Cobb which not many guys do. Even more impressive was the overhead belly to belly throw and a deadlift back suplex. BIG MEATY MEN BUMPING MEAT. Cobb survived those and hit Tour of the Islands to win in 9:51. They upped the last match with another short, more hard hitting hoss fight and I was here for it. [***½]
C Block: Eddie Kingston [2] vs. EVIL [2]
No past meetings here. Guys, it’s House of Torture and I’m about ready to put as much effort into the reviews as they do for their matches. The good here was Kingston being the rare smart guy to show up with a weapon to equalize their antics and he sold the back well. The rest of this was typical House of Torture BS with ref bumps, interferences, and shenanigans. And it went on too long. And it sucked. EVIL won with Everything is Evil in 15:15 and the good vibes the show had have been ruined. [*]
D Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi [0] vs. Shane Haste [2]
This immediately gets at least * because of Haste’s hilariously stupid top hat. Like it doesn’t work at all and that’s why it works for me. From the start, Haste surprisingly had control as if his youth was able to keep him one step ahead of Tanahashi. It feels like his age and declining G1 performances are going to be Tanahashi’s story this year. Of course, Tanahashi was all like “mama ain’t raise no bitch” and turned things around with the Sling Blade, dragon screws, and the usual. However, when going for High Fly Flow, he was cut off, again possibly due to a lack of speed and explosiveness. Tanahashi fought him off and connected on High Fly Flow to win after a solid 12:04. That was like, a house show level Tanahashi match and that’s okay for this tournament to be honest. [***]
C Block: HENARE [0] vs. Shingo Takagi [0]
Shingo won their matches at New Japan Road 2019 (***½) and Road to Sakura Genesis this year, while HENARE won in the New Japan Cup this year (***¾). This SHOULD be match of the night but this tournament has burned me. Thankfully, they delivered. This was another, better case of BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT. But again, that style is ideal for 10-15 minutes. This was another case of New Japan doing the “let’s tease the time limit draw” which they’ve already overdone in this tournament. It loses its luster and made it so the first third or so of this lacked. Once we got going though, we GOT GOING. They were headbutting each other, hitting hard, throwing big offense, and more. HENARE survived Shingo’s biggest shots late including the Pumping Bomber. He avoided Last of the Dragon and fired off a series of moves capped by Streets of Rage at the 19:38 mark. Again, had that been around 12-15 minutes and not teased the draw, I think it would’ve worked better but it still rocked. [****]
D Block: Hirooki Goto [2] vs. Tetsuya Naito [0]
Long history here. Of what I’ve seen, Goto won in the G1 24 (***¾), Wrestle Kingdom 10 (***¼), and G1 32 (***½). Naito won in the New Japan Cup 2016 (***¾), G1 27 (**¾), G1 28 (***), G1 29 (***½), and G1 30 (***). It’s a pairing that has never blown me away and is often kind of average. They were pretty average in this one. It just often feels like they go through the motions again each other and on cruise control, they can kind of give you a 6/10 match, which is what this was. Like, there isn’t even much to say about it because it was just some classic back and forth between two veterans who know each other well. It dragged on at points but had a solid closing stretch which saw Naito turn the GTR into a modified Destino before adding another to win in 17:40. Yeah, somehow Gedo managed to shorten the time limit and still make matches too long. [***]
C Block: Tama Tonga [0] vs. Tomohiro Ishii [0]
Tama has a 2-1 edge winning in the G1 26 (** ¾) and 28 (**), while Ishii won in the G1 32 (***¼). Of course, Tama as a fiery babyface has been better so it lines up that the match improved last year. As the face that he is now, Tama didn’t back down from Ishii and was down to trade strikes with him almost instantly. Tama’s offense has always felt tailored to a babyface because things like the Gun Stun and his Stinger Splash are designed to make you pop. They kind of traded stuff for most of this, from forearms to suplexes. I loved Ishii basically using a Pounce to counter the Gun Stun because I feel like it’s cool and I don’t see it often. That gave us more trading of stuff, a Jay Driller tease, and Veleno as Tama neared victory. Ishii responded with his own Gun Stun in a cool spot before his Brainbuster was countered into a Tama Gun Stun. A Jay Driller later and Tama won in 15:38. A good main event. [***¼]
