Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 33 Night 7 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 33 Night 7

July 25^th, 2023 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,471

How am I supposed to gob ack to watching this iteration of the G1 after seeing what STARDOM did with the start of the 5STAR Grand Prix? Ah, well, we’re in Korakuen Hall where the company usually puts on a good effort so let’s see what happens.

B Block: The Great-O-Khan [2] vs. Will Ospreay [4]

A first time meeting between two United Empire members. Due to their stable kinship, I liked them trying to one-up each other at the start here. From there, they moved into a more traditional match with some strong back and forth. Things took a step toward being more violent when O-Khan just dumped Will over the top with no regard for his well-being. I THOUGHT YOU WERE FRIENDS! He also busted open mist which I wasn’t expecting. The closing stretch starting from O-Khan doing a plancha was excellent and it ended when Ospreay hit the Oscutter for two and the Leap of Faith to win in 11:20. A very good way to start this show out. Is there hope for this G1? [***½]

A Block: Gabe Kidd [2] vs. Shota Umino [2]

Ever the Bullet Club member, Kidd jumped Shooter during his entrance up the Korakuen Hall stairs. That set the stage for a simple yet effective match where Kidd was the dastardly villain and Shota was the underdog babyface. Kidd’s offense actually looked really good throughout, especially when it came to throwing suplexes. He was just dropping Shota all over the place. Shota’s fiery comeback lacked a little as he seems to be connecting way better with some crowds than others but still, it wasn’t bad. Some bits of this did seem to drag at points and you’d think this went longer than it did. Shota made the babyface rally and won with Death Rider in a solid 13:03. That was good stuff. [***]

B Block: KENTA [2] vs. Taichi [4]

Surprisingly, a first time match here. This was shenanigans from the start with KENTA trying to duet with Taichi and them posing with titles before the bell even rang. When it finally did, I was already over this. KENTA pantsing Taichi on his own was the lone part that entertained me. It was kept short though as KENTA used a low blow and rollup to win in 2:12. [*]

A Block: Chase Owens [4] vs. Yota Tsuji [1]

Owens won their past meeting when Yota was a Young Lion. The booking of Yota in this tournament has been interesting. He came back hot and impressed but hasn’t won a match yet. Of course, if there’s anyone to get that first win over, it’s Chase Owens. Chase attacked quickly and for most of this match, we got his typical stuff. He just did stuff that looked inoffensive but was devoid of anything to stand out and I was just hoping it would end. However, they brought something great for the final few minutes that bumped this up from painfully average to pretty good. It wasn’t anything amazing but it was some really good back and forth that Yota won out with after hitting a Spear in 11:42. Better than I expected. [***]

B Block: El Phantasmo [0] vs. Tanga Loa [2]

Another first time meeting here and neither guy has a shot at winning this thing. This was about what you’d expect here with ELP dealing with some damage from earlier matches and Tanga still hampered by the knee he had surgery on. Tanga looked a bit better than he has so far in the tournament so that was nice. ELP was there to bust out some solid offense with the highlight being a dive into the crowd. Once back in the ring, Tanga threw out a Blue Thunder Bomb and Jackhammer but neither got the job done. Somewhere, Goldberg is angry. ELP also survived a super powerbomb before securing the win with a crucifix in 12:14. That was a match and that’s about the best I can say about it. [**¼]

A Block: Hikuleo [0] vs. Ren Narita [1]

Narita is another guy who has been oddly booked so far. Commentary harped on how this match was odd and I’d have to agree. Ren wrestled Hikuleo like he wasn’t a massive dude and they also noted how Hikuleo often wrestles like he forgets he’s a massive dude and that kind of combined for something odd. The idea here was Hikuelo’s power against Ren’s technical skill with the latter which is a fine story on paper and one I usually like but it wasn’t all that interesting here. They couldn’t elicit much of a reaction here and both need to work with guys with more charisma to really click. Hikuelo won with a chokeslam in 11:58 and continues to just be a guy in the tournament. [**]

B Block: Kazuchika Okada [6] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [4]

Okada is 13-0 against HASHI apparently but only three or four of those have come since they returned from excursion. The best thing about this tournament is the shorter time limit because we can avoid Okada formula. Instead of bullshitting for 10 minutes, he has to get into the meat of a match sooner and he’s doing so by heeling things up. He was kind of a jerk here despite facing a friend and HASHI as the underdog trying to best the unbeatable top guy worked well enough. The main problem was that this lacked any kind of drama because I never believed HASHI would win and they never made me buy into any near falls. HASHI gave Okada his best shot and while the formula isn’t as prominent, Okada still picks it up late for a strong closing stretch where he won with the Rainmaker in 16:32. It went a little long for what it was but again, I’ll take 16 minute Okada over 26 minute Okada. [***¼]

A Block: Kaito Kiyomiya [5] vs. SANADA [6]

Commentary focused on how a loss here would be terrible for SANADA. An outsider from a lesser perceived company over the top champion? Also, try as New Japan may, SANADA hasn’t felt like a top star since winning the title and is still far below the likes of Okada and Ospreay even if he main events each G1 show. This got off to a nuanced start but it didn’t feel like time filling. It made sense as they felt each other out and didn’t want to make the first mistake given their history as Muto prospects. They had counters ready for a lot of stuff and I really liked that Kaito was able to escape Skull End. That’s logical. The first 15 minutes kind of flew by and the last five were the traditional spectacular stretch we get from big New Japan matches. Unlike the recent draws, this had a sense of urgency late from Shining Wizards to flash pin attempts and more. It all came after SANADA tweaked his knee on a moonsault attempt. In the final minute, Kaito countered Deadfall into a rollup and then countered another pin attempt into one of his own. The crowd bit on all of this. SANADA kicked out of a bridging rana and then hit Shining Wizard from out of nowhere. He struggled to get the cover but managed to get the three count at the 19:58 mark. The best SANADA match I’ve seen in years and Kaito continues to be a welcome change in the tournament. They told a great story, did a fantastic job of teasing the time limit, and delivered the second best bout of the tournament. [****¼]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

One of the better nights of the tournament. You could see something of a step up for Korakuen from some guys and the main event was tremendous.