wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 33 Semifinals Review
NJPW G1 Climax 33 Semifinals
August 12th, 2023 | Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 6,579
We’ve got two more matches to go before the finals. Will we get something totally new and not exciting in EVIL/Ospreay? Or will we get something we’ve seen before that is also not exciting in Ospreay/Okada, Okada/Naito, or EVIL/Naito?
G1 Climax Semifinals: EVIL vs. Kazuchika Okada
Riveting on paper. EVIL jumped Okada before the bell but after his introduction. From there, guess what we got? Typical House of Torture BS. Yes the crowd was hot for Okada but I’m sorry, that’s not enough to make up for what this was. The parts where it was just EVIL and Okada having a match like their great one in the G1 27 were good but the rest was just so bad. From Dick Togo to a ref bump to the use of the Money Clip to run-ins from the likes of SHO, I was so over this. Okada went on one of his usual barrage of offense endings to win with the Rainmaker in 18:08. Ho-hum. [**]
G1 Climax Semifinals: Tetsuya Naito vs. Will Ospreay
A rematch from last year’s semis (****) and then they bested it at Battle Autumn (****½). Naito has never beaten Will one-on-one and there’s no way they were running Okada/Ospreay again in the finals so you kind of knew the outcome here before it even began. The crowd was split, leaning toward Ospreay which was a surprise given how Sumo Hall has been pro-Naito in the past. This started with a feeling out process and it was Will who changed the pace with some loud chops. Naito targeted the neck which makes sense given Will’s history. Naito really needs a new, better finisher though if I’m supposed to take him seriously. They did a lot of little things right here like when Naito had Ospreay in a tight headscissors, Ospreay used his athleticism to find a way to the ropes and then Naito held on as long as he could past the ref’s count. Ospreay was worn down and you could tell by how his chops had less power behind them later on. It’s not a form of selling you see a ton but it worked beautifully here. I loved Naito teasing the Stardust Press only for Ospreay to cut him off and hit Hidden Blade but be too worn down to capitalize. He eventually got stuff going but Naito kicked out of everything. It seemed like no matter what Ospreay did, Naito wasn’t going to lose. The closing stretch saw them exhausted and Naito hit THREE Destinos before he was able to keep Will down and advance in 29:58. An outstanding match and Naito’s best in a long time. As I said, it lacked some drama because I never believed Will was winning but that was tremendous. [****½]
So, an overstuffed mediocre tournament was done so we could get to…Okada vs. Naito. Right.
More Trending Stories
- Latest Update on The Rock at Wrestlemania, Plans For Rock vs. Cody Rhodes (POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
- WWE Reportedly Interested in Malakai Black, Note On When Black Is Expected To Be Done With AEW
- Eric Bischoff On Why He Thinks Hulk Hogan Got Booed On WWE Raw
- Backstage Details on WWE’s Response To Negative Reaction To Hulk Hogan at WWE Raw on Netflix Debut