The intensity and stakes of G1 Climax 33 truly pick up tonight in Funabashi as the playoff or knockout portion of the tournament has arrived. All quarterfinal matches are set to go down on one explosive card that will leave just a final four (lower case, so please don’t be upset, NCAA) remaining when it’s all said and done.
While all four matches should be intense, NJPW is saving the one with the most intrigue for last as the main event. Kazuchika Okada has basically been Mr. G1 in recent years, winning the last two editions of the tournament. Zack Sabre Jr., on the other hand, has waited years for this opportunity despite being renowned as one of the top technical wrestlers in the world during his whole time in New Japan. Can he topple the Rainmaker to make the semifinals for the first time?
Almost as interesting will be the matchup right before Okada-ZSJ, which will pit IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada, who went undefeated in his block matches, against House of Torture’s EVIL. It wasn’t that long ago when both men were tag team partners within LIJ. They’ve taken very different paths since leaving the stable, but they’ll collide tonight to see which one of them can make the final four and keep hope alive for a G1 triumph.
The leader of LIJ, Tetsuya Naito, has a literally tall test in Hikuleo. And Will Ospreay seems like a good bet to make the semifinals, but perhaps not since his opponent in Funabashi, David Finlay, is getting a strong push from New Japan.
It’s all set to go down after four tag team matches kick things off in Funabashi. And off we go.
G1 Climax 33 quarterfinals results from Funabashi:
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji and Shingo Takagi) def. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls) by pinfall as Takahashi pins Fujita
Kevin Kelly takes exception with Haste intentionally fighting Jeff Cobb to a double countout to help teammate Zack Sabre Jr. advance. Haste tells him “Jeff got himself counted out” and maintains his innocence.
The ambitious Fujita attacks Shingo before the bell rings, but that doesn’t really get him anywhere and he ends up getting smacked around by all three members of LIJ. Haste fares much better, getting a near fall on Tsuji, who fights back against Nicholls.
Poor Fujita ends up on the wrong end of LIJ teamwork and needs to be bailed out by Shane. The Young Lion kicks out of a Hiromu Falcon Arrow but can’t escape a Time Bomb.
Shota Umino, El Phantasmo, Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga def. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Strong Style (Ren Narita, El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki) by pinfall as Phantasmo pins Tenzan
Kelly and Chris Charlton discuss how morose Narita looks and whether it’s just disappointment from not advancing out of the block stage. He and Umino get right in each other’s faces once again before the match begins. There’s fun stuff between those two and Desperado and Tama to open things up.
Also a battle of nipple twists between Desperado and everyone on the other team. Really.
GOD look like they are having fun as babyfaces, as does Suzuki now that he can play to the crowd a little more than in the Suzuki-gun days. Tenzan throws around ELP, who finds himself fighting one-on-four. But he perseveres, and is able to pin Tenzan with Sudden Death.
Umino and Narita keep brawling after the bell and need to be separated.
Bullet Club (Gabe Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Chase Owens and KENTA) def. Just Five Guys (Taka Michinoku, Douki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi) by pinfall as Kidd pins Michinoku
KENTA and Taichi compete over who can get more applause for holding up their title belts, with KENTA predictably playing sore loser in the end. Their comedy bits continue even after the bell rings, but you know this will turn serious soon with Bullet Club involved.
Coughlin looks like a goof sometimes but you can’t argue with his power, or his propensity to flick off the crowd. Owens wants to spit liquor in the face of Kanemaru but gets it kicked out of his mouth instead. And Douki starts flying around as well.
But this always feels like it’s headed in BC’s direction, and that ends up being the case, with Kidd KOing Taka for the pin.
Eddie Kingston, Tomohiro Ishii and Hiroshi Tanahashi def. United Empire (Henare, Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb) as Kingston pins Henare
Khan and Tanahashi get dueling chants going, which is pretty amusing. The Ace gets thrown over the top rope and tries to skin the cat but is grabbed by the other United Empire peeps, and things quickly appear to be breaking down already. Tanahashi also has Khan sit on his neck on the top turnbuckle, which the announcers point out is both painful and humiliating.
Cobb also mocks Tanahashi’s air guitar while fighting him, but Ishii is able to take Cobb on head to head to get things settled for his team. Tanahashi unleashes low dropkicks on everyone, and all of a sudden Henare is in trouble. Kingston pins him after a spinning backfist.
Tetsuya Naito def. Hikuleo by pinfall in a G1 Climax 33 quarterfinal match
The English commentary team notes that while Naito was never in danger of elimination, you never got the impression he was going to win the group until bam, there he was at the end. Naito flying under the radar? Seems strange but not wrong.
This one gets off to a very cautious start, with Naito looking to work over his bigger foe’s legs right away. He peppers Hikuleo’s back and neck as well, earning a near fall with a sliding dropkick.
Some stiff chops land on Naito’s chest, and he’s dropped headfirst off the turnbuckles and run over with a lariat. A vertical suplex gets Hikuleo his first near fall.
Naito returns to his previous tactics, along with elbow strikes. Hikuleo responds with a running powerslam and a big boot, but Naito escapes a powerbomb attempt … but not the Last Ride. Hikuleo covers but only gets two.
After Naito pulls off a nice reversal for two, he runs into a powerslam, then counters into a DDT when he looks to be in real trouble. And even though his Destino is countered into a chokeslam, he has another counter in his pocket. Naito then does pull off the Destino for the win.
Will Ospreay def. David Finlay by pinfall in a G1 Climax 33 quarterfinal match
Ospreay won’t be intimidated by the Bullet Club War Dogs as his United Empire teammates quickly come out to chase them away. He looks like a house on fire as he fires right hands and elevates Finlay for a big back body drop.
Finlay fights back by knocking his foe off the apron and slamming his back into the guardrail. He spits in Cobb’s face and gets shoved down, and as the ref is ejecting Cobb, the War Dogs stomp away on Ospreay.
Those hijinks put Finlay in control, and he works over Ospreay at a methodical pace. The men exchange abdominal stretches, with Ospreay finally breaking free to fire out of the corner with a lariat. He connects on a handspring kick as well, and now the fans are into it.
A springboard forearm shot gets Ospreay a near fall. But Finlay yanks him off the top turnbuckle, painfully hitting his face on the corner pad. Finlay bites his foe on the head but gets suplexed for his trouble.
Will wants an Oscutter but a series of counters leads to a Dominator by Finlay and a near fall. The Bullet Club leader sets a table up by ringside, and the two men fight on the wrong side of the ropes until an Oscutter bounces both men off the apron.
A table spot looks like it’s next, but Gabe Kidd saves Finlay — but only temporarily, as Ospreay is able to powerbomb him through the table. The ref counts all the way to 19 before Finlay slides back into the ring.
An Oscutter finds the mark, forcing Finlay to kick out again. Ospreay launches from the top with a Leap of Faith, but Finlay pulls the ref over him to take the bump. The War Dogs are in the ring, but so is Khan and a retuning Cobb, who suplexes both of them, and Cobb boosts Khan to fly out to the floor as well.
Though Ospreay is looking for the win, Finlay hits him with the shillelagh. A second ref arrives, but the delay gives Ospreay time to kick out at two.
A quick exchange of counters leads to the Hidden Blade, followed by Stormbreaker to give Osprey the dub.
EVIL def. Sanada by pinfall in a G1 Climax 33 quarterfinal match
It appears EVIL is sending Dick Togo to the back, though the English commentary team is skeptical it’s what it appears. EVIL begging off definitely isn’t, as Togo is already back at ringside.
Sanada is sent hard into the guardrail, knocking over the timekeeper as well. Fans scatter as EVIL throws Sanada into the seats and hits him with a folding chair. The ref counts, and the champ takes his time returning around 15 but is sent right back out into the metal barriers. Once again, Sanada takes a while to return to the ring.
Togo has removed one of the corner pads while the fight was in the crowd, and Sanada is sent into the exposed buckles. With Sanada looking for the Paradise Lock, he takes time to deal with Togo, puts him in the hold and then sends EVIL’s head into his backside to break the hold.
Sanada hits a TKO and gets a near fall, but has to land on his feet on a moonsault as EVIL slithers out to the floor. EVIL sends his former partner into the rails again, three times in all.
More interference from Togo leads to Sanada ending up in the Scorpion Deathlock. EVIL wants Darkness Falls but gets countered into Skull End. The champ switches arms and throws EVIL into Togo before connecting on a Shining Wizard.
With Red Shoes looking the wrong way, Sanada hits a low blow and bridges back into a pin, but Togo pulls the ref out of the ring and chokes Sanada with a wire. The heels look for a Magic Killer, but Sanada fights off both of them on his own.
A bodyslam leads to a Sanada moonsault, but EVIL kicks out at two. EVIL rakes the eyes to prevent Deadfall. He smashes the champ down with a big clothesline and gets his own near fall.
An enzuigiri and Shining Wizard are on target, but EVIL hits Everything is Evil and it’s enough to win it.
Kazuchika Okada def. Zack Sabre Jr. by pinfall in a G1 Climax 33 quarterfinal match
Sabre establishes himself early not with holds but with stiff kicks. Okada waves him in and sends ZSJ to the floor, running him hard into the guardrails. Sabre fights back by applying a hold over the barricade, but he ends up getting DDTed on the floor off the rail. Ouch.
That gets the ret counting, though Sabre is able to beat it with plenty of time to spare. Okada uses strikes and a boot choke in the corner, then continues his assault in another corner.
ZSJ finally buys himself a breather by yanking down on his foe’s left arm. A neck crank allows him to whip Okada’s head forward as well, and now Zack looks like he can do his thing with shifting holds.
Sabre flies out of the corner with a jumping uppercut, then starts attacking Okada’s legs. He adds in some small joint manipulation and has Okada tied up like a pretzel.
Okada briefly tries the Money Clip before dropkicking ZSJ out of the air. Sabre replies with a high angle German suplex and earns a near fall despite not being able to bridge into it.
A series of counters ends with an Okada dropkick, but Sabre soon has him tied up again. The announcers mention how Bryan Danielson submitted Okada at Forbidden Door, but this seems worse until he can get his leg to the ropes to break the hold.
Stiff strikes find Okada’s face and torso, and Sabre is feeling it until he takes a dropkick and a landslide. Sabre responds with a Zack Driver but can’t cover.
To an exchange of forearm shots they go. Sabre reverses a Rainmaker and holds onto Okada’s wrist. Both men score close near falls on the mat, with Sabre coming closest.
They slap away at each other until Okada hits a discus lariat. But Sabre avoids a Rainmaker and sets off a series of counters. This time the Rainmaker is on target, and Okada gets a hard earned victory.
Okada notes that the main event went more than 20 minutes, so would have been a draw in the block stages. He says there’s something special about G1 Climax, and he will win the last two matches he needs to win the whole thing.