[Please note: this year, all 19 nights will be entirely G1 Climax 33 Block matches, without the opening preliminary tags or young lions matches, with A/B and C/D across alternating nights. I am reviewing every tournament match, but this year I am being brutal: if a match is only ‘good’, it doesn’t get the positive check mark next to it. It’s hard to have a ‘bad’ match in the G1, so you can unofficially use the +/- marks as ‘must see’/’can be missed’. That said, damn I love G1 season.]
Nineteen nights of action across the next three weeks can only mean one thing: it’s time for New Japan Pro Wrestling’s (NJPW) G1 Climax 33, a round robin tournament where the winner earns the chance to main event the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom next year. In the G1 Climax, a win earns a competitor 1 point with the loser getting 0 points, while a time limit draw or double countout earns 1 each. For the first time, all matches will have a 20 minute time limit. At the end of the round robin format, top two of each of the four groups advance into an elimination phase, before the quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals to crown the overall winner.
Night One sees the A and B Blocks take the floor, with the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA facing the massive son of Haku, HIKULEO in the main event, while SANADA’s teammate Taichi will be the hometown hero when he battles Will Ospreay in the semi main event. Also, Yota Tsuji will meet Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya in a first time contest, and Great-O-Khan battles the former four time, and current two-time defending champion Kazuchika Okada. Two of the new three musketeers will meet in the ring for the first time ever, as Shota Umino and Ren Narita finally square off, and former stablemates collide when KENTA battles Tanga Loa. Two current Bullet Club mebers will do battle as the unhinged Gabe Kidd battles Chase Owens, and El Phantasmo will go one on one with YOSHI-HASHI in the opening contest.
+ Taichi vs Will Ospreay (G1 Climax 33 B Block Match): this was a really good match. Will Ospreay is riding high at the moment following his match with Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door, and Taichi is the hometown hero that never wins, so it made for the perfect set up to either follow the pattern or subvert the expected result. Whichever way this one went, and I try to imply neither due to spoilers, this was great. Ospreay did a great job of making Taichi’s offence look great, and Taichi played that underdog role to absolite perfection. This was the first and only match on this particular show I’d have been happy to see go longer than it did
+ Yota Tusji vs Kaito Kiyomiya (G1 Climax 33 A Block Match): this was another that I was super interested in, even if I wasn’t sure the match itself would be good. That interest made the match a more enjoyable watch to me. Tsuji had the comeback match with SANADA recently where I thought he looked fantastic, and it was something of a strange choice to pair him with Kiyomia in the very first round. Hopefully that means that at least one of these two are going on a big run to end their tournament
+ Ren Narita vs Shota Umino (G1 Climax 33 A Block Match): the best matches in pro wrestling advertising are the ones that might be ‘interesting’, even if you don’t thing they will necessarily be good. This one ended up being both. Much was said on commentary about how Umino is the Moxley/Tanahashi/Naito to Narita’s Shibata and that made this into something that I absolutely loved. This was the first match on the show to really remind me I was watching ‘THE’ G1 Climax
– SANADA vs HIKULEO (G1 Climax 33 A Block Match): straight up and without mincing words, this was a disappointment. Going from ‘the Monster Block’ last year to HIKULEO being the only monster is just a straight downgrade, and I have never once been a big enough fan of SANADA to see him in what is presumably going to be mostly main events. This did nothing for me and I was glad when it just ended almost out of nowhere
– Great-O-Khan vs Kazuchika Okada (G1 Climax 33 A Block Match): it feels like a crazy thing to say, but Okada is starting to fall into that John Cena/Roman Reigns position for me; I no longer watch and think he’s great, I watch and think ‘of course he is made to look strong over my favourites’. I remember thinking O-Khan should have beaten Okada a few years back in their only other singles meeting, and I still feel the same way now. Okada losing is a big deal, and I worry that his loss to Bryan Danielson at Forbidden Door has set Okada up for a run in this tournament that I am not going to enjoy
– KENTA vs Tanga Loa (G1 Climax 33 B Block Match): this just didn’t do it for me. I appreciate there was a longform story being told in this match, but the off-chance of it not hitting the mark proved unfortunately accurate. I like Tanga Loa in hoss fights, so I worry he might not be at his best in the tournament this year
– Chase Owens vs Gabe Kidd (G1 Climax 33 A Block Match): this started off quite excitingly and really endeared me to this side of Gabe Kidd in particular, but it took a while for the crowd to get into. Eventually this also ended up being ‘good’, and the crowd eventually showed some life, but considering the perception of those involved that might become a recurring thing
– El Phantasmo vs YOSHI-HASHI (G1 Climax 33 B Block): YOSHI-HASHI is still something of a meme to western NJPW fans despite the fact he’s been a good wrestler for years now. This match with ELP was another example of that; a ‘good wrestling match’. I am high on, and have been high on ELP for a long time now, and I can’t wait to see what he can do going forward
Should you watch this event: I said I was being ruthless, and to that end only three of these eight matches were worth watching. The wins and losses in this tournament matter more than almost any other period of pro wrestling and I don’t agree with most of them, but I am always proven wrong by the end. Therefore it’s only worth watching the matches themselves that are actually good, and only Narita/Umino, Ospreay/Taichi and Kiyomiya/Tsuji fit that bill.
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