[Please note: by the time you read this, the G1 Climax 33 will have concluded and a winner determined. I have avoided all spoilers, and am watching this with fresh eyes. As I am only reviewing the tournament matches themselves for this night of quarter finals, there are full incidental spoilers for all other nights of G1 Climax 33 action so far. You can start the journey of non-spoiler reviews of each night here.]
This seventeenth night of action will see all four of the quarterfinals take place, where four men will advance to the semifinals of the G1 Climax 33. In the main event, Kazuchika Okada looks to keep alive the dreams of a first-time-ever three-peat when he battles Zack Sabre Jr, while in the semi-main event the WIGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA will face long time friend turned long time rival, EVIL. Will Ospreay and David Finlay will also meet in tournament quarterfinal action, and in the first quarterfinal matchup, Tetsuya Naito faces a less than 24 hour turnaround to face the gigantic HIKULEO.
+ Kazuchika Okada vs Zack Sabre Jr. (G1 Climax 33 Quarterfinal Match): just take a look at the names involved, and add to the fact this was a main event then of course it was going to be good. Sabre was on another level this whole tournament, so it’s no surprise he was also great here, but Okada really finishes off these tournaments strong. Even when he’s losing, or especially when he’s losing, you know he will do his best to make sure the opponents looks as good as possible. By no means am I impying that is what happened here, but just an example of how even if you have soured on Okada like I have, he always delivers in big matches
+ Will Ospreay vs David Finlay (G1 Climax 33 Quarterfinal Match): this had an incredibly hot crowd the entire time for this fantastic match. Ospreay truly is on another level, and while I can’t say I much care for Finlay, it’s clear that the fans still have some connection to him, albeit this time in a negative way. This was a great match bumped up even further due to a hot crowd
+ HIKULEO vs Tetsuya Naito (G1 Climax 33 Quarterfinal Match): this was absolutely the best match of HIKULEO’s lifetime thanks in no small part to just how good Naito is at playing the underdog. It’s no secret that Naito likes to throw himself around like a crazy person at the best of times, so with someone who’s, let’s be honest, entire character is that he is big and mean, this was doubly so the case. I enjoyed this one a lot, despite my sometimes indifference towards HIKUELO
– SANADA vs EVIL (G1 Climax 33 Quarterfinal Match): I really tried to get into this, but these two have never had good chemistry when facing each other. They were a great team, but even the matches immediately after their split felt heatless and bland, and not just because they were in front of barely any fans who couldn’t make any noise. This was just a swing and a miss for me
> please forgive my laziness in only reviewing these four matches. I’m sure the undercard was great, but I’m already so far behind
> I have no idea who wins this from here. What a time to be alive.
Should you watch this event: Three out of four isn’t bad, but SANADA is just floundering in his role to the point where I didn’t even personally have a choice of winner between him and EVIL. Yes, read that again. Otherwise the three other matches were all well worth watching.
MoshFish Reviews 