The G-1 Climax 33 SUPER PREVIEW OF AWESOME!!!

Howdy!

It’s that time of year again, everyone.

The matches are amongst the best of the year.

The tournament math is exhausting.

The sleep schedules for a month are in constant peril.

The G-1 Climax begins this weekend, July 15th to be exact, and that means it’s time to break it all down. So let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?

So, let’s once again talk a bit about what the G-1 is. The G-1, or Grade One Climax, is an annual event held in New Japan Pro Wrestling every year. The tournament is a round robin block tournament, with some new twists this year on that format. More about that in a bit. The winner of the G-1 gets a briefcase that holds a contract to wrestle in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom, New Japan’s annual Tokyo Dome show in the beginning of January.

The briefcase must be defended in the time period after the G-1 but before Wrestle Kingdom, much like a title belt. It has changed hands one time, as Jay White defeated Kota Ibushi for the case in 2020.

ALL G-1 shows will be available live with English commentary on New Japan World! Kevin Kelly and Chris Charlton will be back on the call, so if you’re wondering why Kevin isn’t on Collision for the next month or so, the G-1 is the reason. New Japan World costs less than ten bucks to sub to every month – remember that they bill by date, not by 30 day periods. On the 1st, your money comes out regardless of whether you subbed on the 2nd or the 22nd. So get in there today! www.njpwworld.com is the site and there’s some amazing wrestling in those archives, y’all.

Onto the tournament rules, which have changed this year! First, all match time limits are lowered to 20 minutes instead of 30. I expect we’re likely in for more draws as a result this year, which should open up more booking possibilities as a result. Also this year, it’s the BIGGEST G-1 EVER. Last year’s 4 Block structure returns, but instead of 28 competitors (4 Blocks of 7 wrestlers), this year it’s 32 wrestlers for 4 Blocks of 8 wrestlers. The top TWO in each Block will advance to the knockout stage, unlike last year where only the winners of each Block moved forward; this will give us a final 8 instead of a final 4.

It is an odd Final 8:

Quarterfinal #1: A Block 1st Place vs. C Block 2nd Place

Quarterfinal #2: B Block 1st Place vs. D Block 2nd Place

Quarterfinal #3: C Block 1st Place vs. B Block 2nd Place

Quarterfinal #4: D Block 1st Place vs. A Block 2nd Place

Then:

Semifinal #1: Quarterfinal 1 Winner vs. Quarterfinal 2 Winner

Semifinal #2: Quarterfinal 3 Winner vs. Quarterfinal 4 Winner

And, of course, the last two will be the Final.

So with that in mind, let’s go Block by Block and get a general idea of each. I won’t do 32 individual wrestler entries, all of that comes a bit later if you want to go that far. Instead, here’s an overview:

A BLOCK:

SANADA
Chase Owens
Hikuleo
Ren Narita
Shota Umino
Yota Tsuji
Gabe Kidd
Kaito Kiyomiya

THOUGHTS: This is by far the most intriguing Block in my eyes. You have the World Champion in SANADA in there, you have NOAH standout Kaito Kiyomiya in there, and you have the Reiwa 3 Musketeers in Umino, Tsuji, and Narita.

And you have Chase Owens.

Well, can’t all be winners.

So, this one is interesting because there are no less than 5 wrestlers (SANADA, Umino, Tsuji, Narita, Kiyomiya) that could be in the mix for the two spots coming from this one. All of the Reiwa 3 have been brought back in strong positions on the card, while Kaito has to be considered for a spot because of his being the lone NOAH rep in the tournament, and SANADA is the world champion. This could be a wild ride all the way to the end to see who ends up with the spots, honestly.

B BLOCK:

Kazuchika Okada
YOSHI-HASHI
Taichi
KENTA
Great-O-Khan
Will Ospreay
Tanga Loa
El Phantasmo

THOUGHTS: I think this may be the least intriguing Block, with Okada and Ospreay standing much higher than everyone else. Maybe ELP gets a run at things, but overall there are two stars and everyone else in this one.

C BLOCK:

David Finlay
Tomohiro Ishii
EVIL
Tama Tonga
Shingo Takagi
Aaron Henare
Eddie Kingston
Mikey Nicholls

THOUGHTS: Shingo and his merry men here. Welcome to Eddie Kingston, the AEW rep in the G-1 this year; I suspect he’ll be well-protected as a result. Finlay’s efforts to restructure Bullet Club seem to have finally taken some traction, and I wonder if this ends up being the moment that the House of Torture is kicked the curb during his match with EVIL?

D BLOCK:

Hiroshi Tanahashi
Tetsuya Naito
Hirooki Goto
Zack Sabre Jr.
Toru Yano
Jeff Cobb
Shane Haste
Alex Coughlin

THOUGHTS: I can’t believe I’m saying this, as I do honestly think he’s one of maybe 5 people in contention for the Greatest Wrestler of All Time, but I think I would have held Tanahashi out. He looked in agony with some horrific movement on those knees at Forbidden Door, and even with 20 minute time limits this G-1 might be very tough on him. He’s still the Ace, but maybe he should have sat out a year and gone for the glorious finale next year. Naito and ZSJ head the field here, and I hope that Cobb gets a decent shove as well; he looked poised for monster status only a few short years ago but has stalled recently.

Okay. You’ll notice that I didn’t do any predictions above; that’s because I’m going to do them right now.

For every. Single. Night. Of the G-1. Let the games begin.

Let’s see how wrong I end up being (and I will be wrong, don’t worry about that). Settle in and grab a beverage, and then skip the end if you want to know who I think wins. Added bonus is that you get to mercilessly mock me for all of my incorrect choices, which, knowing GEDO, will be many. Which is part of the fun!

NIGHT 1:

A Block: Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita – Umino wins
A Block: Yota Tsuji vs. Kaito Kiyomiya – Kaito wins
A Block: SANADA vs. Hikuleo – SANADA wins
A Block: Chase Owens vs. Gabe Kidd – Kidd wins
B Block: Tanga Loa vs. KENTA – KENTA wins
B Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. El Phantasmo – ELP wins
B Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. Great O-Khan – Okada wins
B Block: Taichi vs. Will Ospreay – Ospreay wins

I think that Kaito pulls off the big upset, beating wunderkind Tsuji. Rest goes pretty much as expected, with the caveat that if they want another big upset on night 1, it could be Taichi over Ospreay.

A Block: Umino, Kiyomiya, SANADA, Kidd – 2 points
Narita, Tsuji, Hikuleo, Owens – 0 points

B Block: KENTA, ELP, Okada, Ospreay – 2 points
Loa, YOSHI, GOK, Taichi – 0 points

NIGHT 2:
C Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. David Finlay – Finlay wins
C Block: Tama Tonga vs. EVIL – Tama wins
C Block: Shingo Takagi vs. Eddie Kingston – Eddie wins
C Block: Mikey Nicholls vs. Aaron Henare – Henare wins
D Block: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb – Cobb wins
D Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – ZSJ wins
D Block: Shane Haste vs. Alex Coughlin – Haste wins
D Block: Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano – Goto wins

The two hardest here are Shingo/Eddie, where I’m counting on Eddie getting the big early foreigner push ala Moxley from the G-1 a few years ago, and Cobb/Naito, because I’m thinking that Cobb gets a bit of rehab in this tournament and Naito is fighting up from underneath. Both of those could go either way, frankly.

C Block: Finlay, Tama, Eddie, Henare – 2 points
Ishii, EVIL, Shingo, Nicholls – 0 points

D Block: Cobb, ZSJ, Haste, Goto – 2 points
Naito, Tanahashi, Coughlin, Yano – 0 points

NIGHT 3:
A Block: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Chase Owens – Kaito wins
A Block: SANADA vs. Shota Umino – Umino wins
A Block: Hikuleo vs. Gabe Kidd – Hikuleo wins
A Block: Ren Narita vs. Yota Tsuji – Tsuji wins
B Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. El Phantasmo – ELP wins
B Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Will Ospreay – Ospreay wins
B Block: Great O-Khan vs. KENTA – GOK wins
B Block: Taichi vs. Tanga Loa – Taichi wins

Umino upsets the champ here to set up a later title shot after the G-1 ends, while Tsuji picks up the duke against Narita. But the big one is that I think ELP upsets Okada. Main reason is that we need some drama in the block and there really isn’t much, so ELP is going to have to be the one who provides it.

A Block: Umino, Kiyomiya – 4 points
SANADA, Kidd, Tsuji, Hikuleo – 2 points
Narita, Owens – 0 points

B Block: ELP, Ospreay – 4 points
GOK, Taichi, Okada, KENTA – 2 points
Loa, YOSHI – 0 points

NIGHT 4:
C Block: Eddie Kingston vs. EVIL – Eddie wins
C Block: Shingo Takagi vs. Aaron Henare – Shingo wins
C Block: Mikey Nicholls vs. David Finlay – Finlay wins
C Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tama Tonga – Ishii wins
D Block: Jeff Cobb vs. Alex Coughlin – Cobb wins
D Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shane Haste – Tanahashi wins
D Block: Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito – Naito wins
D Block: Toru Yano vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – Yano wins

I think this tournament will be a disaster for EVIL and that will bring the HoT/Finlay’s Bullet Club issues to a head, so I have him going down here. Shingo gets back on track against another UE member. Cobb continues to win and while I’m VERY tempted to have Goto beat Naito and put him in an 0-2 hole, I just can’t do it. We did that story last year. And ZSJ/Yano can always go either way.

C Block: Finlay, Eddie – 4 points
Ishii, Shingo, Tama, Henare – 2 points
EVIL, Nicholls – 0 points

D Block: Cobb – 4 points
ZSJ, Haste, Goto, Naito, Tanahashi, Yano – 2 points
Coughlin – 0 points

NIGHT 5:
A Block: SANADA vs. Yota Tsuji – Time limit draw
A Block: Ren Narita vs. Gabe Kidd – Narita wins
A Block: Hikuleo vs. Chase Owens – Hikuleo wins
A Block: Shota Umino vs. Kaito Kiyomiya – Kaito wins
B Block: El Phantasmo vs. Great O-Khan – ELP wins
B Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tanga Loa – YOSHI wins
B Block: Will Ospreay vs. KENTA – Ospreay wins
B Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. Taichi – Okada wins

Our first draw happens here as I have SANADA taking the upset against Umino previously, so I don’t want him losing here. But I also don’t want to beat Tsuji too much here, so he goes the limit with the champ. Narita gets on the board as well, and Kaito continues his run to hand Shota his first loss. ELP keeps his record intact and YOSHI gets on the board.

A Block: Kiyomiya – 6 points
Umino, Hikuleo – 4 points
SANADA, Tsuji – 3 points
Narita, Kidd – 2 points
Owens – 0 points

B Block: ELP, Ospreay – 6 points
Okada – 4 points
GOK, YOSHI, KENTA, Taichi – 2 points
Loa – 0 points

NIGHT 6:
C Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi – Shingo wins
C Block: Tama Tonga vs. Mikey Nicholls – Tonga wins
C Block: David Finlay vs. EVIL – EVIL wins
C Block: Aaron Henare vs. Eddie Kingston – Eddie wins
D Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jeff Cobb – Cobb wins
D Block: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Alex Coughlin – ZSJ wins
D Block: Hirooki Goto vs. Shane Haste – Goto wins
D Block: Toru Yano vs. Tetsuya Naito – Naito wins

EVIL gets the upset against Finlay to further tensions there and slow David down. Also could end up giving him a NEVER title shot if HoT splits from Bullet Club. Kingston continues to roll, but the fall is sadly coming. My rehab of Jeff Cobb keeps on going, and ZSJ rebounds from the Naito loss.

C Block: Eddie – 6 points
Finlay, Shingo, Tama- 4 points
Shingo, EVIL, Henare – 2 points
Nicholls – 0 points

D Block: Cobb – 6 points
ZSJ, Goto, Naito – 4 points
Haste, Tanahashi, Yano – 2 points
Coughlin – 0 points

NIGHT 7:
A Block: SANADA vs. Kaito Kiyomiya – SANADA wins
A Block: Yota Tsuji vs. Chase Owens – Tsuji wins
A Block: Shota Umino vs. Gabe Kidd – Umino wins
A Block: Ren Narita vs. Hikuleo – Narita wins
B Block: Will Ospreay vs. Great O-Khan – Ospreay wins
B Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. YOSHI-HASHI – Okada wins
B Block: Tanga Loa vs. El Phantasmo – ELP wins
B Block: Taichi vs. KENTA – Taichi wins

SANADA picks up the big win here against Kaito. This is the one I’m least sure about, as an upset is totally possible here if they want to get another match out of it; but I’m of the opinion that SANADA won’t be holding that title after WK, so they would have to cram it into one of the events before then. Could happen. All three of the Reiwa guys get the duke while B Block continues to be very bland, at least to me.

A Block: Kiyomiya, Umino – 6 points
SANADA, Tsuji – 5 points
Narita, Hikuleo – 4 points
Kidd – 2 points
Owens – 0 points

B Block: ELP, Ospreay – 8 points
Okada – 6 points
Taichi – 4 points
GOK, YOSHI, KENTA – 2 points
Loa – 0 points

NIGHT 8:
C Block: Aaron Henare vs. EVIL – EVIL wins
C Block: Shingo Takagi vs. Mikey Nicholls – Shingo wins
C Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Eddie Kingston – Ishii wins
C Block: Tama Tonga vs. David Finlay – Finlay wins
D Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano – Tanahashi wins
D Block: Tetsuya Naito vs. Shane Haste – Naito wins
D Block: Hirooki Goto vs. Alex Coughlin – Coughlin wins
D Block: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jeff Cobb – ZSJ wins

Eddie goes down here to Ishii, who always seems to level some folks out. Also gives Eddie a good challenger for the STRONG title in the form of Ishii, who is over like rover in the US. Shingo and Finlay catch up to him here, 4 shows in now. Same thing in D Block as Cobb loses to ZSJ and Naito joins them up top.

C Block: Eddie, Shingo, Finlay – 6 points
Tama, EVIL, Ishii – 4 points
Henare – 2 points
Nicholls – 0 points

D Block: Cobb, ZSJ, Naito – 6 points
Tanahashi, Goto – 4 points
Haste, Coughlin – 2 points

NIGHT 9:
A Block: SANADA vs. Ren Narita – SANADA wins
A Block: Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens – Umino wins
A Block: Hikuleo vs. Yota Tsuji – Tsuji wins
A Block: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Gabe Kidd – Kaito wins
B Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay – Time Limit Draw
B Block: El Phantasmo vs. KENTA – KENTA wins
B Block: Tanga Loa vs. Great O-Khan – GOK wins
B Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Taichi – YOSHI wins

I am very, VERY tempted to give Will his big clean win over Okada here. Very tempted. But ultimately, I can’t do it. I think they do a draw as the ‘Will has never beaten Okada clean’ story continues, as his one win over the Rainmaker came through GOK interference. The rest is as expected, pretty much, with some separation starting to happen in the A Block now.

A Block: Kiyomiya, Umino – 8 points
SANADA, Tsuji – 7 points
Narita, Hikuleo – 4 points
Kidd – 2 points
Owens – 0 points

B Block: Ospreay – 9 points
ELP – 8 points
Okada – 7 points
Taichi, YOSHI, KENTA, GOK – 4 points
Loa – 0 points

NIGHT 10:
C Block: Tama Tonga vs. Shingo Takagi – Shingo wins
C Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. EVIL – Ishii wins
C Block: Mikey Nicholls vs. Eddie Kingston – Eddie wins
C Block: Aaron Henare vs. David Finlay – Finlay wins
D Block: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shane Haste – ZSJ wins
D Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto – Goto wins
D Block: Tetsuya Naito vs. Alex Coughlin – Coughlin wins
D Block: Toru Yano vs. Jeff Cobb – Yano wins

I’ve got this one as upset city here in the D Block. We need to slow a few people down so both Coughlin and Yano will pull out a victory here to keep things more spread as we head towards the back end of the tournament. Ishii over EVIL is a mild upset, but as I said above, I think there’s a story with EVIL here in this G-1 where the HoT is going to sink or swim after it’s all over, and I’m putting my chips on sink.

C Block: Eddie, Shingo, Finlay – 8 points
Ishii – 6 points
Tama, EVIL, – 4 points
Henare – 2 points
Nicholls – 0 points

D Block: ZSJ – 8 points
Cobb, Goto, Naito – 6 points
Tanahashi, Coughlin – 4 points
Haste – 2 points

NIGHT 11:
A Block: Shota Umino vs. Yota Tsuji – Tsuji wins
A Block: SANADA vs. Gabe Kidd – SANADA wins
A Block: Ren Narita vs. Chase Owens – Owens wins
A Block: Hikuleo vs. Kaito Kiyomiya – Kaito wins
B Block: Tanga Loa vs. Will Ospreay – Ospreay wins
B Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. KENTA – Okada wins
B Block: Taichi vs. El Phantasmo – ELP wins
B Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Great O-Khan – YOSHI wins

1 show left after this for each Block. The top of A Block is jammed with 4 guys for two spots with two to go. Meanwhile, the Ospreay and Okada show is being joined by ELP in the B Block, who has a very important match on the final night. Where have we ever heard those words before?

A Block: Kiyomiya – 10 points
SANADA, Tsuji – 9 points
Umino – 8 points
Narita, Hikuleo – 4 points
Kidd, Owens – 2 points

B Block: Ospreay – 11 points
ELP – 10 points
Okada – 9 points
YOSHI – 6 points
Taichi, KENTA, GOK – 4 points
Loa – 0 points

NIGHT 12:
C Block: Shingo Takagi vs. David Finlay – Shingo wins
C Block: Tama Tonga vs. Eddie Kingston – Tama wins
C Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Aaron Henare – Henare wins
C Block: Mikey Nicholls vs. EVIL – Nicholls wins
D Block: Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – Time limit draw
D Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Alex Coughlin – Tanahashi wins
D Block: Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb – Cobb wins
D Block: Toru Yano vs. Shane Haste – Yano wins

Last of the double block shows. Shingo and Finlay overcome Eddie’s hot start and move to the top of the Block. Meanwhile, I wanted ZSJ to have a draw in here somewhere and Naito is a good candidate for it to up their drama, while Cobb bounces back into the lead before the last night. And I decided that Nicholls gets his pity win here because, you know. Fuck EVIL.

C Block: Shingo, Finlay – 10 points
Eddie – 8 points
Ishii, Tama – 6 points
Henare, EVIL, – 4 points
Nicholls – 2 points

D Block: Cobb – 8 points
ZSJ, Naito – 7 points
Goto, Tanahashi – 6 points
Yano, Coughlin – 4 points
Haste – 2 points

So now, we’re down to one night left for each Block:

NIGHT 13:
A Block: Shota Umino vs. Hikuleo – Umino wins
A Block: Ren Narita vs. Kaito Kiyomiya – Narita wins
A Block: SANADA vs. Chase Owens – Owens wins
A Block: Yota Tsuji vs. Gabe Kidd – Tsuji wins

FINAL A BLOCK STANDINGS:

Tsuji – 11 points
Umino, Kiyomiya – 10 points (Kiyomiya wins the head to head tiebreak for the second Block spot in the quarters)
SANADA – 9 points
Narita – 6 points
Hikuleo, Owens – 4 points
Kidd – 2 points

Okay, here me out. This is the hardest block to predict and the one I almost assuredly got wrong. But Kaito is likely coming out of it. He’s been New Japan’s punching bag for the last year, especially with Okada, and I can’t believe that NOAH would keep him out of the N1 and allow this unless they were given some assurances that he would go relatively deep in this thing. So with that in mind, I had him in but felt like one of the young guys should win this Block, and I was going to go with Shota Umino, frankly. But at the end of the day, I just can’t pick against Tsuji. I can’t. So yeah, Chase pulls off the MONUMENTAL upset with a LOT of cheating to upset SANADA to keep him out, and Tsuji gets in.

Again, this is the one I am least sure of. In fact, I’m convincing myself I’m wrong while I’m typing this, but it’s staying this way.

NIGHT 14:
B Block: Taichi vs. Great O-Khan – Taichi wins
B Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tanga Loa – Okada wins
B Block: El Phantasmo vs. Will Ospreay – Ospreay wins
B Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. KENTA – KENTA wins

FINAL B BLOCK STANDINGS:

Ospreay – 13 points
Okada – 11 points
ELP – 10 points
YOSHI – 6 points
Taichi, KENTA, GOK – 4 points
Loa – 0 points

ELP comes up a bit short here as we end up with Ospreay on top and Okada right underneath. While I may be off a bit on how the points go here, they feel like the only three that can win this one. And I can’t bet against either Okada or Ospreay.

NIGHT 15:
C Block: Eddie Kingston vs. David Finlay – Finlay wins
C Block: Shingo Takagi vs. EVIL – Shingo wins
C Block: Tama Tonga vs. Aaron Henare – Tama wins
C Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Mikey Nicholls – Ishii wins

FINAL C BLOCK STANDINGS:

Shingo, Finlay – 12 points (Shingo is 1st place in the Block due to head to head tiebreaks)
Eddie, Ishii, Tama – 8 points
EVIL, Henare – 4 points
Nicholls – 2 points

Eddie gets a chance on the Final day, but comes up a bit short as Shingo and Finlay take the top spots. EVIL falls to Shingo and angers Finlay, as he lost to Takagi and doesn’t want Shingo anywhere near the quarterfinals.

NIGHT 16:
D Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito – Naito wins
D Block: Hirooki Goto vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – ZSJ wins
D Block: Jeff Cobb vs. Shane Haste – Haste wins
D Block: Toru Yano vs. Alex Coughlin – Yano wins

D BLOCK FINAL STANDINGS:

Naito, ZSJ – 9 points
Cobb – 8 points
Goto, Tanahashi, Yano – 6 points
Coughlin, Haste – 4 points

Yeah, I had to make this one fit. I think I’m off earlier in the tourament on Cobb, but my picks to come out were Naito and ZSJ, and I’ll have ZSJ get the top spot on a coin flip or whatever tiebreak they use. So I wouldn’t gamble on Haste pulling off the big upset in real life, but who knows? Regardless, this sets up what I think the semis are:

Quarterfinals:

NIGHT 17:
Quarterfinal #1: Yota Tsuji vs. David Finlay – Tsuji wins
Quarterfinal #2: Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito – Naito wins
Quarterfinal #3: Shingo Takagi vs. Kazuchika Okada – Okada wins
Quarterfinal #4: ZSJ vs. Kaito Kiyomiya – Kiyomiya wins

Tsuji needs to get to the Final 4. If it’s Umino, he also needs to get there, but one of the Reiwa 3 has to get there. Tsuji getting there to face off against Naito feels like the proper choice. Naito beating Ospreay feels correct as well, as it avenges the loss from last year and it’s a big part of Naito’s journey this year. Meanwhile, on the other side…..yeah, I’m going with it. I’m going for the Okada/Kiyomiya rematch in the other semifinal. I think it’s the best story.

NIGHT 18:
Semifinal #1: Yota Tsuji vs. Tetsuya Naito – Naito wins
Semifinal #2: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kaito Kiyomiya – Kiyomiya wins

…..and I think Kiyomiya wins this one. He’s been getting clobbered by Okada since their issue started. It’s really time for him to get on the scoreboard here, and he needs to beat Okada along the way to do it. It puts them at 1-1 for the year and gives him some footing in this feud, which he has sorely lacked so far. As for the other semi, this feels like a ‘not yet, young man’ match for Tsuji, but it can’t be glossed over what he’s accomplished so far. Frankly, I would have strapped him in his comeback match against SANADA and saved this one for WK, but here it must be.

NIGHT 19 (G1 CLIMAX FINAL):
G1 Climax 33 Final: Tetsuya Naito vs Kaito Kiyomiya – Naito wins

I can hear anyone who has read my work at all groaning. “Naito? Again? After last year? When you swore he was winning and Ospreay killed him in the semifinal? Really?”

Yes. Yes, really. I think this is the year that he wins. I think this is the year that he gets the roll call at the Dome. I think that he’s only got a few years left at this level and GEDO laid the groundwork last year for this to be his big comeback. I think that putting the title on SANADA and not doing the match with Naito for the title seems absurd. It’s the most natural match to do, especially with SANADA being a former member of LIJ who has already defeated both Hiromu and Tsuji. I think he’s the most popular wrestler in any company in all of Japan, and sometimes you belt that guy because it does the belt the most good, the company the most good, and the wrestlers the most good. This is that sometime.

So put that football down, GEDO, because I know that this is the year I’m finally gonna kick it.

So. There it is. That’s what I got. That, and 19 sleepless nights upcoming.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The 1st two G-1 shows are absolutely free, so even if you don’t have New Japan World, you can watch along. Join us here on the Blog, everyone! I plan to do weekly wrap-ups for the tournament to keep people caught up, so don’t worry, the BOD will have it covered.

As always, thanks for reading this thing I wrote,

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter
[email protected] for email.