Posted in: NJPW, Sports, TV | Tagged: G1, new japan pro wrestling, Wrestle Kingdom

NJPW's G1 Climax 33 Closes With An Epic Main Event & Other Surprises

NJPW held the finals for the G1 Climax 33 last night, as the weekend gave us some surprises and a clearer picture of Wrestle Kingdom 18.

NJPW has been holding its annual G1 Climax event over the past month, with the 33rd tournament closing at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo last night. The event essentially serves as the beginning of their road to Wrestle Kingdom in January, as the winner of the G1 gets a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on January 4th, the same way the Royal Rumble winner gets a shot at the title at WrestleMania in WWE. This weekend had a few surprises in store for New Japan Pro Wrestling fans, and while we're not going to go over the entire tournament, we got highlights and some of the fallout from the tourney to talk about.

The first of the many surprises actually came in the semi-finals on Saturday, as Will Ospreay, who took the IWGP United States Championship from Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door, decided to change the title up by declaring it was now the IWGP United Kingdom Championship, complete with a brand new design featuring the Union Jack design replacing the Stars & Stripes design. It's essentially the same belt, keeping the lineage of the U.S. title, including its past winners, according to NJPW's website. But in his own words, "The belt doesn't make the man, the man makes the belt, and I am sick to death of carrying something I have no attachment to." So it seems only appropriate for him to change it.

Does this change mean Ospreay will defend the belt in the U.K. more often now? There's a big announcement set to happen on August 14th from the company about their plans for a few shows happening there. But this could also be a great teaser for Ospreay coming to AEW's All Out show at Wembley. The latter is a longshot, as it looks more like Omega will be fighting Konosuke Takeshita on August 27th, and Ospreay has no clear opponent for the title now (aside from Yota Tsuji, who pinned him last night). While seeing it become the U.K. title is interesting, it feels far more cosmetic than representative. If anything, it just supports our viewpoint that NJPW shouldn't have gotten rid of their Intercontinental title, as THIS would be the best occasion to bring it back and have that belt holder tour the world in places it would be defended internationally, much like Ospreay is already doing.

One of the cooler stories coming out of the G1 Climax is Eddie Kingston's tour of Japan, in which he is basically a kid at Disneyland living out his NJPW fantasy of fighting across the country. Kingston has been a fan of Japanese wrestling for decades, and served as a major influence on him before he broke into the business. There's even been a documentary crew following him around for a special, and a few highlights have already been released on NJPW's YouTube channel.

Before the tournament started, Kingston took the NJPW Strong title away from KENTA, walking into the tourney as a champion (who we assume will start defending the title in the States as part of their NJPW Strong Live shows). But at the moment, we're not quite sure that's the plan as Henare (who has been getting attention of his own for bringing the mataora to professional wrestling) attacked Kingston after a match on Saturday for getting a win over him in the tournament and a second in a multi-man tag match the night before. Kingston popped out to repay the favor, attacking him while in street clothes (ironically enough, a Yankees jersey for Yogi Berra), which is most likely leading to a match at Destruction in Kobe this September, or more likely, Fighting Spirit Unleashed in Las Vegas this October.

Later in the evening, NJPW started what I'm calling their "road to recovery" for Evil, who has basically lost all steam as a credible threat beyond the idea that he has Dick Togo in his corner to choke people out. Don't get me wrong, he's a hell of a wrestler, but he's basically the company's version of The Undertaker in steampunk robes. (He even brings the lights up with his arms when he hits the ring!) With his Bullet Club stable offshoot, House Of Torture, serving as his own Ministry of Darkness. The group seems pretty aimless as of late, but this recent development could put some new life in them as they handcuffed the IWGP champ Sanada to the ropes and beat him down before taking the title for himself.

Evil already got a win over Sanada in the G1, which stopped him short of being undefeated in the event. And as per the way NJPW stories work, if you beat a champ, you can call them out for a title shot. So that's the likely path for Destruction in Kobe as he parades around like a fake champ. This may also be the thing Sanada needs, as the criticism in Japanese media is "who has Sanada really beat?" beyond Okada for the belt. Evil is a former champ from the Pandemic Era of the company, and the two used to be teammates in Los Ingobernables de Japon with unresolved issues, so they have the potential to put on a hell of a match fueled with emotion if they really want to. (As a side note, Sho from House Of Torture pinned KOPW champ Taichi during the G1 finals, so look forward to that match.)

The last match of the night gave us Kazuchika Okada against Tetsuya Naito in the G1 Climax 33 finals to see who would be going to Wrestle Kingdom 18 to challenge the champion. When the tournament was announced, it was almost painfully obvious, based on the way they structured the blocks, that Okada was going to the finals. It was just a matter of who they'd pair him up with. There were some interesting choices, such as Ospreay, David Finley, Evil, and Zack Sabre Jr., all in the tournament after the initial block totals were finalized. But it was Naito who made it all the way to the finals to face one of his greatest rivals in this era of NJPW. The two put on an interesting match, not what I would call the best they've ever done, but it was up there as they pulled out a few new tricks and changed up the pacing from their previous fights, so this one felt different and just a tad more personal. But in the end, Naito took the victory with a pair of Destinos for the pin. Making it his third time winning the G1, and leaving Okada's future unclear for the first time in a long time.

With one half of the puzzle complete, what becomes of Naito's story will be one for the books, as in the past few years, Naito has been denied any chance to celebrate. When he won the IWGP title in 2020 at Wrestle Kingdom 14, KENTA spoiled the celebration, which was a sign of things to come as his title reign entered the pandemic. So fans never really got to see what a proper Naito run with the belt in front of crowds could be. Since then, he's been plagued with injuries and dealing with the fact that NJPW had other plans. If things stay the course we're on, it will be another Los Ingobernables de Japon rivalry with current champion Sanada. Time will tell, but for now, things are pretty tranquilo if you're a Naito fan.

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