NJPW G1 Climax 33 quarterfinal matches have been confirmed
NJPW’s G1 Climax tournament is always a highlight of the wrestling calendar as stars from around the world travel to Japan to prove that they are the very best, with all of them sharing the common goal of main eventing Wrestle Kingdom in the Tokyo Dome on Jan. 4, 2023. This year saw the biggest line-up in the tournament’s history as 32 wrestlers started, but now, only eight remain.
Day 16 of the 33rd G1 Climax saw the final set of block matches to see who would advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament, and it certainly lived up to the hype! After all, it was Tetsuya Naito and Zack Sabre Jr. who finished the D Block as the top two wrestlers, meaning that they will advance to the next round of the tourney.
ZSJ defeated Hirooki Goto to finish on 10 points, while Naito defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to also take his final points tally to 10. However, due to the fact that Naito defeated ZSJ on Aug. 2, he finished on top of the D Block thanks to his head-to-head record against the NJPWWorld Television Champion. The question now is who will face who?
What do the quarter-final brackets look like?
It’s a killer’s row of wrestlers in the quarter-finals of G1 Climax 33, with five of the eight participants being current champions in NJPW. This means that there will be some fireworks going into the final stages of the tournament, especially given the line-up of matches fans will see on Aug. 10.
Current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA went undefeated in the A Block, finishing with a perfect 14 points, but he will face the tricky task of overcoming his former tag team partner EVIL, who finished second in the C Block. The other man who qualified from the A Block was Hikuleo, who will take on another man who knows about the ability of SANADA and EVIL very well, their former stablemate Tetsuya Naito.
Meanwhile, in the other two quarter-finals, four men who are all current champions in NJPW will look to advance. Current NEVER Openweight Champion and leader of Bullet Club David Finlay will face his toughest test to date in the form of current IWGP United States Champion Will Ospreay. The Aerial Assassin picked up a huge win over the B Block winner and one-third of the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Kazuchika Okada on Day 9 of the tournament, leading some to doubt The Rainmaker’s ability to get past Zack Sabre Jr. in his quarter-final match.
Overall, the brackets look like this:
- SANADA vs. EVIL
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
- David Finlay vs. Will Ospreay
- Tetsuya Naito vs. Hikuleo
The quarter-finals will take place on Aug. 10, before the semi-finals and final take place on Aug. 12 and 13 at the legendary Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. Who will win? You’ll have to tune in to find out!
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