Another year, another G1 Climax in the books. Though this was not exactly the best nor most eventful G1, it did have its moments and gave us a glimpse into the future of Japanese professional wrestling. With the spotlight pointed down on the likes of Kaito Kiyomiya, Gabe Kidd, and the Reiwa Musketeers (Yota Tsuji, Shota Umino, and Ren Narita), I am quite certain that the future is in good hands. However, a bloated four block format and the cutback to a 20 minute time limit made this G1 a bit less than stellar for many fans (myself included). New Japan would likely benefit from cutting back to the previous two block format (the new time limit isn't all that bad) as there were a lot of matches that just felt like filler when the G1 Climax should be strictly reserved for the best of the best. In spite of that, those who spent the last month enjoying the competition were left with some good matches to sink their teeth into and wrestlers to get behind. So, today we will be taking a look back at the best matches, performers, and other accolades as New Japan heads down the road to Wrestle Kingdom 18.
G1 Climax Winner: Tetsuya Naito
If you're reading this article, then you are probably already aware that Tetsuya Naito was the winner of this year's G1 Climax. But, I felt as though I couldn't make a G1 review without at least mentioning him. The list of potential winners for this G1 wasn't very long, but one of the names always in contention was one Tetsuya Naito. With a very solid G1 run and a G1 Climax classic against Will Ospreay, the road to Naito and Sanada's story blowoff at Wrestle Kingdom is one worth looking towards.
Notable Matches: vs Jeff Cobb (July 26), vs ZSJ (August 2)
Under the Radar Award (Sleeper of the Tournament): YOSHI-HASHI
A choice that may cause some to raise their eyebrows, my choice for this year's sleeper of the tournament goes to YOSHI-HASHI. This award is essentially for someone whom I felt had a few really solid matches throughout this tournament to not a lot of fanfare. It could have just as easily gone to Shane Haste or maybe even Taichi, but YOSHI-HASHI's solid performances throughout the tournament (bar a match or two) just squeaked him past the other options for me personally.
Notable Matches: vs Okada (July 25), vs Ospreay (July 18), vs Taichi (July 27)
Breakout Star of the Tournament: Gabe Kidd
I'm not quite sure this award could have gone to anyone but Gabe Kidd. Though there were other young talents partaking in this tournament, I felt as though many of them (Reiwa Musketeers and Kaito Kiyomiya) were already a bit more established within the company and had (for the most part) proved themselves to the Japanese audience. As the loud and brash member of the Bullet Club War Dogs, Gabe Kidd had made an enemy of basically everyone not aligned with the BC before the tournament even started. Attacking Kaito Kiyomiya and Yota Tsuji during the G1 Climax press conference, Gabe Kidd put himself front and center for all to see. Attacking opponents before the match, smack talking opponents and the crowd, and being a solid in-ring competitor to boot, Kidd brings that OG Bullet Club feeling back to New Japan. With a little bit more time and seasoning against New Japan's top competitors, we could very well be looking at the Bullet Club's future leader and an IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.
Notable Matches: vs Umino (July 25), vs Kiyomiya (July 27), vs Tsuji (August 5)
Biggest Upset: Ren Narita vs Kaito Kiyomiya
Welp, this one hurt a bit. As (what I would consider) the tournament's MVP up to that point, it was quite a shock seeing Ren Narita beat Kaito Kiyomiya on the last day of block competition. This result would ultimately see Kiyomiya barred from advancing to the knockouts in place of... Hikuleo? A very strange decision and one that makes you wonder if this had to do at all with New Japan playing favorites as Kiyomiya is indeed a Pro Wrestling NOAH competitor. It's very unfortunate as fans could have been treated to a matchup between Kiyomiya and Naito had he made the knockout stage, a battle between two men greatly influenced by Keiji Muto. Instead, Kiyomiya would spend the rest of the tournament in undercard tag bouts with his current trajectory a bit of a mystery as he heads back to NOAH.
Notable Matches(Kiyomiya): vs Umino (July 21), vs Sanada (July 25), vs Kidd (July 27)
Notable Matches(Narita): vs Umino (July 15), vs Tsuji (July 18), vs Kiyomiya (August 5)
Wrestler of the Tournament: Will Ospreay
Runner ups: Kaito Kiyomiya, Shingo Takagi, HENARE
To no surprise at all, the Aerial Assassin continues his push for 2023's wrestler of the year as he claims our award for the G1 Climax Wrestler of the Tournament. As I stated before, this award likely would have gone to Kaito Kiyomiya had he made it into the knockout stage of the tournament. However, Kiyomiya's early exit left the door open for Ospreay to put on a G1 Climax classic against Tetsuya Naito in the semi finals as well as a very good match with David Finlay in the quarterfinals. With a match against Yota Tsuji for the UK title on the horizon, the leader of the United Empire may very well claim his place as the year's best before long.
Notable Matches: vs Taichi (July 15), vs El Phantasmo (August 6), vs Finlay (August 10)
Matches of the Tournament:
Now that the individual accolades are out of the way, it's time for the best matches of the tournament. I wanted to keep things pretty brief in this review so I stuck with 3 (kinda) of the tournament's best matches. As I always say, this is strictly based on personal preference amongst other factors; so, if your favorite match didn't make the cut then I'm sorry (I am not). So, without further ado, let's jump into the G1 Climax 33's best matches of the tournament.
Honorable mentions (not in order):
El Phantasmo vs Will Ospreay (August 6)
Shota Umino vs Kaito Kiyomiya (July 21)
Yota Tsuji vs Sanada (July 21)
Sanada vs Kaito Kiyomiya (July 25)
Will Ospreay vs David Finlay (August 10)
#3 (DRAW): Shingo Takagi vs HENARE (July 19) & Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito (August 13)
Okay, I apologize for this one. I seriously seriously wanted to avoid having a draw for my top 3 matches, but I really could not put either one of these matches over the other. Coming off the heels of their fantastic KOPW title bout a few months prior, HENARE and Shingo Takagi tore the house down in a nearly 20 minute banger of a match. Seriously, the chemistry between these two is off the charts. A match that seemed to go slightly unnoticed as the competition trudged forward (likely due to how early in the G1 it was), these two men delivered a hard hitting match that was not easily topped for quite some time. A newly revamped HENARE would ultimately pick up the win in this bout, leaving Shingo with a very rough 0-2 start to the G1. Though both competitors would unfortunately not make the knockout stages later in the competition, they left everything in the ring in a very memorable encounter.
Now, for the elephant in the room. Some people may want my head on a stake for not having this match at least in second place, but unfortunately it did not peak that high for me. Don't get things twisted, every single one of these matches here are basically in contention for my top matches of the year, but I was just a bit more of a fan of the next two matches. Nonetheless, this was a stellar match as one would expect of two of New Japan's biggest stars who have quite the storied history. Okada was looking to go for back-to-back G1 Climax victories, but on this night the Stardust Genius proved to be too tough of a task. Naito would wear down Okada's neck throughout the match, allowing him to hit a series of Destino's to claim this year's G1 Climax trophy.
#2: Tomohiro Ishii vs Eddie Kingston (July 26)
*In Big E's voice* "BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT". This match had me standing and pacing around my room, trying ever so hard not to start jumping and screaming which would probably lead to me getting kicked out of my apartment. Another case of two wrestlers seemingly being a match made in heaven, Tomohiro Ishii and Eddie Kingston put on a match of the year contender in the legendary Korakuen Hall. Kingston plays more of the underdog here, attempting to eat whatever Ishii dishes out as he winces through the pain and shows his fighting spirit. Ishii does much of the same, but eventually the shots begin to break through the armor of the Stone Pitbull. These two trade bombs for just over 16 minutes, before Ishii hits one of the sickest headbutt combos I've ever seen in my life on Kingston. Ishii would eventually pick up the win, likely setting up a rematch between these two for Kingston's Strong Openweight Title in the future.
#1: Will Ospreay vs Tetsuya Naito (August 12)
With the G1 Climax winding down to its finale, Tetsuya Naito came out in these last two matches with something to prove. As much as I love him, it seems I called Naito washed for too long because he would ultimately come out and put on two of some of the best matches of this year. While Naito was looking to solidify his place in the finals and claim his first G1 in six years, Ospreay was looking to reach the finals and finally claim his first ever G1 Climax victory. Stiff shots, counters, and Naito getting (probably) shoot knocked out, these two had an explosive encounter in front of a raucous Ryogoku Kokugikan crowd. Naito would eat three of Ospreay's signature maneuvers en route to hitting a series of Destino's on Ospreay to claim the win. As we know, Naito would eventually go on to claim the G1 trophy setting up a potential encounter with his former stablemate, Sanada, at Wrestle Kingdom 18. The story writes itself, and is one that should be quite an enjoyable ride on the way to New Japan's January 4th spectacle.