NJPW G1 Climax 33 Final result
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Tesuya Naito is the G1 Climax 33 winner.
Naito pinned Kazuchika Okada after hitting three in a match that went a little over 30 minutes in front of a raucous crowd of 6,500 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo. Naito, who has not been wrestling at a high level consistently for a long period of time because of injuries and apparent lack of interest at times, dialed back the clock and put on multiple incredible performances to close the tournament as he beat Tanahashi, Hikuleo, Ospreay, and finally Okada to win the tournament and likely cement his status to wrestle for the IWGP World Hvt. Championship at Wrestle Kingdom on Jan. 4.
It took three Destinos to connect for Naito to be able to pin Okada. Naito hit a Destino, which Okada kicked out of. He then hit two more Destinos to get the pin. NJPW went back to the well once again to tell the story of Naito entering the G1 Climax in hopes of getting one more Wrestle Kingdom main event. Naito had last won the tournament in 2017 when he beat Kenny Omega in the finals.
Okada came into the match having won three straight G1 Climax tournaments. Okada changed his persona during the tournament and wrestled with more of an edge not wanting to suffer any more losses on the year after he lost to Will Ospreay during round robin block action. The announcered hammered home leading into the final days of G1 that Okada had suffered three losses already in 2023 having been beaten by Sanada for the IWGP World Hvt. Championship and then most recently losing to Bryan Danielson at the AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door PPV last month before dropping a match to Ospreay during G1.
Naito had the best match of 2023 beating Will Ospreay in an increidble match that saw him several beat up heading into the finals. On the other hand, Okada was able to overcome tons of outside interference and cheating to defeat Evil and was fresher than Naito coming into the match.
The match started slowly, but picked up after about 5 minues. Naito took control and began working over Okada’s neck to set him up for Destino. He utilized a neck breaker over his knee and in a call back to his match with Ospreay the previous night, he caught Okada with a hip toss over his knee as well at one point.
Naito started strong and blocked Okada’s signature corner dropkick, but he mounted a comeback and hit it a short time later and Naito took a spectacular bump crashing down onto the apron before going to the floor. Okada then followed up with a landsline DDT on the floor a short time later. It didn’t look good for Naito, but the mounted a comeback a short time later and matched Okada move for move and counter for counter down the stretch.
They built up to a sequence where Naito countered multiple Rainmaker attempts and connected with a Destino for a nearfall. He then hit anotehr Destino and unleashed a furious Rainmaker pose before finishing Okada off with a final Destino to conclude an unexpected run through G1 where he showed that he could still performn at an elite level.
After the match, Masahiro Chono presented Naito with the G1 flag. They then bumped fists and posed for the camera. The crowd chanted for Naito heavily after the match. Naito dismissed Okada from the ring by waving his hand for the young lions at ringside to help him to the back. LIJ eventually joined Naito in the ring for his signature roll call to close the show.
Naito appeared to soak in the moment after the match, as he walked around ringside and a Naito chant rang out loudly through Sumo Hall once again. Naito took time to salute Hiroshi Tanhashi, who was on Japanese commentary at ringside. Naito beat Tanahashi to advance to the playoff round of the tournament.
As for what’s next for Naito, it looks like Jeff Cobb will challenge him for his G1 briefcase, although nothing is official. Cobb beat Naito on night 2 of the tournament in the main event. After winning G1 last year, Okada said he thought that the winner should not have to defend his briefcase, but it appears that NJPW is going back in that direction given Cobb’s chalenge backstage after Naito’s G1 victory.