Quarter final lineup set
From 32, we are down to our elite eight in G1 Climax 33. Starting tonight in Funabashi Arena, the knockout phase will see single elimination matches with no time limit, where there must be a winner.
Watch all of G1 Climax 33 live in English on NJPW World!
Main event: G1 Climax 33 quarterfinal: Kazuchika Okada vs Zack Sabre Jr.
Singles record: 3-1 Okada
The main event of the evening will see B Block winner Kazuchika Okada take on C Block runner up Zack Sabre Jr. Advancing from the block stage, this is the furthest that ZSJ has ever gotten in the tournament, the TMDK frontman joining Will Ospreay to put two Britons in the elite eight. Yet just as fans felt that last year the trophy may have been coming home, only for Ospreay to lose an all time classic with the Rainmaker, Sabre knows exactly what its like to have a hot streak stopped by Kazuchika Okada. Twice Sabre has won the New Japan Cup only to be stopped in his subsequent title challenge by Okada. Three times Okada has beaten Sabre, and the one anomaly was in a match in the UK with RevPro- ZSJ has never beaten Okada in an NJPW ring or on Japanese soil.
Yet this has been a tournament of tides changing, a tournament that started with Jeff Cobb getting his first victory against Tetsuya Naito, and continued with ospreay finally beating Okada himself clean in the middle for the first time. There’s a first time for everything, and a first time for Sabre will put him in the final four, stopping Okada’s run at an unprecedented G1 threepeat in the process.
7th Match: G1 Climax 33 quarterfinal: SANADA vs EVIL
Singles record: 3-3
Undefeated through his A Block campaign, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA takes on C Block runner up EVIL in the quarterfinals. SANADA’s one time successful tag team partner EVIL has gotten through his own block with far from a spotless record, but with chair shots, steel wire, HOUSE OF TORTURE interference and a low blow assist, got past Shingo Takagi to qualify for the elimination round starting tonight.
With EVIL being the clear public enemy number one among the NJPW faithful, the world will be willing SANADA on to ensure the King of Darkness advances no further, in the same way he eliminated EVIL from the G1 back in 2020. With an even 3-3 record between the two men over their multiple singles encounters both as allies and enemies, can the champion match Jeff Cobb’s G1 record of an eight match win streak, or will a rain of boos join approaching inclement weather across Tokyo this weekend?
6th Match: G1 Climax 33 quarterfinal: David Finlay vs Will Ospreay
Singles record: 2-1 Ospreay
‘Expect me’ was the rallying cry for David Finlay in G1 Climax 32 last year. A gripping confrontation in the prior year’s New Japan Cup semifinal notwithstanding, few expected Finlay to defeat then, and current, IWGP United States Champion Will Ospreay during block competition