Hiroshima sees penultimate night for C, D Blocks
After five matches for each block across the nation, groups C and D see their penultimate league matches tonight, ahead of showdowns in Yokohama and Shizuoka respectively next week. The heat is on in more ways than one as competitors fight to make it to the climax of G1 Climax 33.
Watch all of G1 Climax 33 live in English on NJPW World!
Main event: C Block- Shingo Takagi (2-2-1) vs David Finlay (4-1)
Singles record: 1-0 Finlay
Takagi must win
After an opening hat trick of wins, David Finlay dropped his bout against Tama Tonga before bouncing back against HENARE in Aichi Sunday to currently sit at eight points. For Shingo Takagi meanwhile, a pair of wins and a draw has counter balanced a tough opening to put him at five points and still, barely, in the conversation.
To remain in that conversation, Shingo must defeat David Finlay tonight. Last year, Finlay shocked most when he struck Takagi with a flash pin. It was deemed one of the upsets of that tournament, but this time Finlay pledges the same result with very different perception. In the Rebel’s mind, the plan is to win much more decisively, and for the world to know that a victory is no upset for Finlay. The Dragon has other ideas.
7th Match: D Block- Tetsuya Naito (3-2) vs Zack Sabre Jr. (4-1)
Singles record: 6-4 Naito
Tetsuya Naito has long protested that he is ‘not good at handling Zack Sabre Jr.’ belying that fact, or perhaps proof that success lays outside one’s comfort zone, Naito has amassed a 6-4 record over ZSJ, with victories in his last two meetings in 2022. Those two defeats are amongst the most painful for Sabre against Naito; first, El Ingobernable punted Sabre out of the block hunt and took ZSJ’s place in the G1 semifinals in a svelte one minute 58 seconds, then Naito on a rematch over the TMDK Frontman on ZSJ’s home turf in London.
Sabre might feel similar frustration to Naito at being put opposite an almost eternal foe. Yet with this too being at a critical phase for D Block, and with it being in Naito’s adopted home town of Hiroshima, the chance for very sweet and ice cool revenge would be the perfect tonic for a hot night in Sun Plaza Hall.
6th Match: C Block- Tama Tonga (3-1-1) vs Eddie Kingston (3-2)
A C Block full of wild dog fights sees two of the most intense individuals face off in their penultimate block clash. At seven and six points respectively, both are in the hunt, but only just for now. Who will still be in the running come Yokohama on August 8?
5th Match: D Block- Hirooki Goto (2-3) vs Jeff Cobb (4-1)
Singles record: 2-2
Goto must win
As D Block gets balanced on a knife edge, two men who have even records with one another face off in their penultimate block matches. At