It was the final day of block matches this morning, as D Block wrapped up and tomorrow the quarterfinals begin. Coming into today, there was a three-way tie for first place between Jeff Cobb, Zack Sabre Jr., and Tetsuya Naito. With only two men able to advance, D Block’s results all came down today.
Jeff Cobb was the first to compete, he was up against Shane Haste who had nothing to lose being already eliminated. Cobb started the match on a mission and he wanted to earn himself a spot in the quarterfinals. However, everything began going wrong for Cobb once the match made its way to the outside of the ring.
Haste holding for dear life. Credit: NJPW
They were brawling at the top of the ramp and both men were down and out on the floor. Cobb realized the count was on and he was trying to get back in the ring, but Haste was doing all he could to hold him back. He hopped on Cobb’s back and slid down to hold on to his ankles as the referee counted 20, meaning the match ended in a draw. Cobb only earned one point, and he was now stuck at 9 points with both Sabre and Naito still with the opportunity to get to 10 points.
It was now time for Sabre to go one-on-one with Hirooki Goto, with a win Sabre would move on to the quarterfinals. With the quarterfinals now clearly in sight, Sabre was being a technical wizard and manipulating the joints of Goto. Despite Sabre’s early advantage, Goto got himself back into the match locking Sabre in a head scissors over the top rope.
Goto then went for his diving elbow drop, but Sabre caught him in mid-air with a brutal arm crank. Both men were then trading stiff forearms and Goto thought he was about to hit a GTR, but Sabre turned it into a Zack Driver. Anytime Goto seemed like he was about to win Sabre had a reversal.
Sabre locking in quite the hold. Credit: NJPW
Sabre got Goto into a brutal abdominal stretch and he transitioned that into one of his signature full-body holds. He was cranking on Goto’s legs, arms, neck, spine and ribs; with that, Goto had no option but to submit. Sabre has got himself to 10 points and punched his ticket to the quarterfinals.
The main event was Naito against Hiroshi Tanahashi, with a victory Naito will finish in first place of D Block. The Ace was toying with Naito to start, but Naito then got a handful of Tanahashi’s hair to get himself back into it. With that advantage, he got him into some hold, but Tanahashi was able to sit Naito with a rolling senton from the second rope later in the match.
Tanahashi was even able to channel his youth at one point, diving onto Naito on the outside with a High Fly Attack. He followed that with a sling blade, another High Fly Attack, but when he went for the High Fly Flow, Naito got his knees up. With five minutes remaining Naito was focused on the neck of Tanahashi and hit a flipping stunner from the second rope.
No High Fly Flow today. Credit: NJPW
Naito finally had enough to end this match, he spit in the face of Tanahashi and then spiked his head into the mat with a brutal tornado DDT. Tanahashi was practically out after that DDT and all Naito had to do was roll him up to get the win. Naito finishes D Block in first place with ten points and heads to the quarterfinals with Sabre.
The G1 Climax 33 quarterfinals will be:
- SANADA versus EVIL
- Kazuchika Okada versus Zack Sabre Jr.
- David Finlay versus Will Ospreay
- Hikuleo versus Tetsuya Naito
G1 Climax 33 — Standings
A Block
B Block
C Block
D Block
G1 CLIMAX 33 NIGHT 16 RESULTS
Yuto Nakashima & Eddie Kingston vs. House of Torture (SHO & EVIL)
SHO defeated Nakashima with a Cross-Arm Piledriver.
Winner: House of Torture
Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Mikey Nicholls)
Nicholls overcame the young lion, Oiwa, and beat him with a sliding lariat.
Winners: TMDK
Master Wato, Hikuleo & Shota Umino vs. Bullet Club (Gedo, Gabe Kidd & David Finlay)
Bullet Club controlled a large portion of the match, but it would be Master Wato making Gedo submit with a Vendeval.
Winners: Master Wato, Hikuelo & Shota Umino
Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii vs. United Empire (HENARE & Great-O-Khan)
HENARE got the win for United Empire by hitting Honma with Streets of Rage.
Winners: United Empire
Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki vs. Los Ingobernables de Japón (BUSHI, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi)
Narita forced BUSHI to submit after he locked him into a Cobra Twist.
Winner: Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki
Toru Yano vs. Alex Coughlin — G1 Climax 33 D Block Tournament Match
Coughlin attacked Yano before the match and made quick work of him once the bell rang. He got the win over Yano with a Jackhammer to close out his tournament.