Eddie Kingston of AEW and Tomohiro Ishii were going one-on-one today, and these two friends were ready to go to war. These two were teaming up just one month ago at Forbidden Door, but today these hard hitters were going to give it their all.
Both men began the match looking to land some chops, but after reversals going both ways, they locked into a test of strength. Kingston came out of that hitting two knees to Ishii’s midsection, a flapjack and then a double stomp. Ishii then rose to his feet, and both men got into a chop-off, allowing one another to lay into each other’s chests.
Ishii followed the chops with a shoulder block and then some stiff kicks directly into Kingston’s spine. With Kingston on his knees trying so hard to fight back, Ishii chopped him into the mat and then continued with about five more chops. With Kingston reeling, Ishii hit a side suplex dropping Kingston right on his neck. Ishii then ran into a boot from Kingston, and Kingston then went to the second rope to hit Ishii in the back of the head with a leaping knee.
Kingston now hit some fast-paced chops to Ishii and followed that with an exploder suplex. Now deep into the match, both men decided to have their second chop-off of the match and this time they were putting some real power behind these shots. As the welts were forming on their chests, both men looked in disbelief as to why their opponent was not going down. Ishii began to wobble and then it took three more rough chops from Kingston to knock Ishii down.
Kingston now hit a half-nelson suplex and followed that with a sliding lariat, he then went for the back fist, but it was blocked. Ishii now hit two German suplexes and then both men were going for finishes, but everything was being reversed. Kingston was finally able to connect a brutal clothesline and then a side suplex before locking in Stretch Plum.
It seemed as though Ishii was out cold, so Kingston released the hold and went for the pin, but to the shock of all, Ishii kicked out at two! Kingston now went for the back fist again, but Ishii ducked to hit Kingston with three straight big headbutts. Kingston on wobbly feet now hit Ishii with a thunderous chop, but Ishii had no reaction and hit an enzigiri to Kingston. Ishii was then looking for his signature lariat, but he was caught by an enzigiri from Kingston.
Kingston’s enzigiri did not even phase Ishii as he bounced off the ropes and hit Kingston with the signature lariat, but somehow Kingston kicked out at one! Ishii now hit a second lariat and this time Kingston kicked out at two. He was now looking for the Brainbuster, but Kingston blocked and hit Ishii with two of his spinning back fists. Everyone thought this was the end, but Ishii kicked out at two as well!
Kingston was now looking for the Northern Lights Bomb, but Ishii reversed to hit a codebreaker and the sliding lariat. Ishii then finally got Kingston up to hit the Brainbuster and got the victory! This was definitely the match of the tournament so far!
G1 Climax 33 — Standings
Block A
Block B
Block C
Block D
G1 Climax 33 — Night Eight Results
HENARE vs. EVIL — G1 Climax 33 C Block Tournament Match
HENARE was making his way to the ring when he was attacked from behind by Dick Togo with a steel chair. EVIL loved the early advantage and took over from Togo to beat down HENARE outside the ring. HENARE worked hard to battle back in the match, but the early attack would be too much to come back from. EVIL won by hitting HENARE with a low blow and Everything is Evil.
Winner: EVIL
Hirooki Goto vs. Alex Coughlin — G1 Climax 33 D Block Tournament Match
Coughlin has yet to earn a single point in this G1 Climax 33 tournament, and tonight he was battling with Goto, one-half of Bishamon. As soon as the bell sounded, Coughlin attacked the injured ribs of Goto and ran a chair into Goto’s midsection. With all that focus on Goto’s ribs, Coughlin got his first win of the tournament by hitting a Jackhammer.
Winner: Alex Coughlin
Shingo Takagi vs. Mikey Nicholls — G1 Climax 33 C Block Tournament Match
Nicholls started this match quite roughly by throwing Takagi into the guardrail and then dropping him on the ring apron. This was one of the weirdest matches of the tournament thus far. Nicholls busted himself open by headbutting Takagi, then Takagi just ran into Nicholls and fell into the pin for the win.
Winner: Shingo Takagi
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano — G1 Climax 33 D Block Tournament Match
Yano is another competitor who has yet to earn a point and Tanahashi has been somewhat disappointing so far as well, only earning two points. This match lasted a few minutes, and Tanahashi won with a High Fly Flow.
Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Eddie Kingston — C Block Tournament Match
Winner: Tomohiro Ishii
Tetsuya Naito vs. Shane Haste — G1 Climax 33 D Block Tournament Match
I think everyone was expecting this to be an easy match for Naito, and it seemed that way to start when he hit Haste with a neckbreaker over the guardrail. However, Haste did not go down without a fight and he even kicked out of a Destino at two. Naito then looked for a second Destino, but Haste turned it into a Bomb Valley Death to steal the win over a former World Champion.
Winner: Shane Haste
Tama Tonga vs. David Finlay — G1 Climax 33 C Block Tournament Match
This match is a rematch from when Finlay defeated Tonga to win the Never Openweight Championship. It was clear Tonga held a grudge as he attacked Finlay as soon as he walked out from the back. He then beat Finlay all through the arena and crowd, but Finlay then pushed Tonga off the bleachers to the floor. Finlay never looked back after getting that advantage, but he made the mistake of going for too many moves and Tonga caught him with a roll-up to steal a win.
After the match, an angry Finlay attacked Tonga with a big powerbomb and then rocked him in the skull with his shillelagh.
Winner: Tama Tonga
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jeff Cobb — G1 Climax 33 D Block Tournament Match
Sabre has had Cobb’s number recently, as Cobb has failed to win the TV title from him twice this year. The match began with Sabre attempting to showcase his technical wizardry, but Cobb was managing to keep up with him. The match was down to the last few minutes before a time-limit draw when Cobb was able to hit Sabre with a Tour of the Islands and finally beat Sabre.
