G1 Climax 33

The 2023 logo of G1 Climax

**B Block:**

* Kazuchika Okada (12 points)
* Will Ospreay (10 points)

**D Block:**

* Tetsuya Naito (10 points)
* Zack Sabre Jr. (10 points)

The **G1 Climax 33** was a professional wrestling tournament promoted by the Japan-based New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The tournament started on July 15 and was concluded on August 13, 2023. It was the sixteenth edition of G1 Climax and the forty-nineth edition of the tournament counting its previous forms under different names.

Considered NJPW's most important tournament, the G1 Climax features twenty eight wrestlers, divided into four blocks of seven ("A", "B", "C" and "D"). Each participant faces all six other wrestlers within the same block in singles matches. The winner of each block is determined via a point system, with two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no point for a defeat; each night of the event sees the seven members of one block compete for the tournament, while the members of the non-competing block perform in tag team matches that have no influence of the tournament results. On the final day of the event, the winners of a tournament consisting of the winners of the four respective blocks face each other in a singles elimination tournament to determine the winner of the G1 Climax, who gained a future match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom, NJPW's biggest yearly event.

As usual, the tournament took place over several cities and locations; the 2023 edition marked the first time in two years that the G1 Climax tournament is taking place in the summer since the 2021 Olympic Games, while coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic.

At thirty-two participants, it is the largest field in G1 Climax history and the most amount of competitors since 2022. The tournament also run in a four-block round-robin format for the second time since 2000. The tournament also featured the G1 Climax debut of Shota Umino, Ren Narita, Yota Tsuji, Gabe Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Eddie Kingston, whose home promotion is All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Hikuleo, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste and Kaito Kiyomiya, whose home promotion is Pro Wrestling NOAH, marking the first time a NOAH wrestler participated since 2016.

The tournament was broadcasted live on TV Asahi and Fighting TV Samurai in Japan, AXS TV in the United States, in tape delay, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling World worldwide.

## Background

On April 8, 2022, during the 2023 Sakura Genesis, NJPW officially announced the 2023 edition of the tournament between July 15 and August 13; it was announced that the tournament would be held at in August, marking the second time in two years that the tournament would be held in the summer.

## Tournament Rules

As per usual G1 Climax tradition, the tournament features twenty wrestlers, divided into four blocks of seven participants ("A", "B", "C" and "D"). Each participant faces all seven other wrestlers within the same block in singles matches, with the winner of each block being determined via a point system, gaining two points for a win, one point for a tie, and no point for a defeat; each night of the event sees the ten members of a same block compete for the tournament, while the members of the non-competing block perform in tag team matches that have no influence of the tournament results, typically facing their future tournament opponents. In case of several wrestler sharing the top score, the results of the matches those wrestlers had when facing each others in the tournament act as tiebreaker, with the one having the most wins over the other top-scorers determining the winner of the block.

On the final day of the event, the respective winners of both blocks face each other in a singles-elimination tournament to determine the winner of the G1 Climax, who would gain a future match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, NJPW's top championship, at Wrestle Kingdom, NJPW's biggest yearly event; if the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion himself wins, he gets to pick his opponent at Wrestle Kingdom. The low-card matches have a twenty-minutes time limit, while the matches of the tournament have a 30-minutes time limit (with the time limit being reached resulting in a tie); the semifinal and final matches between the four block winners has no time limit.

## Participants

The twenty-eight participants were officially announced on June 4, 2023. The list included participants who were marking their first appearance, as well as the return of the participation Pro Wrestling NOAH wrestlers since 2016, including Shota Umino, Ren Narita, Yota Tsuji, Gabe Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Eddie Kingston, from All Elite Wrestling, Hikuleo, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste and Kaito Kiyomiya.

For the second time since 2000, the tournament was spread across four blocks, with eight competitors in each block, while this year's edition marked the largest participants number of all time. The list with the participants spread across the blocks was announced on June 10.

## Tournament

### Final Standings

 Block A
 **SANADA** | 14
 **Hikuleo** | 8
 **Yota Tsuji** | 7
 **Ren Narita** | 6
 **Kaito Kiyomiya** | 6
 **Shota Umino** | 6
 **Gabe Kidd** | 5
 **Chase Owens** | 4

## Results

### Night 1

The first night of the tournament took place on July 15, 2023, at Hokkai Kitayell in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo.

### Night 2

The second night of the tournament took place on July 16, 2023, at Hokkai Kitayell in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo.

### Night 3

The third night of the tournament took place on July 18, 2023, at Yamagata City General Sports Center in Toyohira-ku, Yamagata.

### Night 4

The fourth night of the tournament took place on July 19, 2023, at Xebio Arena Sendai in Sendai, Miyagi.

### Night 5

The fifth night of the tournament took place on July 21, 2023, at City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka in Nagaoka, Niigata.

### Night 6

The sixth night of the tournament took place on July 23, 2023, at Big Hat in Nagano, Nagano.

### Night 7

The seventh night of the tournament took place on July 25, 2023, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

### Night 8

The eighth night of the tournament took place on July 26, 2023, at Korakuen Hall in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

### Night 9

The ninth night of the tournament took place on July 27, 2023, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo.

### Night 10

The tenth night of the tournament took place on July 30, 2023, at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Aichi.

### Night 11

The eleventh night of the tournament took place on August 1, 2023, at Takamatsu City General Gymnasium in Takamatsu, Kagawa.

### Night 12

The twelfth night of the tournament took place on August 2, 2023, at Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima.

### Night 13

The thirteenth night of the tournament took place on August 5, 2023, at Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima.

### Night 14

The fourteenth night of the tournament took place on August 6, 2023, at Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima.

### Night 15

The fifteenth night of the tournament took place on August 8, 2023, at Yokohama Budokan in Naka-ku, Yokohama.

### Night 16

The sixteenth night of the tournament took place on August 9, 2023, at Act City Hamamatsu in Naka-ku, Hamamatsu.

### Night 17

The seventeenth night of the tournament took place on August 10, 2023, at Funabashi Arena in Funabashi, Chiba.

### Night 18

The eighteenth night of the tournament will take place on August 12, 2023, at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Sumida, Tokyo.

### Night 19

The nineteenth and final night of the tournament took place on August 13, 2023, at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Sumida, Tokyo.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *ja: 【新日本プロレス】大熱狂の夏がやってくる！G1 CLIMAX33大会日程発表！*. YouTube (2023-04-08). Retrieved on 2023-06-11.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Paez-Pumar, Luis 2019-07-02. A Guide To New Japan Pro Wrestling's G1 Climax, The Best Wrestling Event In The World . Deadspin. Retrieved on 2019-07-24.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 *ja:【新日本プロレス】G1CLIMAX33 全32選手発表【2023.7.15開幕】*. YouTube (2023-06-04). Retrieved on 2023-06-11.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 NJPW reveals dates for G1 Climax 33 tournament . Wrestling Observer Newsletter (2022-04-08). Retrieved on 2023-06-11.
5. ↑ NJPW Announces Dates For G1 Climax 33 . Fightful (2023-04-08). Retrieved on 2023-06-11.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 G1 Climax 33 schedule set! 【G133】 . New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2022-04-08). Retrieved on 2023-06-11.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax: All you need to know as tournament kicks off . Daily Mirror (2018-07-14). Retrieved on 2019-07-24.
8. ↑ NJPW reveals G1 Climax 33 participants  (in English). *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2023-06-04).
9. ↑ G1 Climax 33 Blocks revealed! 【G133】 . New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2023-06-10). Retrieved on 2023-06-11.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 2023.07.15 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 2023.07.16 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 2023.07.18 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 2023.07.19 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 2023.07.21 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 2023.07.23 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 2023.07.25 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 2023.07.26 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 2023.07.27 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 2023.07.30 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 2023.08.01 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 2023.08.02 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 2023.08.05 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 2023.08.06 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 2023.08.08 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 2023.08.09 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 2023.08.10 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 2023.08.12 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 2023.08.13 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING  (in en).