NJPW G1 Climax 33 Quarter Final Matches Are Set

After nearly a month, New Japan's G1 Climax 33 is finally beginning to wind down, with a four-match quarterfinal, the first-ever quarterfinal in G1 history, set to take place August 10. And while two quarterfinal matches had already been set, with Block A winner and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA taking on Block B runner-up EVIL, and Block C winner David Finlay battling Block C runner-up Will Ospreay, the other two matches had yet to be determined, until this morning that is.

Night 15 of the G1 saw Tetsuya Naito and Zack Sabre Jr. secure the final two spots in the G1 quarterfinals after Naito defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Sabre defeated Hirooki Goto. As a result, both men finished with ten points in Block D to qualify for the quarterfinals, with Naito officially winning the Block via tiebreaker, thanks to his victory over Sabre on August 2. Sabre entered August 9 with an uphill battle to move forward, needing both a victory and either loss or tie from Jeff Cobb, who had defeated Sabre earlier in the tournament, to advance. He would get both, as Cobb would wrestle to a double count-out against Sabre's TMDK stablemate, former WWE star Shane Haste, just prior to Sabre's match. Meanwhile, Naito controlled his own destiny, as a victory would've guaranteed him either first or second in the Block, regardless of the result of Cobb or Sabre's respective matches.

Naito will now face off against the Block A runner-up, Hikuleo, on August 10, while Sabre will take on long-time rival, and Block A winner, Kazuchika Okada. The semi-finals will take place on Friday, August 12, with the finals following Saturday, August 13. Both the G1 semi-finals and finals will take place in Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan, aka Sumo Hall.