NJPW

The winner of the 33rd G1 Climax has been officially crowned following the conclusion of the 32-man tournament on Sunday, August 13 at Tokyo’s Sumo Hall.

Following just under a month of in-ring action, the tournament final saw two of NJPW’s most successful stars fight to add yet another notch to their belts.

After defeating IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay in the semi-finals, Testuya Naito faced off against Kazuchika Okada at Sumo Hall, who had defeated EVIL to secure his spot in the bout.

Okada was looking to win his fifth G1 title, with this year marking his third consecutive appearance in the finals, while Naito was looking to capture his third crown, last winning the tournament in 2017.

After nearly 35 minutes of in-ring action, it was Naito who got the massive win. It took three Destino’s to finally put the Rainmaker away for the three count.

Naito’s win earned him the right to challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, however Naito will have to defend this right ahead of Wrestle Kingdom 18 in January.

The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship currently belongs to Naito’s former Los Ingobernables De Japon team-mate SANADA, who has revealed that he’s been working through an injury.

However, perhaps in Naito’s more immediate future is United Empire’s Jeff Cobb, who confronted him after his victory backstage and challenged him to a future one-on-one match.

Speaking of United Empire, the faction’s frontman Will Ospreay has made headlines after making a drastic change to his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, click here for all the details.

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• Tetsuya Naito
• Kazuchika Okada
• G1 Climax
• NJPW

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