By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 34 Night Two”
July 21, 2024 in Osaka, Japan at Edion Arena
Streamed live on New Japan World
This year’s tournament is comprised of 20 competitors, split into two 10-man Blocks. This is a round-robin tournament, so each man will have nine tournament matches. Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton provided commentary.
* In a booking quirk, Konosuke Takeshita has a match elsewhere in Japan, so we have just nine matches here instead of 10; Takeshita will face Jeff Cobb on Tuesday to catch up to everyone else.
1. Sanada (2) defeated Callum Newman (2) in an A Block tournament match at 8:41. The commentators talked about how Sanada was embarrassed in his loss to Jake Lee on Saturday. An intense lockup to open and they worked each other’s left arm. Newman hit his running Mafia Kick at 2:00. He hit a dropkick on Sanada that sent him to the floor. Newman missed a moonsault to the floor. Sanada immediately put Newman’s feet on the guardrail and hit the Magic Screw swinging neckbreaker. He then dropped Newman throat-first on the guardrail and remained in charge. In the ring, Sanada hit a Russian Legsweep for a nearfall at 4:30.
Newman hit a doublestomp on Sanada’s back and they were both down. Sanada hit a second Magic Screw at 7:00, then a Shining Wizard, but he missed a moonsault. Newman immediately hit a running knee to the jaw. He hit a dropkick into the corner. Sanada applied Skull End but Newman turned it into Stundog Millionaire. Newman went for an OsCutter, but Sanada caught his head and hit Deadfall (Jay White’s Blade Runner) for the pin. A very good match. Sanada needed this win after that first-round debacle.
2. Henare (4) defeated Boltin Oleg (2) in a B Block tournament match at 8:07. An intense lockup to open and they switched to stiff forearm strikes. Boltin dropped him with a shoulder tackle, and Henare rolled to the floor to regroup. Back in the ring, Oleg hit a Stinger Splash, then a splash to the mat for a nearfall at 2:00. Henare began hitting spin kicks to the thigh, then one that caught Oleg in the throat! Henare was now in charge and hit some stiff kicks to the spine, then a senton for a nearfall at 4:00.
Oleg hit a running bodyslam. Boltin hit a Vader Bomb for a nearfall, then his gut-wrench suplex. Oleg set up for Kamikaze (forward Finlay Roll) but Henare escaped. Henare hit a hard running knee to the sternum. He set up for the Rampage football tackle, but Oleg caught him with a dropkick. Oleg hit the Kamikaze but Henare kicked out at 7:00! Henare tried to lock in a Full Nelson but Oleg escaped. Henare nailed a running headbutt, then the Streets of Rage/fisherman’s brainbuster for the pin. Wow, that was hard-hitting.
3. Gabe Kidd (2) defeated Great-O-Khan (0) in an A Block tournament match at 12:19. A feeling-out process to open, and O-Khan hit a twisting uranage, then a clothesline that sent Kidd over the top rope to the floor. They began fighting on the floor and into the crowd. Kidd bit O-Khan’s forehead. They returned to ringside, where Kidd whipped O-Khan head-first into the ring post at 4:00. O-Khan tossed Kidd over the top rope to the floor, then O-Khan hit a plancha. O-Khan whipped Kidd into rows of empty chairs at 6:30, and he trapped Gabe’s arms in these (not folding) chairs.
Back in the ring, both men were selling arm injuries. O-Khan suplexed them both over the top rope to the floor at 8:30 and they were both down on the floor. They got up and traded blows as the ref kept counting! They both sprinted back in to avoid being counted out! O-Khan hit a head-capture suplex for a nearfall at 10:30. Kidd hit a short-arm clothesline for a nearfall. O-Khan caught him with a straight punch and both could barely stand. Kidd nailed another hard clothesline for the pin! Hard-hitting match.
4. Ren Narita (2) defeated El Phantasmo (w/Jado) (0) in a B Block tournament match at 14:15. Ren hit a running boot to open the match. ELP hit a springboard huracanrana, and he clotheslined Narita to the floor, then he hit a plancha at 1:30. Phantasmo hit a dive through the ropes onto Ren. ELP missed a top-rope moonsault to the floor; Charlton said Phantasmo jammed his knee upon landing. Ren immediately whipped ELP into the guardrail and tied up the knee in the barricade. Ren went to get his push-up bar but Jado confiscated it. Ren kept working the leg, slamming ELP’s knee into the thin mat at ringside.
In the ring, Narita focused on twisting the left leg and slamming on the damaged knee. ELP hit a suplex at 6:00 and that brought the crowd back to life. However, ELP couldn’t kip up to his feet. They traded forearm strikes. ELP hit a springboard crossbody block but his knee buckled when he went for a lionsault. ELP hit a tornado DDT on the floor and they were both down. Back in the ring, ELP was able to hit the Lionsault at 8:00. Narita hit a Northern Lights Suplex and he grapevined the leg, and he switched to a single-leg crab, but Phantasmo reached the ropes at 9:30.
Ren stayed in control and kept Phantasmo grounded. ELP grabbed the push-up bar! Ren taunted ELP to hit him, but ELP gave the weapon to Jado. Ren tried to hit an X-Factor but ELP blocked it. Ren hit a Guillotine (flying kneestrike to the throat) for a believable nearfall at 12:30. ELP hit a Frankensteiner! He then nailed a frogsplash for a believable nearfall. Ren hit a chop block to the knee, then the Double Cross (X-Factor faceplant) for the pin. Really good action.
5. EVIL (w/Dick Togo) (4) defeated Jake Lee (2) in an A Block tournament match at 11:53. EVIL offered a “too sweet” hand gesture; Lee responded with eye pokes. Walker Stewart said this is a first-time encounter between these two, including tag matches. On the floor, EVIL whipped Lee into a guardrail. EVIL choked him with the mic cord and yelled at him on the mic. In the ring, EVIL choked Lee with a tag rope at 3:00. Lee hit some forearm strikes, but he was tripped by Togo. EVIL hit a suplex for a nearfall, and he applied a Sharpshooter at 5:30, but Jake reached the ropes. Lee hit a knee lift to the gut; they had an awkward exchange that showed their unfamiliarity with each other.
Lee applied a Boston Crab. The bell rang at 8:30, but of course that was just Dick Togo. EVIL accidentally struck the ref! Togo choked Lee, but Lee escaped! Lee used Togo’s wire to choke EVIL! Lee then did the ‘Eddie spot’ of tossing the weapon to EVIL and collapsing to the mat! While EVIL and the ref argued, Lee snuck up and hit a high back suplex for a nearfall! Lee set up for a chokeslam but EVIL escaped. Moments later, Lee hit the chokeslam for a believable nearfall at 11:00. Powder was thrown into Lee’s eyes! EVIL immediately hit Everything is Evil for the cheap pin!
6. Yuya Uemura (4) defeated Hirooki Goto (0) in a B Block tournament match at 12:36. A feeling-out process and standing switches early on. Yuya hit a dropkick at 2:30, then some chops in the corner. Goto hit a stiff kick to the spine. Goto applied a Boston Crab and sat down on the lower back for pressure; Yuya reached the ropes at 6:00. Yuya hit another dropkick and they were both down. Uemura hit a back suplex for a nearfall. Goto hit a neckbreaker over his knee at 8:30.
They traded forearm strikes while on their knees, then chops while standing. Goto hit a hard clothesline, then a Death Valley Driver move for a nearfall and a series of roundhouse kicks to the chest. Yuya nailed a headbutt at 12:00. He set up for Deadbolt but Goto escaped. Moments later, Yuya hit the Deadbolt (modified Dragon Suplex) with a high bridge for the pin! Yuya moves to 2-0. Stewart called it a huge victory.
7. Shota Umino (2) defeated Shingo Takagi (2) in an A Block tournament match at 18:21. The commentators talked about Shota’s loss to Callum Newman and his fractured hip. Shota hit a dropkick at the bell and some forearm strikes. Shingo slammed him hip-first on the ring apron at 1:30. He tied up Shota and kept him grounded. He hit a senton for a nearfall. Shota hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall at 6:00. He hit a top-rope missile dropkick and another suplex for a nearfall. Shingo hit a snap suplex into the corner at 8:00. He hit a DDT. Shota hit a second-rope Exploder Suplex. Shingo fired back with a top-rope superplex at 11:00. Shingo hit a sliding clothesline for a nearfall, then another senton. He hit a gutbuster over his knee.
Shota fired back with a tornado DDT, then a sideslam for a nearfall at 13:00. Shota hit a running swinging neckbreaker, then an enzuigiri. Shingo fired back with a Pumping Bomber clothesline. He hit another, then the Made In Japan flipping powerbomb for a believable nearfall at 15:00; I thought that was it. Shota fired back with an implant DDT and they were both down. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Shota hit an Exploder Suplex and a half-nelson suplex! He hit a Hidden Blade forearm to the back of the head for a believable nearfall! Shingo hit a headbutt. He charged again, but Shota caught him and nailed a Death Rider double-arm DDT for the pin! Charlton called it the biggest win of Shota’s career.
8. Zack Sabre Jr. (w/Kosei Fujita) (4) defeated Tetsuya Naito (0) in an A Block tournament match at 16:02. Naito once again took forever to disrobe. Standing reversals early on; Naito got a rollup that sent Zack to the floor to regroup. Naito got another believable nearfall on a rollup. They tied each other up on the mat, and Sabre snapped Naito’s neck between his ankles at 3:30. Sabre hit a European Uppercut and was in charge. He applied a Straitjacket chokehold on the mat. Naito hit a Rude Awakening standing neckbreaker at 7:00 for a nearfall. Sabre tied him up in the ropes. They went to the floor, where Naito hit a neckbreaker from the ring apron to the floor at 9:00.
In the ring, Naito hit his modified Blockbuster. Zack applied a Dragon Sleeper hold on the mat at 11:00, but Naito reached the ropes. Zach hit a running penalty kick. However, Naito hit a Destino and they were both down. Sabre hit the Zack Driver at 14:00. They traded rollups. Sabre got an O’Connor Roll for the clean pin. I liked this, especially being as it felt shorter than I had anticipated. Sabre celebrated with Naito’s title belt, which the commentators agreed was a clear message. Sabre headed to the back. So, Naito again starts slow at 0-2.
9. Yota Tsuji (2) defeated David Finlay (w/Gedo) (0) in a B Block tournament match at 19:48. Charlton said it’s a high-pressure situation as neither man can afford to start 0-2. Yota hit a dive through the ropes at 1:00, and he whipped Finlay into a guardrail. In the ring, Yota applied a Boston Crab. He hit a Stinger Splash at 4:00. Finlay hit a backbreaker over his knee. He hit a release suplex and posed and made an arrogant cover for a nearfall. Yota hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee and they were both down at 7:00. Yota hit a double-knee gutbuster. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Finlay hit a dropkick that sent Yota from the ring apron and crashing into the guardrail at 10:00.
Finlay tossed Yota head-first against the ring post! He got back in the ring and did some jumping jacks while Yota struggled to get back into the ring, and he dove in at the 19-count. Finlay immediately hit the Dominator swinging faceplant for a nearfall at 12:00. Tsuji fired back with a suplex. He hit a Stomp, then a second one, for a nearfall at 14:00. Yota missed a top-rope doublestomp. Finlay charged at him but Yota caught him with a kneestrike to the head! He slammed Finlay to the mat.
Finlay avoided the Gene Blaster (spear) and he nailed the Oblivion neckbreaker over his knee for a believable nearfall. Finlay nailed a release powerbomb, then a Buckle Bomb, then another release powerbomb at 17:00, and they were both down. Finlay hit a discus clothesline and some forearm strikes. Yota fired back with the Gene Blaster! He nailed the top-rope doublestomp for the clean pin. Another excellent match to close out the show, and Finlay is suddenly in trouble at 0-2.
* Yota got on the mic and made fun of Finlay. He is aiming for the trophy, and wants to be the first person to win both the New Japan Cup and G1 Climax in the same year.
Final Thoughts: I will repeat my point from Saturday — while I think the 32-man format is better (fewer tournament matches, more days off between matches, no meaningless preview matches) — it really feels like the fat has been cut and we have just one top-notch match after another. A strong main event takes best match of the night, with Shota-Shingo a close second, and Sabre-Naito for third. The EVIL-Lee match didn’t reach my expectations but nothing was bad here. The big takeaway is at 0-2, Naito and Finlay have a way to go to claw back. I don’t doubt that each man could finish 6-3, but both are in a deep hole to begin. The tournament takes a day off and will be back on Tuesday with six tournament matches and some preview matches.
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