By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 34 Night Five”
July 27, 2024 in Nagasaki, Japan at Dejima Messe Nagasaki
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. This show features just the A Block in tournament action. Walker Stewart provided commentary. This is a large gym with everyone seated on the floor. The crowd is maybe 800 to 1,200. The lights are on, which I prefer.
1. Konosuke Takeshita and Henare defeated Katsuya Murashima and Shoma Kato at 6:44. Shoma has really let his hair get big and poofy; the Young Lions are otherwise nearly identical in height and body type. Henare and Takeshita glared at each other before Takeshita opened against Shoma; Konosuke mockingly patted Shota on his head as the height different is really noticeable. Takeshita and Henare began shoving each other! The Young Lions jumped them before they could really come to blows. The big guys bodyslammed the Young Lions at 1:30 and again stared at each other.
Takeshita hit a second-rope senton splash on Kato for a nearfall. Katsuya hit a series of flying forearms — almost Reigns-style Superman Punches — and he eventually knocked Takeshita down. Takeshita hit a hard forearm to score the pin. Takeshita and Henare kept barking at each other after the bell. In NJPW, we almost never see anyone forced to team with someone they don’t like, so this was actually pretty refreshingly different.
2. Boltin Oleg and Toru Yano defeated El Phantasmo and Jado at 6:17. Oleg opened and easily shoved ELP to the mat. ELP hit a dropkick. Oleg hit a shoulder tackle that dropped Phantasmo. Jado and Yano fought. Oleg hit his gutwrench suplex on Phantasmo at 4:30. Phantasmo hit an enzuigiri on Yano, and Jado tied up Yano on the mat. ELP hit a plancha to the floor. Yano hit a low blow mule kick on Jado and rolled him up for the pin. Basic.
3. “United Empire” Jeff Cobb and Francesco Akira defeated “Just 5 Guys” Taka Michinoku and Yuya Uemura at 5:50. Cobb and Yuya opened in an intense lockup with Cobb shoving him to the mat. Akira entered at 1:30 and he hit a top-rope crossbody block. Taka entered for the first time and he hit a Mafia Kick on Akira. Akira hit a spin kick to Taka’s head. Akira hit the Fireball running double knees to the back of the head to pin Taka.
4. “House of Torture” Ren Narita and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” David Finlay and Gedo at 5:23. This is Kanemaru’s first match of this tour. All four brawled at the bell. The action spilled to the floor, and Ren whipped Finlay into the guardrail, and they brawled out into the crowd, with Finlay whipping Ren into rows of empty chairs. In the ring, Finlay hit a backbreaker over his knee on Ren at 3:00. Gedo and Kanemaru fought, and Gedo tied him in a Figure Four Leglock. Kanemaru got a rollup to pin Gedo. I hate heel-heel matchups so I really like what they did here; they just brawled. There were no tags, no one trying to build up sympathy for a hot tag.
5. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Bushi and Yota Tsuji defeated Tomoaki Henare and Hirooki Goto at 6:03. Yota and Goto opened, but Homma and Bushi quickly got in. Honma hit a flying headbutt on Bushi at 3:00. Goto and Tsuji traded forearm strikes. Honma hit a clothesline on Yota for a nearfall at 5:00. Bushi hit a Lungblower on Honma. Yota nailed the Gene Blaster (spear) to pin Honma. Basic.
* This is the fourth tournament match for each competitor. Each win is worth two points; a (rare) draw is worth one point each. Thus each competitor has a maximum of eight points at this time.
* Henare joined Walker Stewart on commentary.
6. Callum Newman (4) defeated Shingo Takagi (4) in an A Block tournament match at 12:51. Shingo dropped him with a shoulder tackle. Callum hit his running Mafia Kick. Shingo hit a German Suplex, but Callum rotated mid-air and landed on his feet. Shingo clotheslined him to the floor at 3:00, and he beat up Callum on the floor. In the ring, Shingo hit a senton at 5:00. Newman hit a doublestomp on the back, then a second-rope moonsault to the floor at 7:30. In the ring, Callum went for an OsCutter but Shingo caught him and slammed him face-first, then Shingo hit a kneedrop to the forehead at 9:00.
Shingo hit some Moxley-style elbows to the side of the head. They got up and traded punches, and Shingo hit a sliding clothesline, then a Pumping Bomber clothesline for a nearfall. Callum hit a mid-ring Spanish Fly for a nearfall at 11:30, then a spin kick to the head. He again went for the OsCutter but Shingo stuck him in the back. Shingo hit a Poison Rana! He hit some jab punches. Callum popped up and he finally hit the OsCutter and scored the pin! Wow! That’s the upset of the tournament.
7. Sanada (4) defeated Gabe Kidd (4) in an A Block tournament match at 12:13. An intense lockup to open, and Kidd went for a hammerlock on the mat. They went to the floor, where Kidd whipped Sanada into the guardrail. They went into the cross, where Kidd tossed a chair at Sanada’s arm. Kidd made lewd hand gestures at the crowd and was booed, and they brawled to the back wall. Kidd ran into the ring; Sanada barely got in at the 19-count at 4:00. Gabe bit the forehead and stayed in charge. Sanada hit a plancha to the floor at 6:30 but was selling the pain in his left elbow.
In the ring, Kidd hit a suplex into the corner, then a Saito Suplex, and he locked in a crossface move. Sanada put Kidd’s feet on the ropes and hit the Magic Screw swinging neckbreaker at 9:30. He nailed a Shining Wizard, but he couldn’t hit Deadfall. Gabe immediately hit a piledriver for a nearfall at 11:00. Sanada applied Skull End but Kidd quickly escaped. Sanada hit the Deadfall (Jay White’s Blade Runner swinging faceplant) for the pin. Sanada kept clutching at his arm after the bell.
8. Shota Umino (4) defeated Great-O-Khan (0) in an A Block tournament match at 15:06. They charged at each other and immediately hit forearm strikes. They went to the floor, where O-Khan hit his Mongolian Chops at 2:00. In the ring, O-Khan applied a Cobra Clutch-style sleeper on the mat and he kept Shota grounded. Shota hit a DDT onto the ring apron at 6:30. In the ring, Shota hit a missile dropkick and an Exploder Suplex for a nearfall. They traded forearm strikes while on their knees, then while standing. O-Khan locked his hands behind his back and let Shota hit him, which really never makes sense to me. Shota now did the same thing, letting O-Khan hit some stiff forearms.
Shota hit a pop-up kneestrike to the jaw, then a running swinging neckbreaker at 11:00, but he couldn’t hit the Death Rider. O-Khan nailed a straight punch to the jaw and they both collapsed. O-Khan hit a gutwrench suplex for a nearfall. O-Khan went back to the Cobra Clutch sleeper, but Shota got a foot on the ropes at 13:00. O-Khan put Shota on his back and spun him several times and got a nearfall. O-Khan went for a Claw hold, but Shota escaped and hit an implant DDT for a nearfall at 14:30. Shota hit a Hidden Blade to the back of the head and the Death Rider Double-arm DDT for the pin. O-Khan remains winless and is all but eliminated.
9. Zack Sabre Jr. (8) defeated Jake Lee (2) in an A Block tournament match at 17:46. A feeling-out process early on; Lee stalled and put his long hair up in a bun. They traded reversals on the mat early on, and Sabre focused on the left arm. They went to the floor, where Jake whipped Sabre into the guardrail at 6:00. Lee hit a running knee to the midsection on the entrance ramp, and Sabre sold the pain in his stomach. In the ring, Lee applied a leglock around the waist and kept Sabre grounded. Sabre finally hit a suplex, but sold the pain in his ribs, and they were both down at 11:00. Sabre stomped on Lee’s left elbow and tied up the arm. Sabre tied him in a Cobra Twist but Lee shook him off.
Lee hit another kneestrike to the gut and they were both down at 14:00. Sabre backed him into the corner and hit a series of palm strikes, then a Helluva Kick. Lee hit a high back suplex for a nearfall at 16:30. Lee set up for a chokeslam but Sabre escaped and hit a spin kick to Lee’s arm. Lee again went for a chokeslam but Sabre applied a Triangle Choke! Sabre tied both of Lee’s arms behind the back and locked Lee’s arms with his legs, and Lee submitted. Lee is a shocking 1-3, particularly surprising after how he dominated Sanada in the opener. While I don’t think Sabre goes undefeated, at 4-0, he’s almost certain to reach the playoffs now (which is not a surprise to anyone.)
10. EVIL (w/Dick Togo) (8) defeated Tatsuya Naito (2) in an A Block tournament match at 16:11. Naito once again took forever to disrobe. EVIL almost immediately rolled to the floor and Naito faked the dive onto him but instead did the Tranquilo pose. EVIL shoved Naito into the guardrail at 3:00, and they brawled into the crowd, with EVIL jabbing a chair into Naito’s throat. In the ring, EVIL hit an Irish Whip into an exposed turnbuckle at 5:00 and he was in charge. EVIL hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall at 9:30. Naito shoved EVIL into Togo, then rolled up EVIL for a nearfall. The ref got bumped. Kanemaru came to ringside; I noted we hadn’t seen him before today. He jumped in the ring and helped Togo stomp on Naito.
Togo hit his knife-edge chop to Naito’s groin at 12:30, allowing EVIL to get a nearfall. EVIL hit a Magic Killer team slam for a nearfall. EVIL shoved the ref, but this time it allowed Naito to hit a low blow punt kick at 14:00! Bushi came to ringside to rally Naito. Naito hit an enzuigiri. EVIL shoved Naito into the ref. Togo accidentally tossed powder into EVIL’s eyes. Kanemaru accidentally sprayed whiskey into Togo’s eyes! Bushi sprayed mist into Kanemaru’s eyes! Naito hit a Destino for a nearfall. Naito went for another Destino, but EVIL escaped and hit the Everything is Evil uranage for the pin! I did NOT see that coming.
Final Thoughts: No matches today will make a “top 10 list” of best matches of G1. I didn’t hate anything but I’m not raving about any particular match, either. I’ll actually go with Newman-Shingo for best match. Callum tried unsuccessfully twice to hit the OsCutter before hitting it. With the pin on Shingo, they’ve established that if he hits the move, it’s a guaranteed pin. I’ll go with Sanada-Kidd for second and Umino vs. O-Khan for third.
The main event was what you’ve come to expect from EVIL, but I really expected Naito to win here. With the loss, champion Naito is 1-3 and is looking at long odds to reach the playoffs, particularly as it appears the undefeated duo of EVIL and Sabre are likely to secure two of the three slots. The tournament continues on Sunday with the B Block in action, featuring Hirooki Goto vs. Yota Tsuji in the main event, plus Henare vs. Takeshita.
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