By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 34 Night Six”
July 28, 2024 in Fukuoka, Japan at Fukuoka Convention Center
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 B Block in tournament action. Walker Stewart provided commentary. This appears to be a small arena, and NJPW will run this venue on Monday as well. The lights are low so it’s hard to see the crowd, but it’s perhaps 1,500.
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toru Yano defeated “Just 5 Guys” Sanada and Taka Michinoku at 6:22. The first appearance of Tanahashi on this tour, and he opened against Sanada. Sanada tied both opponents in the Paradise Lock at 2:30 and hit a basement dropkick on their butts. Tanahashi hit his second-rope summersault senton Sanada at 4:30. Sanada hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Tanahashi. Tanahashi tied Taka in a Texas Cloverleaf, and Taka tapped out. Yano was barely in this, which is fine with me.
2. “United Empire” Great-O-Khan and Callum Newan defeated “House of Torture” EVIL and Dick Togo at 6:43. The HoT attacked before the bell. Newman hit his running Mafia Kick to drop EVIL. Togo tossed Newman to the floor, where EVIL struck him and tossed him back in. O-Khan entered at 4:00 and he tossed EVIL around the mat and applied a Cobra Clutch hold on the mat. O-Khan put the claw on Togo’s face, slammed him to the mat, and scored the pin.
3. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr. and Kosei Fujita defeated Shota Umino and Tomoaki Honma at 6:10. Honma and Fujita opened and traded chops. Sabre and Umino entered at 2:00, and they traded European Uppercuts, and Shota hit an Exploder Suplex. Honma entered and hit a running headbutt on Zack at 5:00. Sabre went for a cross-armbreaker but Umino made the save. Sabre hit the Zack Driver and pinned Honma. Short and painless. (No one wants these preview tags and it’s notable that none of the first three matches even reached seven minutes.)
4. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Bushi, Shingo Takagi, and Tetsuya Naito defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” Gedo, Jake Lee, and Gabe Kidd at 7:09. The BCWD attacked as LIJ was about to make their pumped fist hand gesture. Naito and Jake Lee opened. Kidd entered and traded chops with Naito at 3:00. Shingo entered and hit a suplex on Kidd for a nearfall. Kidd mockingly did Shingo’s stuff of pointing at a camera (to me, it sounds like he shouts “stack-stack-stack!”) and that drew some cheers and some jeers. Bushi hit a top-rope missile dropkick on Gedo at 6:00, then the Lungblower to the chest for a nearfall. Gedo went for a rollup on Bushi, but Naito kicked Gedo in the head. Bushi then covered Gedo for the pin. This match had better energy than the other previews. Kidd and Shingo kept brawling.
* 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. Also, a reminder that THREE competitors from each block make the playoffs, so even someone at 1-3 (2 points) is still alive.
5. Boltin Oleg (4) defeated El Phantasmo (w/Jado) (2) in a B Block tournament match at 12:16. Standing switches early on, and Oleg knocked him down with a shoulder tackle at 1:30. ELP hit some chops and twisted Oleg’s nipples. He knocked Oleg down with a crossbody block, then he hit a Lionsault at 4:00, but Oleg rolled through it and hit a gut-wrench suplex! Nice! Oleg set up for Kamikaze but ELP escaped, and Phantasmo dove through the ropes onto Boltin. ELP set up for a dive over the guardrail but Jado convinced him it was a bad idea. In the ring, ELP hit another Lionsault for a nearfall at 7:00.
They started trading forearm shots, and ELP hit an enzuigiri, then a Burning Hammer! ELP nailed a top-rope frogsplash for a believable nearfall at 8:30. Oleg put ELP on his shoulders and flipped him over the top rope to the floor, and ELP barely got back in at the 19-count. Oleg hit a splash to the mat for a nearfall. He again set up for Kamikaze, but Phantasmo escaped. They traded rollups for believable nearfalls. Oleg hit a shotgun dropkick. Oleg finally hit the Kamikaze (forward Finlay Roll) for the pin. A decent match.
6. Jeff Cobb (4) defeated Yuya Uemura (6) in a B Block tournament match at 12:29. At 3-0, Yuya is the unlikely block leader at this point. A feeling-out process early on. Cobb hit some shoulder thrusts to the ribs, and he tossed Yuya across the mat, then he ‘surfed’ on his back at 4:30. He locked Yuya in a belly-to-belly bearhug and this has been slow early on. They fought to the floor, where Yuya shoved Jeff face-first into the ring post at 6:30. Back in the ring, Yuya hit a crossbody block, but Jeff rolled through and slammed him, but Jeff missed a standing moonsault. Yuya tried to apply a cross-armbreaker but Cobb fought it off.
Cobb hit his standing moonsault for a nearfall. Yuya hit a dropkick, then a plancha to the floor. In the ring, he hit a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall at 9:30, then a German Suplex and a Dragon Suplex for a nearfall. He hit a frogsplash for a nearfall, but he missed a second one. Cobb immediately hit a uranage and a diving forearm for a nearfall at 11:00. Cobb dropped him with a clothesline; he set up for the Tour of the Islands but Yuya got an inside cradle for a nearfall. Cobb hit an F5 slam, then the Tour of the Islands twisting powerslam for the pin. Good match and a needed victory for Cobb.
7. Konosuke Takeshita (6) defeated Henare (4) in a B Block tournament match at 13:19. An intense lockup to open. Henare hit some quick kicks and a shoulder tackle at 2:00. They traded forearm strikes, and Takeshita hit a flying clothesline. They went to the floor, where Takeshita whipped him into a guardrail. In the ring, Takeshita hit some punches in the corner and bit Henare’s forehead at 5:00, then he hit a DDT for a nearfall, and he kept Henare grounded. Henare hit his Berzerker Bomb and they were both down. Henare hit a running Samoan Drop for a nearfall at 7:30. He hit a running knee in the corner, then another running knee for a nearfall.
Henare set up for the Rampage football tackle but Takeshita blocked it. Konosuke hit a jumping knee to the sternum, and a wheelbarrow German Suplex, then a Poison Rana. Henare hit the Rampage and they were both down at 10:00. Takeshita hit a clothesline but Henare kicked out at one. Takeshita hit a Blue Thunder Bomb and they were both down at 11:30. Henare hit a roundhouse kick to the head; Takeshita dropped him with a forearm. Henare hit a leaping headbutt and got a believable nearfall. Takeshita hit a fisherman’s brainbuster, then another brainbuster, and a twisting sit-out powerbomb for the pin. As hard-hitting as everyone expected it to be, and the final four minutes were particularly good.
8. David Finlay (4) defeated Ren Narita (w/Yoshinobu Kanemaru) (4) in a B Block tournament match at 12:26. Finlay came out first; he left the ring and started brawling with Narita on the entrance ramp, and they brawled into the crowd. They got into the ring and the bell sounded at 1:25 to officially begin. However, they rolled right back to the floor and fought along the guardrails. Ren jabbed Finlay in the face with a chair! In the ring, Ren snapped Finlay’s throat across the bottom rope, and Kanemaru took a cheap shot at Finlay, too. Finlay clotheslined them both to the floor at 5:30. Finlay’s turn to whip Narita into the guardrail, and he chased away Kanemaru, who was creeping up on him. Finlay tossed Narita head-first into the ring post.
Finlay hit a flying back elbow into the corner and scored a nearfall at 7:30. Ren hit a Helluva Kick and a Northern Lights Suplex, and he applied a front guillotine choke, but Finlay was able to reach the ropes to escape. Finlay put Narita on his shoulders and spun him to the mat, then he nailed the Dominator swinging face plant for a nearfall at 10:00. The ref got bumped. Kanemaru spayed alcohol in Finlay’s eyes, and Narita got a rollup for a nearfall. Narita hit a low blow uppercut, and he got his push-up bar, but Finlay hit Narita with the ring bell hammer. Finlay nailed two Buckle Bombs and a release suplex for the pin. A bit weird as Finlay worked as a babyface, but I guess everyone is a babyface when up against the House of Torture. So, ‘official time’ is about 11:00 even.
9. Hirooki Goto (4) defeated Yota Tsuji (2) in a B Block tournament match at 17:05. This is a rematch of the New Japan Cup finals, where Tsuji won. (Goto reached the finals largely due to Finlay’s injury that caused a forfeit.) They worked each other’s left arm to open. Tsuji rolled to the floor to regroup at 1:30. Back in the ring, Tsuji hit a knee lift to the stomach. He tied a leg lock around Goto’s waist at 4:30 and kept Hirooki grounded. Goto hit a clothesline and they were both down. They teased suplexing each other, before Goto finally hit a neckbreaker over his knee at 9:00 and they were both down. They traded forearm strikes. Goto hit a hard clothesline at 11:00 and the crowd rallied for him.
Tsuji hit a Stomp, then another one, for a nearfall. He playfully kicked Goto before hitting another hard stomp on the head. Tsuji missed his top-rope Stomp, but he hit a swinging sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall at 14:00. He set up for the Gene Blaster (spear) but Goto side-stepped it, and Hirooki got a rollup for a nearfall. Goto hit his GTR elbow drop to the sternum for a believable nearfall at 15:30. Goto nailed a decapitating clothesline and he was fired up. He hit a second GTR for a believable nearfall (I had my fingers on my stopwatch!) He hit a third GTR for the pin. A good match, but I wouldn’t say it was a great match, either. I am a bit stunned that Tsuji lost here to fall to 1-3.
Final Thoughts: Like Saturday, I don’t think there were any matches here that will make anyone’s “top 10 list” of the tournament. I’ll go with the hard-hitting Henare-Takeshita match for best, then Cobb-Uemura, and the main event third. I will reiterate that three wrestlers from each Block reach the playoffs, so Tsuji can still qualify, but of all the wrestlers who are 1-3 or 0-4 (sorry O-Khan!), I think this is the biggest surprise.
The G1 Climax continues on Monday with the A Block in action as we reach the mid-point of the tournament, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Sanada and Shingo Takagi vs. Gabe Kidd and Shota Umino vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
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