By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 34 Night Seven”
July 29, 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 A Block in tournament action. Walker Stewart provided commentary. This appears to be a small arena, and NJPW ran in this venue Sunday as well. The lights are low so it’s hard to see the crowd, but it’s perhaps 1,500.
1. Toru Yano and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Taka Michinoku and Yuya Uemura at 3:41. Uemura and Tanahashi opened with Yuya hitting some deep armdrags. Yano entered and immediately removed a corner turnbuckle pad. Taka cranked back on Yano’s head. Taka hit a running Penalty Kick on Taka. Yano shoved Taka’s own fingers into Taka’s eyes, and he rolled up Taka for the pin. Harmless but completely unnecessary. Seriously… let’s go back to a 32-man tournament next year with no preview tags.
2. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Bushi and Yota Tsuji defeated Boltin Oleg and Katsuya Murashima at 8:27. Tsuji and Oleg opened and they immediately traded forearm strikes, then shoulder tackles. Oleg slammed teammate Katsuya onto Tsuji for a nearfall at 2:00. Bushi entered and stomped on Katsuya. Tsuji signaled to Hiromu Takahashi, who was doing Japanese commentary! Hiromu stood up but looked perplexed, unclear what Yota wanted him to do for him.
Oleg got back in and hit a splash on Tsuji for a nearfall. Oleg flipped Tsuji around in his arms before hitting the gutwrench suplex. He went for Kamikaze but Tsuji escaped. Bushi and Katsuya each tagged back in at 6:30, and Murashima hit a dropkick for a nearfall. Bushi hit a swinging neckbreaker, then he flipped Katsuya over and locked in a Boston Crab, and Murashima tapped out.
3. “United Empire” Jeff Cobb and Henare defeated “Guerrillas of Destiny” Jado and El Phantasmo at 7:40. ELP and Cobb opened, and Jeff easily shoved him to the mat. Phantasmo hit a dropkick. Jado tagged in; the GoD hit a double shoulder tackle to drop Cobb. Jado hit some chops on Henare, which Henare no-sold. Cobb ‘surfed’ on Jado’s back at 4:00. ELP hit a springboard crossbody block and a Lionsault on Cobb, then a tornado DDT. Cobb finally hit a T-Bone Suplex on Phantasmo. Henare and Jado got back in at 6:30, and Jado hit a DDT out of the ropes. ELP hit a moonsault to the floor on Cobb. In the ring, Henare dropped Jado with a vicious headbutt. He locked in a Full Nelson, and Jado submitted. Decent.
4. “House of Torture” Ren Narita and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Hirooki Goto and Tomoaki Honma at 5:12. The HoT attacked from behind during ring introductions. They worked over Honma in their corner. Honma hit a DDT-and-Flatliner combo. Goto tagged in at 3:00 and he hit a spinning heel kick into the corner on both heels. Honma hit the Kokeshi falling headbutt on Narita. Narita hit Honma across the back with his push-up bar, then he nailed the Double Cross (X-Factor faceplant) for the pin. What you’d expect here.
5. Konosuke Takeshita and Francesco Akira defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” Gedo and David Finlay at 6:58. Interesting; for the second straight night, NJPW has paired two G1 Climax competitors who are not in the same faction. Takeshita and Finlay opened but David immediately tagged out and rolled to the floor. Takeshita and Finlay fought on the floor while Gedo choked Akira in the ropes. The BCWD worked over Akira in their corner. Akira hit a doublestomp on Finlay’s chest at 4:00, and he tagged in Takeshita.
Takeshita hit his flying clothesline on Finlay and a plancha to the floor on Gedo. In the ring, Finlay hit a backbreaker over his knee on Konosuke. Konosuke hit another clothesline and they were both down. Gedo and Akira got back in, with Francesco hit a spinning heel kick, then a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall. Konosuke clotheslined Finlay and himself to the floor. That left Akira to hit the Fireball running double knees to the back of the head to pin Gedo. Okay action; a lot more action between Konosuke and Finlay than in some of the other preview tags. No issues between unlikely partners Takeshita and Akira, as Konosuke even raised his partner’s hand after the win.
* This is the fifth 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 ten points at this time. Also, a reminder that THREE competitors from each block make the playoffs, so even someone at 1-4 (2 points) is still mathematically alive.
* Jeff Cobb joined Walker on commentary.
6. EVIL (w/Dick Togo) (10) defeated Callum Newman (4) in an A Block tournament match at 9:35. Gedo’s booking tends to pull wrestlers toward a 50/50 win-loss record, so I am predicting a Callum upset here. EVIL came out first; as Callum emerged from the curtain, he was attacked by Dick Togo! I start my stopwatch at first contact, as EVIL joined the attack. However, they got into the ring and the bell rang at 0:55 to officially begin. EVIL whipped Newman repeatedly into guardrails and was in charge. Togo also tossed Newman into the guardrail. In the ring, EVIL hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall at 4:30. Newman hit a spin kick to the head and they were both down.
Callum hit a dropkick to the back as EVIL was tied in the ropes. Togo surreptitiously removed a corner pad; Newman nearly crashed into the exposed corner but stopped himself. Newman put EVIL in a Boston Cab at 7:00. Togo jumped in and choked Callum with a wire while the ref was down. Callum used the ref to hit a Magic Killer on EVIL for a nearfall, and Callum was fired up and the crowd was hot. Callum hit a running knee and a roundhouse kick. He went for the OsCutter but EVIL blocked it. EVIL whipped Callum into the exposed corner, then he hit the Everything is Evil uranage and scored yet another pin. EVIL is 5-0! Again, official time is closer to 8:40.
7. Great-O-Khan (2) defeated Jake Lee (2) in an A Block tournament match at 11:19. A disappointing start to the tournament for each man. Jake easily tossed O-Khan to the floor at 1:00. Lee hit some bodyslams in the ring and was in charge. The crowd was quiet and not really behind either man. He hit a penalty kick to the chest for a nearfall at 5:00. O-Khan began tying up the left ankle on the mat, but Lee reached the ropes at 7:00. O-Khan hit his Mongolian Chops. Lee hit a high back suplex for a nearfall. O-Khan hit a Flatliner, then he applied a Claw to the face and hit a chokeslam move for the pin. Lee had that dominating win over Sanada to open the tournament but is shockingly at 1-4, while O-Khan finally gets a win.
8. Shota Umino (6) defeated Zack Sabre Jr. (8) (w/Kosei Fujita) in an A Block tournament match at 19:13. A feeling-out process to begin as they worked each other’s arms. Shota has some tape on his chest that was already coming loose. Shota hit a basement dropkick at 4:00. Shota fell to the floor and immediately clutched at his left knee upon landing. Sabre saw it, followed to the floor, and began kicking and targeting the damaged leg. In the ring, Sabre twisted the ankle and remained in charge. He hit some European Uppercuts; Shota fired back with some forearms and a dropkick at 7:00 and they were both down. Shota hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall, then his DDT onto the ring apron.
They were both down on the floor, with Shota again clutching at his sore knee. In the ring, Shota hit a missile dropkick and another suplex for a nearfall. Sabre locked in a sleeper, then he locked up the legs and stomped on the back of the thighs at 10:30, and he hit more spin kicks on the knees. Shota hit a swinging neckbreaker and they were both down. Umino hit a sideslam for a nearfall, then his running swinging neckbreaker. He hit his implant DDT for a nearfall at 12:30. He went for a Hidden Blade to the chin but Sabre caught the arm and applied a modified Triangle Choke! Nice! Sabre switched to an Indian Deathlock and Shota screamed in pain as Sabre pulled him to the middle of the ring. Umino finally reached the ropes at 14:30.
They got up and Sabre hit some more spin kicks to the thighs. They traded stiff European Uppercuts and I do mean STIFF. This should have been the main event! Sabre went for the Zack Driver but Umino blocked it. Sabre hit more penalty kicks to the chest. Umino hit a Hidden Blade for a nearfall at 18:00. Sabre got a rollup for a nearfall, then a German Suplex. Shota popped up and hit a Hidden Blade to the back of the head for a believable nearfall; I thought that was it. Shota hit a sideslam, then the Death Rider double-arm DDT for the pin. That was stellar; better than any match that occurred Saturday, Sunday or today. Wow. Sabre takes his first loss and falls to 4-1, meaning EVIL is alone on top of the Block.
9. Gabe Kidd (6) defeated Shingo Takagi (4) in an A Block tournament match at 13:34. They charged at each other at the bell and immediately traded running boots to the jaw. Kidd hit a suplex at 2:30 and he mockingly pointed at the camera and did Shingo’s shout. Shingo hit a twisting neckbreaker and a suplex for a nearfall. They traded chops with Shingo getting the better of the exchange. Shingo hit an Exploder Suplex; Gabe hit a back suplex; Shingo hit a Saito Suplex; Kidd knocked him down with a shoulder tackle, and they were both down at 6:30. Nice exchange. They got up and hit simultaneous clotheslines. (Where are the “beef!” chants I’m used to hearing in the U.S.?)
Shingo hit a short-arm clothesline and got a one-count; Kidd did the same with the same one-count. KIdd hit a piledriver but Shingo popped up and hit a Pumping Bomber sliding clothesline for a nearfall, and they were both down at 10:00. Kidd began hitting some open-hand slaps to the face. More forearm strikes from Shingo and a headbutt that dropped Kidd. Kidd hit his own hard clothesline and they were both down again at 12:00. This has been insanely hard-hitting. More headbutts from Shingo. Kidd hit a headbutt and a piledriver, then a second piledriver for the pin! I predicted Shingo would win the Block, but he has fallen to 2-3. It doesn’t get much more hard-hitting than this one.
10. Tetsuya Naito (4) defeated Sanada (4) in an A Block tournament match at 17:43. A feeling-out process early on and Naito grounded Sanada. Naito did his Tranquilo pose at 3:30 but Sanada caught him with a basement dropkick. They went to the floor, where Sanada tossed him into the guardrail, then he dropped Naito throat-first across the guardrail. In the ring, Sanada kept Naito grounded, and he hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 6:30. Naito came back with a basement dropkick to the spine. Naito hit a Rude Awakening standing neckbreaker for a nearfall. He applied a leglock around Sanada’s shoulders.
Sanada hit a dropkick that sent Naito the floor at 10:00, then he hit a plancha onto Naito. In the ring, Sanada hit a Russian Legsweep for a nearfall. Naito hit a swinging neckbreaker and they were both down. Naito hit a Frankensteiner out of the corner at 13:30. Sanada hit the Magic Screw swinging neckbreaker and they were both down. Sanada hit a TKO Stunner, then a Shining Wizard, then a top-rope moonsault for a nearfall at 16:00. He set up for Deadfall, but Naito avoided it, and Naito hit a suplex, but he couldn’t hit the Destino. Sanada got a rollup for a nearfall, then another Shining Wizard, but he couldn’t hit the Deadfall, and Naito turned it into a Destino for a believable nearfall. Naito nailed another Destino for the pin. A very good match to close out a great top three matches.
Final Thoughts: The first two tournament matches today were lacking but the last three were tremendous. In my reviews of the shows Saturday and Sunday, no matches will make anyone’s “top 10” list of the best tournament matches. I’ll go with Sabre-Umino for best and Kidd-Shingo for second place, but I’ll add that both will make that “top 10” list. Naito-Sanada was really good, too and might make some people’s top 10 of the tournament. The tournament takes a day off before resuming on Wednesday, featuring the B Block in action headlined by David Finlay vs. Konsuke Takeshita, plus Yuya Uemura vs. Henare.
Did you not see the post match between Kidd and Takagi? Just curious because you didn’t mention what happened in your review