By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 34 Night 11”
August 6, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan at Korakuen Hall
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 and the returning Chris Charlton provided commentary. Always great to have NJPW back in Korakuen Hall, and it appears it is a sellout.
1. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Bushi and Yota Tsuji defeated Katsuya Murashima and Shoma Kato at 3:43. The Young Lions attacked to open. Bushi hit a swinging neckbreaker on Shoma for a nearfall at 3:00. He put Shoma in a Boston Crab, and Kato tapped out. Harmless and short.
2. Konosuke Takeshita and “United Empire” Jeff Cobb and Henare and Francesco Akira defeated Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano, and El Phantasmo and Jado at 3:48. Akira and Yano battled early. Takeshita hit a hard clothesline on ELP. Cobb flipped Jado in his arms as Oleg flipped Akira in his arms. Cool visual! ELP hit a huracanrana and a plancha on Takeshita. Henare put Jado in a Full Nelson, and Jado submitted. That was a sprint! Give me a fast-paced undercard match like that any day!
3. “House of Torture” Ren Narita and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated “Just 5 Guys” Yuya Uemura and Taka Michinoku at 5:50. Narita teased starting against Yuya but then he tagged out. Taka tied up Kanemaru on the mat. Yuya and Narita brawled on the floor. Kanemaru rolled up Taka for the win. This was dull compared to the prior match, but at least it was short.
4. Hirooki Goto and Tomoaki Honma defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” David Finlay and Gedo at 2:49. Finlay and Goto opened. Charlton made a comment I agree with, that if Goto hadn’t been in the finals of the New Japan Cup, he probably would have had to qualify for the G1. Goto hit the GTO neckbreaker over his knee on Gedo for the pin. Collectively, the four preview tags were a sprint today.
* This is the seventh 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 12 points at this time. Also, a reminder that THREE competitors from each block make the playoffs, so even someone at 3-4 (6 points) is still mathematically alive. Anyone at 2-5 (4 points) is eliminated.
5. Great-O-Khan (6) defeated Callum Newman (4) in an A Block tournament match at 8:16. Both men are 2-4 so the loser will be the first person officially eliminated from reaching the playoffs. Quick reversals at the bell with neither man able to connect. Newman finally hit a running boot at 1:30. O-Khan hit his Mongolian Chops. O-Khan applied a modified Cobra Clutch on the mat. Newman hit a standing moonsault for a nearfall at 5:00. Callum hit a dropkick in the corner and a doublestomp on the back. O-Khan hit a Shellshock-style swinging faceplant, then a Claw-to-the-face slam to the mat for the pin. Newman is the first wrestler eliminated, which really isn’t much of a surprise.
6. Jake Lee (6) defeated Gabe Kidd (6) via count-out in an A Block tournament match at 10:09. These two are in the same faction. Kidd came out first; Lee came out second, holding two cups of beer! However, as Lee entered the ring, Kidd kicked him. On the floor, Kidd hit him repeatedly with chairshots. They brawled up the staircase and fought on the landing half-way up the seating at Korakuen Hall. The crowd is totally into this brawl as these two are really going at it; this is easily the most energy Lee has shown in the G1. Lee whipped Kidd into a table at ringside at 4:30. They finally got in the ring and the bell rang at 4:58 to officially begin. (And this is why I start my stopwatch at first contact!)
Kidd hit some jab punches; Lee hit a roundhouse kick to the head. They both collapsed at 7:30. They traded forearm strikes from their knees. Lee hit a Mafia Kick that sent Kidd to the floor at 9:00. Kidd hit a German Suplex onto the thin mat at ringside. Kidd crashed into a guardrail, and Lee leapt into the ring, as the ref was counting! Kidd started to dive back in, but he was a half-second late and was counted out. That was a wild brawl with an official time of about 5:11. It is the first loss of this tournament by either count-out or disqualification, which is a bit of a surprise.
7. Zack Sabre Jr. (10) defeated EVIL (w/Dick Togo) (10) in an A Block tournament match at 00:53. EVIL and Dick Togo dragged Sabre from the back to the ring, and I started my stopwatch as they emerged from the back. They threw powder in his eyes and they hit a Magic Killer team slam. The bell rang at 0:34 and EVIL immediately went for some covers. Sabre rolled him over and got the pin! “Nineteen seconds on the clock!” Charlton shouted! The crowd loved this. EVIL sat up in disbelief.
8. Tetsuya Naito (8) defeated Shota Umino (6) in an A Block tournament match at 14:47. Shota hit a dropkick at the bell! He tied Naito upside down in the ropes and hit another dropkick, then a tornado DDT onto the thin mat at ringside at 1:00. In the ring, Shota hit a running swinging neckbreaker. Naito hit a neckbreaker over his knee, then a Rude Awakening standing neckbreaker onto the thin mat at ringside at 3:30, and Shota immediately sold the pain in his neck. He got back in before being counted out but was clutching at his neck, and Naito immediately applied a cravat, then hit a basement dropkick to the base of his neck. Naito hit another Rude Awakening for a nearfall at 5:00.
Naito tied him up on the mat with a leg lock around the neck and shoulders and kept him grounded. Shota hit a swinging neckbreaker at 12:30, then a sideslam for a nearfall. Naito nailed a Brainbuster. He went for a Destino but Shota blocked it, and Shota hit a fisherman’s brainbuster for a nearfall. Shota hit a Hidden Blade to the back of the neck for a nearfall. Naito again went for a Destino that was blocked, but he rolled up Shota and scored the pin. Good action.
9. Sanada (8) defeated Shingo Takagi (6) in an A Block tournament match at 19:45. The crowd was HOT and split. They worked each other’s left arm and had a feeling-out process early on. They brawled to the floor, where Shingo whipped Sanada into the guardrail at 4:00. Back in the ring, Shingo stomped on Sanada and kept him grounded. Sanada hit a dropkick at 8:00, then a plancha to the floor. In the ring, Sanada hit a back suplex for a nearfall. Shingo hit a DDT. Sanada put Shingo’s feet on the top rope and he hit the Magic Screw swinging neckbreaker at 11:30.
Sanada missed a moonsault but landed on his feet. He hit a Shining Wizard to the back of the head. Sanada went for one to the face, but Shingo got his arms up to block it, and he slammed Sanada’s leg against the mat. Sanada hit the Shining Wizard, then the top-rope moonsault for a believable nearfall at 14:00. Shingo hit a Death Valley Driver and they were both down. Shingo nailed a top-rope superplex, then a sliding clothesline for a nearfall at 16:00. Sanada went for Deadfall, but Shingo blocked it and Shingo hit a Made in Japan pump-handle powerbomb for a nearfall. This has been tremendous.
Shingo hit another hard clothesline. Sanada got an O’Connor Roll for a believable nearfall at 18:00. Shingo blocked a huracanrana and hit a diving forearm. He hit a headbutt; Sanada hit an enzuigiri. Shingo hit a hard clothesline but Sanada kicked out at one. Shingo nailed another Pumping Bomer, but he couldn’t hit the Made in Japan, as Sanada slipped off Shingo’s back, and Sanada nailed the Deadfall (Jay White’s Blade Runner swinging face plant) for the pin. This match will be in the conversation for best match of the tournament. I was convinced several times that Shingo (my pick, sadly) had hit the move to win.
* Sanada got on the mic and noted the sold-out crowd. He said he likes the G1 Climax the best.
Final Thoughts: A stellar main event that truly could have gone either way. The Kidd-Lee brawl was so much fun, I’ll give that second best, ahead of Naito-Umino. It was inevitable we were going to have a sub-3 minute match at some point of the tournament, and I love that Sabre scored the pin on EVIL in under a minute. Newman got O-Khan to work his style of a fast-paced match, and that was good stuff, too.
The tournament is back in Korakuen Hall on Wednesday with the B Block in action, with David Finlay vs. Hirooki Goto in the main event, plus Yuya Uemura vs. Ren Narita and Yota Tsuji vs. Henare.
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