By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 34 Night 14”
August 10, 2024 in Miyagi, Japan at Xebio Arena Sendai
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.
* Entering tonight, two of the 10 competitors in the B Block have been eliminated: Boltin Oleg and El Phantasmo. However, anyone who falls to 3-5 (six points) or worse will be eliminated.
* A quick boast: Wrestling statistician Chris Samsa is running an online tournament with about 730 participants. Entering this show, I am tied for THIRD PLACE. I am mentioning it here and now, because no way do I finish anywhere better than this. I’m at my peak spot so I have to pat myself on the back now before I tumble down the list!
1. “United Empire” Great-O-Khan, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, and Katsuya Murashima at 6:31. Akira and Murashima opened. Tanahashi entered and hit Dragonscrew Legwhips on each opponent, then a summersault senton on Akira at 4:30. Akira hit a doublestomp on Tanahashi’s back. Akira applied a Boston Crab on Murashima, who tapped out. Basic.
2. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Jake Lee, Gedo, and Gabe Kidd defeated “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, and Bushi at 8:43. Bushi pulled on Gedo’s beard and LIJ beat him up early on. Naito hit a tornado DDT on Kidd at 4:30. Shingo got a hot tag and battled Lee, hitting a Dragonscrew Legwhip at 7:00. Bushi hit an enzuigiri on Lee. Lee applied a front guillotine choke out of nowhere, and Bushi quickly tapped out. A rare win for Gedo!
3. Shota Umino and Tomoaki Honma defeated “House of Torture” EVIL and Dick Togo at 8:03. All four brawled at the bell, and the HoT worked over Honma. Honma finally hit a double Flatliner and he tagged in Shota at 5:00. Shota hit an Exploder Suplex on Togo, and Honma hit his Kokeshi falling headbutt, then Shota hit the Death Rider double-arm DDT to pin Togo. Okay.
* This is the eighth 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 16 points at this time. Also, a reminder that THREE competitors from each block make the playoffs, so even someone at 4-4 (8 points) is still mathematically alive. Anyone at 3-5 (6 points) or worse is eliminated.
* Callum Newman joined Stewart on commentary.
4. Boltin Oleg (6) defeated Konosuke Takeshita (8) in a B Block tournament match at 12:09. Oleg has been competitive and been much better than his record indicates. An intense lockup to open. Takeshita hit a flip dive to the floor at 3:00. In the ring, Takeshita hit a flying clothesline. Oleg hit a Stinger Splash, then a shoulder tackle and a splash to the mat for a nearfall at 6:00. Takeshita hit a swinging Blue Thunder Bomb out of the corner. He hit a brainbuster at 8:00 but Oleg popped up and hit a gut-wrench suplex, then a Vader Bomb for a nearfall.
This is easily Oleg’s best match of the tournament. Oleg hit his Kamikaze forward Finlay Roll for a believable nearfall. Takeshita hit a German Suplex, so Oleg hit one. Takeshita hit another German Suplex, so Oleg hit another one. Oleg hit a third one and this one had an awkward landing for Takeshita. Oleg hit a shotgun dropkick for a believable nearfall. Oleg hit an F5 Slam, then a second Kamikaze for the pin! What a brawl. Takeshita is now on the verge of elimination with this loss. An excellent bout.
5. Ren Narita (10) defeated Henare (6) in a B Block tournament match at 13:43. Henare came out first; Narita attacked him from behind on the entrance ramp and I start my stopwatch, but they got into the ring right away and the bell sounded at 0:26 to officially begin. Henare nailed some stiff kicks to the spine and beat down Narita. They brawled to the floor and into the crowd. In the ring, Narita tied up an ankle. He hit a Mafia Kick at 5:00. Henare hit a clothesline in the corner and a senton. He hit a hard punch to the gut that buckled Narita. Narita hit an Exploder Suplex at 8:00. He hit a Northern Lights Suplex and was back in charge. Narita went for his Guillotine (flying knee to the throat) but Henare blocked it.
Ren grapevined the leg on the mat and reapplied an anklelock. Henare hit a clothesline, then a running kneestrike to the jaw in the corner. Naita tugged on the ref’s shirt; the ref accidentally slapped Henare! The ref got bumped. Narita grabbed his push-up bar but Henare blocked him from using it. Henare hit a Samoan Drop at 11:30 but the ref was down. Narita hit Henare in the back of the leg with the push-up bar and he applied a leg lock. Henare escaped. Ren couldn’t hit the Double Cross, and Henare hit the Rampage football tackle for a believable nearfall. Narita hit a low blow, then the Double Cross (X-Factor) face plant for the cheap pin. I didn’t expect this outcome at all. Narita has over-performed my expectations with 10 points.
6. El Phantasmo (w/Jado) (6) defeated Hirooki Goto (8) in a B Block tournament match at 13:04. A feeling-out process early on. ELP hit a dropkick at 1:30. Goto clotheslined ELP to the floor. In the ring, they traded forearm strikes. ELP hit a plancha to the floor at 4:30, then a top-rope moonsault to the floor on Goto! In the ring, ELP hit a Lionsault for a nearfall. Goto fired back with a hard clothesline. They traded more forearm strikes. Phantasmo hit an enzuigiri at 8:30, then a clothesline and they were both down.
Phantasmo hit an elbow drop to the sternum in the corner, then a suplex for a nearfall. ELP hit a release Burning Hammer, dropping Goto awkwardly. He hit a top-rope frogsplash for a believable nearfall and they were both down at 11:00. Goto hit a headbutt and a neckbreaker over his knee, then the GTR elbowdrop to the chest. ELP nailed a superkick. They traded rollups and ELP got the pinfall! Solid match. I figured before the tournament began that ELP would finish either 3-6 or 4-5, so he needed this win.
7. David Finlay (10) defeated Jeff Cobb (10) in a B Block tournament match at 11:39. Finlay hit some forearm strikes early on that Cobb no-sold. Finlay hit a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 2:30. Cobb hit a fallaway slam. They went to the floor, when Finlay pushed Cobb into the ring post, then they crashed through the barricade and wound up on the floor near the fans. In the ring, Finlay was in charge and hit some crossface blows, then a clothesline to the back of the head at 7:00.
Finlay nailed a Dominator swinging face plant for a nearfall. Cobb hit a uranage and a diving forearm, then a standing moonsault for a nearfall at 9:30. Finlay hit a bulldog for a nearfall. Cobb hit a clothesline and was fired up. He set up for the Tour of the Islands but Finlay escaped. Finlay hit a standing powerbomb for a nearfall, then another one. Finlay then nailed the Overkill pop-up kneestrike to the sternum for the pin. A good, hard-hitting match. Finlay started 0-2 but he now sits at 5-3.
8. Yuya Uemura (8) defeated Yota Tsuji (8) in a B Block tournament match at 16:09. These two had a wild feud this spring that culminated with a hair-vs-hair match where Yuya lost and shaved himself bald. The bell rang and this crowd was HOT and split at the bell. A methodical feeling-out process early on; these two have wrestled a lot already, going back to being Young Lions together. (Stewart noted they are 1-1 since they both returned from excursion.) Yuya tied him up in a hammerlock on the mat, and he hit a deep armdrag at 4:30. They traded chops.
Tsuji hit a gutbuster over his knees and got a nearfall at 8:00. Yuya snapped Tsuji’s left arm. Tsuji applied a Boston Crab, but Yuya reached the ropes. Tsuji hit a dropkick; Yuya hit a dropkick and they were both down at 10:00. Yuya went for a frogsplash but Tsuji got his knees up. Yota dove through the ropes onto Uemura! In the ring, he hit a superkick, then a swinging slam for a nearfall, and he re-applied the Boston Crab. Yuya was selling an elbow injury, and Tsuji laid in some stiff chops. Tsuji hit a top-rope stomp on the back, and he set up for the Gene Blaster (spear), but Yuya ducked it and hit an armdrag, then got a rollup for a nearfall. Moments later, Yuya got the inside cradle for the pin! A very good match.
* Yuya spoke on the mic after his win.
Final Thoughts: I refuse to even look at the tie-breaker scenarios going into the final night of Block action. Jeff Cobb, David Finlay and the surprising Ren Narita are all at 10 points, so if they all win, they reach the playoffs. But we have four others at 4-4 (eight points) and I’m sure mathematically they are all still alive somehow. I just looked at the lineup for Wednesday’s final night, and if Cobb, Finlay and Narita all lose — they don’t face each other so it’s entirely possible — there is a scenario where we could have a seven-way tie of wrestlers finishing at 5-4. Good luck telling me the tiebreakers out of that mess.
Only one elimination today, as I truly didn’t see Narita’s win over Henare coming. The even-steven booking would have indicated a Henare win there. I’ll go with the main event for best, Takeshita-Oleg for second and Finlay-Cobb for third.
Boast time again: I am now in fifth place in Chris Samsa’s online tournament. There are four people who are tied for first place at 110 points, and I’m in a tie with others with 108 points, just one win behind.
The end of the tournament is upon us! After taking Sunday off, the A Block is in action Monday for their final round-robin matches. Zack Sabre has locked down a playoff spot while three men have been eliminated, leaving six wrestlers fighting for two playoff spots. Key matches Monday are Shingo Takagi vs. Jake Lee and Tetsuya Naito vs. Great-O-Khan.
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