By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 34 Night 18”
August 17, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan at Ryogoku Kokugikan (Sumo Hall)
Streamed live on New Japan World
The group stage is over! We are down to just four wrestlers remaining, and this show features our two semi-final matches. The G1 Climax finale is Sunday. Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton provided commentary. The venue is a large arena and I wouldn’t be surprised if the crowd is 3,000 to 5,000.
1. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Robbie Eagles and Mikey Nicholls (w/Kosei Fujita) defeated Shoma Kato and Yoshi-Hashi at 9:25. Good to see both Nicholls and Eagles back here. Fujita has his shoulder heavily wrapped. Eagles has been living in the Chicago area this summer and has been on several ROH tapings; he opened and worked Shoma’s left arm. Nicholls dropped Shoma with a loud chop at 2:30. Yoshi-Hashi finally got in and attacked both opponents. He hit a DDT on Mikey for a nearfall at 6:00. Nicholls hit his own DDT and they were both down. Eagles got back in, but Yoshi-Hashi hit his Headhunter flipping neckbreaker on Robbie. Shoma entered and he put Eagles in a Boston Crab. However, Eagles hit a Turbo Backpack to pin Shoma. Really good action.
2. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Jake Lee and Gabe Kidd defeated Hirooki Goto and Tomoaki Honma at 7:51. Charlton and Stewart continued their conversation from Thursday that Lee and Kidd are in the tag title mix, and they ran into the ring to attack Goto and Honma, and the action spilled to ringside. In the ring, Kidd and Honma traded chops, and Gabe bit his forehead. Goto tagged in and battled Kidd. (Lee and Kidd were in the A Block while Goto was in the B Block, so this is their first time competing against each other on this tour.) Honma and Lee traded chops. Honma missed the Kokeshi falling headbutt. Lee hit a huge back suplex for a nearfall at 6:30. Goto hit the neckbreaker over his knee on Kidd. Honma hit a running headbutt on Lee. However, Lee hit the Helluva Kick and pinned Honma.
3. Konosuke Takeshita and “United Empire” Jeff Cobb and Callum Newman defeated Shota Umino and “Guerrillas of Destiny” Jado and El Phantasmo at 8:32. Charlton (rightfully) raved about Takeshita’s G1 run, noting that a lot of the NJPW fan base saw Takeshita for the very first time on this tour. Cobb and Shota opened, and Shota couldn’t pick up Cobb. Cobb hit a back suplex on ELP for a nearfall at 2:00, then his standing moonsault for a nearfall. Takeshita entered and hit a second-rope senton splash. Phantasmo and Takeshita traded forearm strikes. ELP hit a dropkick on Newman at 4:30.
Shota again couldn’t pick up Cobb; seconds later he finally bodyslammed him. Newman hit a doublestomp on Umino’s back. Takeshita battled Umino. (Again, these two didn’t meet in Block action). Umino hit a dropkick and they were both down. Jado entered for the first time. Jado and ELP hit a team shoulder tackle on Takeshita. More miscommunication between Jado and ELP as they were shoved into each other! Takeshita hit a stiff forearm strike and pinned Jado.
4. “House of Torture” EVIL, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Ren Narita, Sho, and Yujiro Takahashi (w/Dick Togo) defeated Toru Yano, Boltin Oleg, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Tiger Mask at 9:44. First appearance on this tour for Tiger Mask and Taguchi. The HoT attacked and stomped on Tanahashi to open, and he hadn’t even had enough time to take off his robe. Tanahashi hit his second-rope crossbody block. Tiger Mask hit a backbreaker over his knee on Sho. Taguchi hit his flying buttbumps. The action went to the floor with the HoT beating up most of the babyfaces there, while Kanemaru had Tiger Mask grounded on the mat in the ring.
EVIL choked Tiger Mask with a shirt and got a nearfall at 4:30. Narita hit a Mafia Kick for a nearfall as they kept TM in their corner. TM hit a Tiger Driver on Ren. Oleg entered for the first time, but several HoT guys attacked him. He hit a shoulder tackle that dropped them. He splashed onto Sho for a nearfall, then hit his gut-wrench suplex on Narita. Yano entered for the first time at 8:00 and he battled EVIL and got a rollup for a nearfall. Togo hit his knife-edge chop to Yano’s groin as the HoT beat up Yano. EVIL hit low blows on Yano and Tanahashi. EVIL then hit the Everything is Evil uranage to pin Yano. Surprisingly passable.
* El Phantasmo and Shota Umino ran to the ring to save the babyfaces from a further beatdown. I didn’t mention it in the prior match, but Stewart and Charlton hinted that these two could make a good tag team, and that was reinforced with this save and staredown with EVIL.
5. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, and Taiji Ishimori defeated “Just 5 Guys” Taka Michinoku, Douki, and Taichi at 8:02. First appearance on this tour for this BCWD trio. Ishimori choked Douki with a shirt early on. Connors hit a powerslam on Douki at 3:00. Drilla hit some chops; he is unnaturally tan right now. Douki hit a DDT on Moloney. Taichi entered at 5:00 and hit a spin kick to Drilla’s face. Drilla hit an enzuigiri on Taichi. Taka entered and he tied up Ishimori’s head on the mat. He then applied the lock on Connors. Ishimori tied Taka in the Bone Lock but a teammate made the save. Moments later, Ishimori reapplied the Bone Lock, and this time Taka tapped out. Ishimori pointed at Douki and made it clear he wants a shot at the junior’s title.
6. “United Empire” Henare, Francesco Akira, and Great-O-Khan defeated “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Tetsuya Naito, Bushi, and Hiromu Takahashi at 9:12. Charlton talked about how Naito had, by his standards, a disappointing tournament at 5-4 and he expected to be in the playoffs. The UE attacked and all six brawled. The UE worked over Naito in their corner. Henare hit a stiff kick to the spine and a senton for a nearfall at 2:30. O-Khan entered and hit his Mongolian Chops. Naito finally hit a springboard tornado DDT on O-Khan. Hiromu got the hot tag at 4:30 and battled Akira, hitting a huracanrana and a basement dropkick on Francesco.
Takahashi hit a German Suplex on Henare, then a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Henare hit a Berzerker Bomb on Hiromu for a nearfall at 6:30. Bushi finally entered and hit a basement dropkick on O-Khan, then a dive through the ropes on Henare at 8:00. Akira hit a plancha to the floor. Henare hit a running knee to Bushi’s jaw for a nearfall. Henare put Bushi in the full nelson, and Bushi tapped out. Good action. As a whole, this felt like an inspired night of undercard action. O-Khan (who pinned Naito just days ago) posed with the IWGP World Title before dropping it on a prone Naito.
7. Yota Tsuji defeated David Finlay (w/Gedo) in the B Block finale at 28:04. Walker reminded us these two were on a collision course to meet in the New Japan Cup, until Finlay had to withdraw due to illness. Charlton talked about how Finlay was born into “wrestling royalty.” They immediately traded forearm strikes and Yota hit a shoulder tackle, then he applied a leg lock around Finlay’s waist. Finlay hit an Irish Whip at 4:00 and Yota sold pain in his back. Finlay immediately hit an Irish Curse backbreaker over his knee and he applied a Camel Clutch. They got up and traded forearm strikes, and Yota now hit a backbreaker over his knee, and Finlay bailed to the floor to regroup. Yota set up for a dive but Finlay cut him off.
Finlay whipped Yota back-first into a guardrail. He pulled out several tables from under the ring and set them up on the floor. Finlay teased putting Yota through the tables at 8:30, but Tsuji escaped. Yota finally hit the dive through the ropes and barreled into Finlay, and they were both down. In the ring, Yota hit a gutbuster over his knees at 10:30. Finlay hit a diving European Uppercut. Yota hit a Stomp on the head. They fought to the ring apron and the two tables were set up below them on the floor. They fought to the floor, and Finlay slammed Yota’s back across the ring post at 13:30. In the ring, FInlay hit another Irish Curse backbreaker for a nearfall. He hit another one for a nearfall at 15:00; the time check is right on.
Yota avoided a Dominator face plant, and he nailed a running knee for a nearfall. Yota nailed a top-rope Spanish Fly, then a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall, then the Stomp! However, he couldn’t hit the second-rope stomp. Finlay immediately hit the Dominator swinging face plant and they were both down at 17:30. Yota got a rollup for a nearfall. They fought back onto the apron, above those two tables below. Yota hit a backbody drop on the apron, and Finlay rolled to the floor. Shota now shoved Finlay into the ring post; Charlton said it was a “receipt from earlier.” Finlay powerbombed Yota onto the tables at ringside at 21:00! Yota barely got back into the ring at the 19-count.
Finlay immediately hit the Oblivion neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall. He mounted Yota and hit a series of punches, and he shoved the ref away and was booed. Finlay hit a standing powerbomb for a nearfall at 24:00. Finlay hit another standing powerbomb for a believable nearfall. Finlay hit a pair of Buckle Bombs. Tsuji nailed the Gene Blaster (spear) for a believable nearfall and they were both down. Yota hit another stomp on the head. He nailed the top-rope stomp to the head for a believable nearfall at 27:00. “What is it going to take?” Walker shouted. Finlay went for the Oblivion pop-up kneestrike, but Yota blocked it. Yota hit a headbutt and a Deadbolt suplex, then the Gene Blaster for the pin! What a match.
* Walker and Charlton talked about how Yota needed to use the move of his rival (Yuya Uemura’s Deadbolt double-underhook suplex) to score the pin, as nothing in Yota’s arsenal was putting Finlay down.
8. Zack Sabre Jr. (w/TMDK) defeated Shingo Takagi in the A Block finale at 27:36. Sabre immediately tied up the left arm. They avoided each other’s big moves early on. Sabre stomped on the left elbow at 3:30. Shingo snapped Sabre’s neck between his ankles, which is a signature Sabre move! Shingo hit a DDT move at 6:00. They went to the floor, where Shingo whipped Zack into the guardrail. He dropped Sabre face-first on the ring apron. Back in the ring, Shingo tied up Sabre on the mat, and Zack reached the ropes at 8:30. Shingo hit a flying kneedrop on the upper back. Sabre hit the neck snap between his ankles and they were both down at 10:30.
Shingo hit some jab punches and a DDT at 12:00. He hit a back suplex. Sabre slammed Shingo’s left knee onto the mat at 14:00 and he began kicking at the leg. He grapevined the leg, and Shingo reached the ropes at 16:00. Shingo got up and hit a Pumping Bomber clothesline and they were both down. Shingo hit a second-rope superplex, then a Magic Screw twisting neckbreaker. Sabre went for an O’Connor Roll, but Shingo blocked it and he applied a sleeper hold. Shingo nailed the Made In Japan swinging powerbomb at 19:30 but was selling the leg injury. Shingo hit another Pumping Bomber for a nearfall. Sabre hit the Zack Driver and they were both down.
Sabre hit some Yes Kicks, and he again snapped the neck with his ankles, then a penalty kick for a nearfall. He again grapevined Shingo’s legs; Shingo reached the ropes at 22:30. Sabre again stomped on the left elbow. Shingo hit a Death Valley Driver and another Pumping Bomber, but he could barely run as he was hobbled. Sabre went for a sleeper, so Shingo fell backward onto him, but Sabre somehow turned it into a triangle choke as the 25:00 mark is right on. Shingo nailed the Last of the Dragon modified Death Valley Driver for a believable nearfall. Charlton shouted that he hasn’t seen anyone kick out of that move.
Sabre hit a series of slaps to the face. He dropped Shingo with a clothesline, then another Zack Driver. He reapplied a grapevine of the leg and Shingo teased tapping out, covering his own mouth and tugging on the ref’s ankles. He tapped out! I didn’t see that coming. (I fully expected Sabre to win but I didn’t see a Shingo tapout coming.) Another stellar match.
* Tsuji, wearing his street clothes, rolled into the ring and stood across from Sabre. Zack offered a handshake, which Yota accepted. Yota turned and left with no words said, no punches thrown. I love it. Sabre went into the crowd and stood in the lower deck. In Japanese, all he said was “see you tomorrow.” His music played, so that’s all we’re getting from him today.
Final thoughts: Two tremendous matches. I did expect both Sabre and Tsuji to win today, so I’m not surprised. (I did put three of the four semifinalists in my bracket before the entire tournament began, as I had Takeshita over Tsuji.) Sabre was my pre-tournament favorite and I see no reason to change that pick now.
As I noted above, the undercard was inspired work by everyone. Maybe it was due to some fresh matchups (A Block guys finally in the ring against some B Block guys), maybe it was the returns of everyone from Connors and Ishimori to Moloney and Nicholls, but the action was just sharper. SO, after a month of matches, and me writing thousands of words about it, the finale takes place Sunday.
Great job as always Chris! I always enjoy reading your reviews. Tsuji vs. sabre Jr should be an excellent match.