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NJPW G1 CLIMAX 34: NIGHT 6 REPORT
JULY 28, 2024
FUKUOKA, JAPAN AT FUKUOKA CONVENTION CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
REPORT BY MAURICIO POMARES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentator: Walker Stewart
(1) HIROSHI TANAHASHI & TORU YANO vs. JUST 5 GUYS (Sanada & Taka Michinoku)
Tanahashi knocked Michionku down with a sling blade and forced him to tap out with a Cloverleaf.
WINNERS: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano at 6:21
(Pomares’s Analysis: Not much to say here. Just odd to see a team with no G1 participants win.)
(2) UNITED EMPIRE (The Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman) vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Evil & Dick Togo)
O-Khan put Togo in a sleeper before beating him with the Eliminator.
WINNERS: United Empire at 6:38
(Pomares’s Analysis: Just a way to give O-Khan a modicum of momentum, as he is going with zero wins against the top name on his block next.)
(3) SHOTA UMINO & TOMOAKI HONMA vs. TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr & Kosei Fujita)
Honma tried to go for the Honma Driver, only for ZSJ to knock him out with the Zack Driver.
WINNERS: TMDK at 6:06
(Pomares’s Analysis: Umino and ZSJ had a couple of great matches last year and after seeing them cross paths again here, I’m excited to see what they do on night 7.)
(4) LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPÓN (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Bushi) vs. BULLET CLUB (Gabe Kidd, Jake Lee & Dick Togo)
Naito shocked Gedo with a basement dropkick, allowing Bushi to get the pinfall.
WINNERS: Los Ingobernables de Japón at 7.01
– After the match, Jake Lee and Gabe Kidd assaulted Shingo Takagi before walking to the back.
(Pomares’s Analysis: A lot of focus on building the latest installment of Shingo Takagi vs. Gabe Kidd in this one.)
(5) EL PHANTASMO (2) (w/Gedo) vs. BOLTIN OLEG (2) – B Block Match
Oleg shoved ELP across the ring and put him down with a waist lock takeover. ELP tried to Oleg in a hammerlock, but Oleg kept him away with a shoulder tackle. ELP caught Oleg with a dropkick, only for Oleg to immediately knock him off his feet with a shoulder tackle. Oleg maintained control over ELP with shoulder thrusts and a powerful Irish-whip into the corner. ELP attacked Oleg with a series of chops before being knocked down with a single strike. Oleg tried to put ELP in an armbar, but he immediately wrapped his legs on the ropes. ELP evaded a vertical suplex and twisted Oleg’s nipples, setting him up for a springboard crossbody and a springboard moonsault.
ELP tried to go for the pinfall, only for Oleg to suddenly lift him up and take him down with a gutwrench suplex. Oleg nearly hit the Kamikaze, but ELP blocked it, low-bridged him and blasted him over the guardrail with a suicide dive. ELP nailed Oleg with the Sudden Death kick, following it with the springboard Swan dive and moonsault combination for a two count. ELP attempted to go for the UFO powerslam, but Oleg was too heavy for him. They started exchanging elbow strikes and body shots, until ELP caught Oleg with a pump kick and an enzuigiri. ELP planted Oleg with his modified Burning Hammer, setting him up for Thunder Kiss 86 and a nearfall.
Oleg lifted ELP before he could go for CR2 and hurled him out of the ring with an F5. ELP barely managed to return to the ring, only for Oleg to crush him with splashes to the back and chest for a two count. ELP avoided the Kamikaze and went for a diving DDT, but Oleg blocked it at the last moment. Oleg managed to kick-out of an inside cradle and his feet touched the ropes during a deep roll-up attempt. Oleg knocked ELP down with a backslide before clobbering him with a shotgun dropkick and taking the win with the Kamikaze.
WINNER: Boltin Oleg (4 pts) at 12:17 (***1/4)
(Pomares’s Analysis: I love that New Japan are committing to making both Boltin Oleg and Callum Newman actual threats to anyone in the tournament. Obviously, Newman’s upset win over Takagi was much more shocking, but Oleg picking a second win halfway through the tournament was definitely not in my predictions a week ago. As for the match, it turned out to be a really fun outing that mixed ELP’s highflying style and Oleg’s power very well.)
(6) YUYA UEMURA (6) vs. JEFF COBB (2) – B Block Match
Cobb pushed Uemura to the ropes and put him down with a waist lock takeover. Uemura tried to put Cobb in an ankle lock, making him fall onto the ropes. Cobb blocked an arm drag and a dropkick attempt before shutting Uemura down with a single dropkick. Cobb picked up Uemura’s body and nailed him with knee strikes to the ribs before dropping him down and standing on his back. Uemura managed to stop a Bear Hug attempt and send Cobb out of the ring. Cobb blocked a plancha attempt, only for Uemura to ram his head into the ring post.
Back in the ring, Cobb countered a high crossbody with a powerslam, but immediately missed a standing moonsault. Uemura hit Cobb with an elbow drop and tried to put him in an armbar. Cobb tossed Uemura away to break the hold and crushed him with a standing moonsault for a two count. Uemura knocked Cobb down with an arm drag and a dropkick, setting him up for a huge plancha. Uemura crushed Cobb with a high crossbody, but couldn’t follow up with the Deadbolt Suplex.
Cobb missed a clothesline, allowing Uemura to drop him with a German suplex and a dragon suplex for a close two count. Uemura hit Cobb with a Frog Splash, only for Cobb to avoid a second one. Cobb planted Uemura with a uranage and forearm strike to the chest for a nearfall. Uemura evaded the F5000, only for Cobb to knock him off his feet with a huge lariat. Uemura got a pair of nearfalls with an inside cradle and a crucifix pinfall. Cobb laid Uemura out with the F5000 and finished him off with the Tour of the Islands.
WINNER: Jeff Cobb (4 pts) at 12:30 (***1/2)
(Pomares’s Analysis: The end of Yuya Uemura’s winning streak, but not the end of his series of great performances. Uemura and Cobb’s chemistry was really good and led to some fun sequences and an exciting final stretch. One of the biggest stories in this year’s G1 has been the breakout of Uemura and it’s going to suck when he doesn’t make it into the next round.)
(7) HENARE (4) vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (4) – B Block Match
They started the match with an intense lock-up, trading headlock takeovers in the process. Both men attacked each other with shoulder tackles, until Henare knocked Takeshita off his feet. Takeshita shocked Henare with a forearm strike before gouging his eyes and knocking him out of the ring with the Takeshita Line. At ringside, Takeshita drove Henare into the guardrail and smashed his shoulder into the ring post twice. Takeshita dropped Henare with a DDT on the apron before putting him in a headlock. Henare managed to knock Takeshita off his feet with a kick to the chest, only for Takeshita to trip him into the corner and clobber him with a forearm strike to the back of the head.
Henare blocked a Blue Thunderbomb attempt with an enzuigiri and planted Takeshita with the Berzerker Bomb. Before Takeshita could defend himself, Henare pummeled him with a bunch of body shots and laid him out with a Samoan drop. Henare caught Takeshita with a kick to the head, but Takehsita blocked the follow-up Penalty kick. Takeshita missed a forearm strike, allowing Henare to crack him with two knee strikes to the head. Henare dumped Takeshita with a back body drop, only for Takeshita to quickly respond with a jumping knee strike. Takeshita hit Henare with a wheelbarrow German suplex and a poison rana, only for Henare to immediately fire up and knock him off his feet with Rampage.
Takeshita avoided the Streets of Rage and clocked Henare with a huge forearm strike. Henare surprised Takeshita with a Disaster Kick, only for Takeshita to turn him inside out with a lariat for a shocking kick-out at one. Takeshita immediately planted Henare with the Blue Thunderbomb for a nearfall. Henare caught Takeshita off-guard with a hook kick before receiving another forearm strike to the head. Henare withstood a jumping knee and nearly beat Takeshita with a running Hammerhead shot. Takeshita once again blocked the Streets of Rage before knocking Henare out with two brain busters and the Raging Fire.
WINNER: Konosuke Takeshita (6 pts) at 13:19 (***3/4)
(Pomares’s Analysis: Very entertaining and hard-hitting bout to put Takeshita back on track after his shock loss to Uemura. Takeshita has been the MVP of the tournament so far with arguably the best match on every show he’s had so far. There are still two matches on this card, but so far this looks like another Takeshita match of the night.)
(8) DAVID FINLAY (2) (w/Gedo) vs. REN NARITA (4) (w/Yoshinobu Kanemaru) – B Block Match
They immediately started brawling on the entrance ramp, taking the fight into the crowd. Finlay seemingly took the upper hand, until Yoshinobu Kanemaru attacked him from behind. Finlay shoved Kanemaru away and threw Narita into the ring to start the match. Narita took a cheap shot at Gedo and caught Finlay off-guard with a pair of shots into the guardrail. Narita sent Finlay over the guardrail with a big boot and nailed him with a neckbreaker onto the guardrail. Kanemaru distracted the referee, allowing Narita to clobber Finlay with a chair.
Back in the ring, Narita catapulted Finlay’s throat into the bottom rope for a two count. Finlay caught Narita with a pair of forearms and laid him out with a release Blue Thunderbomb before clotheslining him out of the ring. Finlay drove Narita into the guardrail and threatened to attack Kanemaru with Narita’s push-up bar. Finlay rammed Narita into the guardrail and drove his head into the ring post. Back in the ring, Finlay blasted Narita with a corner uppercut, followed by a release suplex.
Narita gouged Finlay’s eyes and launched him away with a Xploder. Narita dropped Finlay with a snap suplex and trapped him in a deep Guillotine Choke. Finlay evaded Hell’s Guillotine and laid Narita out with a spinning facebuster. Finlay immediately flattened Narita with a Dominator for a close two count. Narita blocked the Overkill and put him in a sleeper hold before ramming his back into the exposed turnbuckles. Narita pushed Finlay to the ropes and distracted the referee, allowing Kanemaru to blind him with a whiskey spit.
Finlay kicked out of a roll-up, only for Narita to knock the referee out of the ring in the process. Finlay avoided a bottle shot from Kanemaru and obliterated him with a shillelagh blow to the head. Narita hit Finlay with a low blow, only for Finlay to block a strike with the push-up bar and clobber him with his shillelagh. Once the referee was back in the ring, Finlay beat Narita with a barrage of buckle bombs and powerbombs.
WINNER: David Finlay (4 pts) at 11:01 (***)
(Pomares’s Analysis: While everyone has kept their eyes on Takeshita and Uemura’s campaigns, David Finlay has quietly had a great tournament so far, at least in teams of in-ring performances. Even in a match featuring a bunch of House of Torture and Bullet Club shenanigans, I still managed to have a decent time and it’s thanks mostly to Finlay.)
(9) HIROOKI GOTO (2) vs. YOTA TSUJI (2) – B Block Match
Tsuji put Goto in a wrist lock, transitioning into a Crabate shortly after. Goto dropped Tsuji with a hip toss, but Tsuji rolled out of the ring before he could follow up. Once Tsuji returned, Goto caught him with a pair of corner clotheslines, only for Tsuji to block a hip toss and knock him off his feet. Tsuji caught Goto with a punch and a knee to the abdomen, followed by a forearm shot to the back. Tsuji trapped Goto in a bodyscissors lock and added pressure by holding his arm, but Goto managed to reach the ropes.
Goto withstood a corner clothesline and knocked Tsuji off his feet with a running clothesline. Goto crushed Tsuji with Muramasa and laid him out with a back suplex for a two count. Tsuji caught Goto with a boot to the face and put him down with his double stomp to the head. Tsuji dropped Goto with a bodyslam, setting him up for a big splash and a two count. Both men tried to go for a suplex at the same time, only for Goto to shock Tsuji with Ushigoroshi.
As they got back on their feet, Goto and Tsuji traded numerous forearm strikes to the head. Goto caught Tsuji off-guard with the inverted GTR, followed by a lariat. Tsuji managed to put Goto down with a backbreaker, a stomp to the head and a Curb Stomp, but he kicked out at two. Goto struggled to get to his knees, allowing Tsuji to blast him with a boot to the face and a stomp to the head. Goto evaded the Malo Crash, only for Tsuji to lay him out with a pump knee and a modified sit-out powerbomb.
Goto avoided the Gene Blaster and drove Tsuji into the turnbuckle, nearly stealing the win with a roll-up. Tsuji ducked from a clothesline, only for Goto to flatten him with a GTW for a nearfall. Goto whacked Tsuji with a kick to the chest and turned him inside out with a lariat, setting him up for the Shouten Kai for a close nearfall. Tsuji tried to block the GTR, but Goto overpowered him and hit it for the win.
WINNER: Hirooki Goto (4 pts) at 17:37 (****)
(Pomares’s Analysis: Another great encounter between these two after their acclaimed bout in the New Japan Cup finals. Goto has had a bit of a resurgence year as a singles wrestler in 2024 and this was yet another proof of that. Going in, I expected Yota Tsuji to have a dominant run through the tournament after winning the New Japan Cup and nearly taking the world title. However, it seems like he has become a bit of an underdog as we reach the midway point of the G1. I still expect him to make it to the next round, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he barely makes the cut.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: After a slightly weaker night 5, G1 Climax is back with another strong show to keep their momentum. Aside from a few matches here and there, I’ve really enjoyed this year’s tournament and how unexpected some of the results have been. While the A block has some of my favorites, I’ve enjoyed way more of the faction in B block with the likes of Takeshita, Uemura, Finlay, Tsuji, Henare and Cobb delivering the goods every time. From this night alone, I’d say it’s worth seeing every match, but Goto vs. Tsuji and Takeshita vs. Henare are definitely the must-watch ones.
You can contact Mauricio at mauriciopomares@gmail.com or on TwitterX @PomiWrestling
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