Sambus’ NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 13 Review

Location: Kanagawa, Japan

Venue: Yokohama Budokan

English Commentary: Walker Stewart & Chris Charlton

 

[A Block] Tetsuya Naito [8] vs Callum Newman [4]

Newman gets the jump on Naito, tries a moonsault to the floor, but Naito whips him into the barricade, which Newman avoids! Dropkicks Naito into the barricade, still in his suit. Newman rolls Naito into the ring for the opening bell, but Naito sends him back out, giving him a chance to disrobe into his ring gear. Newman gets driven into the railings now, before being brought back in for some wrist-clutch elbow shots and the stalling neckbreaker. A cover gets a 1 count.

Cravat applied, Naito cranking the neck, but Newman breaks it with some punches to the gut. He sweeps the legs and hits a double stomp to the back of Naito. Running uppercut in the corner followed by an enziguri, PK and a standing moonsault for 2. Newman hooks the arms, Naito drives him backwards into the turnbuckles though. Atomic drop, more elbow shots to the neck as they head to the top rope, hurracanrana from Naito, but Newman landed on his feet (sort of).

Running dropkick in the corner, springboard stomp misses, Naito with a spinebuster! Looks for Destino but it’s blocked. Newman misses a kick, Naito with the enziguri. Knee to the face blocks a Destino! Oscutter misses, Naito gets a running Destino for the 1, 2, NO! Full Destino connects, 1, 2, 3.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito

Time: 5:55

Rating: **3/4 – Pretty packed for just under 6 minutes, although there were a couple of mishaps with whiffed shots. Newman kicking out of the Destino, even if it wasn’t the ‘full’ version as Naito hadn’t hooked the neck/arm, is quite a choice and it’s cool to see New Japan continue to keep him looking good despite being eliminated.

 

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[A Block] SANADA [8] vs Great O-Khan [6]

Shining Wizard and the Magic Screw connect early for SANADA but he misses the moonsault and jars the knee on the landing. O-Khan immediately targets the leg, forcing SANADA to the floor to recover. O-Khan heads out to meet him, wrapping the leg around the railing and kicking it. Back in the ring, O-Khan kicks the back of the leg, covers for 2. Heel hook applied, into a reverse Figure Four, and SANADA grabs the ropes. SANADA tries to make some space and hits a side Russian leg sweep but he can’t capitalize. Dropkick sequence by SANADA, plancha to the outside, and he tries to rub some life back into his knee.

In the ring, SANADA looks for a Destino, uses the momentum to lock in the Skull End! But a Judo takedown from O-Khan puts a stop to that. Pump kick to the leg, he pulls the kneepad off of SANADA and delivers a single leg atomic drop, but SANADA muscles him up for a TKO. And he kips up, despite the dodgy knee? O-Khan with a right hand meets a Shining Wizard attempt. Prawn hold attempt, O-Khan locks in a sleeper. German but SANADA jars the knee, powers through to hit the Shining Wizard. One more Shining Wizard, leg seemingly all fine again. O-Khan hits the hammerlock DDT, follows up with the Eliminator! 1, 2, 3.

Winner: Great O-Khan

Time: 11:11

Rating: ***1/4 – O-Khan lives to fight another day! He had some good legwork here, but SANADA’S selling was oddly sporadic. Moments of selling it really well, then moments later completely forgets it.

 

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[A Block] Shota Umino [6] vs Jake Lee [6]

Umino charges at Lee as the bell rings and they head to the floor, where Umino gets whipped into the railings but comes right back with a dropkick. Lee grabs a steel chair, smacks Umino in the back with it. Back in the ring, that leads to a 1 count, and Lee looks for a Boston Crab. Umino fights it, kicking him away. Lee stomps him and locks it in, then steps back into the Liontamer, driving the knee into the small of the back. Umino claws his way to the ropes to break it. Dropkick by Umino as Lee hits the ropes, follows up with an uppercut in the corner. Knee to the midsection by Lee, but a drop toe hold sends Lee into the ropes and Umino delivers the hanging DDT on the apron. Diving dropkick as Lee gets back into the ring, Fisherman’s suplex with a bridging pin gets 2. Ignition misses, knee to the gut by Lee and a kick to the chest. Umino on his knees tells Lee to bring it on, so Lee delivers a series of kicks to the chest. Lee goes for one more kick, Umino catches it and knocks him down with a big forearm. They trade forearm shots now, back elbow from Umino, one from Lee. Exploder suplex, Lee back up for a German, but Umino comes right back with a Blaze Blade! Both men down for the delayed selling. Ignition connects, 1, 2, no. Umino hooks the arms thinking Death Rider, Lee fights it. Roaring elbow! Capture Death Rider! 1, 2, NO. Back suplex by Lee! 1, 2, no.

Torture Rack by Lee, and Umino is in trouble. He won’t submit though, so Lee drops him to the canvas. Goozle, chokeslam! 1, 2, NO. Lee is all smiles, enjoying the competition. He signals for the Face Break shot, but UMINO COMES BACK WITH THE BLAZE BLADE. One more to the back of the neck! MISSES the Death Rider though as Lee hits the Giant Killing, desperation enziguri from Umino, but Lee nails the Face Break Shot! 1, 2, 3.

Winner: Jake Lee

Time: 16:01

Rating: ***3/4 – Well I did NOT expect this to be that good! Umino was a lot more fired up here, showing much more charisma, addressing my primary criticism of him this tournament. Honestly, he looked like a star tonight. Really hot finishing sequence too, that ruled.

 

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[A Block] Zack Sabre Jr [10] vs Gabe Kidd [6]

Kidd lays it in early with hard chops. Both men jockey for arm drags, double hand palm strike by Kidd and more chops send Sabre Jr to his knees. Big boot from Kidd, one from Zack, rolls into a double leg Nelson hold for 2. More chops send ZSJ to the floor, where he is whipped into the railings. They trade chops and uppercuts, Kidd tries to whip Zack again but ZSJ puts the brakes on, charges and jumps to lock in a guillotine. Gabe Kidd suplexes out of it on the floor! MORE chops as Sabre Jr’s chest is red raw already.

Back in the ring, Kidd continues the chopping assault, and Zack’s chest is split open, veins popping too. Kidd must have delivered about 30 or 40 chops by this point. Big slap by Sabre Jr, and Kidd sits cross legged on the mat and tells Zack to ‘sit down, bitch’. Zack joins him as Kidd says to the camera that ‘Katsuyori needs to watch this’. They slap each other until Kidd bites the nose. Zack with hard slaps now, PK connects! Kidd back with an uppercut shot and a German, ZSJ with a German too, Exploder by Kidd, and another PK from ZSJ puts an exclamation point on it. Running chop from Kidd, stereo lariats, they trade lariats now until Kidd hits a brainbuster for 2.

Another double Nelson leg hold gets 2, Kidd goes right back to the chops. Sabre Jr catches the arm and stomps it. Kidd goes for another chop, but he just hurts his own hand this time. PK misses, ZSJ catches the rebound lariat and looks for the cross-armbreaker. Joint manipulation on the hand, Kidd rolls through into a wheelbarrow German! Kicks to the arm of Gabe, and Sabre Jr locks in an octopus, but Kidd fires back with a tombstone piledriver! 1, 2, no. Gutwrench powerbomb doesn’t really connect, they trade pinning combinations but both only get 2 counts. Zack Driver misses, Emerald Flowsion by Kidd! MOONSAULT by Kidd, but Sabre Jr catches him in the triangle submission! Kidd works out of it with forearm shots to the face. Double chop to the back by Kidd, Zack gets him up for a Gotch piledriver, can’t get it. The Zack Driver finally connects! Jumping enziguri from ZSJ, rebound lariat by Kidd! 1, 2, NO. Kidd mutters to himself that ZSJ isn’t winning. Sabre Jr jumps on his back and locks in a sleeper… he hooks the arms with his legs too! Kidd is out!

Winner: Zack Sabre Jr

Time: 16:20

Rating: **** – Full of vicious brawling, which you’d expect from Kidd but perhaps not from ZSJ. This was the proverbial war and they both killed it. Sabre Jr is going to need a loooong ice bath after all those chops. Kidd was great here, and I loved him using the Emerald Flowsion in a callback to ZSJ’s early days in NOAH.

 

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[A Block] Shingo Takagi [6] vs EVIL [10]

EVIL attacks Shingo as he tries to enter the ring, and drives him back first into the railings. EVIL grabs some steel chairs, wraps one around Shingo’s neck and goes swinging with the other. EVIL mocks Shingo in the ring, and Shingo gets whipped into the exposed turnbuckle upon re-entering the ring. Togo attacks Shingo on the outside again, tosses him back inside. Axe handle to the back of Shingo, Shingo charges in the corner but goes into another exposed turnbuckle. Suplex gets a 2 count for EVIL. He rakes the eyes, but Shingo comes back to deliver a dragon screw. Shoulder block and a body slam is followed by a senton for 2.

Twist It Out connects for Shingo, corner lariat, and he hits a combo of right hands, jabs and forearms. Suplex connects, followed by hammer and anvil elbows but EVIL comes back with a misdirection lariat. Fisherman’s suplex gets a 2 for him, Shingo misses a lariat, EVIL gets one of his own but only gets a 1 count from it. Another EVIL lariat connects, Shingo comes back with some headbutts and a sliding bomber. Red Shoes is pushed away but Shingo catches the low blow attempt. Togo enters the ring to attack, but Hiromu Takahashi leaps up from Japanese commentary to get involved! Nope, he’s taken out too, so here comes Bushi. Bushi attacks Shingo! Wait, it’s not the real Bushi. The real Bushi gets involved but is sent outside, and the fake Bushi unmasks to reveal it’s Kanemaru. House of Torture continue the attack on Shingo, hitting the train of lariats in the corner, followed by the Dick Chop from Togo. Red Shoes recovers, 1, 2, no. Darkness Falls, another cover for 1, 2, no.

Everything is EVIL attempt is blocked, Shingo nails a pumping bomber instead. Combination forearms from Shingo, he looks for Made in Japan, finally gets it, but the bell rings as Shingo makes the cover and it’s Dick Togo providing the distraction to stop the genuine pinfall. Kanemaru in to take out Red Shoes again. Togo tosses Kanemaru the whisky bottle and smacks it over the head of Shingo. Everything is EVIL attempt again but Shingo manages to shove him away. Magic Killer is interrupted by Takahashi, Kanemaru again takes him out. Kanemaru spits whisky accidentally into the eyes of EVIL. Bushi spits mist into EVIL’s eyes and he hits the suicide dive on Togo. We’re seemingly left with just EVIL and Shingo now as Shingo hits the pumping bomber. Last of the Dragon! 1, 2, 3.

Winner: Shingo Takagi

Time: 16:55

Rating: **1/2 – Curse you EVIL for putting a stop to Shingo’s run of great matches. An overwhelming amount of interference and chicanery that it loses all effect. Sure, it helps Shingo look good in overcoming the seemingly insurmountable odds, but it’s such a drag to watch.

 

A Block Standings:

Zack Sabre Jr – 12

EVIL – 10

Tetsuya Naito – 10

SANADA – 8

Jake Lee – 8

Shingo Takagi – 8

Great-O-Khan – 8

Shota Umino – 6

Gabe Kidd – 6

Callum Newman – 4 (Eliminated)

 

B Block Standings:

Jeff Cobb – 10

David Finlay – 8

Konosuke Takeshita – 8

Ren Narita – 8

Hirooki Goto – 8

Yota Tsuji – 8

Yuya Uemura – 6

HENARE – 6

El Phantasmo – 4 (Eliminated)

Boltin Oleg – 4 (Eliminated)

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

That main event put a slight dampener on what was looking like another really strong show. The one-two hit of Lee/Umino and ZSJ/Kidd was fantastic, and worked so well in combination, providing completely different styles of wrestling but both being a joy to watch. If you're cherry-picking matches to watch in the tournament, you'll have a great time here by sticking to those two bangers.