wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 11 Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 11
August 6th, 2024 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,503
NOTE: For anyone following all of my reviews, my WrestleMania Series is still ongoing. It’s something I’m doing in my free time though so reviews from 2024 (like this one) take precedence. Also, I’m up to the Manias that are like, 7 hours long so it takes a while.
We’re in Korakuen Hall, which typically means this night of G1 action is at least going to be somewhat important.
A Block: Callum Newman [4] vs. The Great-O-Khan [4]
Two United Empire buddies collide and the loser is mathematically eliminated. Given their styles, I expected a good match and that’s what I got. O-Khan did very well to keep up with Callum’s speed, which is kind of ideal in these G1 openers. He can deliver solid sprints and has done so this year even if he isn’t blowing anyone away with his performance. O-Khan also managed to slow the pace from time to time by going to the mat and doing what he’s known for. I still wish Callum would let go of the Ospreay cosplay stuff. It’s too much at points and like, if you can’t do Ospreay as well as Ospreay, then it feels like a cheap knockoff more than a tribute. The crowd was into him so maybe I know nothing like Jon Snow. Callum put up a good fight but fell to the Eliminator after 8:17. A good way to start the show and the Korakuen energy is hot. [***¼]
A Block: Gabe Kidd [6] vs. Jake Lee [4]
Since they’re stable buddies, Jake brought out two beers for them to toast. Gabe decided that sounded like ass, jumping him before the bell and setting off a pre-match brawl. I’m going to include the brawl in my review of the match even if it doesn’t count bell to bell. The fight was pretty wild, going into the stands and seeing Jake get the crowd behind him. Never thought I’d see that. The bell finally sounded when they got to the ring and Gabe nearly picked up a win after about 4 seconds. They kept up the intensity level way more than I was expecting. They traded strikes as Gabe used this as a sort of initiation, shouting “SO YOU WANNA BE A WAR DOG?” or something along those lines. The fight moved back outside and Jake sent Gabe into the guardrail before beating the count to win via countout in 4:53. That was wild and the first time Jake has felt like a “smart bastard.” When you add in the sick brawl beforehand, this was shockingly awesome. Gabe Kidd and Yota Tsuji are the non-ZSJ/Shingo guys in the company I think are great. [***½]
A Block: EVIL [10] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [8]
I’m not going back to cover their past meetings because it’s the recent stuff that matters. These two are usually out to try and best each other through shenanigans, leading to several matches, including in the G1, that run very short. ZSJ used help from Fujita recently to get the upper hand. With Fujita hurt, EVIL jumped ZSJ in the back and dragged him to the ring. He jumped him and hit a Magic Killer with Dick Togo, along with throwing powder in ZSJ’s eyes. The bell rang and EVIL went for successive pins that ZSJ kept kicking out of. ZSJ then countered a pin into one of his own, getting the three count in 0:19. Incredible. Nothing to rate here as a match but as a segment, that worked so well, the crowd ate it up, and it prevented me from having to watch an EVIL match. [NR]
A Block: Shota Umino [6] vs. Tetsuya Naito [6]
Their only prior meeting was in a main event that Shooter wasn’t ready for and that was poorly booked at New Beginning in Sapporo (*¾). Seriously, 32 minutes for that? Shota started hot and took it to Naito right out of the gate. That let me know that they were bringing much more energy to this match that would go significantly shorter. Unfortunately, that hot start cooled off and by the time this reached the middle portion, it felt like the crowd wasn’t as into it. I know I wasn’t. I liked the idea of both guys targeting the neck, since it’s not something you see a ton but portions of this were just too boring to really grab me. It again picked up late with Shota screaming at Naito, basically daring him to give him the best possible version of the champion. It led to a good closing stretch that saw Shota come close only to fall to the new Destino cradle gimmick Naito has been doing. This went 14:48 and had some great moments as well as some lackluster ones. Still, a huge improvement on the last meeting. [***]
A Block: SANADA [6] vs. Shingo Takagi [6]
Surprised to learn that this is a first time meeting and it’s between two former IWGP Champions. Though whether fair or not, they’re more forgettable than most IWGP Champions. Right from the opening bell, they brought the fight to each other and kept up that pace throughout. That’s not an easy thing to do but they did it. SANADA was on his game here, looking smoother than most nights and Shingo was there to deliver the high impact moves. There was no prolonged heat segment here, instead giving us a back and forth match where neither guy was meant to look much stronger than the other. The crowd was also rather split and popped hard for some of SANADA’s offense, which doesn’t happen often. When SANADA hit the moonsault, things got taken to the next level. They started throwing Pumping Bombers, Shining Wizards (yes, even Shingo hit one), and bigger moves. SANADA kicked out of the aforementioned Shining Wizard at one and countered Last of the Dragon into Deadfall to secure the win after 19:55. That was better than expected and probably the best SANADA match since the Kaito one last year. [***¾]
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Zack Sabre Jr. | 10 (5-2) | David Finlay | 8 (4-2) |
| EVIL | 10 (5-2) | Jeff Cobb | 8 (4-2) |
| Tetsuya Naito | 8 (4-3) | HENARE | 6 (3-3) |
| SANADA | 8 (4-3) | Ren Narita | 6 (3-3) |
| Shingo Takagi | 6 (3-4) | Konosuke Takeshita | 6 (3-3) |
| Jake Lee | 6 (3-4) | Yuya Uemura | 6 (3-2) |
| Gabe Kidd | 6 (3-4) | Hirooki Goto | 6 (3-3) |
| Shota Umino | 6 (3-4) | Yota Tsuji | 6 (3-3) |
| The Great O-Khan | 6 (3-4) | Boltin Oleg | 4 (2-4) |
| Callum Newman | 4 (2-5) | El Phantasmo | 4 (2-4) |
