Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 13 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 13

August 8^th, 2024 | Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Kanagawa | Attendance: 2.906

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.

Just as the 5STAR Grand Prix gets set to kick off, we’re nearing the end of the G1 Climax. And I’ve got to cover this and one more STARDOM show before the tournament kicks off so I’ve got a busy few days ahead of me. Also, it’s my Friday and I’m a few vodka sodas in, so let’s get to it.

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

Opening match Naito is a strange sight. Callum jumped Naito before this got started, desperately looking to stay alive though I think there’s a small chance of that. Naito weathered that storm and took over, starting one of the shortest matches of the entire G1. Due to that, Naito was able to look good as he didn’t have to use up too much energy. They packed a fair bit of action into the short runtime before Naito hit a decent looking Destino to win in 5:55. Nothing more here and mostly an off night for the champion. [**½]

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

New Japan is wild because I have ZERO recollection of these two having a Wrestle Kingdom match in 2022 (**½). They also met in the G1 that year and got the same score. After an 0-4 start, O-Khan entered with a chance to even up his record and remain alive. This ended up being one of those matches that you get so often in the G1. Where we’ve seen so many singles matches that it’s hard to stand out in a good or bad way. Most matches just exist and are solid and that’s just what this was. They did the offense you’d expect from them and while it was fine, it felt kind of lifeless. O-Khan worked the leg and SANADA did a fine job of selling for the most part. The crowd wasn’t into this early but by the end, they were going pretty nuts as O-Khan countered Deadfall and hit the Eliminator for the upset win in 11:11. Nothing special but their best match together. SANADA is basically out due to tiebreakers and such while O-Khan is very much alive with a battle against Naito on the final night. [***]

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

I did not come into this one with high expectations. Jake Lee has been painfully unimpressive in this tournament while Shota has been in a weird place. He’s supposed to be a big star and soon, yet he’s never really stood out or had any great outings. This was one of his better ones as this exceeded my expectations. They went out there like two guys desperate to remain alive in the tournament and that’s the kind of vibe I need in a G1. Matches need to feel like they matter and not like it’s just two guys going through the motions and getting their shit in. Lee’s heel tactics like using a chair and being a dick worked well against Shota’s babyface fire. He’s not quite Yuya in that department but he makes it work in cases like this. Down the stretch we got some cool sequences like both men no selling various suplexes only for a Blaze Blade to leave them both out cold. The finish was well done with Lee catching Shota with his best looking Face Break Shot so far, winning in 16:01. Better than expected and a surprising result as many pegged Shota to reach the playoffs, if not win the entire thing. [***½]

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

Other than Shingo/ZSJ and some of Takeshita’s matches, this is the most interesting match on the tour. Right off the bat, they gave me what I wanted, with Gabe bring the aggressive and ZSJ looking to combat that by goading him into submissions and such. ZSJ’s chest was red within a minute or so, showing how hard Gabe was dishing out the punishment. As expected, ZSJ was ready to give it back to him, leading to a classic Shibata/Ishii moment where they sat cross-legged in front of each other and traded slaps. Gabe even looked at the camera and told Shibata to watch. I loved Gabe opting to bite ZSJ in the middle of it, giving a middle finger to what came before him. He’s a disrespectful little shit and I mean that in the best way possible. ZSJ shut up the punk in Gabe with some shots that were tough enough to knock him down. When Gabe hit the Tombstone, I thought he picked up the upset, showing how well they had done this match as it made me believe in a result I didn’t initially think could happen. That ended up just being another mark for this to get taken up a notch as they just kept building and delivering. When they reached the 15 minute mark, they were spent but got up for more slaps. Sabre finally trapped him in a submission and Gabe got up, shouting that he would never submit. So Sabre reworked it to another brutal submission and Gabe passed out at the 16:20 mark. That rocked and I can’t believe there have been this many tremendous G1 matches. Just an outstanding hard hitting match with one of my favorite finishes of the year. [****½]

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

They’ve met in the New Japan Cup 2021 (**¾), Wrestle Grand Slam 2021 (***), the G1 2023 (*½), New Japan Cup 2024 (**) and Sakura Genesis 2024 (**¼). This should be an awesome pairing but it’s not because EVIL hasn’t been good since before the pandemic. And after we got a better than expected match and a banger in the previous two bouts, they dragged this show way down with this main event. As usual, when it was just them being bruisers, they were doing well but then we got a ton of interference. I do like that Shingo had LIJ help to level the playing field though. The most notable thing about this match was BUSHI jumping Shingo only to reveal that it was Kanemaru in his mask. That should tell you about the quality of this. Shingo won with Last of the Dragon in 16:57 and the House of Torture continues to be a black spot on New Japan. [*¾]

Zack Sabre Jr. has clinched A Block so he’s in the Playoffs either way. He’ll be joined by a combination of EVIL, Naito, O-Khan, and I think Shingo. SANADA is basically out and I don’t think Jake Lee has tiebreaker hopes either.

A BLOCK	POINTS	B BLOCK	POINTS
Zack Sabre Jr.	12 (6-2)	Jeff Cobb	10 (5-2)
EVIL	10 (5-3)	Hirooki Goto	8 (4-3)
Tetsuya Naito	10 (5-3)	Yota Tsuji	8 (4-3)
The Great-O-Khan	8 (4-4)	Konosuke Takeshita	8 (4-3)
Shingo Takagi	8 (4-4)	David Finlay	8 (4-3)
Jake Lee	8 (4-4)	Ren Narita	8 (4-3)
SANADA	8 (4-4)	Yuya Uemura	6 (3-4)
Gabe Kidd	6 (3-5)	HENARE	6 (3-4)
Shota Umino	6 (3-5)	Boltin Oleg	4 (2-5)
Callum Newman	4 (2-6)	El Phantasmo	4 (2-5)

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

That’s three ****1/2 matches in this year’s G1. We aren’t officially back but it’s a marked improvement over the last few G1s. This show was boosted by that and a good Shota/Lee match. The opener is short, then you’ve got a middling SANADA/O-Khan match, and a bad main event.