Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 15 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 15

August 12^th, 2024 | Aore Nagaoka in Nagaoka, Niigata | Attendance: 3,022

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.

I am starting to get way behind. I have this show and THREE events in the 5STAR Grand Prix to cover. With that said, this will not be a lengthy review. Fair warning.

A Block: Callum Newman [4] vs. Gabe Kidd [6]

An intense start here which is par for the course with Gabe Kidd. Callum was right there to give it back to him, using a pretty explosive dive in the opening minutes. Both men were eliminated so this was more for pride and that fits Gabe’s style to be honest. They kept up a quick pace throughout, which made sense since this only went 6:52. The final minute or so saw Gabe just go off, destroying Callum with two piledrivers to win and adding a third on a chair after the bell. A good sprint. [***]

A Block: SANADA [8] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [12]

Too pressed for time to go into their history. Hilarious to hear commentary hype SANADA as the longest reigning IWGP World Champion. ZSJ has cemented his spot in the playoffs and could just take a forfeit loss if he wanted to. Instead, he opted to fight and basically demanded the best version of SANADA, almost forcing him to deliver his best effort. He mostly got it as this was the best performance the former champion gave us in a long time. He was smooth, everything looked good, and he had the crowd totally behind him. ZSJ never let up, even working a lengthy submission spot where he kept altering the hold. That’s why ZSJ rules. Instead of sitting in one spot on a hold and boring the crowd, he does stuff like that. SANADA made it to the ropes for one final surge, only to fall to the Zack Driver in 15:44. ZSJ is on a hell of a roll, SANADA is out, and that was pretty rad. [***¾]

A Block: Jake Lee [8] vs. Shingo Takagi [8]

Both men have eight points but Jake doesn’t have the tiebreaker wins to have a shot. Shingo does. Jake came in looking sad. I think the problem I had with this match was the pacing. I’m used to New Japan matches having slow starts but this felt extra long to the point where the 13:50 runtime felt like 10 of it was used there. Once things picked up late, it started to fly by but I didn’t love what came before hand. The closing stretch saw them trade big moves like Pumping Bombers, a Death Valley Driver, and more. Surprisingly though, it was a cradle that got the win for Shingo. Good but far from great. [***]

A Block: EVIL [10] vs. Shota Umino [6]

EVIL needs to win to advance so Shooter could play spoiler. EVIL and Dick Togo bullied the ring announcer ahead of the bell, trying to get a forfeit win by saying Shota wans’t there. It wasn’t like he got jumped backstage or anything. He just showed up, so the whole thing was pointless. Once this started, you could tell what New Japan was going for. They wanted to hype the idea of Shooter having to fight off an entire faction like a badass. The issue is that the House of Torture are a bland stable to do that with. That meant a match filled with their usual garbage tropes, shenanigans, and more. I don’t have time for them. Shooter survived it all and won with Death Rider in an absurdly long 19:45. [*]

A Block: The Great-O-Khan [8] vs. Tetsuya Naito [10]

O-Khan began 0-4 but has reeled off four straight. As usual, this is a “win and in” scenario in the final block match for a G1. Naito would be at 12 points and join Shingo in the playoffs while O-Khan would get to 10 but hold tiebreakers over Naito and EVIL, putting him in. These are two guys who typically give you slow starts and that was the case here but it was more interesting than the start I complained about earlier. Unfortunately, it still dragged and it felt like a case of 2024 Naito more than anything else. He just can’t go the way he used to. After that long segment, things picked up (I have to say that in like 90% of New Japan matches) and Naito got dropped on his head on a German suplex. When O-Khan rolled him into a submission, Naito looked like he couldn’t physically take a bump. It was awkward. O-Khan basically had to Destino himself and after he kicked out, he blocked a second attempt. From there it was an Eliminator and a pin to launch him into the playoffs after 18:58. Another solid match but nowhere near what we used to get at the end of block nights. [***]

 

A BLOCK	POINTS	B BLOCK	POINTS
Zack Sabre Jr.	14 (7-2)	David Finlay	10 (5-3)
The Great-O-Khan	10 (5-4)	Jeff Cobb	10 (5-3)
Shingo Takagi	10 (5-4)	Ren Narita	10 (5-3)
Tetsuya Naito	10 (5-4)	Hirooki Goto	8 (4-4)
EVIL	10 (5-4)	Konosuke Takeshita	8 (4-4)
Gabe Kidd	8 (4-5)	Yuya Uemura	8 (4-4)
SANADA	8 (4-5)	Yota Tsuji	8 (4-4)
Shota Umino	8 (4-5)	HENARE	6 (3-5)
Jake Lee	8 (4-5)	Boltin Oleg	6 (3-5)
Callum Newman	4 (2-7)	El Phantasmo	6 (3-5)

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

This G1 showed flashes but we still get cases like this where an important night is just a little above average and nothing more. There are three solid matches here, one that’s good, and one that’s terrible. At least they picked three good choices to advance from this block.