Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 2 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 2

July 21^st, 2024 | EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 2,545

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.

The G1 34 is off to a much better start than previous years. We’re back in EDION Arena for night two (with about half the attendance) so let’s see if they can keep it up. Interestingly, we only have nine matches instead of 10 as there’s no Takeshita or Cobb here. I’m guessing that’s part of the scheduling setup to give guys rest.

A Block: Callum Newman [2] vs. SANADA [0]

SANADA needs to rebound from getting beaten in 5 minutes on night one. Callum came out firing as he seems so hungry to deliver in this tournament. While his energy is certainly welcome, there were a few spots here where he didn’t hit something as cleanly as you’d want and SANADA isn’t exactly the guy to help make up for that. I do think the spot down the stretch where they avoided and countered each other’s biggest moves came off well. New Japan guys are so trained to get that shit right because it’s such a key point of their matches. SANADA blocked Oscutter and delivered Dead Fall to get two points in 8:41. I like how commentary says Callum needs to ditch the Oscutter which is seemingly part of his story in this tournament. About on par with the Callum/Shota match. I can’t wait to see Callum in there against ZSJ, Shingo, etc. [**½]

B Block: Boltin Oleg [2] vs. HENARE [2]

BIG MEATY MEN BUMPING MEAT. Right from the opening bell they were trading blows. HENARE had the advantage there so Boltin looked to just run him over, where he had the advantage. That was kind of the trend that the match followed, with them trying for what their better strength was and they delivered in the meaty man match I was looking for. Boltin picked up momentum and hit Kamikaze but HENARE managed to kick out. Not sure how I feel about that though I still do think he needs a better finisher. From there, the two traded shots again in the center of the ring until HENARE ran him over with a running headbutt. He nailed Streets of Rage to keep Boltin down after 8:05. That was some good stuff. Boltin has loads of potential. [***¼]

A Block: Gabe Kidd [0] vs. The Great-O-Khan [0]

Two midcard guys I really like. O-Khan claims that he wants to match the style of his opponents which worked for entertaining purposes on night one but resulted in a loss for him. He did what he promised here, bringing the fight to Gabe and brawling with him at ringside and into the crowd. That included tying him up in uncomfortable ways and standing over him with a taunt. It was then that the referee started the count but they quickly made it back to the ring there. However, they were back outside soon after and we nearly got a double countout. I actually bought into that as a finish and chuckled when they both looked shocked and charged the ring. That set the stage for a strong final few minutes with hard hitting stuff, capped by Gabe hitting a stiff rebound lariat to win in 12:01. I am so here for Gabe Kidd in this tournament. Same for O-Khan. This was good though some of the outside stuff got a bit repetitive. [***¼]

B Block: El Phantasmo [0] vs. Ren Narita [0]

This night is filled with first time matchups. After a night one loss, “lost his smile” ELP continued here. He also looks like he hasn’t slept in a while. ELP got off to a decent start here but his high flying antics got the best of him as a missed dive saw him jam his knee on the floor. That gave Ren a body part to target and he did well with it, which is expected given his training and pre-House of Torture style. ELP did his best to fight through it and I really liked the spot where he tried to kip up but couldn’t because he had just one good leg. Jado was pleading with ELP to get back into this, which was a nice touch. A frustrated ELP even attempted to use Ren’s weapon or whatever but decided against it even though Ren was begging him to (for the free two points). ELP gave it one more spirited run but was put down by the Double Cross in 14:16. Better than I expected, mostly because ELP was doing some of his best work to feel like an underdog babyface you want to root for. [***¼]

 

A Block: EVIL [2] vs. Jake Lee [2]

Jake Lee’s nickname being Smart Bastard is 10/10. You know what this was. It’s the two sides of Bullet Club doing Bullet Club antics. EVIL was quick to resort to cheating and fighting around the ring while Jake was aggressive with the whole “War Dog” gimmick. Commentary is really loving their “dick” puns when it comes to Dick Togo. Anyway, this had decent back and forth but got bogged down by the usual House of Torture shenanigans. Jake had the Boston Crab in but Dick Togo rang the bell, which was followed by a ref bump. EVIL used powder in the eyes and Everything is Evil to move to 2-0. This went 11:20 and as usual, was a downgrade in quality for the show. [**]

B Block: Hirooki Goto [0] vs. Yuya Uemura [2]

Goto isn’t who he was in his prime but maybe he can still get this show back on track. I liked underdog face Yuya on night one but Goto doesn’t play a role that lines up with that so this was different That said, it ended up going well because it seems like Goto has carved out a solid little spot as a veteran who can good back and forth match, especially with younger guys. In that sense, this was the Hirooki Goto Special. There isn’t much to say because it was just a good match that we’ve seen Goto have a million times and Yuya fit right into the role. Though Goto isn’t a heel, he still held serve which was enough to allow Yuya to fight from beneath as he should. Again, the crowd got behind him. Such a fierce battle seemed to take a bit out of Goto, who couldn’t capitalize after hitting a key move, leading to a chop exchange. I thought the finish was cool as Goto laid into Yuya with kicks and went for his finisher only for Yuya to counter into a backslide that he turned into the Deadbolt Suplex in 12:38. This show is as consistent as it gets with another good match getting this rating. [***¼]

A Block: Shingo Takagi [2] vs. Shota Umino [0]

Their only prior meeting came in 2018 when Shota was still a Young Lion. Shota exploded with a dropkick at the bell, setting the tone for a match that didn’t really slow down. Shota seemed more engaged here, though that might be because Shingo can bring that out in people. He went toe-to-toe with the tough Shingo and had a little extra snap in some of his moves, even when they were as simple as a dropkick. For a guy coming off an injury, Shota didn’t back away from Shingo’s physical style. As expected, they started throwing bigger bombs down the stretch and looked exhausted by the time Shingo hit the Pumping Bomber. Both men were down and the crowd was totally hooked. He got two on Made in Japan and it was obvious because Shota is one of those wrestlers who blatantly watches the referee to know when to kick out. Shota kept surviving things like Pumping Bombers and came close with his running forearm to the back of the head. Shota pounced and hit Death Rider to win in 18:22. MOTN so far and while it’s likely something that’ll get lost in a big tournament like this, it was still really good. More outings like this are what Shota needs. [***½]

A Block: Tetsuya Naito [0] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [2]

Long history here. That includes matches in the G1 27 (***¾), New Japan Cup 2018 (****), G1 28 (****¼), Power Struggle 2018 (***¾), G1 30 (****), Summer Struggle in Osaka 2021 (***¼), G1 31 (***¾), New Japan Cup 2022 Finals (***¾), G1 32 (***), Royal Quest 2022 (***½), and the G1 33 (***½). So it’s always good though Naito’s depleting body has hurt it in recent years. If you’ve seen one of these matches, you’ve kind of seen them all. It’s hard to do something fresh when you’ve had this many outings. In the early goings when Naito looked to match ZSJ on the mat, it was fine and you could see that Naito was putting in the effort but as this went on, you could tell that his body was doing what it’s bound to do in 2024. Thankfully this was kept under 20 minutes so he didn’t get himself into too much trouble. He targeted the neck while ZSJ was ready to grab and twist at whatever limb he could get his hands on. ZSJ could stop his momentum with a simple submission at any turn. Naito’s big moment was to turn the Zack Driver into Destino but it looked really weak and ineffective. The late near falls and such came off well, especially Zack’s European Clutch. Zack then avoided an enziguri and turned it into a pinning combination to win in 16:03. Naito starting 0-2 is interesting. That was good and about what I expected. [***¼]

B Block: David Finlay [0] vs. Yota Tsuji [0]

I’m running low on time and I’ve written a lot today so this one will be quick. They met at Wrestling Dontaku this year but I skipped that show and only came back to New Japan around Dominion. I didn’t hear good things about that match but thankfully, this one was pretty damn good. I was surprised to see this headline over Naito/ZSJ yet they made it work. Again, I’m still not loving Finlay’s heat segments though he didn’t hold serve for too long and Yota is explosive enough to spice things up whenever he gets a burst of offense. I was impressed by some of Finlay’s powerbombs, especially against someone of Yota’s size. They told a simple story where Yota beat the villain and the crowd was invested. I can’t ask for much more. Yota won with his double springboard double stomp after 19:50. A fitting main event to a show filled with very good but not great matches. [***½]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

I was expecting a major dropoff from night one. That’s just what I’ve been conditioned to with New Japan but I’m happy to say that didn’t happen. Though this didn’t have anything at ****, it was remarkably consistent and enjoyable throughout.