Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 4 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 4

July 25^th, 2024 | Sunmesse Kagawa in Takamatsu, Kagawa | Attendance: 1,219

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 were on a roll with this G1 until the last two matches of Night 3 sucked the life out of the tournament. Maybe B Block can get us back on track.

B Block: Boltin Oleg [2] vs. Hirooki Goto [0]

First time ever meeting here. Goto is someone who lines up with Boltin’s desire for something hard hitting. The youngster does have the power advantage but Goto remains a savvy veteran who knows how to get himself out of trouble against a guy like him. That laid the groundwork for how this was laid out. It made for a solid back and forth match even if it didn’t blow anyone away. There were points where Boltin looked a bit awkward but I like that he’s trying to grow his moveset and Goto knows how to work around his issues. Something like Ushigiorshi looked good when happening to someone of Boltin’s size. I liked Goto going for things like rollups late as if he got a bit desperate here. He didn’t need to be though, as he put down Boltin with the GTR in 10:17. A perfectly acceptable wrestling match here and nothing more. [**½]

B Block: Jeff Cobb [2] vs. Ren Narita [2]

If this was before Ren had his career wrecked by Gedo putting him in the House of Torture, it’d have the potential to be a banger. That’s not the world we live in though. Ren jumped Cobb during his entrance for yet another meandering brawl on the outside. They fought through the crowd for way too long before the bell even rang. The bell finally rang and then there was still 12:03 to get through. When it was just them wrestling, this was pretty good as we all know Ren can go when he’s not bogged down by HOT bullshit. He targeted the leg and Cobb did a pretty good job of selling it. Unfortunately, Ren brought things back outside and used a chair. By the time this ended, we got a ref bump, use of another foreign object, and a low blow leading to Ren winning with Double Cross. It was painfully below average. [**]

B Block: El Phantasmo [0] vs. Yota Tsuji [2]

Yota won a very good match between these two in the New Japan Cup earlier this year (***¾) so there’s potential here. ELP remains depressed, saying he might not belong in New Japan anymore given his performances. ELP gained some early confidence with a few near falls on flash pins tough the frustration grew with each that didn’t end the match. He kept up the fire and aggression, hitting a tope suicida and following with an even bigger dive into the crowd. However, he came up lame on the leg after and Yota made that his target. That section wasn’t all that interesting though. I did like ELP finally hitting CRII only to have his leg cost him valuable time before the pin. That meant it wasn’t enough and his desperation and frustration only grew. Yota got his knees up on Thunderkiss and turned it into an inside cradle. However, ELP turned that pin around to steal this in 18:12. I prefer the NJC match as this had some lulls in the middle but I really liked that finish. [***¼]

B Block: David Finlay [0] vs. HENARE [4]

Their G1 match last year was lackluster (**½) but both guys have been good in this tournament. I thought this was a solid opponent for Finlay because he can’t bully him. When Finlay has to be the bully heel, it fails so allowing him to have a more straightforward match worked. It did suffer from the New Japan issue of the first half kind of just being there. It was fine but there was nothing there to sink your teeth into. The second half saw things pick up, with Finlay harkening back to their Young Lion days and taking credit for some of who HENARE is today, which caused the NEVER Champion to respond with some stiff shots that walloped the Global Champion. The closing minutes were the high point with some close calls and counters that never ventured into overdoing the typical New Japan tropes. When Finlay hit Overkill, it kind of felt from out of nowhere, which was welcome. It got him the win in 16:05 in what was a good match. [***]

B Block: Konosuke Takeshita [4] vs. Yuya Uemura [4]

Basically, every Takeshita match is going to be the most interesting on any given card it seems. He’s that special. We got a feeling out process to start but Konosuke took the first real upper hand after a big spot to the outside. That meant it was time for Yuya to fight from beneath and again, that’s where he excels. I liked him going after both of Konosuke’s arms because it helps set up the Deadbolt and it’s not something you see often. When Konosuke’s missed elbow collided with the ring post outside, you really felt like Yuya had found the opening he needed to possibly score a huge win. It put Yuya in the driver’s seat and because Konosuke sold so well, that part of the match also worked. Konosuke’s bursts of offense were explosive, switching arms when he could and getting as much as possible on things like the Blue Thunder Bomb. The closing stretch was great with Yuya finding a way to have an answer for everything Konosuke tried and having that arm work come into play as he was able to catch him with Deadbolt for the victory in 23:11. A hell of a main event. Takeshita was his usual great self but that was a star making performance for Yuya, who is having a fantastic tournament so far. [****¼]

A BLOCK	POINTS	B BLOCK	POINTS
Zack Sabre Jr.	6 (3-0)	Yuya Uemura	6 (3-0)
EVIL	6 (3-0)	Konosuke Takeshita	4 (2-1)
Shingo Takagi	4 (2-1)	HENARE	4 (2-1)
Gabe Kidd	4 (2-1)	Ren Narita	4 (2-1)
Tetsuya Naito	2 (1-2)	Hirooki Goto	2 (1-2)
Jake Lee	2 (1-2)	Boltin Oleg	2 (1-2)
SANADA	2 (1-2)	Jeff Cobb	2 (1-2)
Callum Newman	2 (1-2)	El Phantasmo	2 (1-2)
Shota Umino	2 (1-2)	Yota Tsuji	2 (1-2)
The Great O-Khan	0 (0-3)	David Finlay	2 (1-2)

 

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Kind of the opposite of night 3 which started hot and ended weakly. This got off to a slow start before giving us two good matches and capping out with a great one. It’s a relatively easy watch as even the bad isn’t that awful, so the G1 is 4-4 in good shows which shocks me.