Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 34 Quarterfinals Review

NJPW G1 Climax 34 Quarterfinals

August 15^th, 2024 | Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba, Japan | Attendance: 1,111

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.

Block play is over and it’s time to narrow this down. By winning their blocks, David Finlay and Zack Sabre Jr. have byes to the semifinals. Today, we have the quarterfinal matches to determine their opponents.

G1 Climax Quarterfinals: The Great-O-Khan vs. Shingo Takagi

Shingo feels like the favorite here but O-Khan has reeled off five straight wins to find himself here. Their first meeting in the tournament was good but not great (***). They opened this with a simple feeling out process, which made sense given O-Khan was trying to match styles when they first met and now has confidence in his own style. That made this a more traditional New Japan match as it started slow and picked up in a good way as it progressed. Once it picked up, we got some good exchanges that were smooth as hell and they threw in some good strikes as well. O-Khan isn’t exactly someone you think of for hard strikes yet he was able to go toe-to-toe with Shingo, who is known for that. At one point late, Shingo leveled him with a lariat to the back and O-Khan just turned around with a lariat of his own. The closing stretch was just what you’d want from these two and while O-Khan threw his best at Shingo, he was put down by Last of the Dragon in 20:50. Very good match and I think the right winner. Shingo is a guy they should have near the top especially when they’re low on stars, while O-Khan raised his stock a lot in this tournament. [***¾]

G1 Climax Quarterfinals: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji

You can’t go wrong with a winner here (both are better options for the finals than David Finlay but Gedo loves his Bullet Club leaders). Their first outing ruled (****¼). This got off to a faster start than the previous match, with Konosuke hitting an apron DDT in the opening minutes. They attempted some leg work since Konosuke came in with it damaged though it wasn’t the most convincing. This was better when they opted for the bigger blows like Takeshita hitting a flipping senton to the outside onto a pile of chairs. I love that he’s an absolute madman. New Japan desperately needs him to stick around. It’s not like he’s doing anything in AEW. Yota is just as much of a madman though, rallying after that and smiling at Konosuke as they started to jockey for power. Yota won out with Raging Fire, kicking things into next gear for the closing stretch. The big moment came as they fought for position up top and, with both standing, Konosuke hit a lariat that sent them both to the mat. It looked awesome. From there, they proceeded to trade forearms, knee strikes, and lariats before Yota connected with the Gene Blaster to win in 21:30. About on par with their first meeting though I think I prefer that one. This was filled with action, had a bit of a lull around the middle but ended on a high note. [****¼]

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

The final two block shows disappointed but this raised the level of quality to what I’m looking for. Two matches that delivered and helped cement this as the best G1 of the 2020s. We’re not at the peak level (2013-2017) but I’ll take it.