wrestling / TV Reports
Sambus’ NJPW G1 Climax 34 Night 10 Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...Location: Aichi, Japan
Venue: Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (Dolphins Arena)
English Commentary: Walker Stewart & Gabe Kidd
[B Block] Boltin Oleg [4] vs David Finlay [6]
Waistlock applied by Oleg, and Finlay rolls into the corner to break it in the ropes. Oleg shoves Finlay back, knocks him over with a few shoulder blocks. Gutwrench attempt, Finlay drops to the floor to escape it. Finlay drives Oleg back-first into the railings and continues the assault on the lower back once they make it back into the ring. Pendulum backbreaker gets a 2 count. Finlay hits a snap suplex, cover again for 2. Uppercut in the corner, Oleg reverses a whip into the ropes and hits a flapjack to turn the tables.
Oleg stomps Finlay down in the corner and chops him hard. Shoulder tackle and the running splash gets a 2 count. Gutwrench ride into the gutwrench suplex, and now Oleg body slams him in the corner. Boltin Bomb, but Finlay gets the knees up! Oleg comes back with a belly-to-belly suplex though. He kips up, hits the Boltin Bomb this time but just gets a 2. Lariat by Finlay, 1, 2, no. Finlay Roll! 1, 2, NO. German suplex by Oleg, with a bridge! 1, 2, no. Rollup by Finlay gets a 2. Kamikaze connects! Oleg looks for another, Finlay counters and nails a powerbomb and the Overkill for the 1, 2, 3.
Winner: David Finlay
Time: 12:46
Rating: *** – Decent encounter with Oleg slowly expanding his arsenal – that bridging German looked awesome. I will say Gabe Kidd was NOT good on commentary here, constantly cutting off Walker and heeling it up, and it was majorly distracting. He didn’t do that the other night so I have no idea who thought that would be a good idea.
[B Block] El Phantasmo [2] vs Yuya Uemura [6]
Uemura asks for a handshake as the bell rings, ELP accepts. Uemura fires off those fabulous armdrags, gets a side headlock, comes back off the ropes with a shoulder block and a hip toss. He goes for one more armdrag but ELP puts the brakes on and suplexes Uemura into the turnbuckles! Body slam and a knee drop, followed by an elbow drop from the middle rope as ELP maintains control. Uemura fights back and attacks the arm of ELP, whipping it into the canvas and hitting a basement dropkick. They trade chops in the corner, Uemura getting the upper hand. Elbow drop to the left arm of ELP. ELP sends Uemura to the floor and follows up with a tope suicida.
High roundhouse kick takes out Uemura behind the barricade, ELP ascends the ropes and thinks about the dive, ignores Jado this time and hits the big diving crossbody to take out Uemura on the floor. He rolls Uemura back in the ring, springboard senton and Lionsault connect for 2. ELP looks for the Burning Hammer, Uemura avoids it and they get into an exchange of forearms. Cross armbreaker snatched in by Uemura, but ELP rolls into an ankle lock! Uemura sends him into the buckles and rolls him up for 2. Suplex back into the cross armbreaker and Uemura scissors the head for added pressure so ELP is forced to grab the ropes. Yuya up top, misses the crossbody, tornado DDT from ELP to capitalize and he goes straight into the Burning Hammer! ELP with the Thunder Kiss 86! Cover, 1, 2, NO. CR2 attempted by ELP, Uemura counters and looks for the Dragon Suplex, denied. Enziguri and a backdrop suplex by ELP, Yuya back with a German! Lariat from ELP, met with a dropkick to the face. German attempt again by Uemura, rolled up by ELP for 2 though. Uemura connects with the Dragon Suplex! Tries to underhook the arms, but ELP rolls through in a tight cradle for the 1, 2, 3!
Winner: El Phantasmo
Time: 14:24
Rating: ***1/2 – VERY NICE. And a surprising victory as it looked like Uemura was going to stay in contention at the top of the block, at least for the time being. Yuya continues to have a great gameplan of targeting the arms to soften his opponent up for the Dead Bolt, but he evidently telegraphed it here and ELP was able snatch the victory.
[B Block] Jeff Cobb [6] vs HENARE [6]
United Empire collides! They nod to each other, back up into their respective corners and charge. Heavy blows from both guys, Cobb runs the ropes and hits a diving shoulder block to take HENARE down. Shoulder thrust to the midsection by Cobb and HENARE comes back with some headbutts and a big right forearm. Flurry of body shots in the corner, snapmare takeover and a kick to the spine, followed by the senton from HENARE. Deadlift gutwrench suplex by Cobb in response! Cobb stands on the back and does the surfboard pose, but HENARE gets back to his feet and kicks the legs. Back elbow and a disaster kick from HENARE! He looks for a uranage but Cobb fights it, fighting out of a full nelson too. Cobb gets HENARE on the top rope, headbutts put a stop to it, but Cobb launches himself with a dropkick and heads back up, stalling superplex connects!! Standing moonsault follows for a 2 count.
HENARE comes off the ropes but Cobb catches him with the Spin Cycle. Clubbing blow from HENARE and the Native Knee but it’s caught, STO. Cobb misses a corner elbow and HENARE finally hits the Native Knee. Spinning back elbow, uranage combination gets a 2 for HENARE. Penalty Kick, and the Berserker bomb, 1, 2, no. Cobb catches HENARE on a charge with a kick to the head. German connects, but HENARE comes right back with the Rampage. Fisherman’s suplex attempt thwarted, Cobb builds up a head of steam and nails a lariat. Tour of the Islands avoided, spinning hook kick connects and a headbutt by HENARE as Cobb reels. HENARE dives but Cobb catches him with the F5000! HENARE defying gravity on that one! Both men crawl to their feet; HENARE is slower than Cobb though. Cobb tells him to get up but HENARE is struggling. HENARE to his knees, he raies the United Empire hand sign, Cobb does the same, and Cobb grabs him to deliver the Tour of the Islands, 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Jeff Cobb
Time: 12:45
Rating: ***3/4 – Big boys doing big boy wrestling, and doing it so well. I loved that finish too, with HENARE realising he was done, throwing up the hand gesture in approval of Cobb climbing the G1 ladder. Great storytelling.
[B Block] Hirooki Goto [4] vs Konosuke Takeshita [6]
Goto backs Takeshita into the ropes and gives a clean break. Shoulder blocks give no momentum as no man goes down, until Takeshita fires off a flying forearm, and Goto rolls to the outside. Takeshita gives chase, and hits a DDT on Goto in the aisle! They work up onto the apron, where Takeshita hits another DDT! Back in the ring, Takeshita is firmly in control, but Goto fights back as they trade chops. A HUGE elbow shot knocks Goto out, damn. Stomps to Goto in the corner, whipped across to the opposite side, misdirection lariat connects from Goto though. Spinning wheelkick in the corner followed by the back suplex.
Takeshita with a waistlock, Goto fights out of it, Takeshita comes back with a hurracanrana to send Goto to the floor. Tope con hilo and Takeshita rolls through up to a knee, that looked so cool haha. Running forearm in the corner, Goto follows him back to the corner with a lariat. Takeshita with the Powerdrive Knee out of the corner! Ushigoroshi! And that takes both men down to recover on the canvas.
Stereo lariats and they go blow for blow on forearms. Misdirection lariat but Takeshita sees it coming and nails a lariat of his own followed by the Blue Thunder Bomb, 1, 2, NO. Takeshita lifts Goto to the top rope…Goto tries to fight it with a series of headbutts. Goto traps the legs… KAITEN SUPERBOMB FROM GOTO OFF THE ROPES!! 1, 2, NO! Takeshita with the package Crunchie into a wheelbarrow German! AND GOTO COMES BACK WITH THE LARIAT! JEEZUS!
Kick to the chest, Shouten! But the GTR is countered and Takeshita comes right back with a brainbuster. Both men look for a brainbuster but can’t get leverage. SHOUTEN KAI!! 1, 2…NO!! Amazing nearfall. Goto kicks Takeshita in the head on a brainbuster attempt, headbutts him and Takeshita collapses. GTR! 1, 2, 3!
Winner: Hirooki Goto
Time: 14:18
Rating: ****1/2 – In 2024, Hirooki Goto just had the best match of the G1 tournament so far. WHAT IS GOING ON? I’m running out of ways to praise Takeshita, and this continued his GOAT-tier run, but honestly I’m so impressed by what we saw from Goto tonight, once again going deep into his arsenal. That was insanely good. Takeshita kicking out of the Shouten Kai at the VERY LAST SPLIT SECOND is probably going to be the best nearfall all year, that was timed to perfection.
[B Block] Yota Tsuji [4] vs Ren Narita [6]
Narita in the main event spot…sigh. He attacks while Tsuji is climbing into the ring, and they spill to the floor before Tsuji has even got his ring jacket off. The bell rings although I’m pretty sure Tsuji didn’t actually get to step inside the ring. Narita wraps the knee around the ringpost a few times as Red Shoes remonstrates with him. Narita tries to use a chair and Red Shoes grabs it off him, but he drives the knee of Tsuji into the floor anyway. Both men make it back into the ring and Narita goes straight for the knee. Suplex, 1, 2, no.
Narita again wrings the knee, Tsuji wraps the other leg around him to attempt a body scissors, but Narita wraps his own leg around the knee for added pressure, and Tsuji has to grab the ropes. Headscissors from Tsuji but Narita stays on his feet, and locks in a Boston Crab. Tsuji hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but drops Narita right on his injured knee, causing further problems for him. Shoulder tackle and a splash from Tsuji gets a 2 count. A vertical suplex follows for 1, 2, no. Tsuji looks for a Boston Crab now but Narita grabs the hair to block it. Exploder suplex from Narita! Running boot and a half suplex gets a 2 for Narita, and he rolls into a kneebar, but Tsuji uses the other leg to reach the ropes.
Narita up top, misses a dive, Tsuji with a pin attempt but rolls through into the Boston Crab. He sits into it as Narita claws towards the ropes, who finally makes it to break the hold. Tsuji jumps to the top rope for the Marlowe Crash, but Narita is there to shake the ropes to make him lose balance. STO/curb stomp combination from Tsuji as he regains control. Gene Blaster attempt, Narita ducks and rolls into a kneebar again.
Headbutt from Tsuji, elevated slam, goes for a suplex but Narita drives Tsuji forward into Red Shoes. Guillotine stomp connects and now Narita grabs the reinforced pushup bar because of course we simply MUST insist on these spots. Superkick from Tsuji puts a stop to that attack though. Marlowe Crash attempt thwarted, low blow while Red Shoes is still cowering, and Narita hits a Marlowe Crash of his own! 1, 2, NO. They take turns briefly choking each other, until Tsuji hits a modified Sky High for 2. He signals for the Gene Blaster, gets sent into the exposed turnbuckle though. Double Cross avoided, knee strike delivered by Tsuji…GENE BLASTER! 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Yota Tsuji
Time: 20:13
Rating: ***1/4 – Tempted to give 5 stars purely for the lack of House of Torture interference. Save for that tiny reinforced pushup bar spot, Narita got to actually wrestle instead of relying on the tired tropes we see in every other one of his matches. Nice leg work, and Tsuji sold it pretty well, although I would have wanted to see it play into the finish a little more, as Tsuji seemed to shrug it off in that closing minute.
A Block Standings:
EVIL – 10
Zack Sabre Jr – 8
Shota Umino – 6
Gabe Kidd – 6
SANADA – 6
Shingo Takagi – 6
Tetsuya Naito – 6
Callum Newman – 4
Jake Lee – 2
Great-O-Khan – 4
B Block Standings:
David Finlay – 8
Jeff Cobb – 8
Yuya Uemura – 6
Konosuke Takeshita – 6
HENARE – 6
Ren Narita – 6
Hirooki Goto – 6
Yota Tsuji – 6
El Phantasmo – 4
Boltin Oleg – 4
For our next G1 shows, we have the triple header at Korakuen Hall on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which is sure to provide some further notable shows, with Tuesday headlined by Shingo vs SANADA. See you then, folks!
