New Japan Pro Wrestling 6/23/2024 New Japan Soul 2024 Day 5

New Japan Pro Wrestling 6/23/2024 New Japan Soul 2024 Day 5

El Desperado & Shoma Kato vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI & Yuya Uemura)

Kato and Yuya start us off. Yuya rides him and they get up. Yuya wrstlocks him, Kato tries to roll through but Yuya rolls with him. Yuya side headlock takeovers him and they stand off. Despy and Douki go at it and stand off. Despy side headlocks him and shoulders him over. Douki flying headscissors him then springboard back elbows him for 2.

Despy spinebusters him for 2 then stretch mufflers him. Kato hits forearms on Yuya then Yuya throws him out. Douki puts the douki chokey on Despy. Yyua hits chops on Despy. Despy chops him and is chopped down.

Despy takes a double team double chop. Douki slingshots, gets caught and is suplexed. Douki flying headscissors Despy. Yuya and Kato go at it. Yuya chops him then Kato hiptosses and dropkicks him for 2. Yuya slams Kato then Kato flying dropkicks him. Kato rolls up and cradles Yuya. Yuya front suplexes Kato and gets the win.

Thoughts: It was an average opener that needed more time. The Douki/Despy and Yuya/Kato pairings were fine but the match ended too soon before they could really go off here. I think Kato reminds me some of Yuya and I'd like to see them go at it again. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuya Murashima vs. Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii

Ishii and Tana start us off. They trade forearms. Tana 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. KM is tagged in and cheapshots Ishii. Ishii just tags out. Honma and KM shoulder battle. KM knocks him over. Honma slams him.

KM hits forearms on Ishii that aren't sold then Ishii hits chops. Honma single leg crabs KM. Honma forearms him then takes a flying forearm. Tana flying forearms Honma and slams him. Tana 2nd rope swantons him for 2.

Honma ddt's Tana then misses a headbutt drop. Honma flying shoulders him. Tana twists and shouts Ishii. KM hits forearms on Ishii then dropkicks him. Ishii shoulders him over then crabs him. Tana slaps Ishii and KM rolls him up off of it. KM misses a dropkick and cradles Ishii for 2. KM dropkicks him and they trade forearms. Ishii crabs him and wins.

Thoughts: I thought Ishii should have tapped KM out after the first crab. What followed after really wasn't necessary. It was a short tag and wasn't much of anything. Tana didn't get much in on this one.

United Empire (Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) vs. Just 5 Guys (SANADA, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)

Khan and Sanada start us off. Khan does some basic holds and rolls him into a pin attempt. Khan cravates him and Sanada flips out of the snapmare. Sanada is taken down and rolled up for 2. Khan shoulder throws him and stands on him for a pin. Khan goes for the kimura.

Khan mongolian chops Sanada in the back of the neck then sits on him and poses. Akira 2nd rope hurricanrana's Sanada then hits baseball slides. Akira gets on Cobb's shoulders then is dropped down onto Sanada. Cobb standing moonsaults Sanada.

Sanada slams Cobb. Taichi facekicks Cobb in the corner and Kawada kicks Akira. Taichi side kicks Cobb for 2. Taichi chops Cobb then is crossbodied. Cobb superkicks him then Taichi running lariats him.

Taka and Akira go at it. Taka eye pokes him then Akira flying headscissors him. Akira top rope crossbodies Taka then Taka puts him in just facelock. Khan bites Taka in the shoulder to break it. Taka superkicks Akira then Takira rolls him up. Akira meteora's Taka in the back of the head and wins.

Thoughts: It was fine but it needed more time than it got. I laughed at Khan biting Taka to break up the facelock. We need more of that in wrestling.

United Empire (Callum Newman & HENARE) vs. House Of Torture (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)

Henare gets jumped as he poses in the ring. Henare is pulled over the top. CN pushes the heels into each other then running facekicks YT. CN plancha's YT outside. CN is pushed into the exposed buckle then Henare is sent into it. CN is sent into the rails outside.

CN is sent into the exposed buckle then YK footchokes him. YK eye rakes CN then YT slaps CN for 2. YT stomps on CN then facekicks him. CN legsweeps YT and double stomps him. Henare hits chest kicks on YT then shoulders him over.

Henare sentons YT. YT Tries to bang his head off the buckles but Henare no sells it. Henare berzerker bombs him for 2. Henare takes a stun gun. The ref is pushed into Henare. Henare shoulders over YK then takes corner attacks. YT fisherman suplexes Henare. YK comes off the 2nd rope and is caught but Henare. Henare samoan drops him. YK rolls Henare up then Henare step up knees him. Henare fisherman suplexes him and wins.

Thoughts: It was nothing special here as expected. It's not that he can't do it, but Henare's better off being the big heel not the selling face. The heels brought nothing to the table as usual.

Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & Gedo)

Can someone explain to me why this match is happening other than being filler?

Yoshi and Chase go at it. Chase hits shots on him and drops him with a punch. Chase takes a double shoulderblock then Yoshi is hiptossed onto him. Gedo takes the double clubs to the back.

The heels go to leave and the faces stop them. Goto is sent int othe ropes and Chase chairs Yoshi in front of the ref, who could care less. Gedo hits Goto with a hammer then Chase chokes Goto with a shirt.

Chase splits Goto's fingers. Goto then gets the double club on his back. Goto tries a comeback on Chase and lariats him off the ropes. Yoshi headhunters Chase. Chase is laid on the top rope and dropkicked.

Chase russian legsweeps Yoshi into the buckles. Gedo eye rakes Yoshi. Goto spinning heel kicks Chase and backdrops him. Gedo takes a double team elbow slice bomb and is pinned.

Thoughts: It was a complete waste of time as expected with the faces winning as expected. Chase should have been DQ'd for the chair shot. 

G1 Climax 34 Block B Qualifier Tournament First Round Match - Toru Yano vs. Oleg Boltin

They battle for the lock up. Oleg rolls him on the mat and Yano ropebreaks. Oleg goes for karelin's lift and Yano grabs the ropes to avoid it. Yano throws water and throws the ref aside. Yano sits on a chair in the aisle then hits Oleg with it.

Yano wraps Oleg up in the ring skirt and takes a turnbuckle pad off. Oleg is sent into the exposed buckle then Yano trap holds him. Oleg is sent into the exposed buckle again and Yano hiptosses him.

Yano eye rakes him and Oleg goes into the exposed buckle. Oleg shoulders Yano over and slams him. Oleg splashes Yano for 2. Oleg karelin's lifts Yano. Yano belly to belly suplexes Oleg.

Oleg hits forearms on Yano then Yano catapults him into the exposed buckle. Oleg dropkicks him then hits a corner splash. Oleg slams and vader bombs Yano for 2. Yano cradles Oleg then backslides him. Yano hits a low blow an dclips him for 2. Oleg rolls him up off a fisherman and wins.

Thoughts: Yano did all of his usual tricks here and Oleg overcame them to win. I guess it made sense and was okay for what it was, but it was also little more than a comedy match.

G1 Climax 34 Block B Qualifier Tournament First Round Match - Satoshi Kojima vs. TJP

They lock up. Koji shoves him over and wristlocks him. TJP misses a dropkick then side headlocks him. TJP shoulders him over then Koji hiptosses him. Koji shoulders him out of the ring. Koji hits double axe handles on TJP then is sent into the rails. TJP facekicks him on the rails.

TJP machine gun chops Koji then Koji chops him over. Koji stomps and elbows him then chokes him on the ropes. Koji neckbreakers him for 2. Koji hits forearms. TJP hammerlocks one arm with his feet and cranks the other back. TJP cannonballs him off the apron.

Koji ddt's TJP on the apron. Koji machine gun chops TJP. TJP dropkicks him in the corner and flying back elbows him. TJP facewash kicks Koji TJP facewsh kicks Koji. Koji hits forearms then ddt's him. TJP springboard diving ddt's Koji. TJP cartwheels out of a cutter. TJP misses a top rope splash then Koji hits a cutter for 2.

TJP spin kicks him then Koji lariats him for 2. Koji brainbusters TJP for 2. TJP superkicks him then rolls him into a pin attempt.

Thoughts: It was an okay match, but it was really a lose-lose. Both of these guys try and would have been solid additions to the G1. Neither one would have won it though. I thought TJP's cartwheel out of the cutter here was creative and they did pretty good with the obvious styles clash they had here.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, Titan & Yota Tsuji) vs. House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, Ren Narita & SHO)

Sho talks on the mic before the match. Naito and Evil start us off. Naito gets nailed from behind by the heels then Naito is posed on. Sho stomps on Naito then Bushi comes in to flying headscissors Sho. Bushi is tagged in and top rope dropkicks Sho. Bushi does the spinarooni up and ddt's Sho for 2.

Titan gets in and is crotched on a ropewalk attempt. Togo knocks Titan over the rail outside then Naito is sent into the rail. Naito is sent into the rail and knocks the timekeeper over. Togo unties Titan's mask and tries to take it off.

Ren back elbows Titan and facekicks Yota off the apron. Evil corner lariats Titan then Togo 2nd rope chops Titan in the nuts. Evil stands on Titan's head.

Titan ducks a lariat and jumping kicks Evil. Yota gets in. Yota hits forearms then headsicssors Evil. Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers Togo then suplexes Evil for 2. Yota hangs on the 2nd rope and Evil footpresses him down. Ren flying kicks Yota in the corner and rakes his eyes on the ropes.

Ren pulls on Yota's hair then is curbstomped. Naito armdrags Ren then baseball slides him. Naito neckbreakers Ren. Ren jumping kneepresses Naito down. Naito takes corner attacks. Togo chokes Naito with a weapon. Togo is atomic dropped and Naito rolls on him into a pin attempt.

Titan springboard double dropkicks the heels then dropkicks Ren on the ropes. Titan does a tope con hilo on 3 opponents outside. Togo takes a codebreaker then Naito codebreakers him to win.

Thoughts: Don't get me wrong, it was a short match and a pretty lazy effort. But it was timed okay and wasn't bad. The heels got their stuff in then the faces made their comeback and won.

Overall thoughts: Like the last show, it was a house show and nothing more. Nobody did anything too wild here. Kojima/TJP was the match of the night but not a classic. I would not recommend this show.