New Japan Pro Wrestling 7/20/2024 G1 Climax 34 Day 1

New Japan Pro Wrestling 7/20/2024 G1 Climax 34 Day 1

G1 Climax 34 Block B - Oleg Boltin vs Ren Narita

Oleg has new Kazakhstan blue tights on. Ren throws his jacket at him and clubs on him. Oleg then shoulders him over. Oleg splashes him and Ren goes out. Ren throws Oleg into the rails. Ren chairs him.

Ren facekicks him outside then facekicks him in the ring. Ren armbreakers him. Oleg blocks an armdrag then hits a nice dropkick. Oleg lifts him and Ren gets out. Oleg chops him. Ren jumping knee presses him. Ren then top rope diving knee presses him.

Ren armbars him. Oleg hits an F-5 then finlay rolls him for the win.

Thoughts: It was an okay opener here. Ren did some heel stuff and Oleg made his comeback and won. It ended before it got old and Oleg had a nice showing here.

G1 Climax 34 Block A - Shota Umino vs Callum Newman

CN hits a facekick and gets forearmed. They trade forearms. Shota runs the ropes fast and trips. He drops him on his chest and basement dropkicks him. CN double stomps his back. CN boston crabs him.

CN kicks him in the back. Shota hits a nice dropkick then running euros him. Shota trips him and stf's him. CN cutters him out of the suplex then CN PK's him. CN pumping knees him, takes a spinning forearm then enzugiri's him. CN goes for the os cutter but takes a cutter off of it. Shota tornado ddt's him then lifting reverse ddt's him for 2.

Shota hits ignition then drops him with a forearm. CN hits a standing spanish fly. CN dropkicks him in the back of the head then CN top rope double stomps him. CN os cutters him and wins.

Thoughts: It was definitely a little flippy and indy at times. It was a fast paced and athletic match here. I was surprised to see Shota lose since he's going to be one of NJPW's top stars and if he's losing now, he's not going to be able to lose against the top guys later and still win the tournament. I thought it was one of Newman's biggest wins yet. 

G1 Climax 34 Block B - HENARE vs El Phantasmo

Henare side headlocks him then shoulders him over. ELP dropkicks him then Henare shoulders him over. ELP flying hedscissors him then topes him. ELP springboard swantons him into a 2nd rope asai moonsault.

ELP hits chops then Henare drops him with shots. Henare forearms him down then strike combos him. Henare wastelands him and sentons him. Henare lariats him down. ELP lariats him then Henare berzerker bombs him.

They trade forearms. Henare spinning high kicks him then PK's him for 1. ELP dropkicks him and facekicks him. ELP hits a step up enzugiri then superkicks him for 2. ELP burning hammers him then springboard splashes him for 2.

Henare pop-up drops him then hits a big spear for 2. Henare then wins it with a fisherman's buster.

Thoughts: I didn't like it too much. They didn't play up the big man vs smaller man story much. Henare got hit with a burning hammer and ended up kicking out of it. And it just didn't click as I had hoped.  

G1 Climax 34 Block B - Hirooki Goto vs Jeff Cobb

They trade forearms and JC shoulders him over. Goto hits a big lariat then JC shoulders him over. Goto plancha's him outside. Goto corner lariats him then JC hits a big lariat while hooking his arm. JC hits an attitude adjustment then standing moonsaults him.

Goto hits chops. JC hits a spinning heel kick and Goto throws him off the bulldog attempt. Goto dropkicks him in the knee. JC facekicks him then Goto lariats him.

Goto spinning heel kicks him and bulldogs him for 2. Goto ushigoroshi's him for 2. JC goes for a GTR but Goto escapes. Goto sleepers him then JC hits a tour of the islands slam and wins.

Thoughts: It wasn't as long as it should have been but it was a fun match here. Cobb tried doing Goto's moves and Goto did a good job fighting back.

G1 Climax 34 Block A - Zack Sabre Jr. vs Great O'Khan

Khan picks him up and dumps him over the top. They waistlock each other outside. Zack guillotines him and Khan sends him through a rail. They fight in the seats. Khan punches him in the gut and knocks him down.

They get back in and Khan karelin's lifts him. Khan throws him forward then Zack rolls him and twists his neck with his feet. Khan fireman's carry slams him then does a monkey flip. Zack shoulder throws him then Khan shoulder throws him. Zack hiptosses him. Khan hits a shoulder throw.

Zack does another shoulder throw. Khan belly to belly suplexes him. Khan hits a claw powerbomb. Zack hits kicks. Zack ddt's him then michinoku drivers him for the win.

Thoughts: I didn't like the early part of this. It really looked fake and silly when they fought in the crowd. The in-ring portion was interesting though with them doing judo throws and I liked Khan's claw powerbomb. It was interesting, but I don't know if I'd call it good.

G1 Climax 34 Block A - SANADA vs Jake Lee

Jake wristlocks him then Sanada hammerlocks him. Sanada boots him in the knee. Jake chokeslams Sanada. Jake misses a corner facekick and Sanada bridging twisting neckbreakers him.

Sanada top rope moonsaults him for 2. Sanada shining wizards him from behind. Jake blocks a regular shining wizard then Sanada backrolls him for 2. Sanada dropkicks him then does Jake's gun pose. Jake running corner facekicks him and wins.

Thoughts: What was this finish? Sanada was the world champ last year and pushed like a star. Then he loses in minutes here just to a facekick. This was a total burial here. It was always obvious to me that Sanada was just filler due to a lack of other options and with booking like this, that's being proven true. The match was entertaining though.

G1 Climax 34 Block B - Yuya Uemura vs David Finlay

DF side headlocks him and shoulders him over. Yuya chinlocks him, hiptosses him, shoulders him and armdrags him. Yuya armlocks him. They trade chop flurries and Yuya is knocked off the apron into the rails.

Yuya's back is rammed into the rails then Yuya is thrown over them. Yuya is thrown hard into the buckles. DF corner euros him then throws him on a suplex. DF boots him around and Yuya hits chops. DF double throat thrusts him. Yuya armdrags him then hits a dropkick.

Yuya bulldogs him but really, he probably hurt himself as much off of it. DF 2nd rope superplexes him for 2. DF backbreakers him then stands on his chest.

DF goes for a backdrop and Yuya rolls on him. Yuya back body drops him. Yuya lariats him over the top then suicide dives him outside. Yuya top rope chops him. Yuya double chops him and backdrops him. Yuya top rope crossbodies him. Yuya backslides him then crucifies him. Yuya hits a uranage for 2.

DF hits a standing blue thunder for 2. DF dominators him for 2. Yuya germans him for 2. Yuya dragon suplexes him then DF belly to belly suplexes him. Yuya pele kicks him then DF lariats him. DF buckle bombs him twice then Yuya hurricanrana's him.

Thoughts: It was a decent match here with both guys contributing. Yuya had a good showing here and really tried. They got a little happy with the no-selling by the end but I will forgive it.

G1 Climax 34 Block A - EVIL vs Gabe Kidd

Gabe tope con hilos Evil and Togo as they enter. Gabe brainbusters Togo then kicks him from the apron. Gabe 2nd rope moonsaults him outside. Evil is pushed into the rails.

They fight with chairs outside and Gabe punches him. Gabe does a long run at Evil and has a chair thrown at him. Evil puts a chair around Gabe's neck and hits it with a chair. The match then officially starts, with Gabe down and out and not in the ring.

Gabe hits forearms and is sent into the exposed buckle. Evil chops him and Gabe no sells it. Evil eye rakes him then Gabe hits a headbutt and lariat. Gabe hits a chop flurry then punches him. Gabe picks him up like a backdrop but drops him on his chest.

Gabe sits on the 2nd rope and Evil footpresses him down. Evil fisherman suplexes him for 2. They lariat each other then Evil spinning forearms him and lariats him. Gabe hits lariats to the front and back then Evil running lariats him.

Gabe bites Evil then release backdrops him. Evil puts the ref in Gabe's way. Gabe blocks a low blow then suplexes Evil. Gabe lariats him for 2. Gabe knocks Togo off the apron then hits punches on Evil. Gabe throws the ref out. Togo gets in and chokes Gabe. Evil low blows Gabe then Gabe takes a magic killer.

Evil hits everything is evil and wins.

Thoughts: It was ridiculous that the match started with Gabe down andt outside of the ring. How do you explain that? It had the usual Evil shenanigans that brought down what might have been an okay match otherwise.

G1 Climax 34 Block B - Yota Tsuji vs Konosuke Takeshita

Yota has some nice gold pants on today. They stare down and lock up. Yota wristlocks him then they pull each other's hair. Yota rolls him up and kicks him. Yota shoulders him over. KT flying lariats him then tope con hilos him. Yota is sent into the rails then KT is as well. Yota is stun gunned on the rails.

KT forearms him over then 2nd rope sentons him. Yota pushes his head down into the mat with his feet. Yota diving top rope headscissors him then tornillos him outside. Yota curbstomps him and gutbusters him. 

Yota crabs him then KT brainbusters him. KT corner forearms him then Yota corner splashes him. KT hits a flying knee then germans him for 2. They fight up top and KT falls down to the apron. Yota top rope spanish flies him for 2. KT germans him and Yota no sells it. KT poisonrana's him. Yota superkicks him then falcon arrows him.

They trade forearms and slap each other. Yota rolls him up then armdrags him off the casadora. Yota flying headscissors him. Yota headbutts him in the chest then hits a marlow crash for 2. Yota goes for the spear and runs into a knee. KT blue thunder bombs him then falcon arrows him for the win.

Thoughts: It wasn't as bad as I expected but it was along the same lines. We knew it was going to be an athletic match where selling was not going to be a top priority and people would get dropped with various bombs. That's what happened here. I didn't like the spanish fly not meaning anything here and the moves were all they really cared about in the final stretch.

G1 Climax 34 Block A -  Shingo Takagi vs Tetsuya Naito

Naito holds his fist up for a fist bump and Shingo doesn't join him. Shingo avoids lock-ups. Shingo side headlocks him and gets his hair pulled. Shingo shoulders him over and pulls his hair. Shingo throws him backwarss and misses a senton. They duck moves and Naito poses. Shingo sentons him as he poses.

Naito is lariated over the top to the floor. Naito is thrown into the rails and goes over them. Naito is suplexed on the floor. Shingo lariats him then backdrops him. Shingo corner lariats him then suplexes him. Shingo stf's him.

They trade forearms and Naito goes down. Naito hiptoss neckbreakers him on his knee. Naito armdrags him and baseball slides him. Naito neckbreakers him. Naito puts his legs around Shingo's neck and pulls.

Shingo hits a punch and ddt combo. Shingo sliding lariats him and powerbombs him for 2. Naito armdrags Shingo then step up enzugiri's him. Naio hits a pumphandle slam for 2. Naito hits back elbows then hits diamond dust. Naito hits back elbows and slips going up the ropes. Shingo 2nd rope death valley drivers him for 2.

They trade forearms. Naito spits at him then Shingo hits forearms. Naito slaps him and Shingo headbutts him down. Shingo sliding lariats him then running lariats him. Shingo hits made in Japan for 2. Shingo lariats him, puts Naito on his shoulders and Naito hits a reverse ddt out of it.

Naito 2nd rope hurricanrana's him. Naito tornado ddt's him. Naito suplexes him. Naito koppo kicks him and step up enzugiri's him. Shingo hits a nasty piledriver on Naito's head. Shingo sliding forearms him then hits made in Japan for the win.

Thoughts: It was good but not great main. The piledriver Naito took was really nasty here. I thought they matched up okay and got the story over successfully of two partners trying to get the win over each other.

Overall thoughts: It was a good night at the G1 here. I didn't like everything and not everything was perfect but we had some solid matches here and a good main. Despite some of the matches not getting enough time, the show was still pretty long due to how many people are involved with this tournament. I'd recommend this one and I enjoyed it.