New Japan Pro Wrestling 7/3/2024 New Japan Soul 2024 Day 6

New Japan Pro Wrestling 7/3/2024 New Japan Soul 2024 Day 6

Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma), El Desperado & Yuji Nagata vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)

Despy and Douki start us off. They armdrag each other and Despy armdrags him. Douki springboard armdrags him and they each avoid dives. Sanada and Yuji go at it. Yuji puts a nagata lock on him and Taka breaks it up. Yuji enzugiri's him then Sanada puts a nagata lock on him. They trade chops and Yuya dropkicks him. Taka running knees Yuji and Yuji crossfaces him. Yuji exploders Taka.

Togi gets in and double lariats his opponnets. He hits corner punches on Taka. Taka superkicks him. Yuya and Honma go at it. They shoulderblock battle and Yuya is knocked over. Honma falling headbutts him. Honma lariats Yuya and headbutts him. Yuya enzugiri's and backdrops him for 2.

Douki and Despy get in. Douki flying headscissors him and topes him outside. Honma takes a triple boot then Yuya top rope crossbodies him to win.

Thoughts: It was your usual opener with everyone getting a segment in and getting out.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, Titan & Yota Tsuji) vs. House Of Torture (Ren Narita, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

HoT attacks before it starts. Ren throws Yota into the rails outside. Titan walks up the ropes and headscissors Sho off them. Titan dropkicks then hits a tornado ddt on Sho. Sho takes a double shoulder then Yota drops HT on Sho.

HT corner lariats Sho. Yota and Titan are thrown into the rails outside. HT is thrown into the post. HT takes a chairshot then YK running knees him. Ren facekicks Ht for 2.

HT hits chops on Ren then dragon screws him. Yota gets in and shoulders over Ren. Yota splashes him then hits a double shoulderblock. Ren pulls Yota by the hair and Yota boots him. Yota crabs Ren then does a rocking chair off of it. The rest of HoT run in and interfere, actually getting DQ'd for a change. Shingo and Bushi then make the save. LIJ get on the mic and this tunrs into a larger tag match.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, Titan & Yota Tsuji) vs. House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, Ren Narita, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)

Naito and Evil go into the crowd. Evil's head is banged off the West sign. Yota whip Ren with a belt. Shingo hits shots on Yujiro and fiths off a 2v1. Shingo hits a double lariat to escape his second 2v1. Naito basment dropkicks Yujiro. Yujiro eye rakes him and baseball slides him. Naito takes corner attacks from HoT.

Togo 2nd rope chops Naito in the nuts. Togo hits punches to Naito's gut. Naito evades a magic killer. Titan springboard dropkicks Togo and Togo takes corner attacks. Togo takes a 4 person basement dropkick.

Titan dropkicks Togo in the knee from the ropes then taps him out with a figure four variation.

Thoughts: Both of these matches were pretty short. At least HoT got DQ'd for interfering and at least we didn't get the usual nonsense. I was fine with this believe it or not. 

G1 Climax 34 Block B Qualifying Tournament Semi Final Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Oleg Boltin

Oleg and Tana lock up. Tana is backed up on the ropes. Tana side headlocks Oleg then Oleg shoulders him over. Tana basement dropkicks Oleg then dragon screw legwhips him. Tana ties up Oleg's legs.

Oleg and Tana trade shots then Oleg dropkicks him. Oleg slams Tana then splashes him for 2. Oleg fallaway slams him then corner splashes him. Oleg slams him then misses a vader bomb. Tana hits a twist and shout on Oleg then hits a slingblade for 2.

Tana gets caught on a top rope crossbody and Oleg hits a cradle shock for 2. Tana rolls him up for 2 then basement dropkicks his knee. Tana runs at him and takes a finlay roll. Oleg hits another finlay roll and wins.

Thoughts: It was a short one here and was just average. It didn't really have the time it needed to be anything great. It's a shame Tana isn't going to be in the G1, but he just can't do it anymore sadly. He tried last year and it wasn't good. It is the end of an era though.

G1 Climax 34 Block A Qualifying Tournament Semi Final Match - KENTA vs. Callum Newman

Kenta hits him from behind to start. He hits chest kicks and throws him out. CN is thrown into the rails. Kenta hits kicks and throws him into the post. CN dropkicks Kenta off the apron then plancha's him.

CN is thrown into the rails. CN dropkiks Kenta into the rails then Kenta suplexes him on the floor. Kenta sends him into the post. Kenta knee drops him inside and chinlocks him. They trade shots and CN running facekicks him.

CN corner dropkicks him and PK's him for 2. CN spinning forearms him and facekicks the ref on accident. Kenta ddt's him and grabs a kendo stick. Kenta hits him with the kendo stick several times.

Kenta tries to hit him with a title belt but CN hits an os cutter. CN throws the ref in then Kenta low blows him. Kenta hits busaiku knee for 2. Kenta hits slaps then CN jumping knees him. CN facekicks him then double stomps his back off the top. CN then hits an os cutter and wins.

Thoughts: It was fine with Kenta bullying CN around and CN eventually making his comeback and winning. More importantly, it means Kenta is out of the G-1 which is fantastic. He has not been good in the G-1 the last few years and the tournament will be a lot better without him.

G1 Climax 34 Block B Qualifying Tournament Semi Final Match - TJP vs. Taichi

They lock up and Taichi cleanbreaks him. They trade wristlocks. TJP cartwheels and headstands headscissors him down. TJP headstands out of a headscissors. TJP dropkicks him then hits facewash kicks. TJP misses a triangle dropkick then Taichi lariats him while he's seated on the apron.

TJP is sent into the rails. Taichi hits kicks on TJP outside. Taichi enzugiri's him and Taichi facewash kicks him. Taichi side headkicks him then chinlocks him. Taichi does more facewash kicks and TJP 2nd rope diving hurricanrana's him. TJP cranks Taichi's arm back. TJP triangle dropkicks him then flying forearms him off the buckles.

TJP facewash kicks him. TJP dropkicks him through the ropes. TJP final cuts him while he's on the 2nd rope. TJP facekicks him and Taichi enzugiri's him. 

Taichi misses a superkick and an enzugiri then TJP pinoy stretches him. TJP bangs Taichi's arm over his shoulder. Taichi hits a big forearm and a backdrop. TJP lariats him and takes a spinning backfist. TJP superkicks him and hits a jumping spin kicks. TJP then rolls him up for 2.

Taichi enzugiri's TJP. Taichi running lariats him for 1. Taichi superkicks him then hits an air raid crash for 2.

Thoughts: It had some of the things you would look for in a great match but it just wasn't there. It needed some kind of story that it just didn't have. TJP also ended up losing this when him winning would have provided for a much better match and story.

G1 Climax 34 Block A Qualifying Tournament Semi Final Match - Tomohiro Ishii vs. YOSHI-HASHI

They lock up. Yoshi hits some chops and side headlocks him. They shoulder battle and Ishii shoulders him over. Ishii hits kicks to Yoshi's back and hits forearms. Yoshi shoulders him over.

Yoshi kicks Ishii in the bac. He slaps him in the back of the head and Ishii elbows him hard in the face for it. Ishii chops him down. Ishii no sells Yoshi's forearms then chops him down. Ishii hits a bunch of chops, punishing Yoshi. Yoshi tries to chop him back but can't compete. Ishii hits a chop and forearm combo.

Yoshi dragon screws him. Yoshi corner lariats Ishii then hits chops and forearms. Yoshi kicks him in the gut and neckbreakers him. Yoshi blockbusters him off the top for 2. Ishii backdrops him. They chop each other for a while. 

Yoshi tries to lariat Ishii but Ishii doesn't go down. They then lariat each other down and go down together on a double lariat. Ishii forearm combos him and headbutts him. Yoshi shotgun dropkicks him and Ishii shoulders him over. Yoshi superkicks him then hits a northern lights bomb for 2.

Yoshi running lariats him then does another one for 2. Ishii misses an enzugiri then takes a double stomp to the back. Ishii germans Yoshi. Ishii running lariats him then Yoshii spinning forearms him. Ishii drops him with a lariat.

Ishii running powerbombs Yoshi for 2. Yoshi codebreakers Ishii then Ishii sliding lariats him. Ishii goes for a suplex and Yoshi ddt's him out of it. Yoshi running lariats him then Ishii hits a big headbutt. Ishii runs at him and gets lariated. Yoshi hits a canadian destroyer for 2.

Yoshi running lariats him for 2. Ishii dragon suplexes him  then is slapped. Ishii enzugiri's him. Ishii running lariats him for 2. Yoshi dragon suplexes him then hits superkicks. Yoshi crucifix bombs him the hits a sitout fishrman's buster and wins it.

Thoughts: This was really good until the last part of it. They fought hard, showed spirit and they had a nice story going with Yoshi being unable to hurt Ishii. Just when it should have peaked, they did a canadian destroyer kickout and blew it for me. It's a shame too.

The match was a real lose-lose though. Both of these guys are good and should be in the G-1 but Ishii can't anymore due to health issues. It's sad because Ishii matches up well against anyone and could have done some great things in the tournament.

Yoshi talks on the mic after.

Overall thoughts: I wouldn't recommend this one. TJP/Taichi got close to having something going but didn't hit the mark. The main was on its way to being great but then they went indy with canadian destroyer kickouts and hurt it. House of Torture didn't ruin things here and Newman/Kenta was okay. This was one of those changing of the guard shows though with Tana, Kenta and Ishii all being out of the G-1.