New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/15/2024 G1 Climax 34 Day 17

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/15/2024 G1 Climax 34 Day 17

Day 16 is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/08/new-japan-pro-wrestling-8142024-g1.html

The card for this one looks awful and I'm not happy about it as there's a lot of other stuff going on right now that is more interesting.

Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI), Katsuya Murashima & Tomoaki Honma vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)

Yoshi and Taichi go at it. Why these two aren't in this tournament, I don't know. They trade forearms for kicks. Taichi takes a double shoulderblock then various people are hiptossed and suplexed onto Taichi. Sanada is group clubbed on.

Taichi spin kicks Goto then corner facekicks him. Sanada dropkicks Goto in the knee and tags in Taka. Taka stomps Goto. Taka pump kicks him then Goto shoulders him over. Honma comes in. He slams Bushi and hits a flatliner + ddt combo on Sanada and Taichi.

Honma bulldogs Taka, misses a heabutt drop and is basement dropkicked. Douki double stomps Honma. Honma suplexes Douki. KM hits forearms on Douki then flying forearms him. Douki takes a double shoulder then Honma is pushed into a falling headbutt on him. KM crabs Douki. Douki slams KM. Douki running lariats KM. Douki northern lihghts suplexes him and wins.

Thoughts: It was a quick opener. Everyone got a little time in and not much else.

Taiji Ishimori comes out and has words for Douki after. Taiji makes a challenge for Douki's title.

Be-Bop Tag Team (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano) & Oleg Boltin vs. House Of Torture (SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)

The faces get jumped before it starts. Tana hits a double basement dropkick on the heels' knees. Tana takes some offense then Kanemaru dropkicks him in the knees. Tana gets his legs split. Tana is double teamed in the corner. Yujiro baseball slides Tana for 2.

Sho ddt's Tana's leg then Tana's legs are banged off the mat. Kanemaru stomps on the knees and eye rakes him. Tana dragon screws Sho. Oleg gets in. Oleg shoulders over the heels. Oleg then picks up Kanemaru and Sho then throws them at Yujiro. Oleg karelin's lifts Sho and Kanemaru.

Oleg shoulders over Sho and splash him. Sho hits dropkicks to Oleg's knees. Yujiro facekicks Oleg then Oleg shoulders him over. Yano atomic drops Yujiro. Yano is held on the ropes and takes a facekick.

Yano takes a fisherman suplex for 2. Yujiro grabs his cane and hits Tana with it. Kanemaru spits whiskey in Yano's eyes on accident and Yano rolls up Yujiro to win.

Thoughts: It was your usual heel vs face match with the faces getting the edge on the heels here. I guess it was fine as HoT didn't do anything too unbelievable.

United Empire (Francesco Akira & Jeff Cobb) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gabe Kidd & Jake Lee)

The faces get attacked as it starts as usual. Akira gets some shots in Gabe then is chopped. Akira leg lariats her. Jake takes Akira out of the ring an dbeats him up outside. Gabe barks at a fan outside. Cobb forearms him and Akira's head is banged off the seats. Cobb gets his head banged off the seats too.

They get back in. Jake slams Akira. Akira hits forearms on Jake. Akira step up enzugiri's Jake. Cobb gets in and hits shoulders on Jake. Cobb hits a slam and standing moonsaults Jake. Cobb and Jake trade. Cobb headbutts him.

Akira dropkicks Jake then Jake is pulled over the top. Akira plancha's Jake outside then Akira leg lariats him on the inside. Akira top rope crossbodies him for 2. Akira is dropped off of Cobb's shoulders onto Jake.

Jake high kicks Akira. Gabe straight punches Akira and Jake chokeslams Akira to win it.

Thoughts: It was just average and not much of note. We didn't see a lot of Cobb here but we saw a lot of Jake vs Akira.

TMDK (Hartley Jackson & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (David Finlay & Gedo)

DF and Zack go at it. DF backs Zack up on the ropes and shoves him. They trade arm submissions and Zack takes him down. DF grabs the arm and Zack upkicks him. They trade euros.

Zack side headlocks him. DF leapfrogs and is pulled down by the leg. DF flying back elbows him. DF goes for a hiptoss and takes a cobra twist. Zack is thrown over, then Zack snapmares him and twists the neck with his feet.

Hart gets in and is wearing full TMDK attire. He back body drops DF. Hart is hit form behind then Gedo and DF club on him. Hart double lariats his opponents. Zack hits running facekicks on DF and knocks him over with it. 

DF backbreakers Zack. Zack sunset flips him and they trade pin attempts. DF uranage backbreakers him. Zack and DF each hit shots and Zack flying euros him. Gedo comes in and tries to make friends with Hart. He then eye pokes Hart. Hart corner splashes him then hits a big lariat. Gedo eye pokes him and hits punches.

Gedo eye rakes him then Hart slams him. Hart misses a senton. Gedo tries the gedo clutch but can't get him over. Gedo is on Hart's back and is dropped backwards. Hart sentons him. Hart death valley drivers Gedo and wins.

Thoughts: This was random. Mikey and Shane aren't on this tour and Kosei is injured, so they brought in Hartley Jackson of all people. It wasn't much and just pushed a Finlay vs Zack match.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman & HENARE)

CN gets stomped on to start. CN runs the ropes and boots Naito. CN then slides out and kicks Bushi outside. CN crabs Naito. Henare shoulders Naito over. Bushi knocks CN off the apron then topes him. Bushi snapmares and chinlocks CN.

Naito hits back elbows on CN then neckbreakers him. CN trips his opponents and hits a double basement dropkick. Henare shoulders over Naito and sentons Bushi. Henare chest kicks him. Naito runs in and step up enzugiri's Henare. CN superkicks Naito out then plancha's him.

Bushi and Henare fight. Henare spinning high kicks him. Henare full-nelsons him and taps him out.

Thoughts: The full-nelson finish is just weak and hard to buy in NJPW where top rope moves can't even finish people off. It was a short one with people coming in and out a lot and was just average.

House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL & Ren Narita) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Jado) & Shota Umino

The faces are attacked before the bell. Ren beats up on ELP and eye rakes him. Togo chokes ELP on the ropes. Togo stomps on ELP and punches him. Evil stomps ELP. ELP step up enzugiri's Evil.

Ren eye rakes ELP then ELP flying dropkicks him. Shota gets in. He hits a running forearm and a dropkick, then he dropkicks Togo in the knee. Shota fisherman suplexes Ren.

Ren eye rakes Shota then sends him into the exposed buckle. Shota gets his lets split. Shota exploders Ren then tornado ddt's Evil. Jado comes in and shoulders Evil over. Evil boots him then Jado lariats him over. Togo eye rakes him then Jado goes for a double bridging ddt. The rest of HoT stop it.

Evil corner lariats Jado then Togo 2nd rope chops JAdo in the crotch. Togo chokes Jado with a weapon. Evil hits everything is evil on Jado and wins.

Thoughts: It was another average match with little of note. Everyone got their segment in and not much else.

Ren stomps Shota after. HoT stomps the faces then Tana and others come out to make the save.

G1 Climax 2024 Block A Semi Final Match - Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan

Khan takes him down. Khan front facelocks him. Shingo shoulders him over. Shingo elbow drops and sentons him. Khan hits a belly to belly suplex. Khan hits elbows to the arm and double chops it on the ropes. Khan locks up the arm with his legs.

Khan hits footslaps and bangs the arm off his knee. Shinog hits jabs and double chops him. Shingo hits a forearm and punch combo. Shingo ddt's him. Khan fireman's carry throws him. Khan shoulder throws him.

Khan hits mongolian chops and Shingo does it back to him. Shingo backdrops him. Shingo corner lariats him then superplexes him. Shingo sliding lariats him. Shingo hits lariats then chops to the neck. Khan kimura's Shingo. Khan sheep killer suplexes him. Khan pump kicks him then Shingo lariats him for 2.

Shingo lariats him in the back of the neck then khan lariats him. Shingo backslides him then sliding forearms him. Shingo hits a headbutt and takes a straight punch. Khan armbars him. Khan lifts him and gets ddt'd. Shingo shoulders him then release germans him. Shingo lariats him for 2. Shingo hits a last of the dragon and wins.

Thoughts: It was a slower paced match which hurt it. Khan worked the arm all match long and I thought Shingo could have done a better job of selling it. It got better towards the end of it but I wasn't a huge fan of this one.

G1 Climax 2024 Block B Semi Final Match - Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji

They trade basic holds. KT hits forearms and flying lariats him. KT ddt's him on the apron. KT chinlocks him. KT forearms him in the corner then knees him in the corner. KT slams him. Yota gets his knees up on KT's senton.

They trade shots. KT facekicks him and takes a knee to the gut. Yota ties up the legs and KT ropebreaks. Yotaforearms him in the gut. KT corkscrews him with a lariat. KT 2nd rope superplexes him.

Chairs are stacked on Yota on the floor and KT slingshot swantons him. In the ring, Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him then topes him. Back in the ring, KT germans him. They then double clothesline each other down. Yota hits a falcon arrow for 2.

Yota runs at him and takes a knee to the face. KT top rope lariats him while both are on top and Yota almost lands on his head. Yota pumping knees him and lariats him. Yota hits slaps and headbutts him. Yota goes for the marlow crash and takes a blue thunder.

Yota hits a stunner out of a falcon thunder then spears him. KT release germans Yota then Yota spears him to win.

Thoughts: Like the prior match, it was longer and slower than it should have been. I thought they did too much here and the limb work on KT didn't really mean that much.

Yota talks on the mic after.

Overall thoughts: There were only two more matches worth anything on paper here and neither were good. Both matches were a lot slower than usual which hurt them. This was a really weak looking card. I wouldn't recommend this.