G1 Climax 34 action continues today with five A Block matches, including Shingo Takagi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. in the main event.
Shingo is 2-3 with 4 points in the tournament, while Sabre is 4-1 with 8 points. It will be the fifth career singles meeting for Shingo and Sabre, with each holding two victories and two losses.
In the semi-main, 3-2 Shota Umino takes on 2-3 SANADA.
2-3 Tetsuya Naito vs. 3-2 Gabe Kidd, 1-4 Great-O-Khan vs. 5-0 EVIL, plus 2-3 Callum Newman vs. 1-4 Jake Lee round out today’s G1 Climax tournament matches.
Today’s undercard bouts:
- Yota Tsuji & BUSHI vs. Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- El Phantasmo & Jado vs. Yuya Uemura & TAKA Michinoku
- Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano vs. David Finlay & Gedo
- Shoma Kato, Katsuya Murahsima, Tomoaki Honma & Hirooki Goto vs. Konosuke Takesh*ta, Jeff Cobb, HENARE & Francesco Akira
Today’s show streams on NJPW World beginning at 2 a.m. Eastern time.
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Recommended Matches
Tetsuya Naito vs. Gabe Kidd – I would consider this a very good Naito match, which is becoming rarer by the day. They played into Kidd’s strengths and covered Naito’s weaknesses quite well. This isn’t a must watch match, but if your here, it might be worth checking out if you’re a fan of either guy.
Shingo Takagi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – This was one of the best matches of the tournament. It was filled with intense sequences, slick transitions, and fantastic work on a narrative level. Not a second of your time will be wasted here either. This match was efficient, well paced, and an all-round breezy watch. This one is definitely worth going out of your way for.
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Undercard Results
Konosuke Takesh*ta, Francesco Akira, HENARE & Jeff Cobb defeated Hirooki Goto, Katsuya Murashima, Shoma Kato & Tomoaki Honma
Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano defeated David Finlay & Gedo
TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura defeated El Phantasmo & Jado
BUSHI & Yota Tsuji defeated Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
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G1 Climax Results
Jake Lee defeated Callum Newman
This worked well enough. Newman tried his best tog be dazzling, Lee kept it simple in response. Would I recommend seeking this out? No. But was this a fine match. Sure.
This match opened fast, but neither man could connect with offense. After the early whiffs, they turned to more basic wrestling in an attempt to get the action started. A boot from Newman sent Lee to the floor, which he followed with an attempted dive. Lee interrupted the dive, opening the door to an assault on the floor.
Lee maintained his control from the floor inside the ring with basic offense. With a strong lead, he taunted Newman, allowing him to take free, unprotected shots. This backfired, as Newman was given time to recover, which he used to deliver a double stomp to the back to a prone Lee.
Newman filled his rally with his typical flashy offense. In response, Lee threw Newman to the floor. Newman quickly responded on the outside with a dive, maintaining his momentum before returning to the ring.
Newman’s lead lasted until he attempted the OsCutter. Lee reversed the finish and hit a choke slam for a near fall. When Lee tried to follow up, Newman launched into another short rally, only for Lee to catch him with a Face Break Shot. Lee then pinned Newman to win the match.
This win puts Lee at 4 points.
Great-O-Khan defeated EVIL
This was an impressively bad match. The constant interference is one thing, but it was followed by a totally unearned finish.
EVIL opened the match by rushing O-Khan, grabbing him by his braid, and throwing him to the floor. On the outside, EVIL dominated O-Khan, slamming him into the barricades and the seats. After a moment of interference from Togo, O-Khan barely beat the referee’s count. Once O-Khan was back in the ring, EVIL distracted the referee by threatening to choke him with a shirt, only to choke him with a wire once the official’s back was turned.
O-Khan eventually landed a quick suplex to reverse the momentum of the match. He then drove EVIL into the corner before securing a hold in the middle of the ring. EVIL freed himself by bitting O-Khan, reversing the momentum with underhanded tactics again.
When EVIL attempted Darkness Falls, O-Khan reversed into a throw. O-Khan locked in another hold, but EVIL pulled down the referee, allowing Togo to hit the ring. Togo attacked O-Khan with a chair before offering him back to EVIL. EVIL then locked in a sharpshooter, forcing O-Khan to the ropes.
When EVIL attempted Everything is Evil, O-Khan reversed, driving EVIL face-first into the mat. O-Khan then wrestled EVIL to the mat and locked in an arm hold in the center of the ring. When EVIL looked to be in trouble, Togo pulled the referee to the floor and launched into a full-fledged beatdown, ending with a Magic Killer.
O-Khan kicked out of their tandem finish, only for Togo to interfere again moments later. O-Khan responded with a plancha to Togo before returning to the ring. Back inside, EVIL whipped him into an exposed corner twice and hit a lariat for a nearfall. EVIL attempted his finish again, but O-Khan escaped and hit the eliminator. O-Khan then pinned EVIL and won the match.
O-Khan also advances to 4 points.
Tetsuya Naito defeated Gabe Kidd
This was easily the match of the night so far. They worked around Naito’s weaknesses excellently while maintaining a lot of the intensity that makes Kidd matches so great. Very good.
Kidd opened the match by clubbing Naito with heavy strikes before taking action to the floor. On the outside, Kidd kept up his pressure for a moment before taunting Naito. When Kidd attempted to bring Naito back in the ring, Naito returned the favor, rolling out of the ring, baiting Kidd, and mocking him in typical Naito fashion. This strategy allowed Naito to take control of the match.
The match spilled to the floor, where Kidd was able to retake control. He threw Naito into the sea of chairs, where he continued to mock the IWGP World Champion. Kidd then piled up chairs and barricades, which he attempted to suplex Naito into. Naito reversed the suplex and threw Kidd into the chairs himself. Kidd fired back by dropping Naito onto the apron and spitting in his face.
Back in the ring, Kidd took mount and unloaded on Naito with heavy closed fist strikes, forcing the referee to intervene. Kidd then locked in a Boston crab in an attempt to humiliate the champion. When Kidd tried to follow up, Naito reversed into an awkward partial Destino.
A leg sweep sent Kidd crashing into the corner. Naito followed up with a kick and Esperanza. As Naito looked to escalate, Kidd answered with a nasty suplex that resulted in a match reset.
Naito spat in Kidd’s face, returning the favor from earlier in the match. Naito then landed a strike, which Kidd was quick to answer. Kidd tried for the Mad Man Bomb, but Naito reversed with a rana. Naito then unloaded on Kidd’s neck and went for Destino. Instead of delivering his finish by driving Kidd on his head, Naito trapped Kidd with a schoolboy roll-up and won the match.
Naito heads towards the top of the pack with this win, leaving him with 6 points.
SANADA defeated Shota Umino
After a quick opening sequence, SANADA threw Umino to the floor. On the outside, SANADA utilized the barricades to gain and maintain control over Umino before returning to the ring. Back inside, he preserved his lead with simple offense.
A sudden dropkick from Umino allowed him to challenge SANADA’s lead. Umino upped the intensity significantly, landing much more impactful moves after securing the lead, culminating with a DDT to the apron that sent SANADA to the floor. A dropkick from the top rope and an exploder suplex scored Umino a two count.
A SANADA dropkick ended Umino’s offense, allowing SANADA to connect with some of his own. SANADA landed a plancha before throwing Umino back in the ring. SANADA then set up the Skull End. Unfortunately for SANADA, this left Umino in the perfect position for his reverse twist and shout.
SANADA attempted a shining wizard, but Umino caught him in the STF. SANADA escaped by reaching the ropes and challenged Umino’s followup with a magic screw. SANADA then hit the shining wizard, but Umino blocked the rounding body press with his knees.
Umino landed a knee strike to the back of SANADA to jumpstart his rally. He missed the follow-up blaze blade, leading to a back-and-forth. SANADA landed the shining wizard again, but Umino held on. This push and pull continued until Umino landed his DDT for a nearfall. Umino managed to follow up with a blaze blade, only for SANADA to reverse into the O’Connor roll. This pin trapped Umino, leaving SANADA with the win.
SANADA advances to 6 points as well, making it very crowded toward the upper-middle of the block.
Shingo Takagi defeated Zack Sabre Jr.
This match was great. This was the best Shingo performance in ages and a fantastic outing from ZSJ. It built perfectly to the end and was an absolute breeze. One of the best matches of the tournament.
The feeling out process of this match opened hot, with both men trying to gain the upper hand without slowing down. Once the match did slow down, ZSJ was able to grapple his way into a suplex, but Shingo answered with a tackle. Shingo followed up with a suplex of his own before taking control on the mat.
A neck crank followed by a dropkick to the head from ZSJ allowed him to take the momentum from Shingo. ZSJ then took Shingo to the mat, working him over with various chokes before Shingo fired back with a suplex.
Shingo forced ZSJ in the corner and unloaded on ZSJ with strikes. Shingo kept up the pace with high-impact offense until ZSJ reversed a sliding lariat into an arm crank. ZSJ then began to focus the arm, perhaps to prevent the threat of Shingo’s pumping bomber.
Shingo dropped ZSJ to retake the lead after receiving a lot of attention on his arm. He then lifted ZSJ to the top rope and delivered a superplex to cement a lead. Shingo landed a sliding lariat, but the follow-up from Shingo failed as his targeted arm slowed his response.
ZSJ then took advantage again and focused solely on the arm. Shingo was forced to answer with a pumping bomber, but it did as much damage to him as to ZSJ. ZSJ tried to respond by keeping up the attack, but Shingo caught him with Made in Japan, resulting in a nearfall.
Shingo tried for a pumping bomber again, but ZSJ reversed into the Zack Driver; Shingo kicked out. This was followed by a striking battle that Shingo ended with a pumping bomber. Shingo attempted to follow up on his finish, but ZSJ reversed into the sleeper. ZSJ transitioned into an arm breaker and a triangle when the sleeper failed. With Shingo fading, the referee walked away, looking like he would call the match. Shingo responded by pulling the referee down, powering up, and landing Last of the Dragon. Shingo then pinned ZSJ to win the match.
Another man joins the 6 point club with Shingo’s win.
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