NJPW G1 Climax 34 night three results: Naito vs. Lee
NJPW’s G1 Climax 34 continues with six tournament matches on night three, including Tetsuya Naito vs. Jake Lee in the main event.
Naito, the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, is still looking for his first win of the tournament after being shut out on the opening weekend at 0-2. Lee enters his highest-profile NJPW match to date with a 1-1 record in the tournament.
Five A Block matches, one B Block match, and three undercard tag bouts make up today’s card.
Today’s lineup:
- A Block: Tetsuya Naito (0-2) vs. Jake Lee (1-1)
- A Block: SANADA (1-1) vs. EVIL (2-0)
- A Block: Shota Umino (1-1) vs. Gabe Kidd (1-1)
- A Block: Shingo Takagi (1-1) vs. Great-O-Khan (0-2)
- A Block: Callum Newman (1-1) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (2-0)
- B Block: Jeff Cobb (1-0) vs. Konosuke Takeshita (1-0)
- HENARE & Francesco Akira vs. David Finlay & Gedo
- El Phantasmo & Jado vs. Yota Tsuji & BUSHI
- Hirooki Goto, Tomoaki Honma & Shoma Kato vs. Oleg Boltin, Toru Yano & Katsuya Morishima
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Tonight was by far the weakest night of the G1 so far.
The only match worth seeking out is Konosuke Takeshita vs. Jeff Cobb, but even it would be far from the best match on the prior two nights.
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Katsuya Murashima, Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano defeated Hirooki Goto, Shoma Kato & Tomoaki Honma
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Yota Tsuji) defeated Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Jado)
United Empire (Francesco Akira & HENARE) defeated BULLET CLUB War Dogs
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Konosuke Takeshita defeated Jeff Cobb
This match was a blast. At just over 10 minutes, it was action-packed and to the point. Great stuff.
This match opened with both men shoulder-checking each other before Cobb easily threw Takeshita across the ring. Cobb continued to show off by standing on Takeshita, resulting in him rolling to the apron.
A forearm sent Cobb to the floor, leaving Takeshita free to land a tope con hilo. He threw Cobb in the ring and climbed to the top rope in an attempt to follow up, only for Cobb to cut him off with a gut-wrench superplex. Cobb kept up the pressure with a standing moonsault for a quick two-count.
Cobb climbed to the top rope himself. This time, Takeshita landed an incredible superplex of his own. Cobb bounced back with a quick German attempt, but Takeshita landed on his feet. Takeshita then hit a knee strike and a poison-rana. Cobb responded with a lariat, leaving both men grounded.
Cobb tried for another suplex, but Takeshita blocked it and hit one of his own. Takeshita then tried for the knee, but Cobb reversed into the spin cycle and a uranage. As Cobb tried to follow up, Takeshita pulled him into the Blue Thunder Bomb for a convincing nearfall.
Cobb tried for Tour of the Islands, but Takeshita slipped free. Both men then traded knee strikes before a headbutt left Takeshita grounded. As Cobb tried to close, Takeshita cut him off with an elbow and Raging Fire, winning him the match.
Takeshita is still undefeated with 4 points.
Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Callum Newman
This match was entertaining enough.
Early on, ZSJ targeted Newman’s arm while grounding him to establish control. Newman tried utilizing quick offense to work his way back into the match but struggled for quite some time.
Eventually, Newman was able to connect with a suplex to reset the match, but ZSJ immediately brought him back to the mat. Moments like this would continue to play out throughout this match’s runtime. Newman continued to try for openings, but ZSJ continued to stay one step ahead for most of the match.
In the end, Newman hit ZSJ with a powerbomb. ZSJ countered into an ankle submission, forcing Newman to submit.
ZSJ remains undefeated, leading A Block with 6 points.
Shingo Takagi defeated Great-O-Khan
This was another fine match. It’s nothing special, but it’s still solid.
O-Khan threw Shingo to the mat and began beating him down moments after the opening bell. He then tried working over Shingo on the mat in an attempt to wear him down. Shingo answered with a sliding lariat and a bunch of strikes, flipping the match on its head.
O-Khan challenged Shingo’s advance by utilizing more basic throws and holds. Shingo was able to fight through the eliminator and land the pumping bomber to keep O-Khan on the back foot. A follow-up superplex cemented this lead.
O-Khan attempted a rally at the 10-minute mark but was cut off by a mean DDT. Shingo followed up with the dragon suplex and the pumping bomber, but O-Khan kicked out at one. Both men popped up and ran at each other again, and Shingo landed another pumping bomber. This time, it was enough for him to win the match.
Shingo works his way to 4 points.
Gabe Kidd defeated Shota Umino
This was another match that was fine enough but was far from great. Kidd has had much better performances, and Umino’s “hateful” routine was far from believable.
The feeling-out process featured a tense struggle for control. Umino won out first, but Kidd fired back with a bite and suplex to reset the match in his favor.
While Kidd was in control, he bullied Umino with mean kicks and the occasional expletive. After dropping Umino with a barrage of headbutts, Kidd locked Umino in the Boston crab, continuing to ridicule his opponent.
Umino eventually fought back, hitting a knee strike and tornado DDT to begin a rally. Umino’s rally was short-lived, however. Kidd was quick to land a strike, knocking Umino to the mat and leading to a back-and-forth exchange.
Umino survived a big lariat from Kidd and answered with a dragon suplex. The follow-up forearm scored Umino a two count, but both men were downed. Once both men worked their way to their feet, more striking followed.
Kidd utilized a bite to open Umino up for a piledriver, scoring a nearfall. Kidd transitioned into a lion tamer. Once Umino refused to submit, Kidd picked him up, hit him with a powerbomb, and pinned him to win the match.
Kidd now sits at 4 points.
EVIL defeated SANADA
This was far better than you would expect. I wouldn’t call it great, but for a 2024 EVIL match, it was pretty close.
Before the match could begin, EVIL tried to get SANADA to join House of Torture. SANADA put on the HoT shirt, pretending as if he had joined the faction. EVIL then commanded SANADA to lie down for the count, which he also pretended to do.
Once SANADA reversed the pin and EVIL realized he wasn’t joining HoT, the match began. EVIL tried to flee the ring, but SANADA caught him, brought him back, and tied him in the paradise lock.
Dick Togo tripped SANADA to help EVIL back into the match. EVIL then pulled SANADA to the floor, where he drove him into the barricade. Back in the ring, SANADA tried fighting back, only to be whipped into an exposed turnbuckle.
A roll through into Skull End seemingly reset the match in SANADA’s favor. This lasted until an Irish whip sent SANADA crashing into the referee, leaving Togo free to rush the ring.
Togo and EVIL tried using a chair to attack SANADA, but it backfired when SANADA delivered a dropkick, sending the chair into EVIL’s face. SANADA then hit the shining wizard. With the end in sight, SANADA tried for his finish, but EVIL responded with a low; SANADA answered with a low blow of his own.
EVIL was the first to recover from the double low blow, delivering Darkness Falls to establish control. When EVIL tried to close, SANADA responded with the magic screw. The follow-up rounding body press scored SANADA a two count.
SANADA cleared Togo from the ring before he tried to close the match again. This allowed EVIL to block the next shining wizard attempt with the referee. Another low blow from EVIL, followed by his finish, allowed him to secure the pin and the win.
EVIL stays on top at A block with 6 points.
Tetsuya Naito defeated Jake Lee
This was an awkward match. It was clunky and slow. This Naito is hard to watch.
After the opening bell, these guys went to the floor. On the outside, Naito teased Lee, getting in his head early. This allowed Naito to take control in the ring.
Lee answered Naito’s early lead by picking him up by the neck and dropping him. Lee then taunted the crowd before dragging Naito back to the floor, where he drove Naito into the barricade, a chair, and the entrance stage. Back in the ring, Lee maintained his lead with basic holds and strikes, wearing down the champion.
Naito answered Lee with back elbows, opening the door for some basic offense of his own. This was short-lived, as Lee cut off Esperanza with a chokeslam from the top rope. The follow-up knee scored Lee a nearfall.
A quick enziguri from Naito was followed by a failed Destino attempt. Naito returned to the top rope, where Lee reversed momentum again. Naito avoided FBS and landed another enziguri, but a kick from Lee kept Lee confident. As Lee tried for another choke slam, Naito reversed into Destino and pinned Lee to steal a win.
The IWGP champion is on the board with 2 points.