NJPW crowns G1 Climax 34 winner

The G1 Climax 34 winner has been crowned. But they aren’t necessarily going to the Tokyo Dome.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Yota Tsuji on Sunday to win the G1 Climax tournament for the first time, winning with a submission that hooked both of Tsuji’s arms and legs in a match that lasted over 30 minutes. In his post-match promo, Sabre thanked his mentor Yoshinari Ogawa, who recently retired. He then made the announcement that he thought January was too far away, and liked the idea of having his title match at Ryogoku Sumo Hall. He said he wanted to have his IWGP World Heavyweight title match at King of Pro Wrestling, which is scheduled to take place on October 14. 

During his backstage comments, Sabre said the goal was to win the IWGP World Heavyweight title at King of Pro Wrestling, then have his first defense the following week at Royal Quest IV on October 20 in London.

On commentary, it was noted that Sunday’s match marked the first time since 2012 that both finalists were competing in the finals for the first time. In that bout, Kazuchika Okada defeated Karl Anderson.