G1 Climax 34 night 13 (August 8) Preview
Tournament hits Yokohama
August 8 in Yokohama is a tradition dating back to 1988, where a legendary battle between Tatsumi Fujinami and Antonio Inoki ushered in a new era. 36 years since that fateful night, G1 Climax 34 sees A Block’s penultimate matchups. Who can set the pace going into the last night of block action, where the top three advancing to the playoffs will be locked in?
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Main event: Shingo Takagi (3–4) vs EVIL (5–2)
Singles record: 3–2 Takagi
Shingo Takagi has a lot of trauma associated with the Yokohama Budokan. In 2021 his spot in the final with a block that was going right down to the wire was ruined by Yujiro Takahashi, a double count out seeing to it that he didn’t advance out of the block stage. Then in 2023, a near riot erupted when a parade of HOUSE OF TORTURE interference saw to it that EVIL beat Shingo to advance to the quarter finals.
Now, Shingo is behind the eight ball and in bad need of a win to get to eight. EVIL&s unstoppable start though might finally have stalled, with two wins back to back heralding a mid capmpaign collapse. Still firmly in second place, the threat of EVIL in the playoffs is still present, and almost concrete if he beats Takagi tonight; Yokohama will as one be hoping that Shingo can show the King of Darkness the ceiling lights.
9th Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (5–2) vs Gabe Kidd (3–4)
Singles record: 3–1 Sabre
With Sabre sitting at the top of the table in A Block, he’ll still be in playoff position tonight even in defeat. Kidd is fighting for survival and needs the win to stay in the hunt, but ZSJ will be fighting as if his campaign depends on it regardless.
Sabre and Kidd are somewhat familiar with one another, both from matches in the UK and in Japan, but haven’t wrestled since Kidd was a Young Lion in NJPW, and before his transformation into the Mad Man we know now. With Kidd’s wild and hard hitting approach with a rton of pride in his background, and Sabre representing an evolution of classic Strong Style grappling passed down from the greats like Robinson and Gotch, Sabre has spoken of this battle of British wrestlers ‘representing the true essence of NJPW’. There’s no doubt this will be one of the best bouts of the tournament, but who comes away with the win?
8th Match: Shota Umino (3–4) vs Jake Lee (3–4)
It’s a must win scenario for both men in the eighth match of the night, as Shota Umino and Jake Lee battle at six points. Lee can claim victory in his last two bouts and after a hard fought victory over Gabe Kidd, wants to continue his upswing. For Umino though, wins have been followe dby losses all the way down the line, Naito most recently in Korakuen Hall. With backs against the wall, who survives tonight?
7th Match: SANADA (4–3) vs Great-O-Khan (3–4)
Singles record: 2–0 SANADA
SANADA’s electrifying Korakuen Hall victory over Shingo Takagi has put him just shy of the playoff spots right now, but in strong form that he wants to maintain as he has sights set on a home town league final against Zack Sabre Jr. this weekend. For O-Khan though, the slowest of starts has started to turn itself around, but having lost his his four, he needs to keep his three match win streak alive to stay in the hunt.
SANADA and Great-O-Khan are no strangers to one another, with the two facing off twice in 2022. At Wrestle Kingdom that year, O-Khan was driven in much the same way he has been in this tournament, to beat SANADA at his own style, the result being a missed moonsault that led to disaster. Can he show the maturity gained from the last two years to keep his G1 alive?
6th Match: Tetsuya Naito (4–3) vs Callum Newman (2–5)
Singles record: 1–0 Naito
Precious few people had Callum Newman in their G1 pool of potential winners, and those bets will not be paying out for the young Prince of Pace. Yet at four points with two very impressive wins, newman has much to be proud of. Should he derail the IWGP World heavyweight Champion, he would have much more to crow about.
The score career wise is 1–0 for Naito over Newman, with the two meeting in Osaka Jo Hall to kick off Dominion this year. Though the Pricne of Pace fell in that match, it might well have been his explosive start and performance in that bout that saw him entered into the G1 qualifying tournament that he would eventually win. With his progression a sight to behold, could he pick off the IWGP World heavyweight Champion this time?
5th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Yota Tsuji & BUSHI) vs Just Five Guys (Yuya Uemura & TAKA Michinoku)
Before generational rivals Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura meet in Saturday’s main event to shape the face of B Block, a tag team encounter here tonight. Who will gain the upper hand?
4th Match: United Empire (Francesco Akira & Jeff Cobb) vs BULLET CLUB War Dogs (David Finlay & Gedo)
It’ll be a violent clash for David Finlay and Jeff Cobb Saturday in Sendai as the IWGP Global and NJPW World TV Champions do battle. Tonight, Francesco Akira and Gedo join the mix to set the pace.
3rd Match: Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma vs Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Jado)
Though his mental state has swung wildly over the course of his campaign, El Phantasmo hopes to ride off a motivating Korakuen Hall bout with Konosuke Takeshita to meet Hirooki Goto Saturday. Can he and Jado set the pace? Certainly Jado and Honma have their own previous to show itself in the ring.
2nd Match: HENARE & Konouke Takeshita vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
HENARE and Konosuke Takeshita have made it very clear that the presence of the Alpha on the United Empire sides this tour is not through choice. Bad blood continued to boil after Takeshita beat the NEVER Champion earlier in the tour. Now though, both will be on the same side before HENARE meets Ren Narita Saturday.
1st Match: Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano vs Shoma Kato & Katsuya Murashima
Starting off the night’s action, two thirds of the NEVER 6 Man Champions face Young Lions to start the action strong!
