Reviewing Every Yuya Uemura G1 Climax 34 Match


I don’t know why I agreed to do this. I guess I really must have enjoyed writing that Bryan Danielson piece back in June considering that my next piece for this site will consist of me willingly watching HENARE and ELP matches back to back. Nevertheless, here we are. As the title of this piece suggests, this piece will feature a review of every Yuya Uemura G1 Climax 34 match. Apologies if this comes off as a bit unpolished at points, as there is a tropical storm approaching Puerto Rico at the time I am finishing this off which prevents me from giving this a thorough polishing. 

That being said, I hope you all enjoy this. 

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Yuya Uemura VS David Finlay (N1 7/20)

So the thing with Yuya at this point is that he very clearly has potential and feels like such a deviation in a very homogenized wrestling landscape. In an industry whose main message to any aspiring/young participant is to do every “cool” move under the sun and not look for the finer details, he stands out by doing the most basic stuff well and has a knack for effectively selling in scenarios your average young wrestler doesn’t. Unfortunately for our hero, he works for a company that is the complete opposite of his vision for wrestling. 2024 New Japan is the promotion in which you go for more and more without a second thought, regardless of the situation. So this wound up in Uemura spending most of the first half of the year being placed in situations in which he was placed to fail and be written off as being fraudulent.

Luckily for us, the G1 Climax is the perfect place for him to thrive and showcase his vision for wrestling. He doesn’t feel strained with the burden of being placed in Epics and can showcase his positives in brief sub-15 minute matches. This match with Finlay is a perfect showcase of that as the shorter runtime allows him and Finlay to construct a breezy and fun G1 undercard with the premise of Finlay just hurling Yuya around and our hero selling the pain of that very effectively. And to their credit, they succeed at that. Yuya is a delight when fighting from underneath and his offense looks very crisp in this. 

For as much as this is a very neat Yuya performance, I must give props to Finlay here as well. There is a meanness to his attack on the back of Yuya that I wish was present in his more high profile matches, especially when he’s hurling Yuya around in the guardrail during his control segment.

Solid start to our journey.

Rating: ***¼

Yuya Uemura VS Hiroki Goto (N2 7/21)

While Finlay focused his attack the previous night on hurling Yuya around and trying to damage his back, Goto here just tries to out stiff him. As a result, this allows Yuya to showcase more of his strikes and overall just get more aggressive so that he can even up the playing field. This is showcased in the latter stages of the match when Yuya hits a very nasty sounding headbutt to Goto. This match feels like it progressed a lot of the ideas introduced in the previously discussed match. In particular, we see how Yuya is able to enhance a rather mundane spot (crawling towards the ropes to escape a Boston crab) by struggling to reach the ropes. It’s that sort of thoughtfulness that makes Uemura stand out among the pack. 

The finish of this also builds on the ideas of the Finlay match. Since Goto is more experienced than Finlay, he is able to escape the rollup in the finishing. Thus, Yuya improvises. He hits a particularly nasty ass elbow and hooks Goto’s shoulders up for an arm suplex to score 4 points. 

A match that showcases the growth of our hero in a very effective way.

Rating: ***½

Yuya Uemura VS Konosuke Takeshita (N4 7/25)

I am hot and cold on Takeshita. He is capable of showing great explosiveness in his better performances but I am often left cold in a lot of his American work due to him feeling the need to integrate into the homogenized style. This could manifest in different ways. Sometimes it’s him trying to have a bombastic epic with Swerve Strickland or working Jon Moxley’s injured arm in a very uninspired way. That being said, this is his best singles performance all year due to how he excels at doing what’s asked of him.

He’s a force of nature in this match, especially when he’s laying those signature elbows of his. This match greatest accomplishment is being able to seed enough credence to the idea that despite that both of Takeshita’s arms are fucked due to Yuya’s consistent attack on both of them during the match, his explosiveness and experience is enough to muster up the deciding shot to score the victory and then coming up with the most decisive rebuttal to that premise. The only critique that I can make about Soup’s performance here is that I wish his selling was more consistent throughout. 

As for our hero?

This is his best performance in the tournament thus far. While I have made note of Takeshita’s performance, it’s Yuya that stitches it all together. His arm work on Takeshita is consistent and terrific throughout, especially in the closing stretch when he shifts from arm to arm when Takeshita keeps blocking the crossarm armbreaker. Conversely, his selling of Takeshita’s elbows is superb, really makes the viewer feel the weight of them by doing stuff like collapsing to the floor when trying to get back to the ring after being whacked by one of them midair by Takeshita.

The finish is also the best one we have seen so far. When Yuya has both of Soup’s arms locked in for his finisher, Takeshita starts headbutting him to escape it, a last desperate show of force from him. Our hero, in kind, responds by driving back first into the corner before forcefully driving him to the mat for the upset victory.

The best match of our journey so far.

Rating: ****

Yuya Uemura VS Jeff Cobb (N6 7/28)

This is where our hero suffers his first defeat, tragic.

 It is also his most creative performance yet. Whereas people like Goto and Takeshita gave Yuya a challenge due to them having the advantage of force and striking respectively, Cobb is simply just a brick wall that won’t be taken down. This leads to Yuya being unable to do his usual moves early, leading to Cobb having his way with him during the early portions of the match. Cobb is particularly good in control here. His power moves feel very impactful and he seems to be having fun torturing Uemura during it. Likewise, when he is tasked with being on the opposite side of the spectrum selling Yuya’s comeback, he does a very good job at selling the idea that Yuya can beat him, especially in the finishing stretch when Yuya is desperately rolling him up. 

As I noted earlier, Yuya’s creativity is on full display here. Since Cobb’s size prevents from doing his usual game plan, he has to make up for that by simply hurling everything that has gotten him this far in the tournament. Whether that is trying to come up with unique ways to get his bigger offense through like in the Takeshita match, focusing on his strikes like on the Goto match or like previously mentioned, trying to scope a rollup like how he gained his first two points against David Finlay. The fact that they all fail is a very good piece of booking in the sense that it makes Cobb look really good and showcases how Yuya has his ways to go if he were to square up with Cobb again in the future.

Very neat match.

Rating: ***¾

Yuya Uemura VS HENARE (N8 7/31)

When i said in the VP discord that I would be making this project, I should have gone through the effort of actually looking through the B block of this tournament because the following 3 opponents Yuya has are fucking dire. At least with someone who is as middling as Finlay has enough skill that a good wrestler like Yuya is able to carry to a good match. Henare is sort of in the same ballpark as Finlay, however he is far more homogenous to the current New Japan style (AKA worse) so this match is easily the worst out of the bunch so far.

That isn’t to say that it is particularly bad though.

What Henare lacks in terms of having a brain he makes up for it by hitting really hard, which he is good at thankfully. Yuya also does a good job at selling the ribs that Henare has targeted in the early portions of the match and there is a particularly good bit towards the end with Yuya struggling to hoist Henare up for his finish and they spend a decent bit building suspense about whether or not he can hit it before ultimately failing.

That being said, this match is the least unique of our journey so far as it is the one that conforms the most to the New Japan house style. A whole lot of back and forth chop sequences, ‘fighting spirits’ spots that feel uninspired, etc. Yuya is able to add his own flare to things that make these things tolerable in my mind though, such as doing a particularly good in the moment facial sell of Henare chops for example. 

Good, but unimaginative.

Rating: ***

Yuya Uemura VS ELP (N10 8/4)

ELP is one of the worst in the world. Dogshit strikes, slow as hell in setting up his high spots, an even worse cosplay of much better wrestlers. Still, despite this, Yuya manages to scrape out a watchable match out of this shitter. Earlier on in the match ELP miscalculated his placement which led to Yuya landing very awkwardly on his neck from a corner suplex. From there, he proceeds to sell the neck throughout the whole match which enhances the quality of it somewhat. 

Would this match have been better had ELP worked the neck or done literally anything else other than what he has become known for? Probably. But that would imply that he is a good wrestler, which he isn’t. One has to be realistic in these sort of situations and considering the hand he was dealt, Yuya did the best he could.

Rating: **1/2

Yuya Uemura VS Ren Narita (N12 8/7)

This is rock solid honestly. I know people have written off Ren Narita as a fraudulent Shibata cosplayer but he’s pretty solid in this one with his knee work on Yuya’s leg. There is a particularly good moment in which he has Yuya trapped in an ankle lock and when Yuya gets close to the ropes, he simply drags by the leg back to the center, drives it to the mat before locking it again. Admittedly, it is very minute in the grand scheme of things, but is one of those things that stick out in your mind in the grand scheme of things.

Additionally, as you might have noticed based on that opening paragraph, this is another match in which Yuya is tasked to sell a limb. Honestly, I don’t think it is as good as his previous ones, despite there being much to enjoy from it. Something like the selling performances in the Takeshita and Cobb matches stands out to me more than this one due to how it forces Yuya to adapt to the situation. Contrastingly, this match sees Yuya being far more stubborn to the predicament he’s placed in. He doesn’t shift strategy when his limb leg prevents him from doing his big moves, which feels like a regression in his character. 

That being said, the leg selling is good and the eleven minute runtime gives the match a conciseness that I really appreciate.

Rating: ***

Yuya Uemura VS Yota Tsuji (N14 8/10)

This match features a very fascinating diversion from everything we have seen thus far. After an entire tournament run filled with solid to great Yuya selling performances, this time we see him on the opposite side of the spectrum with him focusing him on Yota Tsuji’s arm. And just like when he sold those limbs in all those tournament matches, he provides a very fascinating take to that aspect of wrestling. 

During the first portion of this match, Yuya zeroes in on Yota’s arm and doesn’t let up. There is a very specific spot during the opening moments that I love, in which Yuya has Tsuji locked inside a wrist lock and whenever Tsuji tries to roll out so that he can escape, Yuya just rolls with him to keep the lock in. Its spots like that makes Yuya stand out in a sea of a homogenized wrestling landscape. Tsuji is also very good at selling Heat Storm’s arm work during his own control segment as well, producing his best performance in quite a while. It seemed like these two, with a setting that doesn’t have them constrained with trying to produce a New Japan “epic”, were on course to deliver on the promise that their WrestleKingdom match back in January had done. 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t in the cards on this night.

When Yuya tries to go for a top rope splash, Yota gets his knees up which leads to Yuya landing awkwardly on his shoulder. From there, it becomes clear that our hero is hurt real bad.  It’s very clear that neither of them know how to resolve this predicament at first, since Yuya’s offense consists primarily of using his arms. Eventually Yuya just starts hurling his head at Tsuji with fiery headbutts to stay afloat but it’s clear that he can’t continue the match.

They inevitably decide to abruptly wrap up the match by running the sequence they probably would have done had Yuya not gotten injured. Yuya tries to scrape up a win with a rollup, the same way he won his first tournament match against Finlay, but his bum arm means that he couldn’t do it on a first. A second rollup variation is what does it, and Yuya scores the 8 points he needs to stay alive. However, it was never meant to be.

Rating: ***½ 

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As you may know, this is where our journey abruptly ends. Yuya’s arm injury was severe enough that he had to forfeit the tournament, robbing us of what would have probably would have been a great match between him and Oleg Boltin on the last day of the B block. It’s sad, not only because he had been on such a roll during this whole thing, but because there was a slight chance he could probably get to the finals if everything lined up for him perfectly on that last day. Nevertheless, what we do have here is enough to draw some conclusions.

Yuya is great when left to his own devices. The fact that he managed to scrape good performances during ELP matches of all things should be a testament to his ability of how high his potential is. That being said, I don’t think Gedo and company see that potential with him as an ace. Even in the slim he would have gotten out of his block had he not gotten hurt, i don’t see him winning the finals especially if it were to have been him against someone like Zack Sabre Jr. 

I am uncertain what lies ahead for Heat Storm when he comes back from injury. Will he build on the promise of what this tournament run he had established? Will Gedo’s commitment to shoving him into epics make people write him off again? Will this setback be used as a basis to heat him up for a G1 Climax triumph next year? These questions don’t have immediate answers of course. However, what I can do though is praise Yuya for making me pay close attention to the G1 Climax for the first time in years during this whole journey by simply being himself, which is something i will always appreciate. 

RANKING ALL THE YUYA UEMURA G1 CLIMAX 34 MATCHES:

1.  VS Konosuke Takeshita (N4 7/25)

2.  VS Jeff Cobb (N6 7/28)

3.  VS Hiroki Goto (N2 7/21)

4.  VS Yota Tsuji (N14 8/10)

5.  VS David Finlay (N1 7/20)

6.  VS Ren Narita (N12 8/7)

7.  VS HENARE (N8 7/31)

8.  VS ELP (N10 8/4)

pen-r