By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “World Tag League 2023”
November 23, 2023 in Kanagawa, Japan at Yokohama Budokan
Streamed live on New Japan World
World Tag League is a 16-show tournament spread over just 21 days, featuring 16 tag teams. They are split into two blocks of eight teams. It is a round-robin tournament, so each team will have seven matches. The top TWO teams from each Block will make the playoffs, as the Block A winner will face the Block B runner-up, while the Block B winner will face the Block A runner-up. The finals will be Dec. 10. This is night 3 with the A Block back in action.
This is an arena; the lights are low so it’s hard to see the crowd. Chris Charlton provided solo commentary as the show began; Lance Archer is slated to join him for the tournament matches.
1. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Bad Luck Fale, Taiji Ishimori, and Jack Bonza defeated Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., and Tiger Mask at 5:37. It appeared we were starting with Fale vs. Tiger Mask, but TM tapped out before they could lock up. Funny. Bonza and Atlantis traded shoulder tackles. Fale slammed Soberano Jr., and the heels worked him over in their corner. Soberano hit some dropkicks on Fale at 4:00, but Fale didn’t go down. TM hit a Crucifix Driver on Ishimori for a nearfall, then a Tiger Driver for a nearfall at 5:00. Fale hit a Stinger Splash on Tiger Mask. Ishimori got a rollup on Tiger Mask with his feet on the ropes for the cheap pin.
2. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Hiromu Takahashi, Bushi, Yota Tsuji, and Zandokan Jr. defeated Yuji Nagata, Minoru Suzuki, Master Wato, and Tomoaki Honma at 10:38. Yota and Nagata opened. Tsuji beat up Wato with chops on the floor, as everyone brawled at ringside. Suzuki finally made the hot tag at 5:00 and he traded chops with the masked pirate Zandokan Jr. Nagata hit an Exploder Suplex on Tsuji, and Honma hit a Kokeshi falling headbutt at 8:30. Wato hit a springboard flying forearm on Hiromu. Bushi hit a dive to the floor. Yota and Zandokan hit a team suplex on Honma. Yota leapt off Zandokan’s shoulders and hit a frogsplash on Honma for the pin. Okay action.
3. Boltin Oleg and “Bishamon” Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto defeated Oskar Leube and “Monster Sauce” Lance Archer and Alex Zayne at 9:04. Zayne and Goto opened. In a fun spot, Zayne flipped himself over Archer and hit a dropkick at 2:00, and their team worked over Oleg. Yoshi-Hashi tagged in at 5:00 and hit some chops on Archer, then his Headhunter flipping neckbreaker. Archer grabbed teammate Zayne by the throat and slammed him onto Yoshi-Hashi. Leube hit a suplex on Goto for a nearfall. However, Bishamon hit the Shoto team slam, and Goto covered Leube for the pin. Decent action.
4. “Just 5 Guys” Taichi, Yuya Uemura, and Douki defeated “Guerrillas of Destiny” El Phantasmo, Hikuleo, and Jado at 11:57. Hikuleo and Yuya opened, and Uemura avoided a chokeslam. Gedo entered at 2:30 and grounded Douki. Hikuleo dropped Douki witha loud chop at 5:30. Yuya made the hot tag and he hit some dropkicks. Taichi entered and hit a Helluva Kick on ELP at 9:00., then a Burning Hammer. Gedo applied a crossface on Taichi. Douki applied the Douki Chokey triangle choke on ELP at 11:30. Meanwhile, Taichi applied a Stretch Plum submission hold on Gedo, who tapped out.
* Lance Archer joined Charlton on commentary and I like his insight.
5. “Chaos” Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano (2) defeated “Gates of Agony” Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun (0) in a Block A tournament match at 10:06. One of these teams will start 0-2 and no one expects either to claim a playoff spot, so this may already be an elimination match. Yano and Liona opened and Yano looked terrified. He playfully slapped Liona on the back of the head, which kicked Toa off. GoA worked over Yano early on, with Kaun hitting a back suplex for a nearfall at 2:30. Ishii hopped in the ring but Liona hit a suplex on Ishi, and the GoA continued to work over Yanoi. Ishii finally made the hot tag at 5:00.
Kaun hit a Samoan Drop on Ishii. Ishii hit a delayed vertical suplex on Kaun at 7:00 and they were both down. Yano made the hot tag but he couldn’t budge Liona. Liona hit a Samoan Drop for a nearfall. Ishii hit a German Suplex on Liona and a headbutt on Kaun. Yano got a rollup on Liona for the pin. What you’d expect here.
6. “United Empire” Great-O-Khan and Henare (2) defeated Kaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa (2) in a Block A tournament match at 14:33. Henare and Oiwa opened and immediately traded forearm strikes. O-Khan entered and hit his Mongolian Chops on Ryohei. Henare hit a spin kick to Oiwa’s forehead. Kaito finally made the hot tag at 5:30 and hit dropkicks on each opponent. He traded forearm strikes with Henare. Henare hit his Berzker Bomb at 7:30. O-Khan and Oiwa had an intense mat wrestling exchange, with Oiwa hitting a gutwrench suplex for a nearfall at 9:30. O-Khan hit a double-underhook suplex for a nearfall at 11:00.
Kaito and Oiwa hit a double dropkick on O-Khan. Oiwa hit a German Suplex for a nearfall. Kaito hit a Doomsday crossbody block on O-Khan for a believable nearfall at 14:00. Oiwa has a bloody lip. Henare entered and hit his Rampage football tackle, sending Kaito to the floor. Oiwa charged at O-Khan, but O-Khan caught him and slammed Ryohei to the mat for the pin. Solid action; I presumed UE were winning here because I didn’t imagine them starting 0-2.
7. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd (2) defeated Ren Narita and Shota Umino (2) in a Block A tournament match at 15:29. Shota appeared in the crowd but was attacked by the BCWD (I start my stopwatch at first contact or the bell, whichever is first.) Ren is there, too, so all four brawled up in the stands, far from the ring. They made their way to ringside, as Coughlin battled Ren and Kidd battled Shota. The bell rang at 2:00 to officially begin. Shota hit a flip senton on Coughlin for a nearfall. The BCWD began working over Shota. “These guys did not have this kind of fire last year,” Archer said of the BCWD. Coughlin chopped Shota and shouted loud expletives at him.
Ren made the hot tag at 7:00 and he hit a double clothesline, then his Northern Lights suplex with a bridge on Coughlin for a nearfall. Coughlin hit a fallaway slam on Ren. Shota hit a running neckbreaker on Kidd for a nearfall at 10:30. Shota set up for a Hidden Blade but Gabe ducked it. Gabe hit a Rebound Lariat for a nearfall. Ren hit a Hart Attack Clothesline on Kidd for a nearfall at 12:30. Shota hit a half-nelson suplex, and he applied an STF on Kidd. The BCWD hit a team slam on Shota, then a team Musclebuster for a nearfall at 15:00. Kidd hit a chairshot onto Shota’s head with the ref out of position, then a piledriver to pin Shota. Again, official time is about 13:24.
8. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls (w/Kosei Fujita) (4) defeated “House of Torture” EVIL and Yujiro Nagata (w/Dick Togo) (2) in a Block A tournament match at 16:31. HoT attacked before the bell and they all brawled to the floor. In the ring, Yujiro and Shane traded offense, with Shane hitting a basement dropkick. The Hot worked Haste over, with Yujiro hitting a falling headbutt to the groin at 4:00. Nicholls tagged in and hit a clothesline in the corner on Yujiro. All four brawled on the floor. Back in the ring, the HoT worked over Mikey. Yujiro hit a standing neckbreaker for a nearfall at 8:00. Pretty basic action from both teams; this doesn’t feel like a main event.
Nicholls hit a sliding clothesline on Yujiro at 11:30. Togo jumped in the ring and hit a knife-edge chop on an upside down Nicholl’s groin. Yujiro hit a Pimp Juice jumping DDT for a nearfall but Haste made the save. TMDK took the upper hand and suddenly the bell rang! It was a distraction by Sho. The ref got bumped and Sho and Yoshinobu Kanemaru hopped in the ring to help beat up TMDK. Kosei Fujita hopped in and hit a flip dive to the floor on the cheaters. TMDK hit their team DDT move on EVIL, but EVIL rolled to the floor. So, TMDK then hit their team DDT move on Yujiro for the pin. Okay match; it will certainly not be on anyone’s “top 10” list of the tournament. Charlton pointed out that TMDK is alone atop the A Block.
* Haste got on the mic and said he’s headed to go drink some beer. He vowed they would win the A Block, win World Tag League, and win the tag titles. A very short promo, then they celebrated at ringside.
Final Thoughts: Coughlin/Kidd vs. Ren/Shota was the only real good match here. Nothing else really stood out. I’m a big fan of TMDK, but for a main event, that never really kicked into a third gear. The B Block will be back in action Friday.
Be the first to comment