By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “World Tag League 2023”
November 24, 2023 in Yamanashi, Japan at Aimesse Yamanashi
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 4 with the B Block back in action.
This is a drab, gray room and all seating is on the floor. My guess is the crowd is maybe 600-800, about as small of a venue and attendance as I’ve seen for NJPW. We have Japanese-only commentary.
1. Oskar Leube defeated Katsuya Murashima at 5:07. Katsuya looks like a very young Taka Michinoku, and he’s giving up a lot of height and weight to the much larger Leube. Oskar grounded him with a rear-naked choke. Katsuya hit some chops. Leube hit a mid-ring Mafia Kick for the pin. Acceptable.
2. Master Wato and Ren Narita and Shota Umino defeated Yuto Nakashima and “Gates of Agony” Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun at 7:21. Ren and Kaun opened. Ren and Shota each hit sentons. Liona whipped Wato into a guardrail at 2:00 and his team worked Wato over. Wato hit a double bulldog. Shota made the hot tag at 4:00 and battled the GoA. He hit a massive bodyslam on Liona for a nearfall. Ren and Yuta entered; Ren applied the Cobra Twist/octopus stretch and Yuto tapped out. Solid.
3. Yoh and Ryusuke Taguchi and Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii defeated “Bullet Cub War Dogs” Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd and Taiji Ishimori and Gedo at 8:40. Alex Coughlin attacked Yano to open the match. Everyone started brawling on the floor. The BCWD began working over Yoh in the ring. Ishii made the hot tag at 5:00 and he ht a shoulder tackle on Gabe, then on Coughlin. Coughlin hit a Black Hole Slam. Kidd and Coughlin hit a team slam for a nearfall, but Yano made the save. Ishii hiit a German Suplex on Kidd and they were both down at 7:00. Gedo and Taguchi tagged in; Taguchi eventually hit a mid-ring buttbump and he applied an anklelock, but Ishimori made the save. Taguchi hit another running buttbump to Gedo’s face for the pin. The BCWD kept beating on Yano and Ishii after the bell.
4. “House of Torture” EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi and Shingo Takagi at 9:32. The HoT attacked Shingo to open. Everyone started brawling on the floor. EVIL choked Shingo with a microphone cord. Yujiro worked over Hiromu in the ring. Hiromu hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on EVIL at 4:00. Shingo hit a back suplex on EVIL for a nearfall, then some Moxley-style elbow strikes to the side of the head. Togo hit his knife-edge chop to the groin of an upside-down Shingo at 7:00. Bushi hit a missile dropkick on Kanemaru, then a DDT for a nearfall. Kanemaru took a swig of alcohol and sprayed it in Bushi’s face, then rolled him up for the cheap pin.
5. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Kosei Fujita and Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls defeated “United Empire” Callum Newman and Henare and Great-O-Khan at 9:53. TMDK took turns working over Henare’s left arm, making quick tags in. Henare and Nicholls brawled up the entrance corridor. Newman entered at 3:30 and grounded Fujita. The UE worked over Fujita in their corner. Fujita hit a leg lariat to O-Khan’s face at 5:30. Nicholls got back in and hit clotheslines on O-Khan, then a DDT for a nearfall. O-Khan hit a gutwrench suplex on Haste. Newman entered and hit a running Mafia Kick on Haste at 8:00. Newman hit a double-underhook suplex. Newman and Haste brawled, with Shane hitting a high back suplex for a nearfall. Haste hit a sit-out powerbomb for the pin.
6. Soberano Jr. and Atlantis Jr. (4) defeated “Bullet Club Rogue Army” Bad Luck Fale and Jack Bonza (0) in a B Block tournament match at 9:28. The thicker Atlantis still has his left shoulder taped. Soberano hit an impressive ax kick to the back of Fale’s head in the first minute, but it ticked off the angry Fale. Fale stood on Soberano’s back at 2:00. Bonza entered and he applied a modified Gory Special on Soberano. Bonza applied an anklelock, and he tied Soberano in a surfboard. Soberano hit a Canadian Destroyer. Atlantis made the hot tag at 6:00, and he traded forearm strikes with Bonz.
Atlantis hit a superkick. Bonza hit a hard clothesline. Atlantis hit a suplex (struggling to get Bonza over) and Soberano hit an ugly frogsplash; just a bad sequence. Soberano nailed a Fosbury Flop to the floor. In the ring, Atlantis Jr. hit a frogsplash on Bonza for the pin. Okay match but I am now wondering how BCRA even get two wins at this point; they could finish 1-6.
7. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Yota Tsuji and Zandokan Jr. (2) defeated Minoru Suzuki and Yuji Nagata (0) in a B Block tournament match at 9:47. Like what I wrote Thursday, the loser of this match will be 0-2 and on the verge of elimination. LIJ attacked at the bell. Zandokan and Suzuki immediately traded forearm strikes, and Minoru applied a crossarm breaker in the ropes. Yuji and Yota brawled on the floor. Yuji and Minoru worked together to beat down Zandokan Jr. in their corner, but then Minoru gave Yuji a VERY hard tag at 3:30. Tsuji made the hot tag and hit a shoulder tackle and basement dropkick on Minoru. Yota hit a suplex for a nearfall at 5:30.
Yuji entered and hit some spin kicks, then an Exploder Suplex on Tsuji for a nearfall. Yuji hit a brainbuster for a nearfall at 7:30, but Zandokan Jr. made the save. Zandokan Jr. hit a frogsplash on Yuji for a nearfall, then a hard headbutt. Tsuji stood on Zandokan Jr.’s shoulders and hit a frogsplash to pin. Nagata. Solid match. Minoru and Tsuji argued some more after the match; Minoru headed to the back solo, leaving a prone Nagata in the ring.
8. “Monster Sauce” Lance Archer and Alex Zayne” (4) defeated “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi (0) in a B Block tournament match at 11:28. Goto and Zayne opened. Goto flipped Yoshi-Hashi onto Zayne at 1:30, then they did the same to Archer. Bishamon worked over Zayne. Zayne and Yoshi-Hashi traded clotheslines and were both down. Goto made the hot tag at 7:00. Zayne hit a pumphandle powerbomb. Yoshi-Hashi hit a Headhunter flipping neckbreaker on Archer. Goto hit his neckbreaker over the knee on Zayne at 9:30. They hit the Shoto team slam for a nearfall, but Archer made the save; Archer dragged Zayne to his corner and tagged himself in. In a fun spot, Archer chokeslammed (partner!) Zayne from the ring apron onto Bishamon on the floor.
In the ring, Goto hit a suplex on Archer for a nearfall. Archer hit a jumping knee in the corner, then a Blackout flipping powerbomb to cleanly pin Goto. Even in Japanese, the commentators were clearly shocked that Archer scored the pin and Bishamon is off to an 0-2 start. Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bishamon wins five straight to finish at 5-2, but still, this was an expected (but pleasant) outcome. Archer got on the mic and said “we didn’t come here to play. We just beat the IWGP tag team champions.” Archer vowed they would beat them again at Wrestle Kingdom.
9. “Just 5 Guys” Yuya Uemura and Taichi (4) defeated “Guerillas of Destiny” El Phantasmo and Hikuleo (w/Jado) (2) in a B Block match at 20:48. ELP and Yuya opened with good reversals, simultaneous dropkick attempts and a standoff. Hikuleo and Taichi entered at 3:00 and they both tried to chokeslam the other, but Taichi realized how fruitless this was, and he kicked Hikuleo in the thigh instead. ELP hit a moonsault to the floor at 5:30. The GoD began working over Taichi in their corner.
Yuya entered at 8:30 and he hit a dropkick on Hikuleo, then a crossbody block, then a bulldog for a nearfall. ELP went for a Lionsault but Yuya got his knees up. J5G began working over Phantasmo, with Taichi hitting a Helluva Kick at 11:00, and he ripped off his tearaway pants. ELP and Taichi each hit an enzuigiri and they were both down at 13:00. Hikuleo made the hot tag and he hit a snake-eyes in the corner on Yuya, then a clothesline. He nailed a double clothesline, then a powerslam on Yuya for a nearfall at 15:00. Yuya applied a headscissorslock on the mat and slowed down Hikuleo. Yuya nailed a DDT at 17:00.
Taichi entered but Hikuleo caught him with a powerslam. ELP tagged in and nailed a springboard frogsplash for a believable nearfall at 18:30. ELP slammed Taichi face-first for a nearfall but Yuya made the save. ELP accidentally hit a superkick on Hikuleo! Yuya hit a dropkick on ELP into the corner, then he clotheslined Hikuleo to the floor. Yuya then hit a plancha onto Hikuleo. In the ring, Taichi caught ELP with a superkick, then he nailed the Black Mephisto/Air Raid Crash for the clean pin. A really good match, and both tag team champions lost on this night. They all shook hands. Taichi spoke on the mic to close out the show.
Final Thoughts: A good night of action: a really good main event, and a surprise win for Zayne and Archer. I know it’s only two matches in, but we have some surprising teams at 2-0 with the two tag champions now in the chase position. It was nice having Shingo on this lineup to provide more star power to the under card. The tournament resumed with a show Saturday with the A Block back in action.
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