By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “World Tag League 2023”
November 26, 2023 in Fukushima, Japan at Big Palette Fukushima
Streamed live on New Japan World
New Japan Pro Wrestling continued World Tag League on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. 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 6 with the B Block back in action.
This is a small room with all seating on the floor, and attendance is maybe 600-800; it probably is a sellout, though. Japanese-only commentary the rest of this tournament until the finals.
1. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Alex Coughlin, Gabe Kidd, Taiji Ishimori, and Gedo defeated Yuto Nakashima and Tomoaki Honma and “Gates of Agony” Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun at 10:01. Gedo and Honma opened. Gabe and Alex brawled with Kaun and Liona on the floor. The heels kept working over Honma in the ring until Kaun made the hot tag at 5:30, and GoA worked together. Ishimori and Yuto tagged in at 8:00, with Yuto hitting a shoulder tackle for a nearfall; he is much taller and thicker than Ishimori. Honma hit a Kokeshi falling headbutt. Ishimori fired back with a handspring-back-spin kick on Yuto, then he applied the Bone Lock/modified STF, and Yuto tapped out. Decent opener.
2. “United Empire” Great-O-Khan, Henare, and Callum Newman defeated “House of Torture” EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, and Dick Togo at 10:31. Henare and EVIL opened. Newman hit his running Mafia Kick on EVIL for a nearfall at 1:30. The HoT began working over Newman. O-Khan hit a backbreaker over his knee on Yujiro at 6:30. Togo hit his knife-edge chop to the groin of an upside-down Henare at 9:30. Henare applied a Full Nelson on Togo, who quickly submitted.
3. Yoh and Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii defeated “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls and Kosei Fujita at 10:15. Ishii and Nicolls opened with an intense lockup, then they traded forearm strikes. Fujita entered at 2:00 and hit a dropkick on Ishii. He hit a release German Suplex on Yoh. TMDK worked over Ishii in their corner. Ishii finally hit a suplex on Nicholls at 6:00. Kosei hit a springboard dropkick on Yoh at 8:30. Yoh hit a Falcon Arrow, then the Direct Drive double-arm DDT to pin Fujita. Good match.
4. Boltin Oleg, Ryohei Oiwa, and Kaito Kiyomiya defeated Oskar Leube, Ren Narita, and Shota Umino at 10:30. Ren and Oiwa battled early. Oleg hit a bodyslam on Ren for a nearfall and he flipped Ren in his arms MULTIPLE times before finally hitting a gutwrench suplex at 4:30. This Young Lion is a BEAST! Shota entered and battled Oiwa. Oleg hit an impressive belly-to-belly suplex. Oiwa and Kaito hit some team suplexes. Kaito hit a Shining Wizard to pin Leube. Good action from some young rising stars.
5. “Monster Sauce” Lance Archer and Alex Zayne (6) defeated Atlantis Jr. and Soberano Jr. (4) in a B Block tournament match at 9:38. Whoever wins will move to 3-0 and be in the pole position. Archer and Atlantis opened; Atlantis still has his left shoulder taped. Atlantis is in a light blue while Soberano is in an Easter purple so they don’t look a lot alike today. Zayne worked over Atlantis. Archer tagged in, got a nearfall at 3:00, and he chased the referee for not counting to three. Atlantis Jr. hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee on Zayne. Soberano Jr. tagged in at 4:30 and hit a dropkick in the corner on Zayne, then a huracanrana.
In a nice spot, Soberano hit a missile dropkick on Zayne while landing on Archer for a frogsplash. Atlantis hit a dropkick on Zayne, who was tied in the Tree of Woe, for a nearfall at 6:30. Zayne hit his flipping axe kick for a nearfall. Soberano hit a huracanrana to the floor on Archer. Impressive. Soberano hit a top-rope corkscrew press onto Zayne for a nearfall. Zayne NAILED his jump-up huracanrana out of the corner. Archer choke-flipped Zayne onto Soberano. Archer caught Soberano and hit a chokeslam at 9:30. Zayne immediately hit a pumphandle sit-out powerbomb to pin Soberano Jr.! Monster Sauce is now 3-0! That was really good; Archer showed he really can work well with luchadors.
6. “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi (2) defeated “Bullet Club Rogue Army” Bad Luck Fale and Jack Bonza (0) in a B Block tournament match at 11:13. One of these teams will be 0-3 and essentially eliminated, and I don’t think it will be the tag champions. Bonza and Goto opened. Bishamon hit a team shoulder tacklet to knock Fale down at 2:00. The BCRA began working over Yoshi-Hashi in their corner. Fale stood on his back at 5:00. Goto finally made the hot tag at 7:30 and hit a back suplex on Bonza for a nearfall. Fale hit a hard clothesline on Goto and Bonzo made the cover for a nearfalll. Bonza nailed a Doctor Bomb/gutwrench powerbomb on Goto for a nearfall at 10:00. Nice. Bishamon hit the Shoto team slam to pin Bonza to remain alive. As I noted after they started 0-2, I would not be surprised at all if they finish 5-2.
7. “Just 5 Guys” Taichi and Yuya Uemura (6) defeated Minoru Suzuki and Yuji Nagata (0) in a B Block tournament match at 15:30. Taichi and Suzuki opened, then Uemura traded mat holds with Nagata. Minoru worked over Yuya in his corner. Yuya hit a dropkick on Minoru at 6:30. Taichi entered and hit a stiff spine kick on Minoru, so Minoru hit one back. Taichi hit a roundhouse kick to the chest; Suzuki hit a forearm that dropped Taichi at 9:30. Yuji entered and hit a Helluva Kick on Taichi.
Yuji hit a back suplex on Uemura and everyone was down at 12:30. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Taichi hit an enzuigiri on Nagata. Uemura hit a top-rope crossbody block on Nagata, then a head-capture overhead suplex with a bridge to pin Nagata. Entertaining match, and J5G also move to 3-0. Suzuki, standing on the ring apron, looked livid at Yuji for getting pinned again. Suzuki shook hands with former faction teammate Taichi afterward. A nice touch.
8. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Yota Tsuji and Zandokan Jr. (4) defeated “Guerrillas of Destiny” Hikuleo and El Phantasmo (2) in a B Block tournament match at 14:49. Zandokan and ELP opened, with Zandokan knocking him down with a shoulder tackle. Phantasmo hit a huracanrana. Yota and Hikuleo entered at 2:00. LIJ began working over Hikuleo. Hikuleo finally hit a double clothesline at 6:00 and he made the hot tag to ELP. Phantasmo hit a Lionsault on Zandokan Jr., then a dive through the ropes onto Yota. Zandokan hit a powerbomb move on Phantasmo, then a Dominator faceplant for a nearfall at 8:00. ELP hit a Burning Hammer on Yota for a nearfall.
Zandokan Jr hit a dive through the ropes. ELP hit a moonsault to the floor at 11:00. Yota hit a top-rope dive onto GoD and everyone was down on the floor. In the ring, Yota hit a suplex on Hikuleo for a nearfall at 12:30. LIJ hit a team suplex move on Hikuleo for a nearfall, but Phantasmo made the save, and ELP hit a Canadian Destroyer. HIkuleo set up for a powerslam but Yota caught him with a brutal knee to the jaw. Yota immediately hit a Rollins-style Stomp to the head and a spear to pin Hikuleo. That was really good and a strong finish.
* Yota spoke on the mic to close the show. He seemingly said kind words to Hikuleo and Phantasmo before those two limped to the back.
Final Thoughts: A really strong main event that I felt could go either way. So, with GoD’s loss, but sets of tag champions are 1-2 and are in the chase position, while Monster Sauce and Just 5 Guys move to 3-0. I felt the four tournament matches were all really good. Sure, Fale and Bonza aren’t clicking, but the fact that Bishamon needed that win so much made it feel more important.
The tournament takes a breather day off on Monday before the A Block resumes on Tuesday. Again, there are just five off-days in this whole tournament, so it’s quite a grind.
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