By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “World Tag League 2023”
December 7, 2023 in Miyagi, Japan at Miyakonojo City Hayamizu Sports Culture Centre
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 14 and the final night of the B Block in action.
This is a large gym with a second deck that is fairly full. This crowd is maybe 1,500 to 2,000. We again have Japanese-only commentary.
* On Wednesday, the “Bullet Club War Dogs” Gabe Kidd and Alex Coughlin and “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls qualified for the playoffs. The final two matches on this show will determine the other two playoff spots. The other big news on Wednesday was Ren Narita turning on Shota Umino and joining the Bullet Club. For the first time in this tournament, I didn’t look at the match lineup, on purpose, as I’m assuming some matches have been changed because of it.
1. “United Empire” Callum Newman, Henare, and Great-O-Khan defeated Yuto Nakashima and “Gates of Agony” Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun at 11:05. Callum and Yuto opened. Kaun entered and hit a snap suplex on Newman for a nearfall at 2:00. The UE began working over Kaun. Kaun and O-Khan traded forearm strikes at 7:30. Liona finally tagged in and squared off against fellow islander Henare. Henare hit a jumping knee to the chin. Liona hit a short-arm clothesline. Liona bodyslammed partner Yuto onto Henare! Henare hit the Rampage football tackle to pin Yuto. Good openeer.
2. “House of Torture” EVIL, Sho, and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Shota Umino, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Tiger Mask at 7:34. I don’t see Ren Narita with the rest of the House of Torture. Shota lunged at EVIL but Sho attacked Umino from behind to start the match. The HoT worked over Taguchi in the ring. Sho hit a spear on Tiger Mask at 5:30. TM hit a Tiger Driver on Sho. Shota was waiting for the hot tag when Narita finally appeared, slamming a chair across Shota’s back as he was standing on the ring apron. Meanwhile, Yujro pulled Sho onto Tiger Mask for the pin. The HoT, now six members strong, put the boots to Shota in the ring, and Ren again choked him out, then hit an X-Factor faceplant.
3. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, and Tomohiro Ishii defeated Kaito Kiyomiya, Ryohei Oiwa, Tomoaki Honma, and Boltin Olge at 9:03. Kaito barked at Okada from across the ring; Okada got off the ring apron and teased that he was leavng. The bell sounded and Tanahashi and Oiwa opened. Oleg and Ishii entered at 1:30 and immediately traded forearm strikes, and Ishii hit a suplex. Yano entered and immediately removed a corner pad. Okada tagged in … and immediately knocked Kaito off the ring apron at 4:00. Kaito entered and hit a dropkick on Okada and some punches in the corner.
Oiwa and Kaito hit stereo dropkicks at 6:00. Okada and Kaito traded forearm strikes, and it’s intriguing because Okada has been the heel in this match today. Okada hit a dropkick. Honma entered but missed a Kokeshi on Yano at 8:00. He hit one on a second attempt. Yano hit a low blow uppercut on Honma and rolled him up for the cheap pin. The Okada-Kaito stuff was definitely the highlight here.
4. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Alex Coughlin, Gabe Kidd, and Taiji Ishimori defeated “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Kosei Fujita at 6:18. These teams brawled as they came out of the curtain and spent the first two minutes on the floor. In the ring, Nicholls hit a DDT on Ishimori for a nearfall at 3:30. Ishimori fired back with a huracanrana. Kosei hit a springboard dropkick on Coughlin. Coughlin hit a German Suplex. Coughlin hit a Black Hole Slam on Fujita for a believable nearfall, then the Jackhammer, to pin Fujita. They all kept brawling after the bell. If both teams win their semi-final match on Friday, they could meet again in the finals on Sunday.
5. Minoru Suzuki and Yuji Nagata (4) defeated “Bullet Club Rogue Army” Bad Luck Fale and Jack Bonza (4) in a B Block tournament match at 9:43. Yuji and Bonza opened. The BCRA worked over Suzuki on the floor. Nagata made the hot tag at 5:30 but he couldn’t budge the big Fale. Suzuki re-entered and hit a Helluva Kick on Bonza. Fale hit a Stinger Splash on Minoru, then an elbow drop to the chest for a nearfall, but Nagata made the save. Yuji hit an Exploder Suplex on Bonza, and Minoru hit the Gotch-style Piledriver on Bonza for the pin. Thus, both teams finish at 2-5. Yuji and Nagata shook hands, and raised their hands together. A bit shocking to see.
6. Atlantis Jr. and Soberano Jr. (7) defeated Yota Tsuji and Zandokan Jr. (6) in a B Block tournament match at 12:17. Zandokan and Soberano Jr. opened with some lucha reversals. Soberano, wearing white and gold today, did a flip dive over the top rope, but LIJ caught him and slammed him back-first on the apron. In the ring, Yota and Zandokan Jr. ripped at the masks of the luchadors. They continued to work over Soberano in the ring. Atlantis Jr. entered at 5:30 and hit some tilt-a-whirl backbreakers over his knee. He hit a dive over the top rope to drop Tsuji and Zandokan Jr. Soberano Jr. hit a top-rope corkscrew press onto all three, and everyone was down on the floor.
Yota hit a kneestrike to the jaw and a suplex for a nearfall at 8:30. Yota went for a frogsplash off Zandokan Jr.’s shoulders, but Atlantis got his knees up to block it. Zandokan Jr. and Soberano Jr. traded forearm strikes at 10:30. Zandokan Jr. hit an impressive pop-up Tiger Driver. Soberano Jr. hit a Canadian Destroyer. Atlantis hit a dive through the ropes onto Yota at 12:00. Meanwhile, Soberano Jr. hit a Tombstone Piledriver to pin Zandokan Jr. This was sneaky good, especially considering both teams were eliminated going into this match.
* Tetsuya Naito again walked to ringside! (A day ago, it appears he rebuffed letting Zandokan Jr. into LIJ.) Here, Naito hugged him.
* Again, the winners of the final two matches will reach the playoffs.
7. “Guerrillas of Destiny” Hikuleo and El Phantasmo (10) defeated “Monster Sauce” Lance Archer and Alex Zayne (8) in a B Block tournament match at 15:11. I really like how these teams mirror each other with the big man/shorter agile man dynamic. ELP and Zayne opened with good reversals. Zayne hit his corkscrew senton. Hikuleo entered at 2:00 and he no-sold a chop from Zayne. Hikuleo hit his own chop that flattened Zayne, who immediately tagged out. Funny. Archer and Hikuleo traded shoulder tackles, then forearm strikes. Hikuleo clotheslined Archer to the floor at 4:30. In the ring, GoD began working over Zayne, with Hikuleo hitting a big backbody drop.
Archer hit some punches on ELP, and MS worked over Phantasmo in their corner. ELP and Zayne traded forearm strikes at 8:30. Hikuleo made the hot tag and hit a Mafia Kick on Zayne, then a powerslam on Archer. ELP ht a slingshot senton. ELP accidentally superkicked Hikuleo! Zayne hit his summersault axe kick on ELP and Archer made the cover for a nearfall at 11:00. Archer set up for Blackout but ELP fought free. Archer nailed a chokeslam. He slammed Zayne onto ELP, but Phantasmo got his knees up, and suddenly everyone was down. Hikuleo and Archer tried but couldn’t suplex each other.
Archer clotheslined Hikuleo to the floor, then he hit a Black Hole Slam on ELP. Zayne hit a running neckbreaker on ELP for a believable nearfall at 13:30. Archer gave teammate Zayne a Blackout to the floor onto both opponents! In the ring, Hikuleo finally hit a suplex on Archer. ELP hit a moonsault to the floor onto Archer. Hikuleo hit a chokeslam on Zayne; ELP immediately hit a springboard frogsplash onto Zayne for the pin. An excellent match; I would put it in my top five of the tournament as I love the dynamics here and the stakes were so high. I figured the Strong tag champs were winning. Archer and Hikuleo shook hands. So, GoD finish at 5-2 to reach the playoffs.
8. “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi (9) defeated “Just 5 Guys” Taichi and Yuya Uemura (w/Sanada) (8) in a B Block tournament match at 23:40. In theory, J5G could just force this to go to a draw and they’d advance, but I certainly don’t want to see another Bishamon time-limit draw. Tachi and Goto opened, with Goto hitting forearms while Taichi hit spin kicks to the thighs. Yuya and Yoshi-Hashi entered at 2:00 with Uemura hitting a deep armdrag. Y-H fired back with some hard chops. Uemura hit a dropkick on Togo at 6:00 and they were both down. Taichi hit a hard clothesline on Goto and he fired up the crowd. Goto hit a discus clothesline and they were both down.
Uemura hit a plancha to the floor on Yoshi-Hashi, while Taichi hit a Saito Suplex on Goto for a nearfall at 8:30. Goto fired back with a neckbreaker over his knee, but he sold the pain in his own neck. Taichi hit an enziguri and they were both down. Uemura entered and hit a sideslam on Goto for a nearfall at 10:30. Goto nailed a decapitating clotheslne on Uemura. Yoshi-Hashi finally made the hot tag and he chopped Yuya. Uemura hit a deep armdrag at 13:30. Taichi hit a Helluva Kick on Yoshi-Hashi. Uemura hit a top-rope crossbody block on Yoshi-Hashi for a nearfall at 15:00. Uemura hit a crossbody block for a nearfall, then a huracanrana, and he switched to a crossarm breaker, but Yoshi-Hashi reached the ropes at 17:30.
Uemura and Yoshi-Hashi traded chops and forearm while on their knees, then while standing. Uemura hit a twisting uranage for a nearfall at 20:30, and I’m starting to wonder if we’ll get that draw. Y-H hit a Dragon Suplex. Uemura got an O’Connor Roll for a nearfall on Yoshi-Hashi. Yoshi-Hashi hit a Canadian Destroyer on Taichi, then a clothesline on Yuya for a nearfall at 23:00. Goto hit a bulldog on Yuya. They hit the Shoto team slam, with Yoshi-Hashi pinning Uemura. So, after a slow start in Block action, Bishamon rallied to reach the playoffs (which I predicted in my reviews each day.)
Final Thoughts: It was entirely predictable before the tournament began that IWGP tag champs Bishamon and NJ Strong tag champs Guerrillas of Destiny would reach the playoffs, and that’s what happened. As that main event rolled on. I was cheering for a draw, as J5G would have finished a point ahead of Bishamon. I’ll go Monster Sauce-GoD for best match, a really good LIJ-luchadors for second, and the main event third. Coupled that with the fallout of the Ren Narita turn and the furthering of a feud between Kaito Kiyomiya and Kazuchika Okada, and this was a note-worthy show.
So, the semifinals will take place on Friday, with the finals set for Sunday.
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