By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “World Tag League 2023”
December 8, 2023 in Kagoshima, Japan at Kirishima City Makizono Arena
Streamed live on New Japan World
After 14 shows and dozens of matches, we are down to just four teams remaining in World Tag League, so this show is headlined by the two semi-final matches. The venue is a small arena with a second deck that was fairly full; the floor is packed. I’ll estimate attendance is 1,000-1,200.
1. “Bullet Club” Bad Luck Fale, Jack Bonza, and Taiji Ishimori defeated Oskar Leube, Yuto Nakashima, and Master Wato at 8:43. The tall Leube opened against Fale and they immediately traded forearm strikes. Oskar couldn’t get the big man up for a bodyslam, but he hit a dropkick. Bonza entered and he tied up Oskar on the mat. Fale stood on Leube’s back. Wato finally made the hot tag at 5:00 and hit a flying head-scissors on Ishimori, then a springboard flying forearm for a nearfall. Yuto entered and battled Bonza at 6:30. Bonza hit a discus clothesline for a nearfall, then a piledriver for the pin. Decent opener.
2. Minoru Suzuki and “Monster Sauce” Lance Archer and Alex Zayne defeated “United Empire” Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, and Henare at 10:03. Archer jogged around ringside so he could slug all the Young Lions. Henare and Minoru opened. O-Khan hit a bodyslam on Minoru at 4:30. Archer entered and hit a series of running back elbows in the corner. Newman tried to chop Lance but Archer no-sold it, and Lance hit a much harder return chop. Zayne hit his jump-up Frankensteiner on Newman at 7:30. Zayne hit a summersault ax kick to the neck. Lance slammed Zayne onto Newman for a nearfall at 9:00. The action spilled to the floor. Zayne hit a faceplant slam on Newman, then his pump-handle sit-out powerbomb for the pin. Good match.
3. “House of Torture” EVIL, Sho, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (w/Dick Togo) defeated Kaito Kiyomiya, Ryohei Oiwa, and Ryusuke Taguchi at 9:28. The HoT attacked at the bell. Kaito and Oiwa hit their team armdrags. The action went to the floor, with Oiwa being slammed onto the bare floor. EVIL choked Kaito with a cord. In the ring, Kanemaru beat down Oiwa. Kaito entered at 4:30 and hit a series of dropkicks on all the heels. Taguchi entered and drank some of Kanemaru’s whiskey, but he immediately became tipsy. Fun humor as he stumbled while hitting his buttbumps. Togo hit his knife-edge chop on Taguchi’s groin, with Kanemaru getting a nearfall at 8:30. Taguchi applied an anklelock. Sho hit Taguchi with his wrench, and Kanemaru immediately rolled up Taguchi for the cheap pin.
* We were supposed to have a tag match here with Ren Narita on one side and Shota Umino on the other team. Ren got in the ring and Shota raced down to fight him. However, the entire House of Torture ran down and beat down Shota. It felt too early to let Shota get his hands on Ren, anyway, so I don’t mind this outcome.
4. Atlantis Jr. and Soberano Jr. and “Gates of Agony” Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Toru Yano at 10:04. Okada and Atlantis Jr. shook hands and opened. Ishii and Kaun entered at 2:30 and traded shoulder tackles. The GoA worked over Ishii. Ishii hit a brainbuster on Soberano Jr., and he tagged in Hiroshi at 5:30. Yano entered at 7:30 and battled Liona. Soberano Jr. hit a Fosbury Flop to the floor at 9:30. Meanwhile, the GoA hit their team slam to pin Yano. Okay match.
5. “Just 5 Guys” Taichi, Sanada, Yuya Uemura, and Douki defeated Zandokan Jr. and “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Bushi, Yota Tsuji, and Shingo Takagi (w/Tetsuya Naito) at 10:09. The storyline of the last few days is that Zandokan has been (impatiently!) waiting for his invite to join LIJ, but Naito hasn’t extended the offer yet. Zandokan Jr. and Taichi opened. Bushi and Douki battled at 3:30. Shingo entered and hit some forearm strikes on Douki. Sanada entered and hit some dropkicks, then a plancha to the floor at 5:30. In the ring, Shingo hit a DDT on Sanada and they were both down. Tsuji and Uemura entered at 7:30 and they traded some fast-paced, inspired offense. Bushi hit a missile dropkick on Yuya, then a dive through the ropes onto him. Uemura hit a top-rope crossbody block on Bushi. Uemura nailed his double-underhook suplex with a bridge to pin Bushi. A really good final stretch to that match.
6. “Guerrillas of Destiny” El Phantasmo and Hikuleo (w/Jado) defeated “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls in a WTL semi-final match at 17:02. ELP’s right shoulder is heavily taped, and he opened against Haste, and Shane immediately focused on the damaged arm. Hikuleo and Nicholls entered at 2:30, with Hikuleo hitting a clothesline. TMDK worked over Phantasmo in their corner, with Mikey hitting a running neckbreaker at 6:00. Hikuleo finally made the hot tag and hit a double clothesline at 9:00. Hikuleo and Nicholls traded forearm strikes.
Haste hit a Saito Suplex on Phantasmo for a nearfall at 11:00, and he tied up ELP on the mat. TMDK hit a team suplex on ELP for a nearfall. ELP hit a superkick on Nicholls, and Hikuleo immediately hit a chokeslam at 14:30. However, ELP missed his springboard frogsplash. ELP hit a Frankensteiner, flipping Haste onto Nicholls. Phantasmo hit the CR2 modified Styles Clash on Haste for a believable nearfall at 16:00. Hikuleo hit a powerslam on Haste, then a chokeslam for the pin! As expected, the NJ Strong tag champions have reached the finals.
7. “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” Gabe Kidd and Alex Coughlin in a WTL semi-final match at 23:25. The BCWD came to the ring first, but then they ran up the entrance-way to fight Bishamon on the floor, and they went all over the floor. Kidd and Goto got in the ring at 2:30 to officially begin. Goto hit a snap suplex on Coughlin, flipping him onto Kidd. The BCWD extensively beat up Goto in the ring. They grabbed the tag titles and posed with them, but tossed them to the floor at 7:00. The BCWD brawled with Goto on the entrance ramp, then continued to work him over back in the ring. Yoshi-Hashi finally made the hot tag at 12:30, and he hit a standing neckbreaker on Kidd for a nearfall.
Yoshi-Hashi hit his Headhunter flipping neckbreaker for a nearfall at 15:00. They set up for Shoto, but Kidd fought free. BCWD hit their team Musclebuster for a nearfall on Yoshi-Hashi. Bishamon again attempted to hit Shoto, but Kidd made the save. The ref went down and Kidd immediately got a chair and hit Bishamon with it. Everyone hit clotheslines, and suddenly everyone was down at 19:30. Yoshi-Hashi and Coughlin stood up and traded forearm strikes. Coughlin hit a running Death Valley Driver on Yoshi-Hashi for a nearfall at 23:00. Yoshi-Hashi hit a Crucifix Driver to pin Coughlin. Solid match.
* Hikuleo, El Phantasmo, and Jado walked to the ring and stood across from Yoshi-Hashi and Hirook Goto. The trophies were placed in the center of the ring. They shook hands, showing they are entering the finals with this as a babyface matchup.
Final Thoughts: Fifteen shows down, and it all comes down to the finals on Sunday. The IWGP tag champs Bishamon vs. the New Japan Strong tag champs Guerrillas of Destiny. It always seemed like the eventual outcome. ELP/Hikuleo vs. Haste/Nicholls was a far better match, but I admittedly am not a fan of Bishamon. I looked at the lineup late Thursday night when it was revealed and I was surprised to see Ren Narita and Shota Umino listed on opposite sides of a tag match, as that felt far too soon, so I’m not surprised it didn’t happen.
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