By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “World Tag League”
December 4, 2024 in Saga, Japan at Karatsu City Cultural Gymnasium
Streamed live on New Japan World
This is night 12 of the 15-show, month-long tournament. This year’s field features 16 teams in two eight-team Blocks. It is a round-robin tournament, so each team has seven matches in the Block round. Tonight, just the B Block is in tournament action.
Walker Stewart provided commentary. This is a larger gym, bigger than most they’ve used on this tour. The crowd is maybe 1,200.
* Hiroshi Tanhashi came to the ring, dressed in his street clothes, and addressed the crowd.
1. “Bullet Club” Chase Owens and Kenta vs. Alex Zayne and Katsuya Murashima (w/Ryusuke Taguchi). Zayne and Owens opened, with Alex hitting the Cinnamon Twist corkscrew senton. Murashima hit a body slam on Chase. The BC worked over Murashima. Kenta put Murashima in a Boston Crab at 6:30, but Zayne made the save. Kenta put Murashima in a Crossface-type submission hold, and he tapped out. Okay opener.
Chase Owens and Kenta defeated Alex Zayne and Katsuya Murashima at 8:13.
2. Shoma Kato and “Bishamon” Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto vs. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Gabe Kidd., Sanada, and Gedo. Goto and Kidd opened. Stewart said Kidd blames Bishamon for injuring Jake Lee, who is indefinitely out of action. The action spilled to the floor at 2:00. In the ring, Kidd got the mic and spoke in Japanese. Stewart interpreted saying “where am I?” He started singing in Japanese! (What the heck is going on?) He threw the mic down and got cheers! Goto hit a double clothesline. Sanada hit a Magic Screw twisting neckbreaker off the ropes at 8:00. Kato hit a bodyslam on Kidd for a nearfall, then he applied a Boston Crab. Kidd hit a jumping piledriver on Kato and pinned him.
Gabe Kidd, Sanada, and Gedo defeated Shoma Kato, Yoshi-Hashi, and Hirooki Goto at 11:03.
3. Tiger Mask, Shota Umino, and Tomoaki Honma vs. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Bushi, Shingo Takagi, and Yota Tsuji. For the record, I am doubtful of a Shota Umino ankle injury; it just fit too neatly into a storyline of Honma getting bulldozed by himself against Kenta and Owens two days ago. Shota hit a dropkick at the bell on Tsuji, then some European Uppercuts. Yota hit a dropkick on the knee and twisted Shota’s leg. Honma and Takagi entered at 3:00. Tiger Mask hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee on Bushi and he applied a cross-armbreaker on Yota. Yota nailed the Gene Blaster (spear) on Tiger Mask for the pin and suddenly it’s over.
Bushi, Shingo Takagi, and Yota Tsuji defeated Tiger Mask, Shota Umino, and Tomoaki Honma at 6:16.
4. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr., Kosei Fujita, and Ryohei Oiwa vs. “United Empire” Jeff Cobb, Callum Newman, and Jakob Austin Young. Jakob and Kosei opened. Oiwa entered and hit a bodyslam. Cobb entered at 3:30 and worked over Fujita and surfed on his back. Sabre tagged in for the first time at 5:30 and he tied up Callum on the mat and cranked back on his left arm. Callum hit an enzuigiri and they were both down. Cobb entered and hit a dropkick on Zack, then a Stinger Splash. Sabre hit a tornado DDT on Cobb. Oiwa entered and hit a suplex on Cobb at 8:30. Cobb hit a standing moonsault on Oiwa. Young entered and hit a missile dropkick. Cobb hit a German Suplex on Sabre! Oiwa hit a clothesline on Young for a nearfall. Oiwa nailed the discus clothesline and pinned Young. Easily one of the best preview tag matches of the entire tour; this will undoubtedly be a better match than some of the tournament matches later in the show.
Zack Sabre Jr. and Kosei Fujita and Ryohei Oiwa defeated Jeff Cobb and Callum Newman and Jakob Austin Young at 11:08.
* Gabe Kidd joined Walker Stewart on commentary! Get the swear jar ready!
5. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls (4) vs. “Just 4 Guys” Taka Michinoku and Taichi (2) in a B Block tournament match. Both teams are already eliminated. Taka and Nicholls opened, and Walker talked about how Taka pinned Nicholls two days ago in a preview tag, and he got a nearfall again in the first minute here! Mikey hit a brainbuster. Shae whipped Taka into the guardrails, then in the ring, a stiff kick to the spine, as TMDK worked over Taka. (Kidd mentioned here how difficult it is for him to now swear on the air.) TMDK ‘wishboned’ Taka’s legs at 4:00. Taka hit a leaping kick to Shane’s head and finally tagged in Taichi at 6:00. Shane hit a reverse suplex, with Taichi landing on his stomach.
Haste hit a dropkick on Taichi at 8:00. Taichi hit some clotheslines and they were both down. Taka tagged back in and battled Mikey. Nicholls hit a spinebuster for a nearfall at 10:00. TMDK hit their Power Bottom team slam on Taka. Nicholls hit a Death Valley Driver on Taka for a nearfall. They then hit a team slam, with Mikey getting his revenge and pinning Taka. Okay match; yes, the prior preview tag match was better. TMDK improves to 3-3.
Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls (6) defeated Taka Michinoku and Taichi (2) at 11:12.
6. “United Empire” Great-O-Khan and Henare (8) vs. “Bullet Club Rogue Army” Stevie Filip and Tome Filip (2) in a B Block tournament match. O-Khan and Stevie opened. Stevie hit a dropkick at 3:00, and they brawled to the floor. The Filips worked over Henare, but Henare hit a double clothesline on them. Tome hit some suplexes on Henare. Henare hit a Berzerker Bomb at 6:30. This crowd is just quiet; they can’t get behind cheering for O-Khan and Henare. Tome nailed a spinebuster on O-Khan at 8:00. Stevie hit a moonsault to the floor on Henare. Henare nailed the Rampage football tackle on Tome. UE hit the Imperial Drop (team running neckbreaker move) for the pin on Tome. Okay match, just little crowd reaction.
Great-O-Khan and Henare (10) defeated Stevie Filip and Tome Filip (2) at 10:02.
7. Boltin Oleg and Toru Yano (6) vs. Jado and Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) in a B Block tournament match. Oleg and Tanahashi (who share the six-man tag titles!) opened against each other. Tanahashi hit a second-rope crossbody block. Oleg hit a gut-wrench suplex, tossing Hiroshi across the ring. Yano and Jado brawled, with Yano choking him. Tanahashi re-entered and hit a basement dropkick on Oleg’s knee, then his second-rope somersault senton at 7:30. Tanahashi hit the Twist-and-Shout neckbreaker on Yano. Jado hit a DDT on Yano. Okay, this match has actually been bad. Tanahashi hit a sling blade clothesline on Yano for a nearfall at 10:00. Yano hit a low blow on both opponents, rolled up Jado, and pinned him. Easily the worst match of the entire tournament; Oleg couldn’t save this stinker.
Boltin Oleg and Toru Yano (8) defeated Jado and Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) at 11:23.
8. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi (6) vs. “House of Torture” EVIL and Ren Narita (w/Dick Togo) (8) in a B Block tournament match. EVIL and Naito opened. Hiromu hit some chops on EVIL and a basement dropkick. Narita whipped Naito into the guardrail, and they all brawled past the guardrail and into the crowd. Back in the ring, EVIL stomped on Naito at 3:00, and HoT grounded Naito. Naito hit a standing neckbreaker on Ren at 7:00. Hiromu entered and hit a shotgun dropkick on Ren, then a dive from the apron onto Togo on the floor. Ren tied up Hiromu on the mat in a modified cross-armbreaker at 9:00, and the HoT began working over Hiromu. EVIL tied him in a Sharpshooter, but Takahashi reached the ropes at 11:00.
EVIL nailed a spinebuster for a nearfall. Naito got the hot tag and hit a basement dropkick on EVIL. Ren pushed Naito into the ref at 14:30; Togo immediately hopped in the ring and helped beat up Naito. Togo hit his knife-edge chop to Naito’s groin, and Ren hit his flying Guillotine (knee to the throat) for a nearfall on Naito. Hiromu snatched the push-up bar from Ren, tossed it aside, but then Hiromu turned and superkicked Naito! “What the hell is this?” Walker Stewart shouted! “What has gotten into Hiromu?” EVIL and the House of Torture looked just as perplexed as everyone else in the crowd. Hiromu made the ‘smoking gesture’ with his hands and he joined the Hot! However, he then hit uranages on EVIL and Ren. He apologized to Naito! Naito hit a tornado DDT on Ren, then a Destino to pin Narita. A good swerve that I really bought for a few seconds.
Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi (8) defeated EVIL and Ren Narita (8) at 19:21.
Final Thoughts: The Takahashi swerve on HoT to conclude the main event was fun, and I wouldn’t have minded a Hiromu heel turn. But I will be blunt… this was not a good night for in-ring action; it’s probably the worst day of the tour. The B Block has trailed behind the A Block in quality of matches throughout the tournament, and that was highly evident here. I will give TMDK-J4G best match, largely because they established 48 hours earlier that Taka could pin Nicholls, and that was really worked well into this match tonight. UE vs. Filips was passable but the crowd sat silently for most of it. For a match with so many veterans, Jado/Tanahashi vs. Yano/Oleg was just shockingly bad. I will acknowledge this tournament is a GRIND and I don’t doubt these guys are worn down by the travel and schedule. Also… Kidd was just not good on color commentary. He mumbled often and laughed at himself frequently. I was really looking forward to a manic Kidd, and that’s not what we got at all.
The A Block will wrap up round-robin play on Thursday, headlined by Bishamon vs. Sanada and Gabe Kidd. The B Block will wrap up round-robin play on Friday.
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