By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “World Tag League”
November 29, 2025, in Aomori, Japan, at Mutsu City General Arena
Streamed live on New Japan World
Walker Stewart provided commentary. This is a large gym/small arena; everyone is seated on the floor, with the tiered seating empty. The crowd was maybe 800.
* This year’s tournament features 16 teams, divided into two Blocks of eight squads. It’s a round-robin tournament, so each team has seven matches. Tonight, just the A Block is in action. Any team that has three losses is all but mathematically eliminated.
1. Zane Jay and “Monster Sauce” Lance Archer and Alex Zayne vs. Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura, and Shoma Kato. The Young Lions opened and traded intense reversals. Yuya and Zayne locked up at 1:00. Zayne hit a Vader Bomb-style knee drop and his Cinnamon Twist (corkscrew splash). Jay bodyslammed Yuya. Archer entered for the first time at 3:00 and hit a delayed vertical suplex on Yuya, then some chops that dropped Uemura. He set up for a chokeslam, but Yuya hit a dropkick to escape.
Shota entered and battled Zayne and Zane. He couldn’t lift Archer. Lance bodyslammed Shota at 6:00. Zayne hit a swinging faceplant on Umino, then his flipping axe kick on Yuya. Kato got the hot tag and battled Alex, hitting a dropkick for a nearfall. He went for a Boston Crab, but Zayne fought it off. Zayne hit a unique Michinoku Driver-style slam for the pin on Shoma. A really good preview tag.
Zane Jay, Lance Archer, and Alex Zayne defeated Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura and Shoma Kato at 8:29.
2. “United Empire” Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, and Jakob Austin Young vs. “Unaffiliated Bullet Club” Daiki Nagai, Yuto-Ice, and Oskar. All six brawled at the bell, with Oskar and Callum going up the entrance ramp. Yuto-Ice whipped O-Khan into the guardrail. Back in the ring, the UE took turns working over Yuto-Ice in their corner. O-Khan hit his Mongolian Chops at 3:00. Oskar entered and hit some shoulder tackles. Young got in, but Oskar chopped him to the mat at 5:30. Oskar hit a scoop bodyslam on O-Khan. Daiki entered for the first time, but he couldn’t lift O-Khan, so he hit a dropkick, and he put O-Khan in a Boston Crab. O-Khan applied a choke hold on the mat, and Daiki tapped out. Decent.
Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, and Jakob Austin Young defeated Daiki Nagai, Yuto-Ice, and Oskar at 8:04.
3. “Unaffiliated Bullet Club” David Finlay, Hiromu Takahashi, and Gedo vs. “House of Torture” Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Sanada. The HoT attacked from behind, and we’re underway! Hiromu bodyslammed Narita. Suddenly, all six brawled to the floor. Ren jabbed a chair into Hiromu’s gut, and those two got back into the ring. Ren hit a bodyslam for a nearfall at 2:30. The HoT worked over Hiromu in their corner. Sanada hit a dropkick on Hiromu’s knee, and Takahashi sold the pain. Finlay got a hot tag at 4:00. Sanada ‘accidentally’ hit a low blow on Sanada, but Finlay fell head-first onto Sanada’s groin for his own ‘accidental’ low blow. Gedo entered and fought Kanemaru. Yoshinobu tied him in a Figure Four, and Gedo tapped out. Okay.
Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Sanada defeated David Finlay, Hiromu Takahashi, and Gedo at 6:26.
4. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, and Hartley Jackson vs. El Phantasmo, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Katsuya Murashima. Glad to see Murashima as their third man instead of Jado, who had a match earlier in this tour. Hartley and Murashima opened and traded shoulder blocks. Katsuya couldn’t lift Jackson. Sabre entered and hit some European Uppercuts that dropped Murashima; Katsuya hit a suplex. ELP got in and tied up Sabre. Zack snapped ELP’s neck between his ankles. Oiwa entered and tied up Phantasmo’s left arm and targeted it.
Hartley suplexed ELP. Hiroshi tagged in for the first time at 4:30, and he hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Sabre, then one on Oiwa. Oiwa hit a dropkick. Tanahashi hit a twist-and-shout neckbreaker on Oiwa. He bodyslammed Oiwa and hit his second-rope somersault senton. ELP hit one on Oiwa! Katsuya tried, but Oiwa moved. Some good humor here. Oiwa hit a double clothesline at 7:30. Hartley hit a short-arm clothesline on Murashima for a nearfall, but he missed a senton. Murashima hit a dropkick, and he finally scooped up Hartley and hit a Bulldog Powerslam for a nearfall! Hartley hit a clothesline and the Jagged Edge (DVD) for the pin. Good preview tag.
Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, and Hartley Jackson defeated El Phantasmo, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Katsuya Murashima at 9:46.
5. “War Dragons” Shingo Takagi and Drilla Moloney (2) vs. Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi (0) in an A Block tournament match. The WD emerged through the curtain and were almost immediately attacked by the HoT, and they made their way to ringside. They got in the ring, and we had a bell at 00:40 to officially begin, as Yujiro battled Shingo. The WD hit a team shoulder block that dropped Yujiro. Chase hopped in the ring and hit a running knee to Shingo’s back at 3:00, and the heels kept Takagi in their corner. Shingo finally hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Chase, and he made the hot tag to Drilla at 6:00.
Moloney hit a dropkick on Chase, then a baseball slide dropkick on Yujiro, then one on Chase. The War Dragons hit stereo top-rope elbow drops for nearfalls at 7:30. Shingo hit a DVD on Chase for a nearfall. Yujiro suplexed Shingo, and Chase hit a running knee for a nearfall. Chase set up for a package piledriver at 9:00, but Shingo escaped. Yujiro hit an inverted DDT. The ref got bumped! Yujiro hit a low blow uppercut on Drilla! Chase got a branding iron but Shingo blocked it. Drilla hit a Gore on Chase. Shingo nailed a Pumping Bomber clothesline! The War Dragons hit a team flipping powerbomb on Chase for the pin. At 0-4, Chase and Yujiro are officially eliminated.
Shingo Takagi and Drilla Moloney (4) defeated Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi (0) at 10:36/official time of 9:56.
6. Taichi and Satoshi Kojima (2) vs. “The House of Torture” EVIL and Don Fale (4) in an A Block tournament match. Taichi came out first and was singing. The HoT emerged from the back and were dragging a beaten-up Satoshi to the ring, so we’re underway. Taichi and Fale traded blows in the ring, and Fale stomped on him. EVIL entered and he choked Taichi. Fale hit some blows to Taichi’s gut. Taichi hit an enzuigiri at 4:30. Kojima tagged in and hit his rapid-fire chops on Fale in the corner, then a DDT. Fale hit a running elbow drop, and EVIL got the nearfall, but Taichi made the save.
EVIL nailed the Darkness Falls modified powerbomb for a nearfall on Kojima at 7:00. EVIL and Kojima traded clotheslines, and Satoshi hit the Koji Cutter. Fale set up for the Grenade, but Taichi blocked it. The ref got bumped. Kanemaru appeared and sprayed whiskey in Kojima’s eyes. EVIL hit the Everything is Evil uranage to pin Kojima. Taichi had walked up the entrance ramp, holding a chair, preparing to hit any House of Torture guys that may have come out to interfere, and he didn’t return in time to make the save. Yeah … not that good.
EVIL and Don Fale (6) defeated Taichi and Satoshi Kojima (2) at 9:35.
7. “Bishamon” Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto (4) vs. El Desperado and Shuji Ishikawa (4) in an A Block tournament match. Yoshi-Hashi and Desperado opened and traded standing switches. Goto tied up Despe on the mat. Shuji entered at 2:30 and hit a bodyslam and a second-rope doublestomp on Goto’s chest for a nearfall. Goto hit a clothesline; Shuji hit a suplex, and they were both down. Despe and Yoshi-Hashi got back in at 4:00 and traded chops. Desperado applied a Stretch Muffler on Yoshi-Hashi. Despe hit a second-rope doublestomp on Yoshi-Hashi’s gut, then Shuji did one, too.
Goto hit a neckbreaker over his knee on Despe, and Yoshi-Hashi got a nearfall at 6:00. Bishamon set up for Shoto, but Desperado escaped. Shuji and Yoshi-Hashi traded forearm strikes, and I have to reiterate that Shuji is 6’5″ and just towers over Y-H. Yoshi-Hashi hit a top-rope Blockbuster on Shuji for a nearfall at 8:00. Shuji fired back with a double clothesline, and suddenly all four were down. Shuji hit a team powerbomb for a nearfall. He clotheslined Goto to the floor. Shuji hit an Ibushi-style Kamigoye knee strike on Y-H, then another running knee for a believable nearfall at 10:30. He hit an Angle Slam on Yoshi-Hashi for the clean pin. I liked that, and it topped my mild expectations.
El Desperado and Shuji Ishikawa (6) defeated Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto (4) at 10:34.
8. “Unaffiliated Bullet Club” Gabe Kidd and Yota Tsuji (4) vs. Boltin Oleg and Toru Yano (4) in an A Block tournament match. Yano — a comedy guy left out of the past couple of G1 Climax tournaments — is in the main event of two straight A Block main events. Yeah, the two Blocks were NOT divided equally! Oleg and Kidd opened with an intense lockup, and neither man budged, so they switched to trading chops. Kidd dropped him with a Pounce, so Oleg sent him flying on a shoulder tackle. Yano got in at 2:30 and again mockingly patted Kidd’s bald head, which just ticked off Gabe.
Yota pulled Yano to the floor and threw him into the guardrail, then he did the same to Oleg. In the ring, the UBC worked over Yano in their corner. Oleg finally got a hot tag at 6:30, and he hit some shoulder tackles on each of the UBC. He hit his gutwrench suplex on Tsuji, then a Vader Bomb for a nearfall. Tsuji hit a Stomp on Oleg, and they were both down at 9:00. Tsuji hit some superkicks; Oleg hit a clothesline. Kidd and Yano tagged in at 10:30, and Gabe hit some hard chops, and they rolled to the floor, where Gabe whipped Yano into the guardrail.
All four fought in the ring. Oleg got both guys across his shoulders and hit a double Samoan Drop at 14:00. He hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Kidd. Yano hit a chop block and got a nearfall on Kidd. He got a low blow and a rollup for a believable nearfall. (Yano wins so often that way, any low blow can lead to a pin.) Kidd hit a running knee to Yano’s jaw at 15:30, then another. Kidd hit his clothesline on Yano while Yota was also hitting the Gene Blaster (spear), and they pinned Yano. Solid; at least the right team won.
Gabe Kidd and Yota Tsuji (6) defeated Toru Yano and Boltin Oleg (4) at 16:01.
Final Thoughts: Shuji Ishikawa has been the pleasant surprise of the tournament. I hadn’t seen him before, and the English-speaking wrestlers who have done commentary also hadn’t seen him live. He’s 50, and he looks it. Yes, he’s a bit lumbering, but with his size and power, combined with El Desperado’s great in-ring skills, that team has just topped my expectations from when this tournament began. Point being, Shuji/Despe vs. Bishamon was the best match here.
None of the other tournament matches earned a ‘good’ rating, but I’ll note that while I’m not a Yano fan, he sure is trying hard, and he’s not doing as much comedy in the tournament matches, so that’s better than watching the juvenile antics of Ryusuke Taguchi in Super Junior Tag League. I don’t want to say EVIL/Fale vs. Kojima/Taichi was bad, but it was definitely slow; it’s not making anyone’s top 10 list. This was just another night that proved the B Block is just so much better. The superior B Block will be back in tournament action on Sunday, headlined by El Phantasmo and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Ryohei Oiwa and Zack Sabre Jr.
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