By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “World Tag League”
December 6, 2024 in Kagoshima, Japan at Sun Arena Sendai
Streamed live on New Japan World
This is night 14 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 for their final round-robin match.
Walker Stewart provided solo commentary as the show began; Jeff Cobb joined Walker for the tournament matches. This is a larger gym with fans in a few of the upper tier sections. The crowd is maybe 700-800.
* The big news is that Henare’s knee injury on Thursday was NOT a work. He and Great-O-Khan will forfeit their IWGP Tag Team Titles AND their match against the Young Bucks set for Jan. 5 will be canceled. Jeff Cobb also said Callum Newman’s knee injury is NOT a work. It ALSO means that Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi win their match against O-Khan and Henare by forfeit and finish with 10 points.
1. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi vs. Katsuya Murashima and Shoma Kato. This is a bonus match, as Naito and Takahashi’s match against Henare and Great-O-Khan has been canceled. The Young LIons attacked before the bell. Hiromu and Naito applied stereo Boston Crabs, and the Young Lions tapped out.
Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi defeated Katsuya Murashima and Shoma Kato at 5:51.
2. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Sanada, Gabe Kidd, Chase Owens, and Kenta vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and Alex Zayne “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi. All eight brawled at the bell. In this tournament, it has been established that Kenta/Owens and Sanada/Kidd don’t get along, so let’s see if that is a factor here. The babyfaces worked over Chase. The heels worked over Yoshi-Hashi on the floor. Zayne tagged in at 5:230 and hit the Cinnamon Twist on Chase, then his flipping axe kick. Chase hit the C-Trigger jumping knee on Taguchi. Taguchi put Kenta in an ankle lock. Kenta hit a low blow and pinned Taguchi; this mirrored almost exactly how Taguchi pinned Kenta a few days ago in tournament action. So, no issues at all with the Bullet Club factions after all.
Sanada, Gabe Kidd, Chase Owens, and Kenta defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Alex Zayne, Hirooki Goto, and Yoshi-Hashi at 9:07.
Sanada and Kidd left, so just Owens and Kenta were in the ring. NOAH’s Kenoh walked to the ring! The crowd popped for his appearance here. He got on the mic and spoke directly to Kenta in Japanese and challenged him to a match. No punches were thrown.
3. “United Empire” Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, and Jakob Austin Young vs. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Bushi, Shingo Takagi, and Yota Tsuji. So, because Callum Newman and Henare are both United Empire teammates, it meant O-Khan slid into Newman’s spot in this match. Cobb and Tsuji opened. Bushi hit a huracanrana on Cobb at 2:00. Cobb hit a standing moonsault on Bushi. Cobb hit a belly-to-belly release suplex on Shingo at 6:00. Jakob hit a missile dropkick on Shingo. Bushi dove through the ropes and barreled onto Cobb. Shingo hit a Death Valley Driver, then the Pumping Bomber clothesline, then Made In Japan (modified DVD) to pin Jakob. Really good undercard action.
Bushi, Shingo Takagi, and Yota Tsuji defeated Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, and Jakob Austin Young at 9:18.
4. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr., Kosei Fujita, and Ryohei Oiwa vs. Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma, and Tiger Mask. Sabre and Shota opened and immediately traded European Uppercuts. Honma and Oiwa tied up at 1:30. TMDK worked over Honma, as Zack snapped Honma’s neck between his ankles. Honma hit a suplex on Oiwa. Tiger Mask entered at 6:00 and he tied Oiwa in an Octopus Stretch. Shota hit a tornado DDT on Sabre. Oiwa nailed his discus lariat and pinned Tiger Mask. Acceptable.
Zack Sabre Jr., Kosei Fujita, and Ryohei Oiwa defeated Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma, and Tiger Mask at 8:11.
* Gedo came to the ring and screamed and swore a lot. He basically accepted Brody King’s challenge to David Finlay.
* Jeff Cobb joined commentary here. Walker explained how we could have a three-way tie at 10 points and it would force a bonus main event. We’ll see if that happens. (For the three-way bonus match, BOTH Yano/Oleg and House of Torture would have to win, as each team holds a win and a loss over the other teams.)
5. “Just 4 Guys” Taka Michinoku and Taichi (2) vs. “Bullet Club Rogue Army” Stevie Filip and Tome Filip (2) in a B Block tournament match. The Filips attacked at the bell and the action immediately went to the floor. They worked over Taka in the ring. Taichi finally got a hot tag at 5:30. Tome hit a discus lariat and the Filips worked over Taichi. Taka and Taichi each applied a submission hold. Tome hit a twisting Air Raid Crash. Stevie hit a top-rope Phoenix Splash on Taka for a believable nearfall at 12:30. They hit a neckbreaker-and-powerbomb combo and pinned Taka. Good match by the Filips to conclude their tournament. If you had told me before this tournament began that these would be the final point totals for these teams, I would not have been surprised.
Stevie Filip and Tome Filip (4) defeated Taka Michinoku and Taichi (2).
6. Boltin Oleg and Toru Yano (8) vs. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls (6) in a B Block tournament match. Oleg and Haste opened and immediately traded quick reversals on the mat. Yano entered and hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Mikey at 5:30. Haste hit a Shining Wizard on Oleg, then a team slam for a nearfall at 9:30. Oleg hit an F5 on Haste. Oleg nailed the Kamikaze (forward Finlay Roll) and pinned Haste! I did not not expect that, even with the tease of a bonus tag match later. I am just stunned that TMDK finishes the tournament at 3-4.
Boltin Oleg and Toru Yano (10) defeated Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls (6) at 10:13.
7. “House of Torture” EVIL and Ren Narita (w/Dick Togo) (8) vs. Jado and Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) in a B Block tournament match. Ren stomped on Jado early on and kept him grounded. Tanahashi entered and hit his second-rope somersault splash on Narita at 5:30. EVIL hit the Darkness Falls powerbomb on Hiroshi. Tanahashi hit the Twist-and-Shout swinging neckbreaker on EVIL at 7:30, then a Dragonscrew Legwhip. He grabbed Togo and hit one on him, too. Tanahashi missed the High Fly Flow frogsplash and he crashed to the mat. EVIL tied Hiroshi in a Sharpshooter, and Tanahashi tapped out! We are having our bonus match!
EVIL and Ren Narita (10) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jado (4) at 11:21.
8. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi (10) defeated Henare and Great-O-Khan (8) via forfeit. Again, Henare landed hard on his knee after a deep armdrag about five-and-a-half minutes into their match on Thursday and the match was stopped. I write this here just to establish how Naito and Takahashi got to 10 points and force a three-way bonus match.
9. Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi (10) vs. EVIL and Ren Narita (10) vs. Toru Yano and Boltin Oleg (10) in a bonus B Block finals. This is the first-time-ever there is a three-way to determine the Block winner! All six brawled on the floor. The HoT immediately handcuffed Naito in the corner, and handcuffed Yano and Oleg to the guardrails! They worked over Hiromu in the ring. Walker talked about how Hiromu tricked the HoT a few days ago to steal the win, so the HoT wants revenge here. The action went to the floor, with EVIL hitting some loud chops on Hiromu at 5:30. Hiromu was nearly counted out but he dove back in at the 19-count. (What would have happened if he was counted out? The match becomes a regular tag? Also, Yano and Oleg are not in the ring! Did they just get counted out? This is making my head hurt. Make it make sense, please.)
Bushi came out and beat up Togo and got the handcuff keys and he freed Naito. The referee freed Oleg and Yano, too. (Seriously, why aren’t they eliminated? They didn’t get back into the ring before the count-out!) Oleg hit a double suplex. Oleg hit his gut-wrench suplex on Narita at 10:30. The ref got bumped. Togo hit his knife-edge chop to Yano’s groin. Ren hit his top-rope Guillotine (flying knee to the throat). Togo threw salt in Hiromu’s eyes, allowing Ren to get a nearfall at 13:00.
Hiromu ran around the floor and hit crossbody blocks on all the opponents, including one on Togo. LIJ now handcuffed EVIL to the ring corner. Oleg hit a double shoulder tackle on LIJ in the ring, then a belly-to-belly toss on Hiromu for a nearfall. Oleg hit the Kamikaze on Hiromu, but Naito made the save. Oleg hit an F5 Slam on Hiromu! Naito pushed off the ropes for leverage, but rather than do a DDT, he got an inside cradle and pinned Oleg. A fun main event but it ended as I assumed it would, that Naito and Hiromu were the winners.
Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi (12) defeated Toru Yano and Boltin Oleg (10) and EVIL and Ren Narita (10) to win the B Block at 17:15.
* Sanada and Gabe Kidd walked to the ring to confront Hiromu and Naito. Kidd swore at them, as the heels stood on the floor, and they turned and left. So, no punches thrown tonight.
Final Thoughts: I presumed that if Henare hadn’t gotten injured, Oleg/Yano would have lost their tag match to TMDK. If that happened, Naito/Hiromu vs. O-Khan/Henare would have determined the B Block winner with no messy three-way. I am sure the match was put together on the fly, but it made no sense to nearly have a count-out in that main event, when two of the participants were handcuffed and couldn’t get in the ring. (And yes, I’ve seen wrestlers lose via count-out in NJPW because they were handcuffed to a barricade and couldn’t get in the ring to break the count.)
SO, it all comes down to the finals on Sunday. Again, it is A Block winners Gabe Kidd and Sanada vs. B Block winners Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi. No other matches have been announced yet. I assume that either of those teams could wind up facing The Young Bucks on Jan. 5.
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