By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “World Tag League”
December 8, 2024 in Kumamoto, Japan at Grandmesse Kumamoto
Streamed live on New Japan World
Some late injuries marred the conclusion of the tournament, as Henare and Callum Newman both suffered leg injuries. I fully presume Henare and teammate Great-O-Khan were slated to win the B Block, but it led to a three-way tie on Friday that was eventually won by Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi.
This is a small arena with 2,000 or more fans in attendance; the lights are low but the ring is well lit. Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton provided commentary.
1. Tiger Mask vs. Daiki Nagai. Basic offense throughout. Tiger Mask hit a Tiger Suplex/butterfly suplex with a high bridge and scored the pin.
Tiger Mask defeated Daiki Nagai at 5:44.
2. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls vs. Shoma Kato and Katsuya Murashima. TMDK finished a very disappointing 3-4, but I believe their final loss only happened due to Henare’s injury causing a booking change to create a three-way finale. Nicholls knocked Murashima down with a shoulder tackle. Haste and Kato traded forearm strikes. Murashima got back in at 6:00 and hit a flying forearm on Nicholls, then a Bulldog Powerslam on Mikey for a nearfall. So much potential in Katsuya; he applied a Boston Crab, but Haste made the save. Charlton talked about how Haste is in a rare, foul mood. Haste hit an inverted suplex, with Murashima landing stomach-first. Haste immediately hit a Shining Wizard for the pin.
Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls defeated Shoma Kato and Katsuya Murashima at 8:30.
3. “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi vs. “Bullet Club Rogue Army” Stevie Filip and Tome Filip. Bishamon was in the A Block while the Filips were in the B Block so they hadn’t crossed paths. The Filips attacked from behind; the bell sounded at 0:48 to officially begin. Walker said this was a match the Filips really wanted, and they worked over Y-H early on. Goto got a hot tag at 4:30 and hit a back suplex on Tome for a nearfall. Stevie and Yoshi-Hoshi traded forearm strikes. Tome nailed a flip dive to the floor on Goto at 8:00. In the ring, he hit an Air Raid Crash on Yoshi-Hashi, and Stevie immediately hit a top-rope Shooting Star Press for a nearfall on Y-H. Goto hit a double clothesline. Bishamon then hit the Shoto team slam to pin Stevie. That might be the Filips best match of the tour.
Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi defeated Stevie Filip and Tome Filip at 9:56/official time of 9:08.
4. “United Empire” Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan and Jakob Austin Young vs. “Just 4 Guys” Taichi and Douki and Taka Michinoku. Again, the injuries to Newman and Henare have essentially tossed O-Khan and Cobb together. Cobb and Taka opened; Taka’s teammates rolled to the floor and showed no interest in starting. Funny. Cobb hit a standing moonsault for a nearfall at 1:30. O-Khan hit his Mongolian Chops. Taichi finally tagged in at 4:30. Douki and Jakob fought at 7:00, with Jakob hitting a flying kick. Douki applied the Douki Chokey triangle choke, and Young tapped out.
Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Jakob Austin Young defeated Taichi, Douki, and Taka Michinoku at 8:42.
5. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Shingo Takagi and Bushi and Yota Tsuji vs. “Bullet Club” Kenta and Chase Owens and Gedo. Again, Kenta has been irked with how many times Chase has accidentally struck him in tournament matches. The BC attacked from behind and the action went to the floor. Once they got back in the ring, the BC worked over Bushi in their corner. Shingo finally got in at 5:30 and hit several bodyslams. He backed Chase into a corner and hit some jabs and chops. Yota entered at 8:30 and traded blows with Kenta. LIJ took turns striking Gedo in a corner. Bushi hit his dive to the floor. In the ring, Tsuji hit a Stomp and pinned Gedo. Decent.
Shingo Takagi, Bushi, and Yota Tsuji defeated Kenta, Chase Owens, and Gedo at 10:32.
6. “House of Torture” EVIL, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Jado, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, Boltin Oleg, and Tomoaki Honma. The babyfaces came out first and they attacked the HoT on the walkway to the ring. Hiroshi whipped EVIL into a guardrail. In the ring, EVIL choked Tanahashi and again shoved a mic into his face; he’s done this more than once on this tour. An ‘I Quit’ match coming? The HoT worked over Tanahashi in their corner. Kanemaru put him in a Figure Four at 5:00. Oleg finally got a hot tag at 6:30 and hit a double shoulder tackle, then he bodyslammed Kanemaru and tossed Yoshinobu around in his arms. Sho tried a spear on Oleg and just bounced off him!
Oleg hit his gut-wrench suplex on Sho. Oleg hit a double suplex on Sho and EVIL at 9:00. Tanahashi tagged back in. (Why? He has other teammates who haven’t been in yet!) He stomped on EVIL and pushed the ref away so he could keep stomping on him! Tanahashi accidentally splashed the ref! The HoT immediately jumped into the ring and worked over Hiroshi. Tanahashi got a chair and repeatedly hit EVIL across the back with it. The ref got up and disqualified Tanahashi. However, Hiroshi continued to repeatedly strike EVIL across the back. Yes, Jado, Honma and Yano never got into this match.
EVIL, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Jado. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, Boltin Oleg, and Tomoaki Honma via DQ at 11:34.
* Tanahashi got on the mic and told EVIL he is willing to put his career on the line in a lumberjack match at the Tokyo Dome! His retirement could come a year early!
7. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, and Kosei Fujita vs. Shota Umino, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Alex Zayne. Sabre and Oiwa also finished WTL at a highly disappointing 3-4, especially considering how their matches were such highlights. (All three of these teams were in the A Block, so that’s a bit disappointing they didn’t switch it up more for the final night.) Shota and Sabre opened with standing switches. Oiwa battled Taguchi and he crotched Taguchi on the top rope at 4:00 for more juvenile comedy. Zayne got in and hit the Cinnamon Twist corkscrew senton on Fujita, then his flipping axe kick. Sabre and Shota got back in at 8:00 and they immediately traded European Uppercuts. Sabre hit his Pele Kick to the shoulder.
Taguchi and Zayne hit stereo buttbumps to Oiwa’s head. Sabre hit a tornado DDT on Shota. Taguchi put Oiwa in an ankle lock, but Oiwa got up and clotheslined Taguchi. Oiwa applied a sleeper on Taguchi, then hit his discus clothesline for the pin. Decent action. Shota and Sabre continued to jaw after the match.
Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, and Kosei Fujita defeated Shota Umino, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Alex Zayne at 13:37.
8. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi vs. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Sanada and Gabe Kidd. Kidd and Hiromu immediately traded overhand chops. Gabe stalled on the floor. Sanada and Hiromu brawled up into the stands, while Kidd and Naito fought at ringside. Kidd powerbombed Naito through a table at ringside at 7:00. The BCWD worked over Hiromu in the ring. Gabe took Hiromu out of the ring and they again brawled back up into the stands. They returned to the ring with Gabe beating up Hiromu some more. Naito got a hot tag at 13:00 and he hit a deep armdrag on Sanada, then a basement dropkick, then a standing neckbreaker.
Naito applied a leg lock around Sanada’s neck and kept him grounded. Sanada kicked the ropes to crotch Naito at 15:30. Kidd got back in and hit some loud chops, then a brainbuster for a nearfall. Hiromu got in and hit a Falcon Arrow on Kidd. Naito hit a tornado DDT, then a Destino for a visual pin, but Sanada pulled the ref from the ring at 18:30. Kidd hit a jumping Tombstone Piledriver on Naito, and they were both down. Sanada put Hiromu in the Skull End dragon sleeper and fell to the mat at 21:00. Sanada let go of the hold and went for a moonsault, but Hiromu got his knees up to block it. Hiromu hit a Time Bomb sideslam for a nearfall on Sanada.
Sanada popped up Hiromu and hit a low blow mule kick for a visual pin, but this time it was Naito pulling the ref from the ring at 24:00. In the ring, Naito hit a low blow on Kidd, too! Hiromu hit another Time Bomb on Sanada for a nearfall. Kidd hit a second-rope moonsault on Hiromu. Sanada then hit a top-rope moonsault on Hiromu for a believable nearfall at 26:00. Kidd hit a piledriver on Hiromu. Sanada set up for Deadfall, but Naito broke it up. Sanada hit a Shining Wizard on Naito, then one on Hiromu. However, Hiromu got a rollup and leaned backward for leverage and pinned Sanada! A very good match. I suspected LIJ was winning here, as Kidd already has his upcoming big match against Kenny Omega.
Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi defeated Gabe Kidd and Sanada to win World Tag League 2024 at 27:11.
* Naito got on the mic and congratulated Takahashi, but then he challenged Hiromu to a singles match on Jan. 4 at Wrestle Kingdom. They once had a singles match slated five years ago, but it was canceled; I believe due to the pandemic. Hiromu agreed. I presume they still wind up teaming on Jan. 5 against the Bucks.
Final Thoughts: A very good main event with a really hot last 10 or so minutes. We’ll never know what the planned booking was here, but I fully believe this was supposed to be Henare and O-Khan’s moment, and they would have faced the Young Bucks at Wrestle Dynasty. But with Henare’s injury, it opened the door for Naito and Hiromu. This is a good thing, I think, as Naito needs to step away from being in the world title picture, so being part of the tag team scene is a good change of pace for him. Nothing on the undercard really stood out and was entirely skippable.
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