On November 24th New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) presented World Tag League 2020 (WTL 2020) from the Big Palette Fukushima in Fukushima, Japan in front of 469 fans. COVID-19 (Coronavirus, 2019) was responsible for the reduced crowd size, spreading the fans throughout, but the audience remained lively during key moments.
The open series match of the event saw former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and WTL 2019 winners FinJuice (Juice Robinson/David Finlay) take on Bullet Club members “Rogue General” Bad Luck Fale and “Crown Jewel” Chase Owens.
FinJuice came into the match after dropping the fall to the Empire team of Jeff Cobb/Great-O-Khan on November 22nd. The Bullet Club team lost on the same night to the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) continent of “The Dragon” Shingo Takagi and Sanada. Despite being winless during their WTL 2020 campaign, Fale/Owens have shown encouraging form yet came into the match as massive underdogs against the former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.
FinJuice looked sharp during the early portions of the match, giving the Bullet Club team more than they could handle. However, Fale/Owens regained their footing and were able to mount an effective comeback during the latter stages of the match.
In a shocking outcome, Fale pinned Finlay at the 9 minutes and 3 seconds mark after he and Owens debuted their Grenade Launcher Release German Suplex/Thumb to the Throat technique. The sudden nature of the move surprised FinJuice and gave the Bullet Club tandem their first WTL 2020 victory.
Fale/Owens moved to (1-4) [2 points] while FinJuice dropped to a shocking (2-3) [4 points]. Fale/Owens would go on to face HenarAce (Hiroshi Tanahashi/Toa Henare) on the same night. While the Bullet Club team likely has no chance to reach the WTL 2020 Finals, a run of form could put them in IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship contention in 2021.
The reigning WTL winners would likely need to win their remaining matches to find their way to a top 2 finish and advance to the WTL 2020 Finals.
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