On November 28th New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) presented World Tag League 2020 (WTL 2020) from the Fujisawa City Akibadai Cultural Gymnasium in Niigata, Japan in Kanagawa, Japan in front of 1,051 fans. COVID-19 (Coronavirus, 2019) safety restrictions were responsible for the reduced crowd size, yet the crowd was lively throughout, providing a great atmosphere.
The headline series match of the event saw former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and WTL 2019 winners FinJuice (Juice Robinson/David Finlay) take on Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) members Sanada and “The Dragon” Shingo Takagi. FinJuice came into the match after a defeat against Bullet Club members Bad Luck Fale/”Crown Jewel” Chase Owens on November 24th, while Sanada/Shingo defeated two-thirds of NEVER Openweight 6-Man Champions and CHAOS members Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi on the same night.
With a (2-3) record FinJuice was in desperate need of a victory to say their WTL 2020 campaign, as a loss to the (4-1) LIJ team would likely remove them from being able to gain a top-two finish and move on to the finals.
As expected, the two teams had an extremely competitive match, showing both tandems as being championship caliber. However, being in a must-win scenario, FinJuice was able to secure the fall at the 15 minutes and 47 seconds mark when Finlay pinned Shingo after a Twisting Turnbuckle Pad Aided Cutter technique.
The victory moved FinJuice to (3-3) [6 points] and the loss dropped Sanada/Shingo to (4-2) [8 points]. The former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions went on to face reigning IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and Suzuki-Gun members Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr/Taichi) on November 30th, while Sanada/Shingo faced former six-time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and Bullet Club members Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga/Tanga Loa) on the same night.
FinJuice put themselves in a situation where they could go on a run and still make the WTL 2020 Finals with a victory as the tournament continued towards the final stretch.
