Browsing: World Tag League

The headline match of the evening saw a prelude to the marquee match for Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night One on January 4th as the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) team of reigning IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ Tetsuya Naito and former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Bushi took on former IWGP Intercontinental Champion and G1 Climax 30 winner “Golden Star” Kota Ibushi and “Way to the Grand Master” Master Wato.

The two teams have become competitive rivals over the past two years, trading victories against one another. While GOD has more experience together as a tag team, FinJuice has gelled quickly due to their close friendship. 

Coming into the match Goto/Yoshi-Hashi came off a victory against six-time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and Bullet Club members Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga/Tanga Loa) [GOD] on November 28th, while Fale/Owens defeated HenarAce (Hiroshi Tanahashi/Toa Henare) on the same night.

Cobb/O-Khan jumped their Bullet Club opponents before the opening bell, giving them an early advantage. However, Evil/Yujiro wouldn’t be outdone, with Dick Togo getting involved later in the match.

The marquee series match of the event saw former six-time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and Bullet Club members Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga/Tanga Loa) [GOD] take on two-thirds of the reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions and CHAOS members Hirooki Goto/Yoshi-Hashi.

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.

The third series match of the event saw reigning IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and Suzuki-Gun members Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr/Taichi) take over the Bullet Club tandem of Evil/Yujiro. Both teams came into the match with a (3-2) record, presenting a swing opportunity for each, with the champions needing a victory to keep pace with the top of the table.

Both teams came into the match with only one win, yet it didn’t keep them from competing extremely hard against one another. Henare, who had regained his form after his extended layoff from in-ring action and Tanahashi who was dealing with a pained knee managed to carry out their strategy.

A win for either team would move them to 4-2, placing them in good standing within the WTL 2020 table as the tournament heads to its final stretch. Cobb/O-Khan got the early jump on their opponents, opposing the physical nature of the tag team as they took the early advantage.

The World Tag League is just about done, and while it hasn’t been the best NJPW tournament of the year,…