For the last month, New Japan Pro Wrestling has been doing a round robin tournament to determine the #1 Contenders for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On this show, the two top scoring teams will collide to determine who the #1 Contenders are. As of this show, those two teams are Bullet Club's Guerrillas of Destiny and LIJ's EVIL and SANADA. In other words, this should be awesome.
In addition, a couple other matches on this show have some Wrestle Kingdom stakes, including a NEVER Openweight Championship match between Hirooki Goto and Kota Ibushi and a #1 Contenders Match for that title between Taichi and Will Ospreay.
**Note: I will only be reviewing the main matches on this show and providing basic thoughts on many of the undercard bouts. (Similar to how I covered the G1 Climax earlier this year).**
Let's Do This
NJPW World Tag League Finals
12/9/18
- Togi Makabe, Toa Henare, Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata.
- Michael Elgin, Jeff Cobb, Beretta & Chuckie T vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, Takashi Iizuka & Minoru Suzuki
- Tomohiro Ishii, SHO & YOH vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado
- Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page vs. Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi
- Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & KUSHIDA vs. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & Taiji Ishimori
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, David Finlay, Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson & Marty Scurll
* Will Ospreay vs. Taichi (Number One Contender Match for the NEVER Openweight Championship)
* Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Kota Ibushi (NEVER Openweight Championship)
* Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. EVIL and SANADA (World Tag League Finals)
-= Minimal Thought-Based Coverage
*= Full Coverage
- Togi Makabe, Toa Henare, Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata.
A basic opening 8 man tag team match here. Nothing really of note to take away from here except that a couple of the Young Lions in this match are given some more experience working with some good NJPW veterans here. Kojima's team wins when Kojima blasts Yoshida with a lariat. The match dragged out too long in my opinion and could have done more if cut by about 3-4 minutes. It seemed like they were basically stalling for time.
- Michael Elgin, Jeff Cobb, Beretta & Chuckie T vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, Takashi Iizuka & Minoru Suzuki
Suzuki-Gun jumps the faces. Imagine that. Chuckie T gets massacred in the crowd by Suzuki who chokes and assaults Chuckie T with steel chairs around the front row. Elgin and Davey Boy exchange a bunch of strikes and power moves. Cobb and Archer go at it in a pretty fun exchange. Cobb is so insane with the ability to do power moves and do moonsaults simultaneously. (Looking forward to Final Battle this Friday to see him and Page go at it.)
Suzuki and Chuckie T get tagged in and continue their battle. They exchange forearms in the ring, and Suzuki is loving it. (What I love about Suzuki is every mannerism he does in the ring tells a story. Chuckie gets in 3 forearms. Suzuki is bent over and starts standing straight deliberately slow in order to tell the story of "This dude is about to murder this guy.") Iizuka gets tagged in and starts biting at Chuckie. Beretta gets tagged in and starts the attack on Iizuka. The match ends when Chuckie T gets a steel chair and attacks all of Suzuki-Gun... AND HIS OWN TEAM! Suzuki-Gun wins... BY DQ?! (Since when have they ever been on that end of a DQ decision?) Beretta gets in the ring and calms him down. He has to get Chuckie T out of the area while Suzuki Gun assaults Young Lions to work out their frustrations. (I guess the story of this tournament has been Beretta having to deal with Chuckie T's bad temper which has cost them matches. Interesting.)
I didn't mean to review this whole match, but I think that tells you just what I thought about it. Enough action going on to stay engaged in the story, and a couple threads at play here that NJPW could play with going into Wrestle Kingdom.
- Tomohiro Ishii, SHO & YOH vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado
Very good match here as well, but that is to be expected with the participants involved. The Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match at Wrestle Kingdom is going to be excellent as all four men put on a great show during their sequences in the match. And I hope everyone enjoys 3K as long as they can. When I see those two men wrestle, I see the future of NJPW's Jr. and Heavyweight Singles Divisions. In a couple years, I'm predicting 3K will be no more. Ishii and Sabre continued their awesome rivalry with a couple good sequences in this match. Vertical Drop Brainbuster from Ishii gets the win for his team, pinning Kanemaru.
- Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page vs. Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi
Fun exchange early on between former tag team partners Yujiro and Naito. I had to remind myself that Shingo joined the group a couple months back. I had completely forgotten. Basic 6-Man Tag here with LIJ dominating the match with Yujiro taking the offense. Page gets the hot tag and hits some of his signature maneuvers at a rapid pace. Shingo and Page have a really good exchange that leads to a double collapse. Chase and Bushi get tagged in. The two fall guys are legal. Owens nails a Scorpion Death Drop/Rock Bottom combination on Naito/Bushi. Package Piledriver avoided. Naito gets the tag. Swinging Tornado DDT on Owens gets a 2. DESTIN-NO! Owens blocks. Owens gets hits with a flying forearm! DESTINOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! God I love it when Kevin Kelly does that call! LIJ wins a decent but by-the-numbers 6-man tag team match.
1:18:45
- Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & KUSHIDA vs. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & Taiji Ishimori
A match that featured a couple big previews for Wrestle Kingdom: Okada vs. White and Ishimori vs. KUSHIDA. A lot of time for these two matchups in this match to get some build. White and Okada brawled outside for a little bit, and Ishimori and KUSHIDA got some in-ring moments as well. Plus, towards the end of the match, you had Yano doing his usual comedy schtick against Bad Luck Fale. Fale gets the Grenade on Yano for the victory. After the match, The Bullet Club lay waste to all of their opposition. Togi Makabe comes in save CHAOS, which puts some interesting conflict into the situation as CHAOS once upon a time turned their back on Makabe. The story being told is that some weird alliances are being formed in the war against the Bullet Club (example being Tanahashi and Okada teaming up on a couple occasions).
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, David Finlay, Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson & Marty Scurll
Some very big build early on for the Tanahashi/Omega match at Wrestle Kingdom. This again was your typical Elite/Taguchi Japan style match: A lot of comedy thrown in and a lot of multi-man spots thrown in. This again felt like something that would have been on one of those NJPW Road To... events instead of some supposedly big event. (This event has been a chore to review, to be honest. Nothing really exciting going on in many of these opening matches, and it is a completely skippable show up to this point.) Indy Taker gets the win for The Elite.
#1 Contendership for the NEVER Openweight Championship
Taichi vs. Will Ospreay
No Miho Abe tonight for Taichi. :( . Will Ospreay gets attacked by a mic stand before the bell even rings.
As the match begins, Taichi continue to press the attack on Ospreay. Ospreay monkey-flips Taichi to get a break. Taichi takes a breather on the floor and suckers Ospreay in for an attack. Springboard Phenomenal Forearm by Ospreay using the guard rail. Suicide Dive seconds later to Taichi on the floor by Ospreay. Taichi causes Ospreay to collapse on the ring ropes and fall to the mat, causing Ospreay to cough deeply in pain. Taichi does what any good standing member of Suzuki-Gun should do: take the fight into the crowd and use everything not nailed down against your opponent. Thus, Ospreay gets waffled with a few steel chairs in the crowd and dropped chest first on the guard rail. Ospreay gets in at the 5 minute mark.
Taichi continues to press the attack on Ospreay now. Taichi establishes command of the match and mocks Ospreay. A high kick by Ospreay ends Taichi's moment of dominance. Ospreay digs deep and fights back. 6-1-9 to the chest by Ospreay. Another springboard forearm by Ospreay for a 2. A big kick by Taichi catches Ospreay in the nose. Another kick connects at the 10 minute mark. Taichi targets the ribs of Ospreay during a standoff with Ospreay. Ospreay gets hit with a Buzzsaw Kick for a 2 count. Taichi does his pants off gimmick, exposing the tights underneath. Superkick by Ospreay followed by a Bloody Sunday. Ospreay climbs up the corner. SHOOTING STAR PRESS INTO THE KNEES OF TAICHI. Taichi almost gets Ospreay a couple times for 2 counts afterwards. Oscutter avoided. Powerbomb avoided by Ospreay. Ospreay signals for the Oscutter, but it is countered into a Saito Suplex. Last Ride Powerbomb by Taichi only gets a 2. 15 minutes have passed.
CANADIAN DESTROYER BY OSPREAY GETS A 2!!! Ospreay signals for the end, but Taichi blocks the Stormbreaker. Standing Spanish Fly by Ospreay. Superkick to Taichi followed by STORMBREAKER! 1-2-3!
Winner: Will Ospreay (#1 Contender for NEVER Openweight Championship)
Match Grade: B. Not a bad match between these two. I'm not the biggest Taichi fan in the entire world (sans the operatic intro and Miho Abe), but this was a fine match for both men. Ospreay has had a lot better matches than this, but this was a good performance nonetheless.
NEVER Openweight Championship
Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
The bell rings. Goto and Ibushi shake hands, but they immediately try to one up each other. Ibushi and Goto now exchange forearms. Goto uses his power advantage early on. Goto runs into a kick from Ibushi. Snap Rana by Ibushi. Goto clotheslines Ibushi on the apron, sending him head/neck first on the apron. OUCH! Goto goes after the neck of Ibushi. Back in the ring, Ibushi is getting pummeled in the corner as Goto shows no mercy to his possibly injured opponent. Ibushi is placed on the corner and gets hit with a HANGING NECKBREAKER FROM THE TOP ROPE! 1-2-ROPE BREAK! Another neckbreaker in the ring. Goto continues to work on the neck, this time with a leg scissors around the neck of Ibushi. Ibushi gets to the ropes. 5 minutes have passed. Side Russian Leg Sweep by Goto followed by an Octopus Stretch on the mat with his leg on Ibushi's neck. Ibushi gets to the ropes again.
Ibushi is fighting back with strikes against Goto. Dropkick to Goto gives Ibushi the break he needs. Kenny Omega is in Ibushi's corner cheering him on. GOLDEN TRIANGLE MOONSAULT DIVE CONNECTS ON GOTO ON THE FLOOR! A THING OF BEAUTY! Both men are back in the ring. FAST rapid combo of strikes against Goto and a moonsault get a 2 for Ibushi. Goto and Ibushi are fighting for the next move. BIG kick by Goto allows him to nail a Saito Suplex for a 2. Goto and Ibushi now trade forearms, each asking the other to give it their best shot. Forearms go faster and faster and faster. 10 minutes have passed as Goto nails the running leg lariat into the corner. Goto climbs up to the top, but he's caught by Ibushi. Ibushi climbs up and tries to piledrive Goto, but Goto blocks it. A headbutt puts Ibushi in position for a powerbomb off the top. A Code Red Bomb misses as Ibushi lands on his feet!
Ibushi and Goto go for rapid misdirection offense and end up DOUBLE CLOTHESLINING EACH OTHER!!!! Ibushi can't get the Last Ride in, but he nails a high kick to Goto's head. Kamigoye is signaled by Ibushi. Goto catches the leg. USHIGAROSHE! Ibushi can barely get up as Goto is just waiting for him. Sleeper is applied by Goto. Ibushi can't get to the ropes this time. He's fading. The referee (Red Shoes) motions to go to the arm, but Goto pulls up Ibushi for the GTR. Rollup gets a 2 for Ibushi. Goto almost gets Ibushi with a crucifix Rollup. Ibushi almost rolls up Goto seconds later. 15 minutes have passed. Big kicks and attacks by Ibushi. GTR avoided by Ibushi. Long Dart blocked by Goto. Headbutt to the back of Goto's head! (Note: there were a ton of reversals I couldn't cover quick enough for this.)
Goto headbutts Ibushi with a double wristlock locked in. A second attempt IS MET WITH A HEADBUTT FROM IBUSHI! AGAIN! NOW IBUSHI HAS HIM IN THE DOUBLE WRISTLOCK! KAMIGOYE!!!!!!!!!! 1-2-3!!!! KOTA IBUSHI HAS WON THE NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!
Winner: KOTA IBUSHI (NEW NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
Match Grade: A-. An excellent match here between these two. Goto has had a great 2018 in terms of having some really great matches that may fly under the radar for 2018 Match of the Year. Ibushi, also, has had an incredible 2018 and has a singles championship to show for his year.
After the match, Will Ospreay comes in and motions that he wants the NEVER Openweight Championship. He gets on the mic to basically state the obvious. The "DREAM MATCH" of Ibushi vs. Ospreay will be on for Wrestle Kingdom 13. They seal the match with a handshake.
(Note: The last two matches have done a great job validating the decision to dedicate a lot of my Sunday trying to watch it. Good back-to-back sequence of matches with a long story being told overall. By the way, both Golden Lovers now hold singles championships going into Wrestle Kingdom 13.)
MAIN EVENT
World Tag League Final
EVIL AND SANADA vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (w/Jado)
Here's the ironic thing: IF Evil and Sanada win, they will get a rematch next month at Wrestle Kingdom against the Guerrillas of Destiny with the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships on the line.
Jado smacks EVIL with a Singapore Cane. The bell rings as G.O.D. attacks Evil and Sanada at ringside and through the crowd. Evil gets rammed into the guard rail by Tanga Loa as Tama Tonga gets whipped by Sanada into the wall of the arena. The ref is beginning the count. Sanada and Tonga break the count at 19. Tonga establishes control early on with a low dropkick to a lying Sanada. Loa is tagged in and continues the beatdown on Sanada. Loa just kicks, tortures, and elbows Sanada for about 2 minutes until Tonga gets tagged in. Tonga runs into the feet of Sanada in the corner and gets nailed with a dropkick at 5 minutes.
Loa runs in and stops Evil from tagging in. Double team by G.O.D. is met with a double dropkick by Sanada. Tag to Evil! Evil gives G.O.D. and Jado some forearm strikes. Bulldog/Clothesline by Evil. Senton Splash gets a 2. Loa gets a suplex on Evil to stop the offensive dominance. Running clothesline into the corner by Loa. Both men are on the corner now. LOA NAILS A BIG SUPERPLEX OFF THE TOP ON EVIL! Sanada runs in and helps Evil nail a big double team sequence on Loa. 2 count only as Tonga is sent to the floor. Magic Killer attempt blocked by Tonga spearing Sanada. Evil gets distracted by Jado allowing a double team maneuver by G.O.D. to get a 2 count. 10 minutes have passed.
Evil is thrown to the floor and is held up for Jado to hit him with a kendo stick. Sanada is whipped into the guard rail while the referee considers throwing Jado out of the arena. Evil is back in the ring and Tonga gets tagged back in. Big running elbow drop by Tonga gets a 2 count. Tonga continues to assault and mow over Evil in the ring. Loa gets tagged in to continue his part of the assault. Loa now does pushups in front of Evil while insulting him. You know G.O.D. was spawned from Haku? Yeah. That makes them two guys I would NEVER want to mess with. Even Haku had a hard time raising them from what I've heard. Lol. Guerrilla Warfare to EVIL. 15 minutes have passes as G.O.D. both climb the ropes. Loa dives and misses Evil. Tonga is stopped and beaten down by Sanada. Evil climbs up his corner but is sent to the mat. Sanada and Evil both climb up. Loa catches both men and nails a Tower of Doom spot on Evil, Sanada, and Tonga by way of a double suplex by Evil and Sanada. I guess he figured his brother was Tongan and thus could take the assault. 2 count on Evil.
Loa fires forearms to the face of Evil. BIG MISDIRECT LARIAT by Evil allows the Ingobernable to tag in Sanada. Sanada goes nuts and dives on Jado. A dive on Loa and Tonga (separate dives) connects. Sanada rolls in Tonga and covers for a 2 count. 20 minutes have passed. A moonsault/Skull End spot is botched, and Sanada has to pick Tonga up to lock in the move. (At least he did hit Tonga on the botch. So, it was not terrible by any stretch of the imagination.) The G.O.D. reestablish control and have Sanada all by themselves. Powerbomb Neckbreaker on Sanada only gets a 2 count. Magic Killer blocked by Sanada. Evil is knocked off the apron by Tonga. Sanada gets sent into the cane shot by Jado, but Sanada kicks out of the rollup afterwards. Magic Killer connects on Sanada. Evil saves the match at the last moment on the cover. Spear by Loa to Evil.
Tonga calls for Loa to set up Sanada for the combination splash/Super Powerbomb. Sanada reverses into a HURRICANRANA OFF THE TOP! Evil kicks Tonga in the gut thanks to the leg hold by the ref. The referee is down. Jado tries to interfere, but Evil and Sanada nail Magic Killer on him. Tongan Twist turned into Skull End and locked in by Sanada at 25 minutes. Loa breaks it up before the submission. EVERYTHING IS EVILLLLLLL ON LOA! What a match! Evil tries to get Tonga up. GUN STUN IS BLOCKED! MAGIC KILLER ON TONGA! 1-2-KICKOUT BY TONGA!!!!!! GREAT NEAR FALL! DARKNESS FALLS! MOONSAULT BY SANADA OFF THE TOP ROPE!!!! 1-2-3!!!! EVIL AND SANADA WIN BACK TO BACK WORLD TAG LEAGUE TOURNAMENTS!
Winners: EVIL AND SANADA (Tournament Winners)
Match Grade: A. That was excellent. A great long tag team match where either team could have logically won it at any moment. I liked how they saved Evil and Sanada's comeback until the last moments of the match and built up the drama of seeing them overcome the 3-2 advantage of G.O.D.
Evil and Sanada celebrate with their trophies and for their #1 Contendership to the Tag Team Championships. G.O.D. look on disappointed. Evil and Sanada put over the fact that they've won 2 years in a row. They officially challenge for the championships... BUT HERE COME THE YOUNG BUCKS! Matt Jackson cuts a promo about not being on the tour for the tournament. The crowd is stunned silent. Matt says they are the best tag team in the world, while Evil and Sanada were just the best team in the tournament. The Young Bucks never got their rematch for the Tag Titles, and they want their shot first. The Bucks leave to absolutely no reaction whatsoever from the crowd. None. Zip. Zilch. A fart would have been heard. That's how quiet it is. Evil and Sanada seem to think that we're heading for a 3-way match. Sanada says some latte place is the best coffee place in Japan. See you next time. Confetti falls.
Show Grade: B-. This was a good 2nd half of the show. If you are going to watch this show, skip all the matches before the NEVER Openweight #1 Contenders Match. There's literally nothing on that undercard that you are going to miss that you can't catch up on later. The final three matches, however, are well worth your time and effort to watch. So, this is the tale of two halves of a show where one boosts up the other.
And now, let's get to Wrestle Kingdom!!!!
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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