Tag: njwtl

New Japan began the World Tag League, their annual year-end Heavyweight tag team tournament, today. The opening day featured Block A matches..

Today’s event was held at Ashikaga Municipal Gym in Tochigi and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 573.

Pre-show Match: Shoma Kato beat Yasutora Yasuda.

Match 1: Taiji Ishimori, Tome & Stevie Filip beat Katsuya Murashima, Jado & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tome Filip pinned Murashima after Mother Of All Bombs.

Match 2: Dick Togo, Ren Narita & EVIL beat Tiger Mask, Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano. EVIL pinned TM 4 after Magic Killer.

Match 3: DOUKI, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi beat Jacob Austin Young, HENARE & Great-O-Khan. DOUKI beat Young with Italian Stretch 32.

Match 4: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsiuua Naito. Haste pinned BUSHI after Electric Blue.

World Tag League Block A:
Match 5: Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Cobb pinned Honma after Tour of the Islands.
Match 6: Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Alex Zayne & TBA (mystery partner), revealed at match time to be Ryusuke Taguchi. Tsuji pinned Taguchi after Gene Blaster.
Match 7: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Chase Owens & KENTA. Goto pinned Owens after Shoto.
Main Event: Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat SANADA & Gabriel Kidd. Oiwa pinned Kidd.

The next event is Thursday at Funabashi Arena in Chiba. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. This will be a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

New Japan announced the field for the World Tag League today, the annual year-end Heavyweight tag team tournament. This year there will be 16 teams divided into 2 blocks of 8, with the winner of each block advancing to the Finals and the winners getting an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship shot, unless current champs HENARE & Great-O-Khan win. It will be a standard round-robin format event. Here is the field:

Block A:
Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (3-time defending champions)
Chase Owens & KENTA
Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma
Jeff Cobb & Callum Newman
Alex Zayne & TBA
Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji
Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa
Gabriel Kidd & SANADA

Block B:
HEANRE & Great-O-Khan (IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions)
TAKA Michinoku & Taichi
Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls
Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jado*
Tome & Stevie Phillip (TAMASHII)
Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg
Ren Narita & EVIL
*-This was to have been Tanahashi & El Phantasmo but Phantasmo is out indefinitely due to being diagnosed with cancer recently

The tournament starts on 11:19 and ends on 13/8. There is no guarantee the winners get their title shot at Tokyo Dome on 1/4.

New Japan wrapped up the World Tag League today with the Finals. This will almost certainly set up an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match for Tokyo Dome on 1/4.

Today’s event was held at Grand Messe Kumamoto in Kumamoto and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese. They planned for English as well but due to ongoing technical issues with the relaunched service it will be on demand at a later date. This event aired in Japan as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2023 on TV Asahi.

The announced paid attendance was 2658.

Pre-show Match: Boltin Oleg & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Asosan & Kodai Nozaki. Taguchi pinned Asosan with Kid Clutch. The losers were local wrestlers from regional independent promotions and this was billed as a Frontier Zone match.

Hiromu Takahashi made a special appearance to open the event.

Match 1: Master Wato, Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Wato pinned Fujita with a Tsutenkaku German suplex hold.

Match 2: Alex Zayne, Lance Archer, Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata beat Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Jack Bonza & bad Luck Fale. Zayne pinned Bonza after Blackout Sauce.

Match 3: Callum Newman, HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Oakar Leube, Yuto Nakashima, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii. Cobb pinned Leube after Tour of the Islands.

Match 4: Sho & Ren Narita beat Tiger Mask & Shota Umino. Sho pinned TM 4.

Match 5: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Tomoaki Honma, Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya (Pro Wrestling NOAH). EVIL pinned Honma after EVIL.

Match 6; Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun. Okada pinned Liona after Rainmaker.

Matchb7: BUSHI, Yota Tsuji, Zandokan Jr., Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Kaito beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA. BUSHI pinned TAKA after MX. Afterwards, Kanemaru attacked Taichi and made a KOPW 2023 Title challenge.

Main Event: World Tag League Finals: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat El Phantasmo & Hikuleo to win the tournament. Goto pinned Phantasmo after Naraku. They went 40 1/2 minutes. Bishamon 3-peat after it seemed dead earlier on. Based on post-match happenings, this likely means a Double Title rematch at Tokyo Done for the IWGP Heavyweight and STRONG Tag Team Championships.

The next event is Road To TOKYO DOME, which this year will be a year-ending doubleheader on 12/21 & 12/22 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET both days. This will end their 2023 schedule.

New Japan ran the penultimate day of the World Tag League today with the Semifinals.

Today’s event was held at Kirishima City Makizono Arena in Kagoshima and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1104.

Pre-show Match: Boltin Oleg beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 1: Taiji Ishimori, Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale beat Oskar Leube, Yuto Nakashima & Master Wato. Bonza pinned Nakashima after Napalm Thunder Bomb.

Match 2: Alex Zayne, Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki beat Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan. Zayne pinned Newman after Taco Driver.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho & EVIL beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya. Kanemaru pinned Taguchi.

Match 4: Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita beat Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Narita pinned Honma after a modified face buster. This went just 43 seconds. Another Narita/H.O.T. beatdown on Umino followed.

Match 5: Soberano Jr., Atlantis Jr., Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun beat Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada. Liona pinned Yano after Fall From Heaven.

Match 6: DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Zandokan Jr., Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi. Uemura pinned BUSHI with a Kannuki suplex hold.

World Tag League Srmifinals:
Match 7: El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat Dhane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Hikuleo pinned Haste after Godsend.
Main Event: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI beat Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Coughlin.

As a result, the Finals will be G.o.D. vs. Bishamon.

The Finals are Sunday at Grand Messe Kumamoto in Kumamoto. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin Saturday at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET. There may be live results posted. The live stream may only be available outside Japan as TV Asahi will also have a live broadcast.

New Japan ran Day 14 of the World Tag League today, wrapping up Block B and filling out the Semifinals.

Today’s event was held at Hayamizu Park Sports & Cultural Center in Miyazaki and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1288.

Pre-show Match: DOUKI beat Shoma Kato.

Match 1: Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan beat Yuto Nakashima, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun. HENARE pinned Nakashima after Rampage.

Match 2: Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & RVIL beat Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino. Sho pinned TM 4. Ren Narita laid out Umino post-match.

Match 3: Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat Boltin Oleg, Tomoaki Honma, Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya. Yano pinned Honma.

Match 4: Taiji Ishimori, Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Coughlin pinned Fujita after a jackhammer.

World Tag League:
Match 5: Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata beat Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale. Suzuki pinned Bonza after a Gotch-style piledriver.
Match 6: Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. beat Zandokan Je. & Yota Tsuji. Soberano pinned Zandokan after Soberano Driver. Zandokan/Tsuji now OUT. Afterwards, Tetsuya Naito suggested Zandokan joining LIJ may not happen.
Match 7: El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat Alex Zayne & Lance Archer. Phantasmo pinned Zayne after Super Thunder Kiss 86. As a result, Phantasmo/Hikuleo win Block B and advance to the Semifinals.
Main Event: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Yuya Uenura & Taichi. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Uenura after Shoto. As a result, Bishamon finish 2nd in Block B and advance to the Semifinals.

The Semifinals will be Kidd/Coughlin vs. Goto/YOSHI-HASHI and Phantasmo/Hikukeo vs. Haste/Nicholls.

The Semifinals are tomorrow at Kirishima City Makizono Arena in Kagoshima. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

New Japan ran Day 13 of the World Tag League today, the final day of Block A which would determine the first 2 teams making the Semifinals.

Today’s event was held at Karatsu City Cultural Gym in Saga and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 907.

Pre-show Match: Oskar Leube beat Shoma Kato.

Match 1: Taiji Ishimori, Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata. Bonza pinned Taguchi after Napalm Thunder Driver.

Match 2: BUSHI, Zandokan Jr., Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask, Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. Takagi pinned TM 4 after Pumping Bomber. Afterwards, Tsuji & Zandokan apparently unnasked-or tried to-the Mexicans.

Match 3: Master Wato, Alex Zayne & Lance Archer beat Jado, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. Wato beat Jado with Vendeval.

Match 4: YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA. Tanahashi pinned DOUKI after High Fly Flow.

World Tag League:
Match 5: Toa Liona & Bisbop Kaun beat Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya. Kaun pinned Oiwa after Fall From Heaven.
Match 6: Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Ren Narita & Shota Umino. EVIL pinned Umino after EVIL. During & after the match, Narita turned on Umino and joined House Of Torture.
Match 7: KENARE & Great-O-Khan beat Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii. HENARE pinned Ishii after Streets Of Rage.
Main Event: Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin beat Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Kidd pinned Nicholls after a hijack piledriver. As a result, Kidd/Coughlin win Block A and Haste/Nicholls finish 2nd. Both advance to the Semifinals.

The next event is tomorrow at Hayamizu Park Sports & Culture Center in Miyazaki for the final day of Block B. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

New Japan ran Day 12 of the World Tag League today, the penultimate day of Block B.

Today’s event was held at Kochi Prefectural Gym in Kochi and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 801.

Pre-show Match: Master Wato beat Katsuya Murashima.

Match 1: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho beat BUSHI & Shingo Takagi. Kanemaru pinned BUSHI with Samson Clutch.

Match 2: Boltin Oleg, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun beat Oskar Leube, Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya. Liona pinned Leube after Fall From Heaven.

Match 3: Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan beat Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii. HENARE beat Honma with Ultima.

Match 4: Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Ren Narita & Shota Umoni. EVIL beat Taguchi with a scorpion deathlock.

Match 5: Taiji Ishimori, Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Ishimori beat Fujita with Bone Lock.

World Tag League:
Match 6: Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale beat Yuya Uemura & Taichi. Fale pinned Uemura after Bad Luck Fall.
Match 7: El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. Phantasmo pinned Soberano after Super Thunder Kiss 86.
Match 8: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata. Goto pinned Nagata.
Main Event: Zandokan Jr. & Yota Tsuji beat Alex Zayne & Lance Archer. Tsuji pinned Zayne after Gene Blaster. Tetsuya Naito was a guest on commentary for the main event.

Standings:
1-Hikuleo/Phantasmo, 4-2, 8 pts
2-Taichi/Uemura, 4-2, 8 pts
3-Archer/Zayne, 4-2, 8 pts
4-YOSHI-HASHI/Goto, 3-3-1, 7 pts
5-Zandokan/Tsuji, 3-4, 6 pts
6-Soberano/Atlantis, 2-4-1, 5 pts (OUT)
7-Bonza/Fale, 2-5, 4 pts (OUT)
8-Suzuki/Nagata, 1-6, 2 pts (OUT)
The Top 2 advance to the Finals. It’s a little more open here than in Block A but not too complicated. It’s actually simple-the Hikuleo/Phantasmo-Zayne/Archer winner next time out advances. Same for the Taichi/Uemura-YOSHI-HASHI/Goto winner…BUT…if Hikuleo/Phantasmo-Archer/Zayne is a time limit draw and Bishamon win, YOSHI-HASHI/Goto would lose the tiebreaker as they lost to both other teams. Also, Zandokan/Tsuji still have a chance thanks to tiebreakers. They must win their final match (Atlantis/Soberano) AND Hikuleo/Phantasmo-Archer-Zayne MUST END IN A NO CONTEST/DOUBLE DQ. Something that means no points for both…AND Bishamon must win. If all that happens, Tsuji/Zandokan have a chance. They do lose tiebreakers right now to Archer/Zayne though.

The next event is Wednesday at Karatsu Athletic Stadium in Saga for the final day of Block A. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

The promotion has also announced that, due to ongoing bug fixes/improvements since the New Japan World update/relaunch, Sunday’s Finals live broadcast will be in Japanese only with English on demand as soon as possible after the event. The plan was Japanese and English live but that won’t happen now.

New Japan ran Day 11 of the World Tag League today, the penultimate day of Block A.

Today’s event was held at Arcrea Himeji in Hyogo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 984.

Pre-show Match: Callum Newman beat Shoma Kato.

Match 1: Taiji Ishimori, Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale beat DOUKI, Yuya Uemura & Taichi. Bonza pinned DOUKI after Napalm Thunder Driver.

Match 2: Tigewr Mask, Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. beat Jado, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. Soberano pinned Jado after a moonsault press.

Match 3: Master Wato, Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata beat Tomoaki Honma, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Suzuki pinned Honma after a Gotch-style piledriver.

Match 4: BUSHI, Zandokan Jr., Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi beat Oskar Leube, Ryusuke Taguchi, Alex Zayne & Lance Archer. Takagi pinned Leube after Pumping Bomber.

World Tag League:
Match 5: HENARE & Great-O-Khan beat Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun. Khan pinned Kaun after a wrist clutch Eliminator.
Match 6: Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomoya. Ishii pinned Oiwa after a vertical drop brainbuster.
Match 7: Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin beat Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Kidd pinned Takahashi after a hijack piledriver.
Main Event: Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls beat Ren Narita & Shota Umino. Haste pinned Umino after Tank Buster.

Standings (Block A):
1-Haste/Nicholls, 5-2, 10 pts
2-Coughlin/Kidd, 4-3, 8 pts
3-Yano/Ishii, 4-3, 8 pts
4-Narita/Umino, 3-4, 6 pts (OUT)
5-HENARE/Khan, 3-4, 6 pts (OUT)
6-Oiwa/Kiyomiya, 2-4, 4 pts (OUT)
7-Takahashi/EVIL, 2-4, 4 pts (OUT)
8-Liona/Kaun, 1-5, 2 pts (OUT)
The top 2 advance to the Semifinals. With tiebreakers it’s down to 3. And it’s actually simple: The Haste/Nicholls-Coughlin/Kidd winner on the final day advances. If it’s a time limit draw, Haste/Nicholls advance. Yano/Ishii must win their last match (HENARE/Khan) unless Haste/Nicholls win, then a draw gets them through. If Coughlin/Kidd draw and earn 1 point, they must have Yano/Ishii lose or draw. If there are ties, here is what happens: If it’s a 3-way, Haste/Nicholls are OUT. If Yano/Ishii & Coughlin/Kidd tie for 2nd, Yano/Ishii are OUT. If 2 teams tie for 1st, if it’s Haste/Nicholls and Ishii/Yano it goes to Ishii/Yano. If it’s Haste/Nicholls and Coughlin/Kidd it will go to Coughlin/Kidd with the last day win.

The next event is tomorrow at Kochi Prefectural Gym in Kochi with the penultimate day of Block B. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

New Japan ran Day 10 of the World Tag League today, with Day 5 of Block B.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 952, a legit sellout.

Pre-show Match: DOUKI beat Shoma Kato.

Match 1: Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima. Ishii pinned Nakashima after a sliding lariat.

Match 2: Boltin Oleg, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun beat Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan. Kaun pinned Newman after Fall From Heaven.

Match 3: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin. Sho pinned Gedo.

Match 4; Master Wato, Ren Narita & Shota Umino beat Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. Umino pinned Fujita after Blaze Blade.

World Tag League:
Match 5: El Phantasmo & Hikuleo beat Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale. Hikuleo pinned Bonza after Super Thunder Kiss 86.
Match 6: Yuya Uemura & Taichi beat Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. Uemura pinned Atlantis.
Match 7: Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata beat Alex Zayne & Lance Archer. Nagata pinned Zayne with a backdrop hold.
Main Event: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Zandokan Jr. & Yota Tsuji. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Zandokan after Shoto.

Despite their post-match proclamation of breaking the champions’ jinx and 3-peating, Bishamon’s chances are still on life support after today. The top 2 advance to the Semifinals and they are 3 points out of 2nd with just 2 matches left. But they’ve got Nagata/Suzuki who are out and finally got a win today and Uemura/Taichi left and the latter may very well be for a top 2 spot after Archer/Zayne took their first loss today. Fale/Bonza are now OUT and Tsuji/Zandokan are on life support with their only hope being an absolute must-win coming against Archer/Zayne to have any tiebreaker hopes.

The next event is tomorrow at Arcrea Hiimeji in Hyogo with Day 6 (the penultimate day) of Block A. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

For the week ahead, the Tag League Semifinals (top 2 in each block) will be Friday in Kagoshima and the Finals will be 12/10 in Kumamoto (for those on the US west coast, this is a Saturday night start on 12/9).