Hello again my faithful humans, didn’t see you there! Welcome back to Spazomaticc’s Rasslin’ Thoughts on this fine Friday, and what I did see was New Japan Pro Wrestling’s 15th day of their World Tag League! Filled with a star-studded lineup of professional wrestlers, the always-excellent Kevin Kelly on commentary, and unexpected surprises, this show was sure to be one of the best cards during a tournament that has already been exhilarating! Was it as exciting as the match card would lead you to believe on paper? Well let’s find out, as we take a virtual trip to the Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium to review this spectacular event!
Match 1: Karl Fredericks & Hirooki Goto vs Yoshi-Hashi & Tomohiro Ishii:
As the viewers at home are greeted by the sight of the iconic blue New Japan ring, the fans in attendance are welcomed to the show by a siren of war which could only mean one thing: The “Stone Pitbull” has arrived. Accompanied by the lovable, yet ignored step-child of the CHAOS faction Yoshi-Hashi, this team stepped in-between the blackened ropes as a cohesive unit aiming for victory. On the other side of the ring was another CHAOS member named Hirooki Goto, who has been more than obsessed with regaining some measure of success in the company he has called home for the majority of his sixteen-year career. Alongside him was Karl Fredericks, a hungry young lion who many say will eventually have a meteoric rise in the “King of Sports”.
As you would expect from these two teams who are intertwined with one another’s careers, the veterans showed that they knew each other like the backs of their hands, knowing which move the other man was attempting before they followed through with their efforts. Yoshi-Hashi and Fredericks traded chops back and forth, never backing down from their intentions of devastation until Ishii introduced himself into this contest. The former 5-time NEVER Open-Weight Champion proved just why he was a kingpin of that division, brutally torturing the learning artist like he had owed him money. Karl was mercifully spared by his partner Goto, who would bring much-needed intensity out of his frustrated and confused CHAOS ally Yoshi-Hashi. The “Head Hunter” finally lived up to his nickname, aiming for the head of a man he considered his brother for the sake of advancing in this test of daily endurance. Karl Fredericks gets tagged back in, and he hits a dropkick to Ishii that sounded like a rocket launcher going off! Lost in his euphoria of celebration after knocking a gatekeeper of New Japan off of his feet, he gets caught off guard by Yoshi-Hashi, who submits the youngster with a variation of the Tarantula, cementing a submission win for his duo.
Match Rating: 3.5/5
Match 2: Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale:
Following an excellent opening match, we move onward to another tournament bout that could be compared more to a fight than an athletic contest. It was a battle between a team of two wrestlers that have been a cornerstone of New Japan Pro Wrestling since the dark ages, and two other wrestlers who are apart of a faction that have had a mission to tear apart everything that is considered sacred to fans of the Lion Mark. The team affectionately known as “Tencozy” consists of the 4-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and the self-professed leader of the “Bread Club”, Satoshi Kojima! Their opponents were the 2011 Smoky Mountain Cup winner Chase Owens, and “The Underboss” Bad Luck Fale who are both representatives of the Bullet Club. It was the traditional generation of wrestlers who played by the tools of the trade versus a collection of wrestlers who only looked out for their personal interests, and it showed throughout this contest. Especially towards the conclusion of the match, as all four men were brawling everywhere in the audience area, with the crowd running away from the carnage while still longing to watch the train-wreck behind them. Owens and Fale gained one of many victories for the Bullet Club in this tournament, and with that knowledge, comes speculation that the Guerrillas of Destiny could be taken out of the running in this Tag League by their own group members. The question raised from this speculation is, will there be dissension in the black and white clique if one of the teams get eliminated from the biggest World Tag League in history?
Match Rating: 3/5
Match 3: Mikey Nicholls & Jeff Cobb vs Yujiro Takahashi & KENTA:
Continuing this monumental day of the World Tag League, “The Tokyo Pimp” Yujiro Takahashi and the “Black Sun” KENTA of the aforementioned Bullet Club make their ways to the squared circle worse for wear after the previous tournament nights. KENTA especially was wearing war wounds in his entrance, as he had a gruesome-looking black eye from Hirooki Goto’s vicious onslaught earlier on in this tour. “Mad” Mikey Nicholls and “Mr. Athletic” Jeff Cobb walked to the combat area of the ring with purpose, knowing that this could be their one chance to somewhat cripple the Bullet Club heading into the homestretch of this tournament. KENTA shows a side of anger unseen so far in this sanctioned trial of patience and will, aggressively pulling Nicholls apart piece-by-piece while letting out uncontrolled fury towards his unsuspecting challenger. This pent-up aggression and hatred he has for Goto helped him out in spades here, as he claimed another feather in the cap for the Bullet Club in what has so far been utter dominance from the once-powerful militant group.
Match Rating: 3/5
Match 4: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare vs Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr:
After a series of matches that were fun and had a hand in progressing the individual stories involved, we now get deeper into the card as tournament implications become a major focus in these bouts. The “Once In A Century Talent” Hiroshi Tanahashi teams with rising star Toa Henare from New Zealand in an effort to win this year’s World Tag League and to effectively lead the impressionable Henare to a healthy path in his promising career. Their adversaries on this night were from the infamous Suzuki-Gun camp, as the lustful Karaoke artist Taichi teamed with one of the best wrestlers in the world in Zack Sabre Jr. As the bout raged on, you could tell that there was building tension between Taichi and Tanahashi in their interactions with one another. Taichi, in his infinite wisdom, antagonized “The Ace” endlessly and was trying to play mind games with a legend who has seen everything you could possibly see in this business. Needless to say, it did not work on Tanahashi but it for sure worked on Henare, as ZSJ took advantage of his impressionable mind and were once again on the win column in a skirmish with Henare’s mentor and one of the best to ever do it. How will the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion react to a loss that hinders his much-needed momentum heading into Wrestle Kingdom? What does Chris Jericho think of his Tokyo Dome opponent losing so soon to their pivotal war of attrition on January 5th?
Match Rating: 3.5/5
Match 5: Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs SANADA & EVIL:
Even though darkness and dread were far too noticeable on this cold winter night in Fukuoka, the scariest absence of spiritual light on this show was the darkness you could only feel, as the “Cold Skull” SANADA made his presence felt alongside his brother in arms, the ironically nicknamed “King Of Darkness” known as EVIL during their bone-chilling entrance. The opposing team known as “Great Bash Heel”, which consists of Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe is as dangerous as they come, but even they could not fight back against the tortured souls that stood in front of them. Any time there was ever a glimmer of hope for the former IWGP Tag Team Champions, SANADA especially would cut it off in dramatic fashion while EVIL locked a gaze onto his unfortunate victims with eyes that were devoid of any life or compassion for the men he was hellbent on destroying in this particular match. This was just another night at the office for “Los Ingobernables De Japon”, while the revered veterans of tag team wrestling in New Japan were fighting for their very lives against these monsters who lacked every single bit of empathy. LIJ win on this night as expected from their callous performance, and whoever desires to halt the momentum of this team has to do it with the same level of savagery and dominance as these supernatural beings showed on this night.
Match Rating: 3/5
Match 6: Roppongi 3K & Kazuchika Okada vs Tiger Mask, Jyushin Thunder Liger, and Kota Ibushi:
As we get closer and closer to the end of this stellar card, we are treated to the only tournament match of the night, as warfare was scheduled between six popular performers in this company, two of which will be in one of the main events for Wrestle Kingdom 14! “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada teamed with his CHAOS comrades in Roppongi 3K against the legendary Tiger Mask, a Junior Heavyweight icon in Jyushin Thunder Liger, and the “Golden Star” Kota Ibushi (who will be challenging him for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th) in a six-man tag team match!
As the match progressed, the tension was so thick in the air that you would need a bone-saw just to cut it in half! The two rivals in this athletic endeavor were chomping at the bit to physically dissect one another in an act of annihilation, at least it seemed that way until Okada tagged himself out of the match multiple times. It came off to Ibushi as an attempt to flee from the man who could very well take everything from him at the start of 2020, and that assumption angered the 2019 G1 Climax winner to a point of campaigning a warpath towards the champion and every person he holds dear in his life. Okada on the other hand, physically justified his actions as a way to manipulate the mind of his enemy. He saw his measures of cowardice as an initiative to play mind games, and proved his point of view when he attacked the “Independent Genius” from behind before incapacitating him with a Tombstone Piledriver. His teammates rushed in for the victory, and now both champion and frustrated challenger are at a leveled playing field.
Match Rating: 4/5
Match 7: Terrible & Shingo Takagi vs Guerrillas of Destiny:
The co-main event of the evening was finally upon us, as one of the more unpredictable matches of this year’s World Tag League was set to take place on this night. Former CMLL World Heavyweight Champion Terrible was in partnership with “The Dragon” Shingo Takagi, who has been a standout member of Los Ingobernables De Japon throughout the year 2019 and has been looking like a destructive force throughout this tournament. As imposing and nightmarish of a duo as these two men have been in this year’s tag league, they may have just met their match in the form of Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, who are collectively known as the Guerrillas of Destiny. Accompanied by their manager Gedo, they are intimidating in every sense of the word, as they are descendants of the heavily-feared Haku. Their family has done some of the most violent things imaginable, and stories of the decisions their father has made in life are the stuff of legend.
When it comes down to two confrontational teams that have no sense of the words quit or surrender, the tandem that makes it out of the duel with their hands raised are usually the ones who are the most remorseless and careless in the violence that they carry out in the ring. That assumption proved itself to be the undeniable truth, as the Guerrillas of Destiny left a trail of ungovernable broken bodies in their path on their way to their decisive and unanimous victory. As mentioned in a previous match on this card, Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale could easily eradicate G.o.D from the World Tag League, and if lead commentator Kevin Kelly is to be believed, a result of that nature could complicate the dynamic between the Bullet Club to the point of dissolution.
Match Rating: 3.5/5
Match 8: Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer vs David Finlay & Juice Robinson:
Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time for the main event of the evening, as this could be a crucial landmark in the road to the end of the 2019 World Tag League! In a contest that seems incredibly one-sided and more predictable of a result than a murderer on death row, The adventurous Juice Robinson and David Finlay was seen as a team that were in way over their heads against “The King” Minoru Suzuki and the “American Psycho” Lance Archer of the mob-like formation known as Suzuki-Gun. Throughout the duration of the bout, Suzuki and Archer were well on their way to another safely-predicted victory in the books. The feeling in the hearts of the spectators and the commentators as they looked on were ones of absolution, as it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Fin-Juice would face another gut-wrenching loss in their records. Juice overcame his fear of the former GHC Heavyweight Champion, and took the fight to Suzuki like nobody else of his stature really has. Being a former young lion himself, he knows all too well about the horrors that the “Lonely Warrior” will exact on his horrified and defenseless foes, and now he has stood up to the notoriously sadistic alpha-male in this promotion, and humiliated him, as well as his morally bankrupt colleagues in front of the entire world! The team fondly referred to as “Fin-Juice” obtained one of the most shocking victories in recent memory, bringing the once empirical collection of savages to their proverbial knees. Their triumph would not be without a receipt however, as the naturally corrupt Suzuki-Gun attacked everyone in sight, including the victors in this main event match. Will the pioneer of modern-day MMA gain his official revenge against the two close friends, or will this be the lasting image when people think of Minoru Suzuki’s NJPW career coming to a close?
Match Rating: 3.5/5
I had a copious amount of fun writing this review, and I hope you had the same amount of fun reading it! Stay tuned for next week, as there will be a surprise Match Showcase article on Tuesday, and the return of the weekly NXT review on Friday. I am Spazomaticc and remember, Rasslin’ Thoughts are perfectly normal and okay!
Spazomaticc's Rasslin Thoughts 