New Japan Pro Wrestling 11/21/2023 World Tag League 2023 Day 2
Here's what I saw:
Yuto Nakashima vs Katsuya Murashima
KM = Katsuya Murashima
This is Katsuya Murashima's debut match. They do some amateur wrestling and KM rolls through a wristlock. Yuto side headlock takeovers him then headlocks him. Yuto shoulders him over then fujiwara armbars him. Yuto kimura takeovers him and has him trapped. KM ropebreaks.
Yuto stomps him and slams him. KM dropkicks him then hits another. Yuto hits chest chops and back body drops him. Yuto then boston crabs him and wins via tapout.
It was short and we really didn't get to see much at all here out of Katsuya minus two dropkicks. He didn't botch anything though.
Oskar Leube & Tomoaki Honma vs. Gates Of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)
Honma and Toa trade forearms. Honma shoulders him but is shouldered over. Toa misses an elbow drop. Oskar hits hard forearms on Toa then Toa takes a double shoulder. Honma misses an elbow and Toa sends Oskar flying off the apron. Toa hits corner spears on Honma then Kaun slingshot sentons Honma.
Kaun sliding lariats Honma then toa elbow drops Honma. Honma fights of his opponents 1v2 then hits a combo ddt and flatliner. Oskar shoulders and forearms Kaun. Oskar forearm flurries him then hits a spinning slam. Oskar elbow drops Kaun for 2.
Kaun ddt's Oskar for 2 then Oskar hits a big back body drop on him. Honma is about to be tagged in but Toa grabs Honma and drops him on the rails. Oskar fights off a 1v2 and facekicks Toa. Oskar is then popped up into a spear. Oskar takes a double spinebuster and is pinned.
This was a good little tag match. Oskar looked great out there with lots of fire and matched up well against the GoA.
Kaito Kiyomiya, Oleg Boltin & Ryohei Oiwa vs. United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & HENARE)
Kaito hits armdrags on Khan then dropkicks him. Oleg fireman carry takeovers Khan and does a nice arm throw. Oleg belly to belly suplexes Khan. Khan trips Oleg and back body drops him. Khan mongolian chops Oleg in the back of the neck then sits on his neck in the corner.
Newman flips off the ropes onto Oleg and stomps him. Henare drops Oleg with a kick. Oleg chops Henare then takes a forearm. Oleg slams Henare then tags in Oiwa. Oiwa slams Henare and armdrags him. Oiwa hits a double dropkick then backdrops Henare.
Henare shoulders over Oiwa then samoan drops him. Henare spin kicks Kaito then samoan drops Oiwa again. Newman is tagged in, runs the ropes fast and chest kicks Kaito. Newman rebounds off the ropes and high kicks Kaito. Newman takes a double dropkick from Kaito and Oiwa.
Kaito hits euros on Newman then Newman flying dropkicks Kaito. Newman PK's Kaito then Oiwa powerslams Newman. Kaito and Oiwa double dropkick Henare off the apron then Newman takes a doomsday device crossbody. Kaito shining wizards Newman and wins it.
It was a good tag. Oleg looked good and Kaito/Oiwa were a fun team. I don't think this team is doing a single thing to help Kaito though and I still have no idea why they are doing this to a guy who was their biggest star.
Master Wato, Ren Narita, Shota Umino & Tiger Mask vs. BULLET CLUB (Alex Coughlin, Gabe Kidd, Gedo & Taiji Ishimori)
The two teams yell and push each other before it starts. Gabe and Shota trade forearms and throw a towel at each other.
Tiger trips Taiji then Taiji eye rakes him. Taiji hits punches then takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Ren flying facekicks Gabe off the apron then Alex and Ren trade forearms. Ren underhook suplexes Alex then stomps him. Gabe pulls out Ren and stomps him with Alex. Gabe is thrown into the rails then Ren and Shota are sent into the rails.
Ren is sent into the exposed buckle then Alex hits mounted shots on him. Gabe drives the chair hard into Ren's back outside then Ren is dropped on the apron. Alex hits a hard chop on Ren then Ren spinning heel kicks him. Shotagets in and hits forearms on Ren. Shota running forearms Gabe and Alex forearms Shota from the apron.
Ren back elbows Gabe then tornado ddt's Alex off of Gabe. Ren fisherman suplexes Gabe. Gabe facekicks Shota then lariats him on the ropes. Shota dropkicks Gabe and Gabe rebound lariats Shota. Wato and Gedo get in and springboard euros Gedo. Tiger top rope crossbodies Taiji then Tiger hits a tiger driver on Gedo. Wato does a vendaval on Gedo and wins it.
It was a good tag. Gabe and Alex were aggressive like usual and Red and Shota did a good job against them, carrying the match.
World Tag League 2023 Block B Match - Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata vs. Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr.
Suzuki and Yuji argue then get dropkicked and plancha'd by the luchadores. ATL basement dropkicks Yuji in the back. Sob wristlocks Yuji then is kicked down. Suzuki bow and arrows Sob then crossfaces him. Suzuki chops Yuji in then Yuji fujiwara armbars Sob.
Yuji forearms Sob down then Sob step-up dropkicks him in the corner. ATL superkicks Yuji and knees him for 2. Yuji drops ATL with chest kicks then misses a face kick that is sold anyway. Yuji exploders ATL.
ATL powerslams Suzuki then Sob top rope crossbodies Suzuki. Sob step up enzugiri's him then Suzuki counters a dropkick with a leglock. Suzuki PK's Sob for 2. Suzuki and Sob trade forearms for chops. Suzuki laughs his chops off then forearms him down. Sob dropkicks Suzuki. Sob comes off the top and is caught with a fujiwara armbar. Suzuki sleepers Sob while Yuji crossfaces ATL.
Suzuki sleepers Sob again then is back body dropped. Sob crucifixes him and picks up the win.
It was a styles clash but they did a decent job with it, sticking to technical wrestling. Sob and ATL didn't get to do much flying or lucha stuff here though and they had to work with the dynamic of Yuji and Suzuki not working together.
World Tag League 2023 Block B Match - Monstersauce (Alex Zayne & Lance Archer) vs. Rogue Army (Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza)
Jack and Lance shoulder battle. Jack eye pokes him and clubs his back. Lance forearms Jack then Lance hiptosses Alex into Jack in the corner. Alex slingshot headscissors Jack then Fale lariats Alex from the apron. Alex is thrown into the rails then Jack legdrops him.
Fale knocks Lance off the apron. Lance pushes the ref when he gets back in and fights with Fale. Jack does a bow and arrow variation on Alex. Alex hits shots on Fale then Fale splashes him. Fale stands on Alex's back and stomps him.
Alex flips out of a german then flipping legdrops Jack while he is bent over. Fale and Lance shoulder battle then trade forearms. Alex jumps over Fale's back into a dropkick on Fale. Lance then chokeslams Alex so he can flip onto Fale.
Alex hits kicks on Fale then takes a samoan drop. Alex and Jack trade forearms. Jack knees Alex in the gut then back elbows him. Jack deadlift sitout powerbombs Alex for 2. Alex takes a backbreaker and a big Fale elbow drop for 2. Lance cannonballs Fale off the apron.
Alex is tripped into the buckles then Lance step up knees Jack on the buckles. Lance hits blackout on Jack then Alex spiral taps Jack off the top to win it.
It was a fun match. We got some giants battling here along with Alex's flips. We didn't get a ton of Lance Archer but they really did do this well and made everyone look good.
World Tag League 2023 Block B Match - Yota Tsuji & Zandokan Jr. vs. Just 5 Guys (Taichi & Yuya Uemura)
Zand = Zandokan
Yuya and Yota start us off but do nothing an tag out. Yuya knocks Yota off the apron and sends him into the rails. Yuya and Yota fight in the front row and Yuya's head is banged off a table. Taichi and Zand trade kicks. Taichi enzugiri's Zand and Zand offers a handshake, which Taichi denies.
Taichi kicks him in the gut and Zand forces the handshake. Taichi wipes his hand on the ref then is double clubbed by Zand and Yota. Taichi then takes a double basement dropkick. Yota throws Yuya into the rails outside then and throws Taichi into the bleachers. Zand chairs Taichi's leg then Taichi is dropped face first on the rails.
Yota slams Taichi then splashes him. Zand suplexes Taichi then Yota works Taichi's leg. Taichi side kicks him. Yuya gets in and hits shots on Yota. Yuya bulldogs him then splashes him. Yuya rolls Yota into a kick from Taichi then Yuya backdrops Yota. Yota hits his flatliner + curb stomp combo on Yuya then Yuya hits a nice dropkick on him.
Taichi hits Kawada kicks on Yota then Yota drives Taichi's head into the mat. Zand step up enzugiri's Taichi then Taichi back body drops him. Taichi enzugiri's him and they trade chops. Zand tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him for 2. Gran hits a backdrop into a fire thunder driver. Yuya is laid on top of the rail and Zand dives out onto him. Zand sitout dominators Taichi.
This was long and slow. Most of this wasn't that interesting until the last few minutes when they finally picked up the pace and did some stuff. I think the styles clashes were just too much to overcome here.
World Tag League 2023 Block B Match - Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo)
ELP = El Phantasmo, Hiku = Hikuleo
Goto side headlocks Hiku and they shoulder battle. Hiku knocks him over then misses an elbow drop. They stand off. ELP headflips out of a wristlock and headlock takeovers Yoshi before they stand off. Yoshi starts an ELP chant and ELP encourages him. They shake hands and Yoshi kicks him.
Yoshi shoulders him over. ELP cartwheels out of a dropkick to the knee then dropkicks him. Yoshi running headhunters him. ELP goes up and over him. He then springboard twisting crossbodies him into an asai moonsault. Yoshi gets atomic dropped then ELP is double shoulderblocked. Yoshi flips Goto onto him then they double club ELP's back.
Goto and ELP trade forearms. Goto hits a chest kick, a spinning heel kick and a back body drop for 2. ELP hits forearms on Yoshi then they trade chops. ELP is laid over the top rope and dropkicked. Goto ends up getting pushed into Yoshi and Hiku gets in. Hiku facekicks Yoshi then hits snake eyes and a lariat on Goto. Hiku then double lariats his opponents.
Hiku suplexes Goto then Goto takes a headkick into a UFO neckbreaker. Hiku hits a big chop on Yoshi then ELP top rope moonsaults ELP outside. Goto takes a powerbomb + top rope swanton. Goto spinning lariats ELP and ELP sells it too quickly, flipping for nothing.
Hiku blocks Yoshi's sunset flip, misses a legdrop and takes a basement dropkick. Yoshi top rope blockbusters Hiku for 2. Yoshi lariats Hiku then takes a high kick. Hiku goes for a powerslam but is countered with a basement dropkick. Yoshi is powerslammed and then superkicks ELP. ELP is lariated over the top then Hiku takes a weak looking double ddt move.
Hiku takes a double drop with an elbow slice. ELP fights his opponents 1v2 then is superkicked. ELP jumps off Goto's back into a tornado ddt on Yoshi. ELP superkicks Yoshi then topes Goto. Hiku chokeslams Yoshi then rocket launchers ELP onto a splash on Yoshi to win it.
It was average. Not great but an okay and forgettable main event. Nothing wrong with it though. ELP and Hiku are an unusual team style wise and Hiku's limited.
Hikuleo says this is just the beginning after and says they will beat Bishimon at the Tokyo Dome for the tag titles. ELP says this is their first World Tag League. He says they entered this as NJPW Openweight Tag champs and says they will become the new IWGP Tag champs at the Tokyo Dome.
Overall thoughts: The main was average and the semi-main was a styles clash didn't work out. The undercard matches were pretty good. It was a good show overall.
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