New Japan Pro Wrestling 12/8/2023 World Tag League 2023 Day 15

New Japan Pro Wrestling 12/8/2023 World Tag League 2023 Day 15

Here's what I saw:

Minoru Suzuki & Monstersauce (Alex Zayne & Lance Archer) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & HENARE)

Henare and Suzuki start us off. Suzuki leg kicks him and they trade forearms. Henare back elbows Suzuki and 2nd rope twisting kicks him. Suzuki is thrown into the rail outside then Khan works on Lance out there. Suzuki and Henare trade chops then Khan eye rakes Suzuki out there.

Henare headbutts Suzuki then forearms him. Khan sits on Suzuki's neck in the corner then slams him. Suzuki forearms Khan over. Lance hits running back elbows on Khan and Henare. Newman chops Lance, Lance no sells it then forearms him. Khan kicks the middle rope while Lance is on it. Newman and Alex get in. Newman running face kicks Alex.

Alex flips into the corner and hurricanrana's Newman. Newman tries to land on his feet but slips. Newman then PK's him for 2.  Nemwan spinning chops Alex then Newman takes a side slam + flipping legdrop. Lance hiptosses Alex into him in the corner. Suzuki sleepers Newman then Lance flips Alex onto him. Newman rolls up Alex off his forward flipping side slam attempt. Alex then hits it on the 2nd try. Alex hits a cutthroat wrist-clutch driver and wins it.

It was mostly just the Alex Zayne show here with him hitting his usual offense. The first half of this was just Suzuki vs Khan and Henare and wasn't that interesting.

Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. House Of Torture (Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi)

Ren jumps Honma as he enters. Shota comes to help and Yujiro chokes him with a stick. Honma headbutts Ren then Ren sleepers him. Ren hits a facebuster on Honma and wins it.

This officially went under a minute and was a waste of time. 

Ren tells Shota to get in the ring after. Shota does, Ren slides out then Shota is jumped by the HoT. Ren sleepers Shota, flips him off then facebusters him. The HoT then stand over top Shota.

Gates Of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona), Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr. vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) & Hiroshi Tanahashi

 

Sob = Soberano Jr., AJ = Atlantis Jr.

Tana and Kaun compare bodies and Tana admits defeat. Okada takes AJ down and AJ armdrags him. Okada armdrags AJ then rips at his mask. AJ tilt-a-whirl backbreakers Okada then Okada takes a double back elbow. Okada is lifted into an enzugiri.

Kaun and Ishii go at it. They shoulder battle, avoid moves then stand off. Ishii forearms Toa on the apron then Toa bodyblocks Kaun on accident. Toa is tripped onto Kaun. Ishii bridging codebreakers and Toa drops a fist on him. Sob flips over Ishii's back then takes a suplex at 5 minutes.

Tana flying forearms Sob then dragon screws him. Tana slams Sob then 2nd rope swantons him. Sob dropkicks him. Toa gets in and misses a corner splash. Tana hits a twist and shout on Toa. Yano takes off the turnbuckle pad, Toa goes into it and is rolled up.  Yano hits him in the back of the head then Toa crossbodies him.

Okada dropkicks AJ then takes a hurricanrana from Sob. Sob is gorilla press thrown into Yano by the GoA. Sob fosbury flops outside. Yano tries to double low blow GoA but gets a double headbutt. Yano then takes a t-gimmick and is pinned by Toa.

It was around 10 minutes long and everyone got a section or two in then left. It was just a throwaway but they kept it moving and it was decent.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji) & Zandokan Jr. vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura)

Zand = Zandokan Jr.

Zand picks up the ref and hugs him for some reason. Zand tries to shake Taichi's hand then Taichi wipes his hand off when he does. Taichi side kicks Zand. Douki flips over Zand's back then tilt-a-whirl armdrags him. Douki goes for a springboard hurricanrana but is chopped down. Zand corner lariats and basement dropkicks Douki for 2.

Bushi gets in and neckbreakers Douki. Shingo suplexes Douki for 2. Shingo hits punches on Douki then Douki cartwheel back elbows him. Sanada dropkicks Shingo in the knee and then hits two dropkicks on Yota and Bushi. Sanada then plancha's Zand. Sanada flips out of a Shingo german then Shingo ddt's him.

Yuya hiptosses, armdrags and dropkicks Yota. Yuya bulldogs Yota then double chops him. Yota hits his curbstomp combo on Yuya then Bushi top rope dropkicks Yuya. Bushi topes Yuya into the rails. Zand superkicks Yuya and Bushi backcrackers Yuya for 2.

Sanada pulls out Zand and Yuya top rope crossbodies Bushi. Douki topes Shingo and Yota outside then Yuya front suplexes Bushi to win it.

It was your usual multu-man tag here. Everyone got a little segment in then tagged out. It wasn't great or particularly memorable but it was okay enough for being a throwaway match.

World Tag League 2023 Semi Final Match - TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo)

ELP = El Phantasmo, Hiku = Hikuleo

Shane dropkicks ELP in the back early and poses. ELP flips over his back then flying hurricanrana's him. ELP atomic drops Shane and slaps him in the butt. They both go to hit each other but their crotches are too sore and they go down. Mikey hits shoulders on Hiku then Hiku shoulders him over. Hiku corner lariats Mikey then Mikey takes a dangerous looking back body drop.

Mikey ddt's ELP and ELP is pulled into the post. ELP fights off both TMDK members then is lifted for a backdrop + neckbreaker combo. Sahen drops ELP onto the apron back first. ELP thwarts a 1v2 and tags in Hiku. Hiku shoulders over Alex, hits snake eyes on Mikey then shoulders him over. Hiku double lariats his opponents.

Mikey and Hiku trade forearms then Hiku suplexes him. Mikey death valley drivers ELP at 10 minutes. Shane saito suplexes ELP for 2. Shane puts ELP in a border city stretch then ELP takes a highway to hell. ELP takes a double gorilla press but hits a double ddt out of it.

Hiku face kicks Shane then powerslams Mikey for 2. ELP superkicks Mikey then Hiku chokeslams Mikey. Mikey avoids a rocket launcher and germans ELP. Shane dropkicks Hiku and Hiku takes a double team suplex. ELP walks up the buckles and hurricanrana's Shane into Mikey. ELP lariats Shane for 2. ELP suplexes Shane for 2. Shane rolls up Hiku for 2 then Hiku powerslams him. Hiku hits a big chokeslam on Shane and wins it.

It wasn't anything special. Nobody did anything too crazy here despite it being a semi-final match and it was really disappointing. ELP didn't even do some of the stuff he does on usual Korauken shows. There were virtually no moments worth making gifs of until about 10 minues in here.

World Tag League 2023 Semi Final Match - Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd)

War Dogs run at Bishamon as they enter and get hit with stuff. Bishamon get sent into the rails and Alex euros Yoshi over. Goto and Kidd trade then Alex throws rails at Yoshi. The fighting continues and Kidd flips off the announcers. The match then finally officially starts.

Kidd takes a double shoulder then Goto hiptosses Yoshi onto him. Alex is suplexed onto Kidd then Kidd takes the double back clubs. Goto forearm flurries Kidd then Kidd bites both opponents. The faces are beat up on the rails and Kidd sentons Goto in the ring. Alex chops Goto then War Dogs throw the tag titles out onto the floor.

Alex lifts up Goto and germans him then throws Yoshi out. Alex takes a back body drop on the ramp. Alex headbutts Goto then Goto spinning heel kicks him. Yoshi gets tagged in and beats up on Kidd. Yoshi neckbreakers Kidd for 2. Kidd bites Yoshi then Goto helps out his partner. Kidd takes corner lariats then a russian leg sweep + headhunter combo.

Kidd brainbusters Goto then Yoshi takes a double muscle buster. Yoshi takes a guillotine on the 2nd rope then takes a doomsday device. Kidd is rammed into Alex in the corner then Alex is flipped off the buckles. Alex is lifted and takes a bulldog from Goto off the top. Alex rams Goto into the ref then Gabe chairs Goto. Goto and Alex fight over steel steps in the ring.

Goto forearms Kidd over then takes a big lariat from Alex. Yoshi takes a release saito suplex then flips Kidd with a lariat. Yoshi and Alex trade forearms and chops. They lariat each other at the same time and Alex hits a black hole slam on him. Alex hits a pump handle northern lights bomb on him. Goto headbutts Alex as he has Yoshi up then Yoshi crucifix bombs Alex to win it.

It had the usual issues with a match happening before the match where you could hit your opponents with anything you wanted. We had a ref bump here as well. It went longer than it needed to and the crowd either couldn't or wouldn't cheer which brought it down.

Alex threw a rail after and hit at least 3 people with it in a dangerous moment.

Overall thoughts: For whatever reason, everyone decided to go all out on Day 14 and took Day 15 off here. Neither of the two semi-final WTL matches were that good and the rest of the card just was filler. I wouldn't recommend this.