New Japan Pro Wrestling 11/19/2024 World Tag League 2024 Day 1
Shoma Kato vs. Masatora Yasuda
Thye go to the mat and mat wrestle. Kato wristlocks him then Yasuda reverses it. Kato hammerlocks him then Yasuda wristlocks him. Kato side headlocks him and thye trade hammerlocks. Kato takes him down then armlocks him. Kato goes for the armbar and Yasuda ropebreaks.
Kato hits a running forearm then running shoulderblocks him. Kato slams him then stomps on him. Kato hits forearms and hip throws him for 2. Kato single leg crabs him then stomps on him. Yasuda dropkicks him and running back elbows him. Yasuda hiptosses him.
Yasuda slams him. Kato hits an armdrag and dropkick. Kato back body drops him. Kato crabs him and submits him.
Thoughts: It was your usual young lions match and wasn't too much of note. I thought it went a little longer than it needed to. This was Kato's first singles win.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jado & Katsuya Murashima vs. BULLET CLUB (Stevie Filip, Taiji Ishimori & Tome Filip)
Tana and Steview go at it. Tana takes him down and ties up the legs. They pull each other by the hair. Tana hits a back elbow and a 2nd rope twisting crossbody. Katsuya hits a nice dropkick and Jado does Tana's air guitar. The heels then hit Jado from behind. Jado is choked with a shirt. Stevie nailing springboard swantons Jado.
Tome slams and legdrops Jado. Jado shoulders Tome over. Tana comes in and hits a flying forearm. Tana slams Tome then hits a 2nd rope swanton for 2. Tana dragon screws Tome. Katsuya hits forearms on Tome then flying forearms him.
Tome spinebusters Katsuy for 2. Katsuya cradles Tome and rolls him up for 2. Stevie says Tome with a pump kick. Katsuya then takes a nasty looking powerbomb + neckbreaker combo.
Thoughts: It was pretty average for the most part. Nobody really added a lot to this with the faces being very limited due to age, injuries and spots on the card. Katsuya took a nasty botched powerbomb + neckbreaker combo for the finish.
Oleg Boltin, Tiger Mask & Toru Yano vs. House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL & Ren Narita)
The heels attack before the bell as usual. Yano gets stomped on by Togo and Evil. Togo is pushed into Evil and Yano back rakes both. A turnbuckle pad is taken off and Togo goes into it when Yano moves. Oleg gets sent into the rails then Evil eye rakes Yano outside. Ren bangs Oleg's head off chairs outside. Togo chokes Yano.
Evil chokes Yano with a shirt. Ren stomps on Yano and slaps him. Ren chokes him and gets knocked down. Oleg gets in and shoulders over Ren. Oleg karelin's lifts Ren then slams him down. Oleg splashes Ren for 2.
Oleg misses a corner charge. Ren rolling armbars Oleg. Oleg hits a double suplex. Tiger high kicks Evil then tilt-a-whirl backdrops Togo. Evil sends Tiger into the exposed buckles then Tiger takes corner attacks. Tiger then takes a chop to the crotch.
Tiger crucifixes Evil. Togo chokes Tiger with a weapon then Tiger takes a magic killer. Evil then pins Tiger.
Thoughts: It was the usual House of Torture fare and wasn't that interesting. Everyone got their segment in here after the initial brawling and not much else.
United Empire (Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jakob Austin Young) vs. Just 4 Guys (DOUKI, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)
Hen hits wasteland on Taka then sentons him for 2. Young knee drops Taka for 2. Khan works on Taka with mongolian chops then he uppercuts him. Khan sits on Taka's neck in the corner. Khan mongolian chops Taka. Taka step up knees him in the corner. Taka pump kicks Khan and tags out.
Taichi corner facekicks Khan. Tai side kicks him then running facekicks Young. Khan gets in and legbars Tai. Khan mongolian chops Tai and takes chops to the head. Tai lariats him over.
Young gets in and trades with Douki. Young flying leg lariats him and hits a euro flurry on him. Young 2nd rope dropkicks him for 2. Douki douki chokey's Young and Hen breaks it up. Taka them pump kicks Hen out. Young rolling cutters Douki then Douki douki chokey's him. Tai stretch plums Khan at the same time then Taka facelocks Hen at the same time. Someone taps out and Douki's team wins.
Thoughts: It was a similar to the previous matches though a little better. There was just too many people and not enough time for anything of note to really come out of this one.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)
Mikey shoulders over Hiromu to start. They shoulderblock battle. Hiromu hits chops and pulls Mikey over the top. Mikey is tripped into a baseball slide. Mikey shoulders over two opponents. Kosei chops Hiromu then PK's him. Kosei takes an atomic drop into a dropkick.
Kosei takes boots to the knee from Naito. Naito kneebreakers Kosei then Kosei step up enzugiri's him. Shane gets in ad facekicks Naito. He hits a uranage for 2. Naito step up enzugiri's Shane then tornado ddt's him.
Bushi dropkicks Shane in the knee then topes him outside. Bushi misses a corner charge and takes a neckbreaker + backdrop combo. Kosei hits a springboard dropkick on Hiromu and Naito then he moonsaults both off the apron. Bushi takes a backdrop + uranage and is pinned.
Thoughts: It was similar to the last few matches. It really didn't get enough time and was nothing of note. I was kind of surprised to see TMDK win here.
World Tag League 2024 Block A Match - Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. United Empire (Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb)
Shota shoulder battles Cobb and is knocked over. Shota shoulders him over. Honma shoulders over CN then pushes Cobb over Shota, who is on all fours. Honma clubs on Cobb then Cobb slams him. Cobb misses a falling headbutt then Honma takes a double team ending with a high/low. CN chops Honma then hits elbows to the neck.
Honma ddt's CN. Shota gets in and running back elbows CN. Shota armdrags Cobb. Shota fisherman suplexes CN. They each avoid moves and CN corkscrew kicks him. Shota dropkicks Cobb. Honma misses a headbutt drop on Cobb. CN does a nice dropkick on Shota on the apron.
Honma takes a top rope double stomp + attitude adjustment. Cobb then standing moonsaults Honma. Shota tornado ddt's Cobb. Shota uranages Cobb then Honma running headbutts Cobb. Shota hits ignition on Cobb for 2.
Cobb takes a double flying headbutt then a double falling headbutt for 2. Shota cannonballs CN off the apron. Honma is caught off the buckles by Cobb. Cobb uranages him then lariats him into the mat. Cobb hits a tour of the islands slam on Honma and wins.
Thoughts: I liked what we got here but I wish we could have gotten a bit more out of it. Everyone looked good here and the four meshed together far better than I expected.
World Tag League 2024 Block A Match - Alex Zayne & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji)
Alex said he was told Lance Archer couldn't make it. He said he needed the most delicious tag partner he could find and that's Ryusuke Taguchi. RT has a green outfit like Alex.
Alex backs up Yota on the ropes and Yuta plays with Alex's hair. They shoulder each other and Alex slingshot headscissors him. Yota drops down. Alex springboard double knees him then hits a running corkscrew ssp. Alex takes down Yota into an RT basement dropkick.
RT flying headscissors Yota. RT and Alex try stereo plancha's but LIJ avoids it. Alex is sent into the rails. RT takes a double shoulderblock. Shingo sentons RT and Yota splashes RT for 2. Shingo hits corner spears on RT. Shingo snapmares him. Yota forearms RT in the back.
Shingo avoids RT's hip attack then suplexes him for 2. Shingo hits knee's to RT's gut then RT rolls into a hip attack on him. Alex does a double flipping legdrop on both opponents necks. Shingo is up top and Alex flips into a hurricanrana on him.
Alex superkicks Shingo in the body then Shingo ddt's him. Yota and Alex accidentally kick each other in the crotch at the same time. Yota then chest kicks him for it out of anger. Alex enzugiri's him from the mat. RT comes in and hits corner hip attacks on Yota. RT ankle locks Yota.
RT sitout gordbusters Yota. Alex gets stuck up top and Yota kicks him down. Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers RT. RT takes a double team and Yota superkicks him for 2. RT is lifted into a sitout powerbomb from Yota for 2.
Alex fights off both opponents then takes a wheelbarrow german from Shingo. Yota tries to spear RT but RT fameassers him. RT backslides and enzugiri's him. RT takes a pumping knee into a lariat then Yota spears RT for the win.
Thoughts: RT was mostly serious here which was different and it was better than his usual offerings. I'd still rather see anyone in his spot though. Yota and Alex kicking each other in the crotch at the same time was a hilarious botch and one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. They tried to have a good one here but it was hard to do anything but laugh after the accidental double low blow.
World Tag League 2024 Block A Match - Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA)
I am not happy about Chase and Kenta being paired together in this tournament. I don't think they will produce anything of value.
The heels attack before the bell. Chase foot chokes Goto in the corner. Shota is sent into the post. Kenta gets sent into the rails out then Chase takes a double shoulderblock. Goto hiptoses Yoshi onto Chase then Goto and Yoshi double club on Kenta. Chase throws Goto out then sends him into the rails.
Kenta hits corner spears on Goto and foot chokes him. Goto takes a double back elbow for 2. Goto lariats Kenta off the ropes. Kenta and Yoshi go at it. Yoshi superkicks him then neckbreakers him. Yoshi chops Kenta and lays him on the top rope. Yoshi dropkicks him as he hangs over the top rope.
Kenta ddt's Yoshi then Chase does a half-nelson drop on Yoshi. Yoshi dropkicks him in the knee. Goto gets in and corner lariats Chase. Chase STO's Goto then sentons him. Goto gets double teamed and Chase PK's him for 2. Chase forearms Goto then gamengiri's him. Chase pumping knees Goto for 2.
Chase knees Goto in the head. He goes for a package piledriver and Yoshi headhunters him off of it. Yoshi superkicks Kenta. Chase counters a double team and is rolled into a Yoshi superkick. Chase takes a double team elbow slice bomb and is pinned.
Thoughts: It wasn't that good as expected. Kenta didn't do a whole lot here and I felt like Chase tried, but this was never going to be that good.
Yoshi has words for Kenta after.
World Tag League 2024 Block A Match - TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gabe Kidd & SANADA)
Sanada is back to the blonde hair. Oiwa and Gabe shove each other. Oiwa and Gabe lock up. Gabe hits a big chop and slams Oiwa. Oiwa slams him and they butt heads. They trade forearms and shoulder battle. Oiwa shoulders him over and out.
Zack and Sanada go at it. Zack wristlocks him and they go out. Zack is sent into the rails and Oiwa is as well. Sanada flips out of Zack's snapmare in the ring then Zack euros him over. Zack armbars Sanada then stomps his arm into the mat. Oiwa keylocks Sanada. Oiwa gets sent into the rails outside and has his head banged off a chair. Sanada chairs Zack in the gut.
Gabe euros Oiwa. Zack and Gabe fight outside. Gabe bites him and throws him into the rails and seats. Sanada chairs Oiwa in the gut outside and the ref refuses to count Gabe's pin attempt.
Gabe forearms Oiwa over. Oiwa germans Gabe. Zack and Sanada go at it. Zack cobra twists hi mand is hiptossed over. Zack twists Sanada's neck with his feet and dropkicks him in the back of the head. Zack northern lights suplexes Sanada for 2. Sanada dropkicks Zack in the knee and then dropkicks him. Zack does an octopus on him.
Zack twists Sanada's neck with his feet. Zack PK's Sanada then Oiwa karelin's lifts Sanada for 2. Gabe takes a double dropkick. Oiwa gets distracted by Gabe and Sanada kicks the middle rope into Oiwa's crotch. Oiwa then takes a magic screw.
Gabe hits forearms on Oiwa and foot chokes him. Gabe spits at Oiwa and slaps him around. Gabe hits an emerald flowsion on Zack then Oiwa hits a hard lariat on Gabe for 2. Oiwa does like an olympic slam on Gabe for 2. Gabe slaps Oiwa then release saito suplexes him. Sanada dropkicks Oiwa then Oiwa takes a double suplex. Gabe brainbusters Oiwa for 1. Zack tries to stop that pin with a neck twist but botches it.
Gabe uppercuts Oiwa and slaps Zack. Zack high kicks him. Sanada hits a shining wizard on Zack and Zack michinoku drivers him. Oiwa and Gabe lariat each other at the same time. Oiwa rolls up Gabe and pins him.
Gabe attacks Oiwa after. Oiwa then goes after Gabe as Gabe goes to leave.
Thoughts: It went long and just didn't click. Theere were too many different styles involved here and it couldn't find any flow. Oiwa getting a win was nice though.
Overall thoughts: It was a really hard show to sit through. We got basically the same midcard tag match four times in a row to start. 10 minutes is just not enough time for 6 wrestlers and that's about how long each match was. The tag league matches weren't that great as expected. When Taguchi is arguably in the best match on the show, that should tell you about how good this one was. The main didn't work at all as they had 4 totally different people in there who just didn't click. I'd give this one a 3 out of 10 and would not recommend this at all.
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