New Japan Pro Wrestling 11/24/2024 World Tag League 2024 Day 5

New Japan Pro Wrestling 11/24/2024 World Tag League 2024 Day 5

Day 4 is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/11/new-japan-pro-wrestling-11232024-world.html

Shoma Kato vs Daiki Nagai

They trade shoulders then forearms. Nagai side headlocks him then shoulders him over. They trade forearms in the corner. Kato shoulders him over then slams him. Kato camel clutches Nagai. Kato stomps on him.

They trade forearms. Nagai twisting crossbodies him. Nagai hits a corner dropkick for 2. Nagai crabs him and Kato ropebreaks. They trade forearms then slap each other. Nagai hits a nice dropkick then crabs him. Kato then ropebreaks.

Kato armdrags and dropkicks Nagai. Kato back body drops him. Kato then taps him out with a crab.

Thoughts: It was the usual young lions match. They did about as good as you could with it as they showed some spirit and made it competitive. We haven't gotten to see these two go at it as much as Nagai and Yasuda and it was nice to get a break from Nagai and Yasuda. Kato got to do a little more here then usual and it was fine. They could have shaved a few minutes off though.

Oleg Boltin, Tiger Mask & Toru Yano vs. BULLET CLUB (Stevie Filip, Taiji Ishimori & Tome Filip)

Yano's team is attacked before it starts. Oleg is sent into the rails. Tiger hits kicks on TI then tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. Yano takes off a turnbuckle pad and is caught by Tome. Tome stomps on him. Stevie kneeling springboard swantons Yano. Yano gets his face raked by Tome thne TI chokes Yano with a shirt.

Yano pulls Stevie down by the hair. Oleg gets in and shoulders over Stevie. He slams him. TI is caught on a handspring by Oleg and takes a karelin's lift. Oleg misses a corner splash on Stevie. Oleg takes a corner dropkick then a german. Steview misses a pump kick on Yano but it is sold anyway.

Oleg hits a double suplex. Tiger hits kicks on The Filip's. He double back kicks Tome then crucifixes him for 2. Tiger spin kicks Tome in the gut and Tome spinning lariats him for 2.

Tiger takes a powerbomb + neckbreaker combo from The Filip's and is pinned.

Thoughts: It was a shorter match that was to the point. I thought it was fine but nothing memorable or great. I was surprised to see Tiger take that finish as it's a little bit of a rough bump for his age.

United Empire (Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jakob Austin Young) vs. House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL & Ren Narita)

The heels attack before it starts like usual. 4 of the 6 go outside and Ren rips Hen's shirt off before sending him into the rails. Togo eye rakes Jake then Jake single leg dropkicks him. Jake hits forearms on Togo then chops him. Khan mongolian chops Togo then uppercuts him. Khan sits on Togo's neck in the corner but the heels stop it.

Togo stomps on Khan then camel clutches him. Ren uses a chair on Jake outside. Togo kneeling chokes Khan. Ren yanks on Khan's arm then bangs it off his shoulder. Evil throws Khan out then Ren chairs Khan in the gut. Evil stands on Khan's face. Evil pulls Khan's hair and Khan forearms him. Evil pulls on the hair more then Khan shoulder throws Evil.

Hen comes in and shoulders over Evil. Hen hits a forearm flurry and Ren stops it. Hen then hits a double lariat. Hen wastelands Evil then sentons him. Evil superkicks Hen and Hen get his legs split. Ren bangs Hen's head off the buckles but he no sells it. Hen samoan drops Ren.

Jake comes in and hits euros on Ren in the corner. Jake 2nd rope dropkicks him. Ren eye rakes Jake. Khan boots Ren over and Jake backdrops Ren for 2. Ren chokes Jake then rolling armbars him. Jake ropebreaks.

Jake takes corner attacks then a 2nd rope chop to the crotch. Ren tries to bring a push-up bar in. The ref stops him. Togo chokes Jake with a weapon. Evil brings a chair in and uses it. The ref takes it then Ren hits Jake with a push up bar. Ren hits a facebuster on Jake and wins.

Thoughts: It was your usual stupid HoT match with them breaking the rules in front of the ref and the ref not caring. The other team as usual wasn't smart enough to see it coming and didn't try to cheat in return.

Evil flosses himself with Hen's title after. 

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Just 4 Guys (DOUKI, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)

HT = Hiromu Takahashi

Tai has a selfie stick. Naito takes it away and films his opponents. LIJ then attacks befor it starts. Naito stomps on Tai while holding the selfie stick. HT basement dropkicks Taka for 2. HT kicks the rope into Taka's face. Taka eyepokes him and side headlocks him. Take shoulders HT over then facelocks him. HT ropebreaks.

Naito atomic drops Taka then Taka takes basement dropkicks. Bushi chops and stomps Taka. Taka is lifted in the air for a neckbreaker for 2. Douki takes a double chop. Taka slaps Naito them pump kicks him.

Tai corner facekicks Naito then enzugiri's Bushi. Tai facekicks HT over then side kicks Naito. 

Tai is tripped from the outside then stomped on. Tai hits chops on Naito and HT. Tai takes a step up enzugiri and a superkick. Tai hits a double lariat. Bushi and Douki fight. Bushi topes Douki.

Bushi dropkicks Douki's knee then kneebreakers him. Douki step up enzugiri's Bushi and Bushi rewind kicks him. Douki does the douki chokey then Taka just does facelock at the same time. Tai then does stretch plum at the same time. Bushi taps out and Douki gets the win.

Tai won't let go of the hold on Natio after. Tai then films his opponents with his selfie stick.

Thoughts: It was a shorter tag match. They pushed Naito vs Taichi here. Everyone got their section in and not much else.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jado & Katsuya Murashima vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)

KM = Katsuya Murashima

Tana and Shane start us off. They go to the ropes. Shane cleanbreaks him. He snapmares him and dropkicks him in the neck. Tana back elbows him and 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. Mikey takes a double back elbow then KM dropkicks an opponent.

Jado and Shane go at it. Jado gets hit from Mikey on the outside. Shane throws KM into the rails. Mikey stomps and bites Jado. Jado has his legs split. Kosei comes in and stomps Jado. Kosei hits chops. Jado blocks a kick.

Kosei hits forearms on Jado then spinning enzugiri's him. Jado boots Mikey out of the corner. Tana is tagged in and he flying forearms Mikey. Tana dragon screws Kosei over the 2nd rope. Tana slams Mikey then 2nd rope swantons him for 2. 

Mikey ddt's Tana then sliding lariats him for 2. Tana dragon screws Mikey and Shane. Kosei and KM get in. KM hits a nice dropkick then corner back elbows Kosei. KM powerslams Kosei for 2. Kosei step up enzugiri's Kosei. Kosei chops KM then KM hits forearms back.

Kosei springboard dropkicks KM. Everyone gets a move in. KM cradles Kosei for 2 then he trips him. Kosei surfboards KM and taps him out.

Thoughts: It was a short one that wasn't that good. There wasn't much of note here but KM had an okay showing.

World Tag League 2024 Block A Match - BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb)

Chase baseball slides Cobb before the bell. CN gets double teamed. CN double trips his opponents and hits a double basement dropkick. Chase takes a PK from CN for 2. CN is swept on the apron. Kenta chops CN outside. Chase rakes CN's eyes with his feet and pulls his arms back.

Kenta hits chest kicks on CN in the corner then neckbreakers him for 2. Chase stomps on CN and punches him in the face. CN gets his legs split and Kenta kicks CN in the back. CN is catapulted into the bottom rope.

Chase chops CN down, CN kips up and enzugiri's him. Cobb is tagged in. He shoulders Chase over then flying shoulders him. Cobb backdrops him the standing moonsaults him for 2. Cobb dropkicks Kenta.

Cobb corner splashes Chase then throws him on a backdrop for 2. Chase earclaps Cobb. Chase handspring back elbows Cobb. Kenta top rope diving lariats Cobb. Kenta powerslams Cobb for 2.

Kenta corner dropkicks Cobb then top rope double stomps Cobb for 2. CN superkicks Kenta. Cobb jumps ovr a kneeling CN to euro Kenta in the corner. Cobb takes a double team and a facebuster + codebreaker combo for 2. CN takes a high and a knee to the face.

Cobb avoids a GTS. Chase superkicks Kenta on accident then takes a flying knee from CN. Cobb does a tour of the islands slam on Kenta and wins.

Thoughts: It was okay. Kenta and Chase tried a bit harder than usual and everyone was on the same page here. I had no real issues with this.

World Tag League 2024 Block A Match - FUNKY SAUCE (Alex Zayne & Ryusuke Taguchi) vs. TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)

RT = Ryusuke Taguchi

Oiwa slaps Alex's chest on the break on the ropes. Alex side headlocks Oiwa. Alex hits a cinammon twist on him. Alex leapfrogs RT and dropkicks Oiwa off of it. Alex then headscissor rolls RT into Oiwa. Alex cannonballs Oiwa in the corner.

RT slingshot butt drops Oiwa for 2. Alex hits a forearm combo on Oiwa then Oiwa dropkicks him. Oiwa armdrags him then knee drops Alex's arms. Oiwa splashes the arm. Zack takes downs Alex by the arm and stomps it. Zack and Oiwa twist Alex's limbs together. 

Alex hits shots on Oiwa then Oiwa armdrags him. Oiwa armlocks him. Alex step up enzugiri's Oiwa. RT comes in and hip attacks his opponents. RT suplexes him. RT armdrags him then dropkicks him in the knee. RT ankle locks him. RT gets a 2 count on him.

RT goes for a hip attack and takes an atomic drop. Zack comes in and splits RT's legs. Zack indian deathlocks the legs and kimura's him. RT ropebreaks. Zack hits kicks to the back and RT chops him up. Zack euros him then euros RT in the butt. RT hip attacks him.

Zack ankle locks RT then RT ankle locks him. Zack twists the arm with his legs. Zack hits pele kicks on RT's arm. RT enzugiri's him. Alex hiptosses Zack into a standing corkscrew moonsault. Alex suplexes Zack for 2. 

Alex superkicks Zack. Alex hits a double flipping legdrop on both opponents necks. Zack takes hip attacks in the corner and Zack is headscissored into RT's butt. Alex rolls up Zack for 2. Oiwa gutwrench suplexes Alex then Zack PK's Alex. Oiwa olympic slams Alex.

Zack running lariats Alex for 2. RT hits a ddt + reverse ddt combo. RT hip attacks Zack in the corner. Alex runs and headscissors Zack while he sits on the buckles. Zack rolls through it and armbars him. RT hip attacks Zack to break it. RT dropkicks Oiwa then hipt attacks both opponents on the ropes. Alex hits a baja blast on Zack for 2.

Zakc slepeers Alex then Oiwa sleepers RT. Zack hits a michinoku driver on Alex and wins.

Thoughts: The match was fine with RT working more serious and them getting enough time at over 17 minutes. It's too bad we haven't been getting this Taguchi all along. Alex really has a lot of interesting offense. They did a good job putting the various styles together here as we should have had some serious styles clashes.

World Tag League 2024 Block A Match - Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)

Shota and Goto fight. Shota side headlocks him then shoulders him over. Honma takes a double shoulderblock. Yoshi is hiptossed onto him then Shota is suplexed onto him. Honma gets his back double clubbed on.

Yoshi chops Honma over and Honma gets his legs split. Honma gets chopped by Yoshi. Yoshi hits forearms and chops. Honma slaps him. Shota running back elbows Yoshi then dropkicks Goto when he gets in. Shota fisherman suplexes Yoshi for 2.

Yoshi superkicks him and takes an overhead exploder. Goto and Honma trade shoulderblocks. Goto backdrops him. Honma running lariats Goto for 2. Honma misses a falling headbutt. Honma takes a headhunter + russian legsweep combo for 2.

Shota comes in to help and takes an ushigoroshi. Honma then gets one as well and Honma looked scared to death of taking it. Honma cradles Goto then takes a lariat. Yoshi and Goto get pushed into each other then Honma hits a ddt + flatliner combo.

Shota running knees Goto in the back of the head then tornado ddt's him. Shota hits ignition for 2. They trade forearms. Shota euros him, runs at him and Goto lariats Shota from behind. Shota takes a superkick + ushigoroshi.

Goto headbutts Shota. Shota rolls him up for 2 then running euros him in the back of the neck. Shota tornado ddt's Yoshi Goto running lariats Shota. Goto hits a GTW for 2. Shota death rider ddt's Goto after a Honma headbutt and picks up the win.

Thoughts: It was a solid but not great match. It went better than expected and I thought Shota carried himself here. I wasn't surprised by this as Honma, Goto and Yoshi know what they are doing but Honma especially doesn't always get the chance to do it.

We get a Claudio Castagnoli video after. He asks Shota what happened. He says you respect your elders in Japan, not question them. CC says Mox took Shota under his ring and he was the first Death Rider. He says how dare Shota question him. He says he'll teach him a lesson on January 5th personally.

Shota gets on the mic after. He says CC is lacking respect of his own. He says his task is to get wins in the tag league and win the title on January 4th. He says after every goal is clear, he will be opposite of Mox.

World Tag League 2024 Block A Match - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gabe Kidd & SANADA)

Yota and Gabe lock up. They shoulder battle and Yota knocks him over. Gabe dances, Yota flips over him then Yota side headlock takeovers him. Gabe headlock takeovers him. Gabe ducks a superkick and they stare down.

Sanada and Shingo go at it. Shingo fights off both opponents then hits a flatliner + ddt combo. They go out and Shingo is sent into the rails. They go back in and Shingo double lariats the heels. 

Sanada takes a double shoulderblock then Yota splashes Sanada. Yota hits forearms on Sanada. Gabe trips Sanada. Sanada is lariated over the top. Everyone fights outside. Yota's head is banged off the apron then Gabe bites him and bangs his head off the rails.

All 4 go into the aisle in the stands to fight. Yota is chopped over by Gabe. Gabe says f--k all the AEW wrestlers and tells Max to suck his d--k. They go back into the ring and Sanada stomps Yota. 

Yota takes a foot choke from Gabe. Yota dropkicks Sanada in the knee. Gabe sends Shingo in the rails and backdrops him on the apron. Sanada stomps on Yota and foot chokes him. Gabe forearms Yota over. Yota takes a dropkick and slap. Shingo whips Gabe into a table against the rail.

Yota nails Sanada in the gut. Shingo slams and sentons Sanada. Shingo suplexes Sanada for 2. Sanada kicks the middle rope into Shingo's crotch. Sanada paradise locks Shingo then dropkicks him in the butt to break it. Sanada takes a sliding lariat from Sanada.

Gabe and Yota get in and trade chest chops. Gabe lariats him over. Yota superkicks and pumping knees him. Yota headbutts him and Gabe goes down. Gabe suplexes Yota. Sanada misses a shining wizard on Yota. Yota armdrags him then does his curbstomp move. Sanada takes a double backdrop for 2.

Shingo larits Gabe on the ropes and they lariat each other at the same time. They trade punches and headbutts then lariat each other over. Sanada shining wizards Shingo. Yota goes for a spear on Sanada then Sanada dropkicks him.

Yota flying knees Sanada. Yota tries a marlow crash and takes knees to the crotch off of it. The ref questions him and Sanada says it was accidental. Sanada then pushes the ref and low blows Yota. The ref lets it go because this is what NJPW does. Yota then hurricanrana's Sanada and wins.

Thoughts: The finish sucked and was really stupid from a booking perspective. If the faces were going to win 2 seconds after a low blow, why not just DQ Sanada? They had good match with a lot of striking and brawling. They kept a pretty fast pace up and the strike trades never really stopped here.   

Gabe is mad about losing after and wants to take his anger out on Sanada. Yota says him and Gabe are sworn enemies but say they have the same vision of making NJPW the best. He promises he will beat Finlay at the Dome and tells him to beat Omega on January 5th. Gabe just gives him the finger. Yota says his team is gonna win this.

Overall thoughts: It was a good show overall. The top three matches delivered and really helped this one out. The main had a stupid finish though. The semi-main was the best thing on here. I'd give this one a 6 out of 10 overall.