New Japan Pro Wrestling 12/8/2024 World Tag League 2024 Day 15

New Japan Pro Wrestling 12/8/2024 World Tag League 2024 Day 15

Day 14: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/new-japan-pro-wrestling-1262024-world.html

Tiger Mask vs. Daiki Nagai

Nagai's takedown is blocked. Nagai backs him up on the ropes and chops him on the break. Nagai hits boots and forearms on the break and yells at Tiger. Tiger chinlocks him and Tiger ropebreaks. Tiger facelocks him.

Tiger hits kicks and knees in the corner then double underhook suplexes him. Nagai dropkicks him. Nagai hits forearms then corner dropkicks him. Nagai takes him down and cradles him. Tiger takes him down by the arm and armbars him.

Tiger hits kicks then spin kicks him. Tiger buzzsaw kicks him then tiger suplexes him for the win.

Thoughts: This was different. Both guys were stiff with each other and Nagai tried to punk out Tiger some. Tiger hit a stiff buzzsaw kick near the end here before getting the win. 

Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)

KM = Katsuya Murashima

Mikey and KM lock up. Mikey chops him then takes forearms.  They shoulder battle and Mikey shoulders him over. Kato and Shane trde wristlocks. Shane dropkicks him in the back of the neck. They trade forearms and dropkicks. Shane dropkicks him and throws KM into the rails outside.

Mikey hits chops on Kato. Shane kicks Kato in the back for 2. Mikey bullies Kato around and lets him hit forearms. Kato flying forearms him. KM gets in and flying forearms Mikey. He shoulders him over then Shane as well.

KM powerslams Shane. KM takes corner attacks then a backdrop + neckbreaker combo. Shane sliding lariats Kato and reverse slams KM. Shane pumping knees KM and wins.

Thoughts: It was similar to the opener with the young lions getting bullied around. TMDK got the win here as expected and it was a one-sided whooping.

Natural Classics (Stevie Filip & Tome Filip) vs. Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)

The Classics attack before it starts. Goto and Yoshi are sent into the rails.

Tome bullies Yoshi in the ring. Tome takes a double shjoulderblock. Stevie gets his back double clubbed on. Yoshi hits forearms on Tome and Tome facekicks him over. Stevie chops Yoshi over. Tome slams Yoshi and legdrops him. Tome running boots Yoshi and Stevie kneeling springboard swantons him. 

Tome and Yoshi trade. Yoshi dropkicks him in the knee. Goto corner spinning heel kicks Tome and backdrops him for 2. Goto takes a dropkick, a german and a suplex for 2. Tome hits shots on Goto then Goto ushigoroshi's him. Yoshi and Stevie trade forearms.

Steview pump kicks Goto and Yosho takes a double superkick. Tome tope con hilos Goto outside. Yoshi hits forearms on The Classics then takes a step up enzugiri. Yoshi takes an air raid crash and Stevie top rope ssp's Yoshi for 2.

Yoshi headscissors Stevie into Tome then Goto hits a double lariat. Yoshi lariats Stevie then Stevie takes a double team elbow slice bomb. Yoshi pins Stevie.

Thoughts: It was the best Filip's match so far and of course, it was their last match here. This had a faster pace to it and they kept this one moving. It was better than I expected and I liked it. It was a little rushed.

United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jakob Austin Young & Jeff Cobb) vs. Just 4 Guys (DOUKI, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)

Taka and Cobb go at it. Taka wants a test of strength and twists Cobb's fingers. Taka tries to shoulder him over and can't. Cobb blocks a drope toe hold then walks on Taka. Cobb standing moonsaults Taka for 2. Khan sends Tai into the rails outside.

Jake knees Taka in the gut and foot chokes him. Khan mongolian chops Taka then sits on his neck in the corner. Khan mongolian chops him. Taka pump kicks Khan then superkicks him. Taka pulls Cobb over the top. Tai faekicks Khan and throws Jake over the top onto Cobb.

Tai side kicks Khan. Khan dragon screws then legbars Tai. Tai ropebreaks. Khan kneebreakers Tai. Tai spin kicks and urakens Khan. Tai running lariats him. Douki and Jake get tagged in.

Jake spin kicks him. Douki running back elbows him. Jake leg lariats him. Cobb corner splashes Douki then Jake flipping snapmares Douki for 2. Douki gori bombs Jake then does the douki chokey. Douki taps him out with it.

Thoughts: It was a short waste of time. We saw a little of everyone and not much else.

Tai refuses to let the stretch plum go on Khan after. Tai holds his KOPW title up at Khan after.

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, Gedo & KENTA) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji)

The heels attack before the hell. Shingo sends Kenta into the rails and Chase double throat thrusts Yota. Chase takes a double shoulder then an elbow drop and a splash for 2.

Bushi throws Chase out and is tripped by Gedo outside. Gedo sends him into the rails. Gedo hits Bushi with the edge of the hammer. Kenta and Yota fight in the aisle. Chase eye rakes Shingo outside.

Gedo stomps on Bushi. Chase and Kenta foot choke Bushi in the corner. Bushi flying headscissors Chase. Shingo gets in. He slams Kenta and shoulders over Chase. Shingo corner lariats Chase then hits punches and chops. Shingo suplexes Chase. 

Chase takes a double team then takes a double backdrop. Shingo takes a pumping knee from Chase and goes down. Kenta ddt's Shingo. Shingo slingblades Kenta. Yota curbstomps Kenta. Kenta russian legsweeps him. Gedo gets in. Yota drives Gedo's head into the mat. Gedo takes corner attacks then takes a triple basement dropkick.

Bushi topes Chase outside. Yota curb stomps Gedo and gets the win.

Thoughts: It was an average tag with not much of note. The heels cheated and the faces made their comeback and won.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jado, Oleg Boltin, Tomoaki Honma & Toru Yano vs. House Of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)

The faces try to attack HoT as they walk the aisle. It's one of the slowest run-in's ever with Yano and Tana hobbling in. Tana sends Evil into the rails. Evil is flipped over the rails.

Tana forearms Evil in the ring. Tana is tripped by the heels and the other wrestlers fight outside. Evil chokes Tana with a rope. Evil chokes Tana with a mic wire. Ren stomps on Tana's leg then legbars him.
Tana gets his legs split. Yujiro facekicks Tana on the ropes. Kanemarue dropkicks Tana in the knee then figure fours him. Honma headbutt drops Kanemaru to break it up. Sho ddt's Tana's knee. Tana hits forearms on Sho then dragon screws him. Oleg gts in and shoulders over Sho. Oleg double shoulders 2 opponents over then rams Kanemaru into Ren before slamming Kanemaru.

Oleg hits karelin's lift on Kanemaru then does it to Ren. Oleg splashes Ren. Ren dropkicks Oleg in knee and Oleg is sent into the exposed buckle. Oleg double suplexes Ren and Evil.

Tana comes in and hits shots on Evil. He then slingblades him. Tana stomps on Evil. Tana splashes the ref on accident when Evil pulls the ref in front of Tana. The rest of HoT comes in and beats up on the faces. Tana is choked with a weapon. Tana blocks a chair shot then hits Evil with the chair many times. Tana then hits the rest of HoT with it. The ref then DQ's Tana.

Tana then keeps hitting Evil with the chair after.

Thoughts: Well, it was nice to see the faces finally stand up for themselves. Of course the stupid ref's call the DQ this time and not the other 500 times HoT did the same thing. It was the usual HoT match otherwise.

Tana challenges Evil to a lumberjack match at the Tokyo Dome and puts his retirement on the line against him. 

FUNKY SAUCE (Alex Zayne & Ryusuke Taguchi) & Shota Umino vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Shota shows Zack the fake toy belt he has that a kid gave to him. Zack and Shota go at it. Zack upkicks him and they stand off. They miss attacks. Shota armdrags him, Zack headscissors him and they stand off.

Oiwa side headlocks RT and shoulders him over. RT dropkicks Oiwa. Oiwa takes a bulldog into a baseball slide. RT tries a slingshot butt drop but Oiwa gets his knees up into RT's crotch. RT is then crotched on the top.  RT's opponents then shake the ropes.

Zack euros RT in the butt. Kosei PK's RT for 2. Kosei chops RT in the butt. RT rolls into a hip attck on Kosei. Alex hiptosses Kosei and hits a cinnamon twist. Alex flipping legdrops Kosei's neck. Kosei is on the buckles and Alex flips into a hurricanrana on him. Alex hits a baja blast for 2. 

Alex pump kicks Kosei. Kosei tries a running step up enzugiri but doesn't really hit it. Shota and Zack get in. They trade euros. Shota euros him down then fisherman suplexes him for 2. Shota suplexes Zack.

Shota enzugiri's him then Zack PK's him. Oiwa gets in and dropkicks Shota. Shota exploders Oiwa. Oiwa takes a headscissors into RT's butt then RT running hip attacks Oiwa for 2. Oiwa takes a double hip attack for 2.

People come in and out fast for a move and Oiwa tornado ddt's Zack. RT comes in and ankle locks Oiwa. Oiwa hits a hard lariat. Oiwa atomic drops RT then sleepers him. Oiwa spinning lariats him and gets the pin.

Shota and Zack talk after.

Thoughts: It was another average trios match.  They didn't go for a great one here though they got more time and gave a little more effort than usual. They did tease Zack and Shota some here.

World Tag League 2024 Final Match - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gabe Kidd & SANADA)

HT and Gabe collide with a lariat. They trade chest chops.  HT hits some shots on him. Gabe takes a double team shot and a double basement dropkick. Naito chinlocks Gabe then headscissors him. Gabe's head is banged off HT's feet. HT crossbodies both opponents then crossbodies both outside. They all fight outside in the seats. Naito is sent into the seats.

Sanada eye rakes HT in the stands. Gabe bites Naito's head. Gabe powerbombs Naito through a table. HT has to beat the count to get in. Gabe chops HT in the corner. Sanada stomps and foot chokes HT in the corner. Gabe then runs HT into the stands and beats him up there.

HT has to avoid being counted out again. HT dropkicks Sanada in the knee. He wants to tag in Naito but Naito is down outside. Gabe foot chokes HT. HT chops Gabe. Gabe baseball slides Naito then does Naito's pose. HT hits a double crossbody.

Sanada eye rakes HT and Naito is tagged in. Naito sends the heels into each other. He armdrags and baseball slides Sanada. Naito neckbreakers Sanada twice. Naito wraps his legs around Sanada's head. Sanada kicks the rope into Naito's crotch. Gabe chops, headbutts, lariats and backdrops Naito for 2. Gabe then brainbusters Naito for 2.

Naito slaps Gabe then rolls him up for 2. Gabe slaps him back. We get some quick action. HT hits an AA on Gabe then falcon arrows Sanada. Naito assisted tornado ddt's Gabe. Naito hits destino on Gabe for 2. Sanada pulls the ref out on the count.

HT crossbodies Sanada off the apron. Gabe blocks Naito's destino with a tombstone. HT and Sanada get in. HT dropkicks him in the knee. Sanada dragon sleepers HT and grounds him with it. Sanada does a top rope moonsault but HT gets his knees up.

HT lariats Sanada then hits a time bomb for 2. HT superkicks Sanada. Sanada pushes HT into the ref and low blows him. Sanada back rolls HT but Naito pulls the ref out on the count. Naito pop-up low blows Gabe. Sanada takes a superkick and a running lariat. HT hits a time bomb on Sanada for 2.

Sanada and Gabe trade shots. Gabe 2nd rope moonsaults Sanada. Sanada top rope moonsaults HT for 2. HT takes a piledriver. Naito destino's Gabe. Sanada shining wizards both opponents. HT then rolls up Sanada and wins.

Thoughts: It was good match. They was a lot of brawling outside that didn't accomplish much early. But it was a traditional face vs heel style match with HT getting the big win over the heavies as a junior. We got a decent finishing stretch and this got a bunch of time. 

Naito talks on the mic after. He challenges Hiromu to a singles match at the Dome.

World Tag League 2024 Overall thoughts: It was a horrible tour. The teams selected weren't very good with many teams having an obvious person who was there to eat pins and not do much else. Even if NJPW put good teams together, their roster is pretty weak now and it wouldn't have been great. But the teams selected were really low effort. Because most of the teams were weak, the matches weren't going to be that good and they weren't. The wrestlers weren't all to blame though as the main was really the only thing that got enough time on these shows. And that's because they had a ton of people on this tour and had to have extra matches to get everyone on the show. I really struggled to get through this and even ended up struggling to get through other shows as well because I dreaded having to watch some of these shows. I would not watch this tour again even if you offered me $10,000.

Overall thoughts: NJPW likes to do semi-big shows where there's only one match of importance. This was one of those. Everything but the main were all throwaway house show matches we've seen a zillion times. There was no effort put into this card and your local indy likely tries harder to put a good show on than they did here. The show wasn't anything special. I liked the main and the rest of it can be skipped. I wouldn't recommend it and would only give it a 4 out of 10.