Csonka’s NJPW World Tag League (Night 8) 11.27.16

Csonka’s NJPW World Tag League (Night 8) 11.27.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Block B Match : Katsuyori Shibata & Yuji Nagata defeated Yoshitatsu & Billy Gunn @ 11:00 via pin [**¾]
– Block B Match : Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma defeated Kenny Omega & Chase Owens @ 12:36 via pin [***]
– Block B Match : Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Bad Luck Fale & BONE SOLDIER @ 12:30 via submission [**½]
– Block B Match : Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii defeated SANADA & EVIL @ 20:09 via pin [****]

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– Like the BOTSJ & The G1, I will be only covering the tournament matches.

Block B Match: : So Yoshitatsu was still no good here, but thankfully Gunn was all fired up and ready to work. Seeing Gunn lock up with Katsuyori Shibata & Yuji Nagata was a ton of fun, he more than held his own and honestly carried the work for his team. I had my concerns about Gunn’s inclusion, but I can’t praise his effort enough. He’s in shape, works hard, the crowd loves him and all of his matches, despite Katsuyori Yoshitatsu’s efforts to tank then, have been solid to good. Yoshitatsu brings absolutely nothing but suck to his matches; bad work, no fire and a dead fish when selling. Shibata picked up a win they needed and really should have gotten, pinning Yoshitatsu. I have an odd desire to see a Billy Gunn vs. Shibata match, so when Billy tells him to suck it, Shibata can look at him puzzled and kick his dick off. Katsuyori Shibata & Yuji Nagata defeated Yoshitatsu & Billy Gunn @ 11:00 via pin [**¾] Billy Gunn, Katsuyori Shibata & Yuji Nagata surprisingly worked well together here to provide an enjoyable match and better than the usual tournament efforts.

Block B Match: Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma defeated Kenny Omega & Chase Owens @ 12:36 via pin : Good match here, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma have had a rough go in terms of picking up wins, but have been working hard. I really like the Omega/Owens pairing. Owens has been steadily improving the past two years, and it feels as if they see something in him, pairing him with the top guy in Bullet Club. He and Omega play off each other well; Omega and Owens are assholes and have enough heat that it played very well off of the crowd’s love for Honma. This was just a simple, well worked and laid our tag team match, with young Chase falling to the kokeshi. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma defeated Kenny Omega & Chase Owens @ 12:36 via pin [***]: In a sea of mediocrity, the good and well worked matched can really stand out. This was one of those matches, while nothing special here, the clean and smart work stood out as all four men played their roles well. Sometimes simple is often for the best.

Block B Match: Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Bad Luck Fale & BONE SOLDIER: Yoshitatsu was no good in the opener, but BONE SOLDIER one upped him here, delivering yet another bumbling, lazy and lifeless effort. BONE SOLDIER is so bad that it even feels as If Fale feels as if he is trying less. When it was Fale and Okada or HASHI it was perfectly fine. The best thing about this match, and when NJPW does these tournaments, was HASHI winning with the butterfly lock. Getting over HASHI’s secondary finisher in a match like this becomes very valuable down the line in a bigger match, because fans now see that it works. In theory, it will help HASHI in a bigger and more important situation, after his G1 run, the fans have responded well to his performances, as he tries to become more than Okada’s little brother. It’s hard to do when they are paired together, but HASHI continues to work his ass off and has had a great 2016. The home stretch, where there was simply too much BONE SOLDIER for anyone’s liking, took away from a match that was starting to look as if it may end up as a good one. It wasn’t, it was just fine. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Bad Luck Fale & BONE SOLDIER @ 12:30 via submission [**½] Watching BONE SOLDIER and Yoshitatsu battle for worst professional grappler on earth on these shows is a soul crushing experience at times, I just have to keep in mind the good things I get on the shows, brush it off and hope that the next show is better.

Block B Match: Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii defeated SANADA & EVIL @ 20:09 via pin : This was an excellent tag and easily the best match on the show. CHAOS and Los Ingobernables have worked like 500 variations on tag matches this year; regular tags, six-mans, eight-mans. So when they get together, I not only expect it to be good, but they often deliver something great like they did here. Both teams had put in some strong performances prior to the tournament, and they took their recent successes and past matches and delivered what felt as an effortless and excellent match. It felt as if there was no challenge for these four, Goto as a single he ha no credibility and needs to step away unless they have plans to put some form of singles title on him, but with Ishii, he feels rejuvenated and has a purpose. This had a great intensity to it, which these matches all too often lack. Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii defeated SANADA & EVIL @ 20:09 via pin [****] Considering thru history between CHAOS and Los Ingobernables, the failure of the Guerrillas of Destiny and how well this came off, can we just move forward with these teams as the main tag title feud in 2017? Also, toss War Machine in there.

BLOCK B STANDINGS (as of night 8)
* Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI -6 pts.
* SANADA & EVIL – 6 pts.
* Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii – 6 pts.
* Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma – 4 pts.
* Yoshitatsu & Billy Gunn- 4pts.
* Katsuyori Shibata & Yuji Nagata – 4 pts.
* Kenny Omega & Chase Owens – 2 pts.
* Bad Luck Fale & BONE SOLDIER – 0 pts.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

This was a good show with an absolutely great main event.

SCORE: 7.0

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was a good show with an absolutely great main event.