Csonka Previews The NJPW World Tag League Finals

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the NJPW World Tag League Finals event. Unfortunately, the NJPW World Tag League tournament lived down to expectations, providing some really poor shows in the down part of the NJPW calendar. It was expected, but didn’t make it any easier to get through. There were only a few matches worth going out of your way to see, and I am glad that it’s coming to an end. The NJPW World Tag League finals event is the final “big show” of the year for the company as we hit the final stretch to WrestleKingdom 12, and while the tournament being lackluster, the finals have the chance to deliver some great matches. So today I will break down the card. I hope that you enjoy today’s preview, and feel free to share your thoughts. It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful of other’s opinions and don’t be a dick.” And don’t be afraid of sharing your predictions. Have fun, and always, thanks for reading.

Katsuya Kitamura, Hirai Kawato, Henare, David Finlay, & Togi Makabe vs. Jushin Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan: This is your typical, get everyone not doing anything, on the show sort of match featuring mainly young lions and dads, and nothing at stake. Thee matches range from perfectly solid to sometimes very good as the dads really seem to love working with the lions, and the lions are always out to impress their mentors. Katsuya Kitamura, Hirai Kawato, and Henare are all good, with Kitamura & Kawato really getting over with live crowds. Kawato’s hot tag and subsequent near falls in this match will likely be the highlights of the whole thing. Winners: Jushin Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

War Machine, Jeff Cobb, & Michael Elgin vs. Leo Tonga, Chase Owens. Yujiro Takahashi, & Hangman Page: Team Hoss vs. Bullet Club is the second match on the show. If had to guess, it feels like this match/show is about heating up a Bullet Club trio for the trios title gauntlet at WrestleKingdom. The tiles have largely been ignored, but I can see Fale leading a trio of himself, Yujiro and Page into battle on January 4th. They have this show and the two Road to the Tokyo Dome shows to finalize the card, and I think that starts here. Winners: Leo Tonga, Chase Owens. Yujiro Takahashi, & Hangman Page

Bad Luck Fale vs. BUSHI: Playing off of what I just spoke about in the last match, this match is also about setting up the trios title match, but doing so in a much more direct way. If that is the plan here, judging by the usual booking and heavyweight/junior heavyweight dynamic that NJPW tends to book, I would expect this to largely be a destruction by Fale to set up his team’s spot in the trios title match by destroying poor little BUSHI. If BUSHI were smart, he’d offer to let Daryl Takahashi to take his place so that he can get revenge from the summer. Winners: Bad Luck Fale

Sami Callihan & Juice Robinson vs. Best Friends: Well this looks like a hell of a little treat, I was expecting another random multi-person tag, but getting the straight up tag between these two teams totally works for me. Both teams did well in the WTL, having some of the better matches and always being up to deliver. Sami Callihan & Juice Robinson were a thrown together WTL team, and right now, Juice has no real direction. Best Friends kick ass, and are a regular team, not only appearing in ROH, but possibly getting more NJPW work. Trent is now a heavyweight, but they don’t seem to have a direction set for him. I can see Best Friends winning in order to possibly set them up for a tag title match down the line. This has a chance to be very good or even great. Winners: Best Friends

CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hirooki Goto) vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Desperado, & KES): The first goal of this match is to continue the build to the Suzuki vs. Goto Never Title match at WrestleKingdom 12. They’ll get some run here, having some interactions, but likely not too much. If I had to guess, I also think this will be used to heat up YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, & Tomohiro Ishii for a spot in the trios title match. Match quality wise I don’t have the highest of hopes for this, as it will likely be filled with the usual Suzuki-gun bullshit that holds back the vast majority of their matches. Winners: CHAOS

KUSHIDA & Kota Ibushi vs. Cody & Marty Scurll: This should be a solid match, possibly even fun depending on how it’s worked and if Cody is motivated or not. Many times his NJPW tag work feels lackadaisical, but he’ll get a chance to get in some work with Ibushi ahead of their clash at WrestleKingdom 12, while Scurll & KUSHIDA will be building to the junior heavyweight title match. Knowing NJPW’s love of Cody, I’d expect him to pick up the win here, likely on KUSHIDA, as he feels like the expendable one in the match. Winners: Cody & Marty Scurll

Rocky Romero, Sho, & Yoh vs. The Elite: This has the potential to be a tremendously fun match, Sho, & Yoh have been great since their return and The Elite always deliver an try to steal the show. While Romero is basically a manager these days, he can still go and has been fun in the tags he’s been working in as part of CHAOS. The match should be at the least very good, and has potential to be great. With Omega in a co-main event position at WrestleKingdom 12, and Romero essentially a manager these days, I see Omega pinning Romero here to score the win for The Elite. Winners: The Elite

Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito & Himoru Takahashi: To me this is one of the more difficult matches to call, as everyone here is a major player heading into WrestleKingdom 12. Takahashi & Ospreay will be building to the junior heavyweight title match. This is a real all star tag match, and it should get a lot of time. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a minor injury angle shot here, with Naito softening up Okada before the Road to the Tokyo Dome shows, where the assaults will continue to make Naito look like he may have Okada right where he wants him ahead of the big title match. With the talent involved, the match should be at the least very good, and has potential to be great. Okada & CHAOS have controlled the feud on the WTL tour, so I can see the injury tease on Okada, and the boys from LIJ picking up the big win. Winners: Tetsuya Naito & Himoru Takahashi

World Tag League Finals: EVIL & SANADA vs. The Guerrillas of Destiny: While the 2017 WTL was a complete chore to get through, I do think that the final match between EVIL & SANADA vs. The Guerrillas of Destiny has a ton of potential. EVIL & SANADA work well together, and are two guys that seize the opportunity to shine when it’s given to them; SANADA had a great 2016 and I felt was primed for a great 2017, and while his year was good, it was EVIL who had the great 2017. They have been a huge part of the LIJ multi-man tags that have been so great, and they will deliver in the main event spot. I was extremely hard on the Guerrillas of Destiny at first. They were a bad team with a Bullet Club sticker slapped on them and sold as great. But slowly, they started to improve, and became a good team and then a very good team with the ability to deliver in big time matches. I don’t think that they are a great team, but they have become a way better team than I could have ever imagined; this is due to the patience of NJPW, who smartly doesn’t bail when an angle doesn’t click right away (see also Okada). At the end of the day, I thin that the company holds serve; EVIL & SANADA are part of the six-man champions with BUSHI, and they want the entire LIJ unit on the big show, so they should be defending the titles in some cluster trio like last year. This also means that Gedo is going back to the Guerrillas, and will have them move onto challenge for the tag titles and likely regain them at WrestleKingdom 12. Winners: The Guerrillas of Destiny

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”