Csonka’s NJPW WTL (Night 6) Review 11.24.17

Csonka’s NJPW WTL (Night 6) Review 11.24.17

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Block B Match: Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated David Finlay & Katsuya Kitamura @ 8:35 via pin [**¾]
– Block B Match: The Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Togi Makabe & Henare @ 9:04 via pin [***]
– Block B Match: War Machine defeated Best Friends @ 14:11 via pin [***½]
– Block B Match: KES defeated Michael Elgin & Jeff Cobb @ 14:40 via pin [***]

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– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– Day One Review at this link..
– Day Two Review at this link..
– Day Three Review at this link..
– Day Four Review at this link..
– Day Five Review at this link..

– Going forward, reviews will just be tournament matches, since the shows aren’t live and that’s all New Japan World will be uploading…

– This is small venue, single camera, no commentary.

David Finlay & Katsuya Kitamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano: Finlay and Kitamura attack before the bell, and take Ishii to the floor and then work double teams on Yano. Everyone spills to the floor for some brawling, Ishii and Yano battle back with Yano taking Kitamura into the crowd and beating on him with a chair. Back to the ring and Yano removes the buckle pad as Ishii rolls Kitamura back in. Yano slams him to the exposed buckle and Ishii tags in. Ishii lays in chops and laughs at Kitamura’s attempts to fire back. Kitamura finally catches him with huge chops, but Ishii cuts that shit off with a forearm strike. Ishii slams Kitamura to the exposed buckles and tags Yano back in. Yano whips him to the buckles and maintains control. Kitamura manages a shoulder block to cut off Yano and Finlay gets the tag. He hits a dropkick, sends Ishii to the floor and hits a back spinning elbow off he ropes. The ref stops Yano’s low blow, and Finlay rolls him up for 2. They both hit atomic drops, Ishii tags in but Finlay fight both he and Yano off and tags in Kitamura. The big man lays in shoulder blocks and slams, and then press slams Ishii to the buckles and follows with a suplex for 2. Finlay fires up Kitamura, but Yano takes Finlay out and to the floor. Ishii hits the Saito suplex for 2.Finlay returns, cuts off Ishii and it breaks down with Finlay hitting a plancha on Yano on the floor. Ishii & Kitamura trade strikes, and Kitamura hits the suplex, covering for 2. Ishii fires back with the lariat, covering for 2.The brainbuster puts Kitamura away. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated David Finlay & Katsuya Kitamura @ 8:35 via pin [**¾] This was a pretty good match to kick things off, the crowd was interested and they kept a good pace, building to the finish.

Togi Makabe & Henare vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa: Henare and Tonga to begin. Tonga wants Makabe, so Henare attacks and they brawl right away. Tonga hits a dropkick, but Henare follows with arm drags and a dropkick. Henare knocks Loa to the floor, they double-team Tonga but Loa rushes backing to make the save. Tonga lands knees on Henare and that allows Loa to tag on as the Guerrillas take the heat on the young lion. Loa follows with a series of slams, and Tonga tags in, hitting a splash and then a suplex, covering for 2. Tonga now works over Henare with strikes in the corner, allowing Loa to slam Henare to the buckles. He grounds the action, working a chinlock. Henare escapes and hits a desperation dropkick. Wholesale changes to Makabe and Tonga, and Makabe hits clotheslines to both Guerrillas, and then focuses on Tonga. The lariat follows and Makabe covers for 2. Makabe misses a lariat. Tonga hits the head butt and corner clothesline, and the reverse DDT connects for 2. Makabe hits a lariat, cutting off Tonga and we get wholesale changes to Henare and Loa. Henare runs wild, hitting clotheslines and forearms. He heads up top, and hits the shoulder block, covering for 2. Loa cuts him off, and hits a Samoan drop before taking out Makabe. The powerbomb/neck breaker combo gets 2 on Henare. Makabe makes the save, hits lariats and takes Tonga to the floor. Henare heads up top and misses a high cross on Loa. Loa hits the sitout powerbomb for 2. Loa finally hits the Samoan driver for the win. The Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Togi Makabe & Henare @ 9:04 via pin [***] This was a good back and forth match, with a sense of urgency and energy that many of the WTL matches have lacked so far. Everyone got some time to shine and they worked well together.

Raymond Rowe & Hanson vs. Trent & Chucky T: They shake hands and we’re friends to begin, as Trent and Rowe start things off. Rowe overpowers Trent, and he powders as Chucky T and Hanson tag in. Chucky T and Trent both try shoulder blocks, but bounce off of Hanson and roll to the floor. Rowe tags in and Trent gets the sneak attack, Chucky T joins in and they double team him and take control. Trent hits the face stomp and Chucky T follows with the slow motion senton atomico. Rowe punches him in the face, almost killing Chucky T. Trent attacks, but Rowe hits the shotgun knees. Hanson tags in and starts working over Trent, but he fires up and sends Rowe to the floor. The Best Friends cut off Hanson, and work him over on the floor. Back in and they take the heat on Hanson, but it doesn’t last long Hanson hits clotheslines and tags in Rowe, who starts tossing Trent and Chucky T around with ease. Rowe then hits a double XPLODER, and gets a cover for 2. But the Best Friends cut him off with double teams; Hanson gets the tag and takes control with forever clotheslines, but gets cut off and eats the double team chokeslam for 2. Rowe rushes back in to make the save, it breaks down as War machine works double teams on Trent, picking up a near fall. They look for fallout, but Chucky T makes the save. The Best friends hit a soul food/German suplex combo to take out Rowe. Hanson makes the comeback, lays out Trent and heads up top and Trent rushes up and hits the super release German and a piledriver, for a really god near fall. Chucky T tags in but Rowe makes the save. He and Trent trade chops, but War Machine hits the pop up powerslam but Chucky T gets a desperation roll up for 2. The Rowe knee strike and fallout finally finishes Chucky T. War Machine defeated Best Friends @ 14:11 via pin [***½] This was a very good tag match, and one of the best of the tournament so far. Both teas are obviously great, and they worked a smart match, keeping the crowd interested and they did a great job of allowing War Machine to look dominant, but also laid out a smart match to allow the Best Friends to be more than competitive, especially down the stretch.

Michael Elgin & Jeff Cobb vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.: Cobb and Smith to begin. Smith takes things to the mat, working for an arm bar, but Cobb makes the ropes. They work into a grappling series, working smooth transitions and counters, and Cobb shooting for a single leg, but Smith catches him with an arm bar again. Cobb makes the ropes, and hits an amateur slam. They work back to the feet, with Smith continually going for the arm. It breaks down with Archer and Elgin joining in. The action spills to the floor for a spot of brawling. Cobb and Smith roll back in, Archer follows and they hit a Hart attack on Cobb. KES takes out Elgin as they isolate Cobb. Archer connects with shoulder blocks, covering for 2. Smith starts working the leg of Cobb, grounding the powerhouse. Cobb manages to fight of f Smith and then Archer, and gets the tag to Elgin. Large Michael runs wild, taking out Archer and isolating Smith. Cobb keeps Archer on the floor, Elgin lays in repeated clotheslines to Smith, and that leads to a double down. Wholesale changes to Cobb and Archer, Cobb starts hitting tosses on Archer, it breaks down with everyone in. Cobb tosses Archer around, but Smith cuts him off with a Saito suplex. Elgin powerbombs Smith and everyone is down. Cobb lays in forearms on Archer, sets him up top and hits a dropkick. Smith makes the save, but Elgin and Cobb work him over and Elgin hits a superplex on Archer. Cobb hits a standing moonsault and shooting star head butt for 2. Elgin and Cobb look to finish things, but Smith cuts off Cobb. KES takes control, and Archer hits a chokeslam on Elgin. KES isolates Cobb and finishes him with the killer bomb. KES defeated Michael Elgin & Jeff Cobb @ 14:40 via pin [***]This was an overall good match, they worked well together and Elgin and Cobb were more than competitive before falling to the champions. I enjoyed this overall, but really felt it was missing drama down the line and that it needed a hit homestretch to take it to the next level.

A Block:
* Juice Robinson and Sami Callihan: (2-0) 4pts.
* Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale: (2-0) 4pts.
* Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI: (1-1) 2pts.
* Yujiro Takahashi and Hangman Page: (1-1) 2pts.
* Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka: (1-1) 2pts.
* Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima: (1-1) 2pts.
* Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi: (0-2) 0pts.
* SANADA and EVIL: (0-2) 0pts.

B Block:
* Killer Elite Squad: (2-0) 4pts.
* War Machine: (2-0) 4pts.
* Jeff Cobb and Michael Elgin: (1-1) 2pts.
* Best Friends: (1-1) 2pts.
* Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii: (1-1) 2pts.
* Guerrillas of Destiny: (1-1) 2pts.
* Henare and Togi Makabe: (0-2) 0pts.
* Katsuya Kitamura and David Finlay: (0-2) 0pts.

-Thanks for reading.

– End scene.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Day 6 of the NJPW WTL was a nice rebound after some really bland and lifeless shows. If you’re cherry picking matches, War Machine vs. Best Friends is the best of the bunch.