Pantoja’s NJPW World Tag League & Super Jr. Tag League Review 12.2.22

NJPW World Tag League & Super Jr. Tag League Night 9

December 2^nd, 2022 | Osaka Municipal Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 945

We’re back after a day off with a “supershow” that has both the juniors and heavyweights in action. The big news is that Chase Owens has pulled out of the tournament after a death in his family. He and Fale will be forfeiting the rest of their matches. Tonight’s was against Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI. I’ll be listing two points for the teams they haven’t faced yet which are TMDK, LIJ, United Empire, and Aussie Open.

DOUKI and Yoshinobu Kanemaru [0] vs. Kevin Knight and KUSHIDA [2]

The only winless team in these tournaments to not be from the House of Torture is DOUKI and Kanemaru. We got some early brawling from the teams to start before a battle between DOUKI and KUSHIDA happened. They worked well together and are the better halves of their teams, so that makes sense. I liked that the exchange ended at a stalemate with simultaneous cross bodies. I’d be down for some singles stuff with them. Knight did well but Kanemaru got his knees up on a frog splash attempt and a Brainbuster kept him down after 7:53. That was a fine little opening contest. Both teams are eliminated. [**½]

Alex Coughlin and Gabriel Kidd [0] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toru Yano [4]

I wish we got more here. Coughlin and Kidd are one of my favorite duos to watch, while Tanahashi is Tanahashi. Alas, what we got was still enjoyable and pretty solid. The Young Lions attacked at the bell to try and finally score a win, which is just what I want if you’re a winless team in a tournament. Surprisingly, Tanahashi got worked over for a bit but he won with High Fly Flow in a quick 4:02. To the point and entertaining. [**½]

Dick Togo and SHO [0] vs. Lio Rush and YOH [8]

The continuation of the disappointing YOH/SHO rivalry. That could’ve been something special with good booking. The House of Torture attacked before the match and the referee even got beaten up out there. As YOH was in trouble, EVIL put a new official in the ring to officially start this. SHO then beat YOH with a Shock Arrow in 0:18. That’s the first time a low-tier team beat a top-tier one in the Jr. bracket. [NR]

Aaron Henare and The Great-O-Khan [6] vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi [0]

Guess what? The House of Torture attacked from behind. You will be shocked to hear this, I’m sure. The biggest problem with this match was that it felt like one of those heel-heel affairs where the crowd doesn’t really get behind either team. Henare was the guy taking the heat but there never really felt like there was any sympathy for him, so it made for an awkward match. We also got the referee distractions and House of Torture run-ins because of course we did. Hilariously, it still went poorly and Henare beat Yujiro with Streets of Rage, which is a sick name for a finisher. It went 9:58. [*¾]

Ace Austin and Chris Bey [8] vs. Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask IV [4]

The Bullet Club team was undefeated before their most recent match and it feels like they’ve got this one in the bag. Thankfully, a guy like Robbie Eagles does a good job of making matches interesting regardless of the outcome though. That was mostly the case here too. Austin against Eagles was highly entertaining. Neither team really gained a clear advantage and both used frequent tags to keep the action up. I surprisingly bit on a Tiger Mask rollup near fall and I never thought I’d believe he’d get the win here. That’s a mark of a good match. Austin went at it with Tiger Mask late and the veteran fell to The Fold in 9:28. This show was off to a rough tart but that was a nice step up in quality and a very good back and forth match. [***¼]

 

Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki [6] vs. TMDK [8]

This is one of those matches that I actually wish was longer. TMDK and Suzuki-Gun could have a good outing but that’s not what we got here. After just 1:40, Haste escaped a Gotch Piledriver and rolled up Suzuki to steal this. A shockingly quick match. I wish this length was given to another, less interesting match. [NR]

Alex Zayne and El Lindaman [8] vs. BUSHI and Titán [8]

On paper, this should be the match of the night. Both teams are good and the winner will find themselves tied with Bey and Austin for the top spot. Since Titán, Zayne, and Lindaman aren’t around all the time, seeing them all go at it was refreshing and BUSHI did well enough to keep me interested in his work too. As expected, the pace was quick and both teams continue to get better as their chemistry strengthens over time. They packed a lot of action into a short time. Lindaman was isolated for a bit and Zayne’s hot tag was a lot of fun. I really like his somersault kick. It just looks good. LIJ started working him over and looked to be on the verge of winning only for Lindaman to return with a bunch of suplexes. He took out Titán with a dive while Zayne bested BUSHI with the Taco Driver in 9:27. Just a really fun match. [***½]

Clark Connors and Ryusuke Taguchi [4] vs. Francesco Akira and TJP [8]

This is a WEIRD match to put this late. It feels obvious that Catch 22 would win again to tie atop the standings. This was another Taguchi match riddled with comedy. I disliked him when I first got into New Japan, came around on him, and am back to not really liking his stuff. Hid comedy just isn’t working here. Having the hot tag go to him was odd given Connors’ size, though I did like that Catch 22 could wear him down with their technical skill. We got the red underwear gimmick from Taguchi and Connors also had the same undies on. TJP eventually beat Taguchi with 2×2 in 11:48 that felt closer to 20:00. That was mediocre at best and the match times have been all wrong tonight. [**]

Aussie Open [10] vs. SANADA and Tetsuya Naito [6]

Aussie Open is the only unbeaten team in either tournament coming into this and have another two points due to Fale/Owens. SANADA had his usual opening exchange involving counters and such but something about this one with Mark Davis had some added intensity. It was as if they didn’t like each other even though they have no history. A lot of the time here, the LIJ duo were better when it was one-on-one scenarios but when Aussie Open got to work as a unit, they were in control. SANADA took the heat and Naito’s hot tag about halfway through this was pretty good. He had his working boots on. Fletcher and Naito had a really good exchange that ended with a half nelson suplex and the crowd was really into this at that point. It’s a small sample size but I think Aussie Open will do well in Japan. As usual, SANADA Let go of Skull End only to miss his stupid moonsault. However, LIJ caught a break when Davis accidentally clotheslined Fletcher. Aussie Open recovered enough to set up Korealis but Naito got free and soon after, won with Destino in 20:20.  A great main event that told a good story. Aussie Open was the better team but they made a few crucial mistakes and LIJ were good enough to capitalize. [***¾]

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Legitimately one of the most confusing shows I’ve seen in a long time. They gave a fair amount of time to several uninteresting matches and then ended some that could’ve been fun in mere minutes. That made for a disappointing show where only three of the nine matches got ***+.