wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW World Tag League & Super Jr. Tag League Review 12.5.22
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW World Tag League & Super Jr. Tag League Night 12
December 5th, 2022 | Karatsu Athletic Stadium in Karatsu, Saga | Attendance: 1,091
Hey, we’ve got a pretty strong attendance for this show.
Alex Coughlin and Gabriel Kidd [0] vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi [2]
Nothing would make happier in this tournament than the impressive Young Lion duo beating the rough House of Torture team. Dick Togo got ejected before the bell. I liked the portions of this match before the ref bump as EVIL got to be a hard hitting dude while Coughlin and Kidd did stuff like a Boss Man Slam and senton. After the ref bump, SHO and Togo came out only for their partners to send them to the back. They didn’t think they needed help against winless young guys. They still used low blows and laughed at the crowd for thinking they’d do the right thing. Surprisingly, Coughlin kicked out of Pimp Juice to a pop and then beat Yujiro with a bridging fallaway slam dubbed the Netflix Hold in 10:42. The worst match for Kidd and Coughlin but they won! [**]
Aaron Henare and The Great-O-Khan [8] vs. Aussie Open [12]
To have any chance at staying alive in this thing, O-Khan and Henare need to win. Of course, both teams are part of the United Empire but that didn’t stop them from going at it. Both teams hit hard and brawled right from the opening bell like they were enemies. We didn’t get a full heat segment or anything like that which I liked because they kept things even. Davis saved Fletcher from a Sheepkiller and Henare got a near fall on a nice Blue Thunder Bomb. Guys started throwing bigger offense down the stretch, capped by Corealis on Henare at the 13:34 mark. A very good match between two teams I enjoy watching. [***½]
Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI [8] vs. Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki [6]
The performance of the Suzuki-Gun team has been disappointing. From a points standpoint at least because they’re good in the ring. They attacked before the bell which is different for them but makes sense. It’s not about cheating, it’s about how much they want to fight. Goto took the majority of the beating and YOSHI-HASHI got the relatively hot tag. Archer saved Suzuki from Shoto and the madman started doing his thing, complete with applying sleeper holds. Goto escaped the Gotch Piledriver and Suzuki fell to Shoto in 13:26. Another hard hitting, enjoyable match. [***¼]
Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toru Yano [6] vs. TMDK [10]
Once again, this is an interesting choice for a main event but okay. Watching TMDK interact with Tanahashi was pretty fun. They’re both solid wrestlers and Tanahashi is the kind of guy who can take “solid” and deliver quality outings with it. Haste and Nicholls hit things like a Falcon Arrow and a spinebuster to go along with tandem offense, while Tanahashi hit most of his signature stuff and Yano did his antics. It was all basically just what you’d expect from these four. That’s fine because it made for an entertaining outing though it peaked at just being pretty good. Tanahashi won with High Fly Flow in a ho-hum 12:26. It was fine and forgettable. [**¾]
