We’re up to the penultimate match on this year’s Super Junior Tag League, but it’s a dead rubber in Nagano.
Somehow we got this up before Thursday’s live show… but this match was moot anyway!
Super Junior Tag League: Bullet Club OG (Taiji Ishimori & Robbie Eagles) vs. Volador Jr. & Soberano Jr.
Yeah, neither team can make the finals, so this is going to be even harder than ever for the live crowd to get into.
Ishimori and Volador start us off, eventually, with Volador gently lifting Ishimori to the mat as we sprinted in with a lucha-style sequence. Robbie Eagles gets involved from the apron with a kick, but Volador quickly replies with a ‘rana to Ishimori…. Eagles lands one of his own, before Soberano comes in with a springboard missile dropkick to sorta complete the set.
A missed leap into the corner sees Ishimori hit the turnbuckles… and that allows Soberano to come in and catch him with some fancy lucha armdrags… before flipping out of a German suplex. Eagles tags in with a flying armdrag of his own, before there’s a slight hesitation ahead of a Soberano chop. Eagles dropkicks away a springboard attempt from Soberano as the Bullet Club found their feet, while kneedrops kept Soberano at bay. Ishimori’s back as he tries to pull of Soberano’s mask, which earned him some scattered boos before he looked to twist off his head in a cravat.
Soberano gets free and sets up the Bullet Club pair, with Eagles taking a corner dropkick that turned into a splash on Ishimori on the way down. Volador’s back with handspring back elbows as the luchadors fly, with Soberano hitting a Sasuke special before Volador went for an Asai moonsault that almost saw his shins crack into the guard rails. Back in the ring, Ishimori’s able to catch Volador with a springboard seated senton, before Eagles returned as they hit duelling leaping knees in the corner to help them almost pick up win. Ishimori goes outside with a corkscrew plancha, which looked to be where he messed up his ankle… all while Eagles came close to victory with a Falcon arrow on Volador.
A 450 splash to Volador’s leg looked to be next, but the luchador catches Eagles up top and brings him down with a top rope ‘rana… and that’s the win! A rather flat finish to a match that had it’s moments, but on the whole didn’t really break out of the pack. **¾
With one match left, here’s how the table stood going into the Thursday show…
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Shingo Takagi); Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) (5-2; 10pt)
Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH); (4-2; 8pts)
Chris Sabin & KUSHIDA; (3-3; 6pts)
Bullet Club OG (Robbie Eagles & Taiji Ishimori); ACH & Ryusuke Taguchi (3-4; 6pts)
Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask; Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr. (2-5; 4pts)
So it’s all down to Roppongi 3K vs. Sabin and KUSHIDA. Can we get a complex three-way tie, or will we overthink again?