Roppongi 3K, LIJ, lucha and legends are on tap today for the next pair of Super Junior Tag League matches!
We’re still on a fixed camera, this time from the Kunibiki Messe in Shimane.
Super Junior Tag League: Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) vs. Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr.
Poor Soberano, doesn’t even have his own entrance video or music. Something tells me that he may have been a replacement?
Anyway, from the fixed camera, we start with BUSHI and Soberano, and of course there’s a cheapshot from BUSHI after the customary tie-up. Soberano replies with ‘ranas, before he’s lifted onto the apron, where he responds with a gamengiri and a flying armdrag, sending BUSHI outside for a… faked-out dive. Tags follow as Volador and Shingo come in, but perhaps a battle of shoulder tackles wasn’t so smart for Volador, as he’s knocked down before a handspring back elbow was caught and turned into a German suplex attempt. Volador keeps up with a ‘rana, but tags out as Soberano’s in for the Doomsday Crossbody onto the LIJ newbie.
A pop-up dropkick onto Shingo’s next, but BUSHI trips Soberano as he went for a dive… and we’re all on the outside for a brief moment as Soberano’s thrown into guard rails, then back into the ring. BUSHI tags in and tries to unmask Soberano while he’s on the top rope, before he and Shingo opted to double-team Volador.
BUSHI keeps up with a missile dropkick to Soberano, before he’s taken outside and thrown onto the ring apron by Shingo. The pace remains fairly sluggish as Shingo returned to throw some chops… but Soberano wasn’t having any of that as he threw some dropkicks and tagged out to Volador. There’s a tiltawhirl backbreaker from Volador, but he’s quickly overwhelmed as all four men hit the ring, before we started with some dives, as an Asai moonsault from Volador saw him take down Shingo.
We see a double count-out tease, as Soberano returned to the ring with a tornillo onto BUSHI for a near-fall, before Shingo tried to rush in… and instead took a missile dropkick as the luchadors retained control. BUSHI begins a comeback with a flying ‘rana, but he tags out to Shingo who struggled to find his stride after being caught with a standing moonsault from Soberano. With BUSHI back in, Soberano took a spinebuster/backcracker combo from Shingo for a near-fall, before BUSHI flew out to Volador with a ‘rana to the outside. Back in the ring, Soberano sunset flips out of a Gory bomb, then superkicks away a Pumping Bomb… only to take the Gory bomb, then the Pumping Bomb for a near-fall. We hear Volador getting thrown into guard rails, which means that the finish is elementary as the Last of the Dragon put away Soberano. This was okay, but fell really flat to me. Things will pick up at Korakuen at the weekend, but so far these house show stops have been really beige, match-wise… ***
Super Junior Tag League: Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask
With both teams having shared the lead going into this match, you get the feeling that a loss for either side would perhaps threaten their tournament after just four matches.
Tiger Mask and YOH start us off in a rather neutral fashion, swapping side headlocks and the like before YOH got to the ropes. A chop from YOH’s quickly replied to as the two seemed rather standoff-ish, before tags brought in SHO and Liger… with more of the same. Shoulder tackles from Liger originally don’t budge SHO, who gets some help from YOH as a brief double-team left Liger down.
YOH tries to work over Liger’s arm, but instead runs into a big boot and a tiltawhirl backbreaker, before Liger pulled him up into a Romero special. That’s turned into a Dragon sleeper as the veterans began to isolate YOH, with a good old-fashioned camel clutch from Tiger forcing YOH to call in for help to break it up. SHO gets slapped for that, as Liger and Tiger looked to be treating them like the Young Lions they once were, bullying them around the ring and whatnot. YOH tries to fight back, but he can’t avoid Tiger’s kicks, before he snuck in a Dragon screw ahead of a tag out. Fired-up, SHO clatters into Tiger Mask with clotheslines in the corner, before dispatching of Liger with a dropkick as he tried to haul up Tiger for a German suplex.
It’s countered, but Tiger Mask is taken back into the 3K corner where he’s met with a step-up elbow from YOH, before Tiger slipped out of the Dominator/neckbreaker combo. He does get the pair of leaping knees from SHO and YOH, who began to find their groove, only to avoid the 3K and catch YOH instead with a Tiger Bomb.
Liger’s back in, and almost gets the win with a frog splash to YOH, before he set up for a big Shotei… which eventually connects for a near-fall! SHO returns to save YOH from a superplex as all four men are in the ring… which led to YOH taking a butterfly superplex from TIger Mask, before Liger tried to finish the job with a Ligerbomb. It’s not enough though, as YOH kicks out just in time, before slipping out of a brainbuster and eventually getting the win with the O’Connor roll. Decent enough, but we’re still waiting for a breakout match on this tour… ***¼
Five nights into the tour, and here’s how the league stacks up – with some teams having played a match more . They’ll be catching up on Tuesday’s matches (which’ll drop within the day):
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Shingo Takagi); Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) (3-1; 6pts)
Bullet Club OG (Robbie Eagles & Taiji Ishimori) (2-1; 4pts)
Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask (2-2; 4pts)
ACH & Ryusuke Taguchi; KUSHIDA & Chris Sabin; Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) (1-2; 2pts)
Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr. (1-3; 2pts)
Next up is a stop in Tottori on Tuesday – with the matches dropping within the day on New Japan World – before the tour pauses and returns to Korakuen Hall for a pair of live shows this Friday and Saturday, where all eight teams have a match on both nights.