We\u2019re heading into the final stretch of World Tag League, and we\u2019ve another big match on this round as LIJ take on the Guerrillas of Destiny in Okayama.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Quick Results<\/strong> Okayama\u2019s ZIP Arena is the host for this round\u2026<\/p>\n Kosei Fujita vs. Yuto Nakashima<\/strong> This one started off bright, with Fujita going for the obvious target that was Nakashima\u2019s taped-up elbow, before Nakashima looked to work a wristlock. A hammerlock from Nakashima\u2019s broken as Fujita takes him down in a side headlock. Nakashima returns the favour, then applied a chinlock as Fujita needed the ropes for a break.<\/p>\n Fujita\u2019s kept in trouble with a scissored sleeper on the mat, but that ends in the ropes as Nakashima moved in with a head and arm choke. A dropkick gets Fujita some space, as he looked to force a submission with a Fujiwara armbar, but Nakashima dragged his way to the ropes as we hit the final three minutes.<\/p>\n Nakashima stayed on the defensive via a double wristlock, breaking again via the ropes as the pair traded elbows until a back body drop flung Fujita into the air. Going back to the head and arm choke on the mat looked to give Nakashima the win, especially as he turned it into a guillotine that Fujita looked to tap to, but it\u2019s not called and time runs out. That\u2019s the closest we\u2019ve been to a victory yet, and I have a feeling that might just happen in the coming days\u2026 **\u00be<\/p>\n World Tag League 2021: Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask vs. Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi)<\/strong> Sabre and Nagata start us off with a knuckle lock as their early forays drew little advantage. Tiger Mask and Taichi are in next to trade kicks, taking Tiger Mask into the corner for some boot choking that keeps the veteran there for Sabre to tag back in. Zack works the leg, before Taichi came back with his choke holds on Tiger Mask.<\/p>\n Sabre\u2019s back in, but runs into a tiltawhirl backbreaker as Nagata returned with boots and kicks to clear the way. A double underhook suplex from Nagata lands for a two-count, before he pulled Sabre into the Nagata Lock II crossface\u2026 which Nagata lets go of as he suspected Taichi was about to come in.<\/p>\n Capitalising, Sabre twists Nagata\u2019s arm between his legs, then tagged in Taichi to hit some Kawada-ish kicks before a Kitchen Sink knee from Nagata turned it around. Tiger Mask is back with a crossbody and a crucifix for a near-fall, before he looked to get the win with a chicken wing.<\/p>\n Stopping it, Sabre goes after the mask, but a turnaround leads to Taichi being sandwiched with enziguiri ahead of a Tiger Driver for a near-fall. An Axe Bomber\u2019s ducked, but Tiger Mask gets taken into the corner as Taichi hits the lariat anyway for a near-fall. Off come the trousers as a nodo otoshi\/back suplex combo gets barely a two-count as Nagata breaks up the pin\u2026<\/p>\n Nagata\u2019s restrained with a Cobra twist by the ropes, as Tiger Mask then escaped a Black Mephisto to roll up Taichi for a near-fall. Second time\u2019s the charm as the Holy Emperor Cross Mausoleum\u2019s applied, and with Nagata still restrained, Tiger Mask was given no choice but to submit. ***<\/p>\n World Tag League 2021: Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & TAKA Michinoku) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano<\/strong> Of course, Suzuki and TAKA put the boots to their opponents early on, with TAKA staying in the ring to stomp on Tanahashi while Suzuki chokes Yano on the floor with his own t-shirt. Tanahashi fights back, which drew in Suzuki to pull him down into a Fujiwara armbar\u2026 something TAKA took over on ahead of a rope break.<\/p>\n Heading outside, TAKA wraps Tanahashi\u2019s arm around the guard rails as Yano and Tanahashi were left laying\u2026 but they beat the count-out, as Suzuki then went back to work on Tanahashi\u2019s arm. As did TAKA. Suzuki\u2019s back in and boots Yano off the apron before he and Tanahashi trade elbows. The CLONKing elbow sank Tanahashi, who returned with a Dragon screw.<\/p>\n Yano\u2019s in to bop Suzuki on the head, which gets exactly the result you\u2019d expect. Murderous intentions. A Manhattan drop stopped Suzuki briefly, while Tanahashi came back in with a flip senton for a near-fall. Suzuki ducks a clothesline and dragged Tanahashi in with a sleeperhold, while TAKA tagged in for some double-teaming, booting Tanahashi down for a near-fall.<\/p>\n TAKA tries to snatch the win with a roll-up, then with some headscissors, but Yano stomps it apart\u2026 drawing in Suzuki to take care of him by way of a throw into the exposed corner. In the end, Tanahashi loans an idea from Yano, distracting the ref as Yano hits a pair of low blows, before a Slingblade to TAKA, then a Cloverleaf forced the submission. I struggled to get on board with this one, as despite being on the defensive for long spells, I never bought Tanahashi and Yano losing. **\u00be<\/p>\n World Tag League 2021: House of Torture (EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma<\/strong> Once again, we\u2019ve a jump start as Togi Makabe and EVIL spill outside while Honma charged down Yujiro in the ring, before a slam set up for\u2026 an aborted Kokeshi, with Dick Togo distracting at ringside. Yujiro bites back, while EVIL tried to wipe out commentary using Makabe as a battering ram.<\/p>\n Back inside, a slam from Yujiro has Honma down as the House of Torture pair wore him down. EVIL\u2019s slam adds a bunch of two-counts as he then went to the eyes before Honma managed to muscle him up for a suplex. Makabe\u2019s in to build off of that, charging his way through ahead of some mounted punches in the corner.<\/p>\n A clothesline dumps EVIL for a two-count, but Yujiro\u2019s back in to boot Makabe in the ropes before he fell to a swivelling clothesline. Honma tries to push on with chops, but he misses a Kokeshi. My feed dropped here, returning with Yujiro eating a sandwich of lariats before finally taking that Kokeshi.<\/p>\n Yujiro tries to pull Honma into a Pimp Juice, but instead ends up taking a Flatliner\/DDT with EVIL as Honma looked to finish off Yujiro with a diving Kokeshi. It\u2019s good for only a near-fall, before Honma misses a swandive Kokeshi off the middle rope\u2026 Yujiro distracts the ref as Dick Togo choked out Honma\u2026 then pushed him into the ref so he could do it some more. Makabe comes in to choke Dick with a chain, which writes itself. A low blow from EVIL stops that, as Yujiro then nails Honma with the pimp cane ahead of the Big Juice DDT for the win. It is what it is folks\u2026 **\u00be<\/p>\n World Tag League 2021: United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare) vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan<\/strong> O-Khan and Tenzan start us off, as the pair tie-up into the ropes where Tenzan tried to break back with a Mongolian chop. A side headlock restrains him, before a clothesline took O-Khan down ahead of some Mongolian chops. Look, just calling them \u201cnew\u201d Mongolian chops doesn\u2019t cut it lads!<\/p>\n O-Khan\u2019s taken down with a brainbuster after that, as Kojima then came in to set up for the slingshot elbow drop\/falling headbutt combo with Tenzan. Another elbow drop has O-Khan in the ropes before Henare caught Tenzan in the ropes, then stormed the ring behind the ref\u2019s back.<\/p>\n Henare tags in to get a two-count off of a suplex on Tenzan, right as my feed crapped out. We\u2019re back with Kojima and Henare trading elbows, heading to a top rope elbow drop on Henare\u2026 who returned with some body blows and a Samoan drop. A TenKoji cutter drops Henare for a near-fall, while a Kojima suplex also gets a near-fall.<\/p>\n Kojima pulls off the elbow pad, but his clothesline\u2019s countered into a spear, as O-Khan returned to help double-team Kojima in the corner. Boots sandwich Kojima for a two-count, as Kojima\u2019s then hauled up for an assisted Sheep Killer\u2026 but Tenzan breaks that up. O-Khan and Tenzan trade Mongolian chops, which led to Kojima elbowing away on Henare, as a Koji Cutter gets a near-fall\u2026 Another Cozy lariat\u2019s stopped in the ropes by O-Khan, who hands off Kojima for an Imperial Drop – and that win keeps things interesting at the top of the table\u2026 ***\u00bc<\/p>\n World Tag League 2021: Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens) vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI<\/strong> Owens and YOSHI-HASHI start us off, but it\u2019s not long before we\u2019re taken outside with YOSHI-HASHI thrown into the railings. Hirooki Goto beats the count but instantly has to deal with Fale walloping him in the corner. Owens is back with elbows, while Fale again tried to overwhelm Goto, effortlessly picking him up for a slam before Goto rolled away from an elbow drop.<\/p>\n YOSHI-HASHI gets the tag in, and managed to get some different luck as he had to stick and move against Fale. A clothesline lands, as did a low dropkick and a Head Hunter, before Chase Owens came in to get a two-count from a clothesline. Goto\u2019s back with clotheslines, a spinning heel kick and a bulldog, before he tried for an ushigoroshi on Owens.<\/p>\n A second clothesline from Goto misses as he\u2019s pulled into the corner, before a running knee from Chase nearly ends things. YOSHI-HASHI makes the save as the Bullet Club lads looked to double-team, clotheslining Fale to the outside before Owens tosses YOSHI-HASHI outside\u2026 then rolled up Goto for a near-fall out of a GTR. An enziguiri from Owens stopped Goto, as did a leaping knee strike as YOSHI-HASHI was dealt with with a neckbreaker for good measure. Chase goes for a package piledriver, but Goto escapes as he hits a superkick-assisted ushigoroshi on Chase, before Shoto gets the win. ***<\/p>\n World Tag League 2021: Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)<\/strong> Naito and Tanga Loa start with lock-ups, before SANADA came in to help with some quick double-teams to forge an early advantage. SANADA\u2019s elbows just served to wind up Tama Tonga, who beat him into the corner before a Stinger splash left SANADA laying. Tanga Loa\u2019s back with a senton atomico for a two-count, before SANADA recovered with a low dropkick to Tama.<\/p>\n Tama tries to stop SANADA from making the tag out, but to no avail, as Naito took over, taking Tama to the corner\u2026 barking as he went? Elbows wear down Tama, who has Tanga Loa make the save briefly as the Guerrillas regained the upper hand. Things spill outside as Naito\u2019s knocked into the commentary desks, leading to our favourite count-out tease that Naito of course beats.<\/p>\n Tama keeps Naito in their corner, standing on him as Tanga Loa tagged in to hit a stalling suplex to Naito. From a two-count cover, Tanga rolled Naito into the OJK crossface, but Naito pulled his way back into the ropes for a break, before a slam and a Tama Tonga senton atomico kept Naito down.<\/p>\n Naito hits a dropkick to buy him some time, as SANADA gets the tag in – taking Tanga Loa outside with an atomic drop, following up with separate planchas for the Guerrillas. Back inside, Tama\u2019s tripped into a Paradise Lock\u2026 but he pushes away before hitting a Complete Shot instead.<\/p>\n Tanga\u2019s back for a powerbomb, but SANADA \u2018rana\u2019s out, before Naito came back with Combinacion Cabron to Tanga in the corner. A top rope \u2018rana followed from Naito, before SANADA came in to help batter Tanga Loa en route to a back suplex\u2026 with Naito\u2019s jack-knife roll through almost winning things. A Skull End\u2019s broken up as Tama came in to hit a Tongan Twist, while an assisted back suplex on Naito lands for a near-fall. A swandive headbutt and a Supreme Flow followed as Naito\u2019s almost put away, before a brief Parade of Moves broke out. SANADA\u2019s Magic Screw took care of Tama, but he has to escape an Apeshit attempt as we buffer\u2026 and by the time I can reload, the match is over. Thankfully this buggy mess of a player allowed me to rewind to see the finish, as Naito gets the win with a Destino. ***\u00bd<\/p>\n We\u2019re down to two matches, and remember, it\u2019s the top two who go through to next Wednesday\u2019s final. The Guerrillas of Destiny and Tanahashi & Yano are all but out – needing the ol\u2019 food poisoning no contests for them to have a chance.<\/p>\n Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI, Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare, Tetsuya Naito & SANADA, Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi (7-2 \/ 14pts) World Tag League returns on Thursday in Ehime for a show that\u2019s not streaming live – so you\u2019ll have to wait until Friday to see the card that features the United Empire vs. Goto & YOSHI-HASHI in the main event\u2026 they\u2019re then back live on Sunday in Hiroshima for the final round of matches, with the match order being confirmed based on the standings at the time\u2026 that being said, United Empire vs. Guerrillas is leaping off the page at me as a potential decider.<\/p>\n For some reason today\u2019s live stream was the buggiest it\u2019s been in weeks – to the point where I actually missed a finish. Good job, folks. If you\u2019ve been following along, you\u2019ll know what you\u2019re getting in the World Tag League – but at least things should pick up in the remaining shows as we head towards the finals\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We\u2019re heading into the final stretch of World Tag League, and we\u2019ve another big match on this round as LIJ take on the Guerrillas of Destiny in Okayama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":25192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"NJPW World Tag League 2021 x Best of the Super Junior 28 - Night Eighteen (December 07, 2021) review - #njwtl - We\u2019re heading into the final stretch of World Tag League, and we\u2019ve another big match on this round as LIJ take on the Guerrillas of Destiny in Okayama.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[688,6],"tags":[5683,44,75,1440,6086,139,5480,1825,178,179,1325,6041,250,990,292,5949,1239,556,991,1309,397,1236,1237,400,1313,1444,1802,416,5570,6084,6085,1240,1235,1238,5605,521],"class_list":["post-25339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-japan","category-reviews","tag-aaron-henare","tag-bad-luck-fale","tag-bullet-club","tag-chase-owens","tag-dangerous-tekkers","tag-evil","tag-great-o-khan","tag-guerrillas-of-destiny","tag-hirooki-goto","tag-hiroshi-tanahashi","tag-hiroyoshi-tenzan","tag-house-of-torture","tag-los-ingobernables-de-japon","tag-minoru-suzuki","tag-new-japan","tag-ryohei-oiwa","tag-sanada","tag-satoshi-kojima","tag-suzuki-gun","tag-taichi","tag-taka-michinoku","tag-tama-tonga","tag-tanga-loa","tag-tetsuya-naito","tag-tiger-mask","tag-togi-makabe","tag-tomoaki-honma","tag-toru-yano","tag-united-empire","tag-world-tag-league-2021","tag-wtl2021","tag-yoshi-hashi","tag-yuji-nagata","tag-yujiro-takahashi","tag-yuto-nakashima","tag-zack-sabre-jr"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73vbt-6AH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/njpw-wtl2021-logo.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25339"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25341,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25339\/revisions\/25341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nYuto Nakashima and Kosei Fujita went to a draw in 10:00 (**\u00be)
\nWorld Tag League 2021 – Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. submitted Tiger Mask & Yuji Nagata in 11:48 (***)
\nWorld Tag League 2021 – Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano submitted TAKA Michinoku & Minoru Suzuki in 10:37 (**\u00be)
\nWorld Tag League 2021 – Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL pinned Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe in 11:20 (**\u00be)
\nWorld Tag League 2021 – Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan pinned Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 12:43 (***\u00bc)
\nWorld Tag League 2021 – Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI pinned Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale in 11:46 (***)
\nWorld Tag League 2021 – Tetsuya Naito & SANADA pinned Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga in 18:30 (***\u00bd)<\/p>\n
\nGet the pencils out, it\u2019s time for another draw\u2026<\/p>\n
\nWith Nagata and Tiger Mask already out, this should be an easy win to keep Sabre and Taichi at the top of the table\u2026<\/p>\n
\nSuzuki and TAKA are the only team left without any points, while Tanahashi and Yano are almost certainly too far behind to even have an outside chance of finishing in second place.<\/p>\n
\nA loss for the House of Torture lads all but eliminates them, so we\u2019d better settle down for a heaping serving of shenanigans\u2026<\/p>\n
\nWe\u2019re going back to a feud that\u2019s been on and off this year, one that saw O-Khan take away the Mongolian chop from Hiroyoshi Tenzan who, err, still used the move.<\/p>\n
\nBoth teams came into today as part of that group at the top – and you\u2019d have to think a loss here will make it tricky with tie-breakers likely to come into play. I\u2019m not looking forward to working all that out\u2026<\/p>\n
\nTama Tonga\u2019s almost apeing Naito with how long it takes him to get prepared – stretching and removing his vest before the bell\u2026<\/p>\n
\nBad Luck Fale & Chase Owens, EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi (6-3 \/ 12pts)
\nHiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (5-4 \/ 10pts)
\nSatoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2-7 \/ 4pts) – Eliminated
\nTogi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma, Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask (1-8 \/ 2pts) – Eliminated
\nMinoru Suzuki & TAKA Michinoku (0-9 \/ 0pts) – Eliminated<\/p>\n