World Tag League night 5 (November 24) Preview
Korakuen sees third night for A Block
With one week down there’s two weeks to go for the top duos in NJPW to compete for the World Tag League trophies. With A block wrestling their third matches tonight, who will have control in the tense middle phase of the tournament?
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Main event: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi)(2–0) vs War Dogs (Gabe Kidd & SANADA) (1–1)
The 1–1 team of Shingo Takagi and Yota Tsuji face the similarly two point Gabe Kidd and SANADA in the main event. Yota Tsuji has never been an ally of SANADA’s, returning from excursion after the Cold Blooded one had left LIJ for Just Five Guys. Indeed his first act back in NJPW was to spear SANADA out of his boots, which would have served as an act of closure that Shingo Takagi has yet to attain.
SANADA leaving LIJ never sat well with the Dragon, but fate conspired to keep the two men apart up to the G1 Climax this summer. There SANADA defeated Takagi, before ultimately betraying J5G to find himself in his third faction in under two years. Perhaps Takagi will find some answers as to SANADA’s true intent tonight, but there are also issues with gabe Kidd to consider. After two thrillers in Fukuoka at Dontaku and again during the G1, Kidd and Shingo will be eager to throw down in Korakuen, especially with two important points up for grabs.
7th Match: Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (2–0) vs Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma (1–1)
After scooping a second win in a row, Bishamon look to keep up their form against Shota Umino and Tomoaki Honma. Full of confidence after the Yokohama main event Thursday, YOSHI-HASHI vowed that Bishamon would be the first team in history to go undefeated in their WTL campaign, while Hirooki Goto revealed plans to defeat Great-O-Khan and HENARE to take the IWGP Tag titles at Wrestle Kingdom before defending against the Young Bucks January 5 at Wrestle Dynasty.
Umino’s focus Friday in Yokohama was on his impending Tokyo Dome clash with Zack Sabre Jr. That drive saw him hit a definitive Death Rider to the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and come away with the victory. Now with that preview behind him, he will be focusing back on the tag team task at hand. Can Honma and Umino upset the threepeat winners?
6th Match: Funky Sauce (Alex Zayne & Ryusuke Taguchi) (0–2) vs TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa) (1–1)
Ryohei Oiwa and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr are looking to get to four points tonight against the xx Ryusuke Taguchi and Alex Zayne. Two years ago, Korakuen Hall saw Zayne and Sabre go right up to the time limit in the tournament to crown the first NJPW World TV Champion; might the Sauce push Sabre even harder tonight?
5th Match: United Empire (Jeff Cobb & Callum Newman) (2–0) vs BULLET CLUB (KENTA & Chase Owens) (1–1)
After a victorious matchup with Funky Sauce in Yokohama, Jeff Cobb and Callum Newman will be looking to stay undefeated in Korakuen. Meanwhile, it was a difficult night in Yokohama for Chase and KENTA, in the face of ravenous War Dogs. Can they bounce back in the face of the 2–0 United Empire side?
4th Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jado & Katsuya Murashima vs TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Kosei Fujita)
Six man action sees a battle between TMDK and Hontai. There’s only one day off for the two teams before Jado and Hiroshi Tanahashi face Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls in Fukushima. Will one of these two trios set themselves up well in the interim?
3rd Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI) vs Just 4 Guys (Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI)
With the TAKATaichi tandem still in high spirits after their opening World Tag League win, Just Four Guys take on LIJ in the third match of the night. While heavyweight competition is on the cards for Hiromu Takahashi through much of WTL this year, he will have a score to settle with DOUKI after a pair of singles losses to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion this year.
2nd Match: United Empire (HENARE, Jakob Austin Young & HENARE) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (EVIL, Ren Narita & Dick Togo)
One hard lesson that Great-O-Khan and HENARE learned when they got their WTL campaign off to a losing start in Chiba last week is that you cannot take any match for granted, and you have to be ready for anything. That is certainly always the case when it comes to HOUSE OF TORTURE. Tonight a key preview and a chance to gameplan for the habitual rule breakers.
1st Match: Boltin Oleg, Tiger Mask & Toru Yano vs BULLET CLUB (Tome Filip, Stevie Filip & Taiji Ishimori)
The main card gets underway with Boltin Oleg and Toru Yano joining Tiger Mask to face the Natural Classics and Taiji Ishimori. Taiga Tome Filip in particular has respect for the legendary Tiger Mask, but all respect goes out the window in this important tag preview.
Kickoff Match: Shoma Kato (2–0 this tour) vs Daiki Nagai (0–1–2 this tour)
Singles record: 1–0 Kato
The Young Lion trial series continues for Shoma Kato and Daiki Nagai tonight. Kato defeated Nagai in singles action in Yokohama Friday to stay undefeated during the tour so far. Will Nagai, humbled two days ago, get back on form tonight in Korakuen?
