Cero Reviews NJPW World Tag League 2018 Finals

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Cero Reviews NJPW World Tag League 2018 Finals

Post by cero2k » Dec 13th, '18, 17:49

NJPW World Tag League 2018 Finals
December 9th, 2018
Iwate, Japan

Tencozy, Manabu Nakanishi, and Yuji Nagata vs Togi Makabe, Toa Henare, Ayato Yoshida, and Shota Umino - 5/10
Ok opener. Match started with the younger guys working Nakanishi, but then the old timers turned the match around and cut the ring in half on Umino. Makabe eventually came in with the hot tag and took on all old timers. Yoshida had a good showing against Kojima. Finish saw the match break down and Kojima hit a lariat on Yoshida for the win.

Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Killer Elite Squad, & Takashi Iizuka) vs Best Friends, Michael Elgin, & Jeff Cobb - 5/10
Match started with the usual brawl outside, but inside the ring, we got a great exchange between Smith Jr and Elgin, tons of powermoves. They later tagged Cobb and Archer to do the same. Throughout the match, we also had Chuckie T and Suzuki brawling and wrestling both inside the ring and outside, and I don't think I'd ever write that in my life. Like strike-of and all. Finally, Berreta and Iizuka went at it before the match went all tornado tag and all of Suzuki-Gun worked on Beretta. Finish, like most of the latter matches of Best Friends, saw Chuckie T bring out the chair and attack everyone, including his friends. Fans booed. Great match hurting from a terrible finish.

Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr, El Desperado, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Roppongi 3K) - 8/10
They're working these two feuds for Wrestle Kingdom, with the first half of the match focused on SZKG working over SHO, and YOH coming in for the hot tag. Later on, Sabre and Ishii got to do their thing, with a Fantastic opening sequence. Kanemaru got a great near fall after hitting Deep Impact on Ishii, only to be broken by SHO. Finish saw R3K take out Despy and Sabre, while Ishii pinned Kanemaru after the brainbuster. Great match!

Hangman Page, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, & BUSHI) - 7/10
Fans popped huge for No Limit clashing in the ring, with Yujiro actually getting the better of Naito until BUSHI came in to help. LIJ controlled th ematch early on until Page got the hot tag and went crazy over everyone, ending with a great face off between Shingo and Page. Owens also had a good exchange with BUSHI, at oen point landing a Rock Bottom/Neckbreaker combo on BUSHI and Naito, actually dropping the former on top of the latter. Finish saw Naito hit Destino on Owens for the win. Good match.

Bullet Club ("Switchblade" Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, & "Bone Soldier" Taiji Ishimori) w/Gedo vs Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, & KUSHIDA - 7.5/10
Ishimori and KUSHIDA started the match with some good stuff, but soon after, BC cut off KUSHIDA and worked over him for a while, particularly good vs Ishimori, but fun with Fale. Okada came in and did his thing with White, but Fale worked over him. Finally, Yano got a big hot tag and the crowd went crazy, but Gedo had to interfere to stop him and give Fale the upper hand. The match broke down and among the chaos (no pun intended), Yano got a near fall on Fale with a roll up, but Fale kicked out, hit the Grenade for the win. Pretty great match, all combinations worked and even Yano was great tonight.

Post-match - The BC guys took out their opponents, but when Fale was about to kill Yano, Makabe, who was on commentary came up for the save. CHAOS once betrayed Makabe, and now Makabe just came for the save. Everyone is uniting against The Bullet Club.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, David Finlay, & Ryusuke Taguchi vs The Elite (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, & "The Villain" Marty Scurll) - 6.5/10
Match was all mostly comedy, nothing special except when Omega and Tanahashi got serious against each other towards the end, but otherwise, just a lot of spots here and there. Finish saw the Omega assisted IndieTaker on Taguchi for the win. Highlights of the match included Omega working Finlay, Bucks vs Juice/Finlay, and Tanahshi taking on all of The Elite.

NEVER Openweight Championship No. 1 Contendership Match
Taichi vs Will Ospreay - 9.25/10
Commentary made the note that Taichi had to fight all the World Tag League while Ospreay is well rested, saying it's unfair for Taichi. Talking about Taichi, he attacked Ospreay with the mic stand before the ring bell, right on the taped up ribs. From there on, Ospreay sold his ribs and lungs all match, and I don't know if Ospreay talked with Excalibur before the match, but Excalibur called that an injury like Ospreay's affect his breathing and minutes later, Ospreay was coughing after taking a bad bump.

Match itself was fantastic, probably one of the best of Taichi's career and Ospreay's selling was top notch. First half of the match saw Taichi work over Ospreay's rib section a lot, with little hope spots, but nothing that Taichi couldn't cut off again. Slowly but surely, Ospreay started to build a comeback as Taichi got cockier. There was an awesome near fall after Taichi blocked a SSP and followed it with a Gedo Clutch. After chipping on Taichi for so long, Ospreay finally manages to hit a Spanish Fly and he hits Storm Breaker and gets the pin. Awesome match. Worth noting that commentary was superb, they really handled Ospreay's selling and had a great eye for the little things during the action.

NEVER Openweight Championship Match
Hirooki Goto (C) vs Kota Ibushi - 8.5/10
Story here is that Goto offered Ibushi a title match, but Ibushi rejected the offer saying he needed to prove himself, they played cat and mouse until Goto decided to use reverse psychology and say he was taking the offer away, and thus Ibushi finally decided to take it and it's now here.

Early on Ibushi took a head bump on the apron, and so forth, Goto worked over Ibushi's head. Eventually, Ibushi made a comeback and they went on to trade momentum the rest of the match, becoming mostly a back and forward fight. Further down the line, Goto got a near submission with a Sleeper, but let go for the GTR and Ibushi revived. They traded a bunch more two counts after rolling each other. Finish saw Goto get Ibushi in a Kamigoye position, but went for a headbutt instead, only to be countered by Ibushi's knee, followed by two more Kamigoye's for the win. Good match, but it felt like it barely hit second gear.

Post-match - Ibushi got crowned and was greeted by his new contender, Will Ospreay, who cuts a promo saying that this is a dream match and the only place to contain this is WK13, and thus makes the official challenge and acceptance by both. This is really the only REAL dream match for WK, so I wonder where they'll place the match.

World Tag League 2018 Finals
Guerrillas of Destiny w/Jado vs Los Ingobernables de Japon - 8/10
Match started with GoD jumping LIJ and starting the brawl around the ring, that led to GoD working over SANADA for a long while until he made a small comeback and got the tag to EVIL. We got a long babyface in peril run for EVIL too, with a few comebacks here and there, but nothing fruitful until GoD wasted a Guerrilla Warfare and decided to go for the kill, allowing SANADA to comeback and aid EVIL. There was a Tower of Doom spot that allowed SANADA to get tagged in and him and Tama Tonga had a good run, especially when SANADA was taking everyone out with Pescados and Tama was chasing him. At one point during SANADA vs Tama Tonga, Jado go a kendo stick shot on SANADA that led to a Magic Killer for a big near fall.

GoD started to chase the Super Powerbomb that no one has kicked out of, but SANADA managed to be the first to counter it and as LIJ go for a Magic Killer, Tama Tonga gets out of it and rams SANADA into the ref, allowing Jado to get in there, only to be stopped by EVIL and give him a Magic Killer.

At the end, SANADA has the Skull End on Tama Tonga, but Roa breaks it up. Him and EVIL trade attempts between Apeshit and EIE, with EVIL landing his finisher first. EVIL blocks a Gun Stun on Tama Tonga and drop him with a Magic Killer for a huge near fall, but after a Darkness Falls/SANADA Moonsault, LIJ picks up the win.

Match was kinda long and it dragged a lot when GoD worked over EVIL. Problem was mostly that LIJ sold for sooo long, since the match picked up a lot at the end when EVIL finally started doing something.

Post-match - LIJ got crowned. SANADA started the promo introducing themselves as the new WTL winners, then passed the mic to EVIL, who said they won back to back and challenged GoD for WK. Out came The Young Bucks to boost their ego, steal LIJ's moment, and claim their rematch that they never got. I love the Bucks, but don't cut a promo about being the best in the world if you're not here doing the tournaments.

EVIL thanked SANADA and passed the mic back to him, who say nice things about Iwate, Japan

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Great show by NJPW, most of the undercard was there to build future matches, but they were good and fun. Ospreay and Taichi had a great match, and the two final matches held their own. If you missed the WTL, I'd recommend that Taichi v Ospreay match at least.
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