This is the first edition of WrestleZone’s New Japan Pro Wednesday coverage. Along with regular live event coverage, every Wednesday will feature updates on all of the news from across the Pacific.
World Tag League Nearing Dramatic Conclusion
The World Tag League is nearing its end in Japan, and while EVIL & SANADA of Los Ingobernables de Japon appear set to snatch the A Block, the B Block of the round robin tournament is still anybody’s game. The current standings, as of 12/6:
A Block:
- Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA) 8pts.
- Bullet Club (Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi) 8pts.
- CHAOS (Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto) 8pts.
- Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) 6pts.
- Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens) 6pts.
- Death Juice (Sami Callihan & Juice Robinson) 6pts.
- Ten-cozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) 4pts.
- Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata 2pts.
B Block:
- CHAOS (Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii) 8pts.
- CHAOS (Beretta & Chuckie T) 8pts.
- Jeff Cobb & Michael Elgin 8pts.
- Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) 8pts.
- War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) 6pts.
- Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) 6pts.
- David Finlay & Katsuya Kitamura 0pts.
- Togi Makabe & Henare 0pts.
In A Block, the leaders are LIJ’s EVIL & Sanada, Bullet Club’s Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page, and CHAOS’s Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto. With both fellow LIJ member Hiromu Takahashi and LIJ leader Tetsuya Naito set for a title matches at Wrestle Kingdom, EVIL & SANADA feel like the favorites going into their 12/8 showdown with Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto. Expect LIJ to best thier rivals from CHAOS. While part of the three-way tie, Takahashi & Page are not likely to win the tournament, and are set to take on Juice Robinson and dominant newcomer Sami Callihan. By the round robin rules, should Page & Takahashi win their match, they’d only advance if Goto & Yoshi-Hashi defeat EVIL & SANADA. For this reason, it seems likely that Robinson & Callihan will upset the dominant Page & Takahashi.
In B Block, things are much less cut and dry. Killer Elite Squad & War Machine appear behind, but War Machine are set to face Finlay & Kitamura in what is assumed to be an easy victory, and KES are scheduled to face the seemingly enhancement team of Togi Makabe & Henare, so by this time tomorrow expect 6 teams in B Block to have 8 points. While an upset is possible, the teams of Makabe & Henare and Finlay & Kitamura have been run roughshod throughout the tournament. Also in contention are the amicable duo of Chuckie T & Berreta, their faction partners Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano, The Guerrillas of Destiny and the strongmen Jeff Cobb & Michael Elgin, and while both teams have been surprisingly dominant, both teams feature an NJPW rookie (Chuckie T & Jeff Cobb respectively) and seem unlikely to win B Block.
Continue to the NEXT PAGE for the remaining schedule for World Tag League…
