Super Jr. Tag League is closing in on the finals with El Desperado and Master Wato still sitting in first place with 12 points while there is a five-way tie at 10 points for second place. Today’s main event included two teams battling for that second seed, it was Catch 2/2, Francesco Akira and TJP, against SHO and Yoshinobu Kanemaru of House of Torture.
If H.O.T. got the win they would have been in sole possession of second place, but that was not the case today. SHO and Akira got the match started with some chain wrestling before Akira landed a hurricanarana. Akira and TJP worked together to hit SHO with a number of strikes and Kanemaru with a Russian leg-sweep-neck breaker combo. TJP then got SHO down in the corner for a face wash, but he was pulled out of the ring by Kanemaru who threw him into the ring post.
At the same time, SHO dragged Akira into the crowd where he threw him into a wall and choked him with a steel chair. Back in the ring, SHO was working on TJP’s neck, he hit a number of strikes and choked him on the ropes. Kanemaru entered the match to spike TJP with a DDT and hit a sliding dropkick to the face before locking him in head scissors. TJP tried to battle back, but Kanemaru hit a side suplex and a running kick to the face.
SHO was now back in the match and TJP was able to hit him and Kanemaru with an arm drag and hurricanrana combination before finally tagging Akira in. Akira was on fire hitting Kanemaru with a running-back elbow and SHO with a shotgun dropkick. He then dove from the top rope onto Kanemaru with a crossbody, but Kanemaru then caught Akira with a shot to the knee. Kanemaru was now focused on Akira’s knee and locked him into a figure-four, but Akira made it to the ropes.
With the hold broken, Akira rolled Kanemaru into a double-foot stomp before tagging TJP back in. TJP came into the ring off the top rope hitting both of his opponents with a crossbody and then getting SHO with a Thesz press. He went right back to the top rope to dive into SHO with a clothesline, and with Akira, they then went for 2×2, but Kanemaru broke it up.
TJP wants a turn with the wrench. Credit: NJPW
Kanemaru got TJP with a reverse DDT and SHO followed that with the Power Breaker. SHO stayed on the attack and hit TJP with Shock Arrow, it seemed like the match was over, but Akira broke up the pin. Akira tried to take on both SHO and Kanemaru, but he succeded in hitting Kanemaru with a superkick and with TJP they hit SHO with a flapjack face-buster.
Catch 2/2 now hit SHO with a perfect 2×2, but this time it was Kanemaru breaking up the pin. Akira and TJP got Kanemaru with a double superkick, but SHO then threw the referee and got TJP with a low blow. He went for Shock Arrow again, but TJP turned it into an abdominal stretch and Akira had Kanemaru in a guillotine. While Kanemaru was in the hold he threw Akira into TJP and also took out the referee as well.
With the referee down, out from the back came the reset of House of Torture to begin a beatdown of Catch 2/2. However, Akira held his own and dropped all members of the House of Torture to the outside single-handedly. United Empire now ran out to even the odds and they dragged all members of the House of Torture back to the locker room.
TJP was left in the ring with SHO, he hit a reverse neckbreaker and went for a Mamba Splash, but SHO rolled out of the way. SHO now took the referee out for the third time, he tried to hit TJP with his wrench, but to no avail. So, he grabbed TJP and wanted Kanemaru to spit whiskey in his eyes, but TJP ducked and Kanemaru got SHO in the eyes. With SHO dazed, TJP rolled him into an inside cradle and got the victory!
Following the match, SHO and Kanemaru beat down both members of Catch 2/2 with the wrench and SHO hit TJP with the Shock Arrow. Catch 2/2 got the win, but they ended up down and out on the mat.
NJPW Super Jr. Tag League 2023 Standings
NJPW Super Jr. Tag League Night 8 Results
Tomoaki Honma, Ren Narita & Shota Umino vs. United Empire (Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan)
Great-O-Khan gets Honma to submit with the head and arm choke.
Winners: United Empire (Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan)
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji) vs. Bullet Club (Gedo & Taiji Ishimori)
Tsuji got the victory for LIJ after hitting Gedo with a superkick and Curb Stomp.
Winners: LIJ (Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji)
CHAOS (Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii) vs. House of Torture (Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL)
Yano used some of his typical tricks, he hit Gedo with a low blow and rolled him up to get the win.
Winners: CHAOS (Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii)
The DKC & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Bullet Club War Dogs (Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors) — Super Jr. Tag League 2023 Tournament Match
War Dogs. Credit: NJPW
Connors and Moloney hit DKC with a high-low and followed that with the Full Clip to get their fifth win of the tournament.
Winners: Bullet Club War Dogs (Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors)
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Titán & BUSHI) vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles) — Super Jr. Tag League 2023 Tournament Match
LIJ. Credit: NJPW
Titán took Eagles out with a suicide dive and then worked with BUSHI to hit Fujita with Angel Immortal to get LIJ to 10 points.
Winners: LIJ (Titán & BUSHI)
MUSASHI & YOH vs. Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) — Super Jr. Tag League 2023 Tournament Match
Jet Setters get another win. Credit: NJPW
Knight hit MUSASHI with an avalanche hurricanrana and followed that with a spike DDT to get the win. The Jet Setters are one of the five teams tied for second place.
Winners: Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA)
Master Wato & El Desperado vs. Just 5 Guys (TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI) — Super Jr. Tag League 2023 Tournament Match
The unlikely tandem of Wato and Desperado continues to roll on. Today, Wato defeated TAKA by making him submit to Vendeval, Wato and Desperado sit alone in first place at 12 points.