We have reached the eighth day of NJPW World Tag League action and the fourth show featuring B Block tournament matches. Block B has the only remaining undefeated team in the tournament, Monstersauce. Alex Zayne and Lance Archer sit at the top of B Block with 8 points. They defeated Yuya Uemura and Taichi today, who even with this loss still sit in second place.
Elsewhere on the card, the IWGP World Tag Team Champions, YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto battled to a time-limit draw with the luchador team of Soberano Jr. and Atlantis Jr.
HASHI and Soberano got the match started by exchanging holds, they both attempted to get the better of their opponent to no avail. Goto and Atlantis then got their turn to showcase some technical wrestling, but just like their teammates, there was a lot of back and forth and no success. Bishamon finally got things going when they hit Atlantis with a double-shoulder tackle and Goto then hip-tossed HASHI onto Atlantis. The champs then gave Soberano their signature thunder strikes to his back before turning their attention back to Atlantis.
HASHI now began attacking Atlantis’ already injured shoulder, but Atlantis caught him with a hurricanrana and tagged in Soberano who dove into the ring with a crossbody. Soberano and Goto were now trading strikes, but it was Soberano landing a dropkick and standing moonsault. He then brought Goto outside the ring to throw him into the barricade and deliver a 619 off the ring apron to Goto’s face. Atlantis now got involved choking Goto on the barricade while Soberano hit HASHI with a running strike.
Hurricanrana. Credit: NJPW
Soberano now threw Goto’s face into Atlantis’ feet and then tagged him in, the two luchadors were now stomping a hole into Goto. It seemed like they were in full control, but Goto was not going down without a fight and he caught Soberano with a discus lariat. HASHI was finally tagged back in and he gave Soberano a superkick followed by a running blockbuster. He then hit him with a stalling suplex, but Soberano then began to battle back with some big chops and this led to an exchange of chops between the two.
It was HASHI winning the exchange of chops when he hit a two-handed slap to Soberano’s chest, but Soberano came right back with a standing hurricanrana that he followed with a bicycle kick and power slam. Goto and Atlantis were now both tagged back in and Goto quickly caught him with a corner-spinning heel kick and side-suplex. Despite the initial burst of offence, Atlantis then caught Goto with a scoop slam and sliding dropkick to the head. HASHI attempted to get involved, but Sobernao pump kicked him out of the ring and Atlantis locked Goto into a crossface.
HASHI broke up the submission, so Sobernao sent him back outside the ring before diving into him with a corkscrew plancha. Atlantis locked the crossface back in, but this time it was Goto getting his foot on the rope to break the hold. He then draped Goto’s feet over the ropes and held his body up, Soberano proceeded to deliver a diving moonsault to Goto. HASHI stopped the double-team attack by hitting Soberano with a clothesline, but he was then dropped by Atlantis. However, Atlantis turned into ushigoroshi from Goto and he followed that with a brainbuster before tagging HASHI in.
Goto goes into the steel. Credit: NJPW
Right off the tag, HASHI turned Atlantis inside-out with a clothesline before giving him a superkick. However, the time in this match was running out so Bishamon got both of their opponents in dual submissions. Unfortunately for the champions, Atlantis got his toes on the ropes and both holds were released. Atlantis was now given two clotheslines and Bishamon then hit him with the Violent Flash. They now set up for Shoto, but Soberano broke up the move and now all four men traded lariats.
All four competitions were down on the mat as time was running out, HASHI tried to pin Atlantis, but he kicked out quickly and time expired. A fantastic main event will unfortunately have no winner. With the time limit draw, both teams earn one point in the tournament, Bishamon now sits at 3 points and Atlantis and Soberano move to 5 points.
NJPW World Tag League 2023 Standings
A Block
B Block
NJPW WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2023 NIGHT 8 RESULTS
Yuto Nakashima & Gates of Agony (Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) vs. House of Torture (SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL)
Some Gates of Agony added in front of the House of Torture. Credit: NJPW
While the Gates of Agony chased Dick Togo up the ramp SHO forced Nakashima to submit with the Snakebite.
After the match, the House of Torture showed respect to the Gates of Agony and handed them House of Torture shirts. Liona and Kaun put the shirts on and seemingly aligned themselves with the House of Torture. This is a weird development considering Gates of Agony faces House of Torture in a World Tag League Match on December 1.
Winners: House of Torture (SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL)
TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) vs. Boltin Oleg, Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomiya
Kiyomiya defeated Fujita with a Shining Wizard.
Winners: Boltin Oleg, Ryohei Oiwa & Kaito Kiyomitya
United Empire (Callum Newman, HENARE & Great-O-Khan) vs. Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, Gabe Kidd & Alex Coughlin)
Coughlin overpowered Newman and dropped him with a Jackhammer to get the victory.
Winners: Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, Gabe Kidd & Alex Coughlin)
Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi, Ren Narita & Shota Umino vs. Master Wato & CHAOS (YOH, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii)
Wato got Tiger Mask to submit after locking him into Vendeval.
Winners: Master Wato & CHAOS (YOH, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii)
World Tag League B Block Tournament Match: Zandokan Jr. & Yota Tsuji vs. Rogue Army (Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza)
A big elbow drop from Fale. Credit: NJPW
Fale splashed onto Zandokan in the corner, Bonza gave him a back-breaker and Fale then dropped a big elbow on his chest. This was enough for the Rogue Army to get their first tournament victory.
Winners: Rogue Army (Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza)
World Tag League B Block Tournament Match: Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo)
CRII. Credit: NJPW
ELP delivered a Sudden Death and CRII to Suzuki to win the match and hand Suzuki and Nagata their fourth consecutive loss.
Winners: Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo)
World Tag League B Block Tournament Match: Just 5 Guys (Yuya Uemura & Taichi) vs. Monstersauce (Alex Zayne & Lance Archer)
Monstersauce still undefeated. Credit: NJPW
Monstersauce remains undefeated after hitting Uemura with the Blackout Sauce, this is also Just 5 Guys’ first loss in the tournament.
