I want to point out that while I have been moaning about World Tag League, I review this stuff because I fucking love it. A mediocre New Japan show is still better than most things in life, and all my whining comes from the heart. Anyway, we’re onto Komatsu for another line-up of potential three-star matches. Will it deliver? Time to find out.
Tencozy (Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan) (4-3) defeated Toru Yano and Colt Cabana (4-4)
The crusty veterans vs the jokers is an easy story to tell and tell it they did. Colt and Yano have settled into their shtick, so if you’re watching every show (why?) you’ll have seen it, but they’re good enough that this was still entertaining. Plus, when called upon they can go, and they had a solid opener with the Dads.
Verdict: Three Stars
FinJuice (Juice Robinson and David Finlay) (6-1) defeated Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi (1-7)
Juice and Finlay went out of their way to make Nakanishi and Nagata look like a pair of badasses, and I love that. Those two are great. Not only are they a good tag-team, but they seem like the kind of guys who I would love to buy a drink. It also led to an enjoyable watch that everyone else getting into the ring with Nakanishi could learn with. Move around for him, and the big man still has some magic.
Verdict: Three And A Quarter Stars
Mad Muscle Men (Jeff Cobb and Mikey Nicholls) (5-3) defeated HenarAce (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare) (2-6)
Right, it’s official, Mikey Nicholls has won me over. I still want him to ditch the ‘mad’ stuff, but the guy is a damn good tag-team wrestler and had another strong outing with HenarAce. New Japan has given him a lot of falls, so it looks like they’re not done with him, and on this evidence, I’m cool with it.
Verdict: Three Stars
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer) (4-3) defeated Double Rampage (Shingo Takagi and El Terrible) (3-5)
Talking of who is getting falls, Archer is getting a lot of them for his team. It’s not that monumental (he is a champion), but could be further evidence that MiSu is offski. Outside of that, this was a hard-hitting sprint that saw everyone looking decent (including Terrible). I always rave about Shingo, so I’ll avoid doing it again, but just for the record, he’s the best. Wait, I did it, didn’t I? Oh well.
Verdict: Three And A Half Stars
Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa) (4-2) defeated Hirooki Goto and Karl Fredericks (2-4)
I’ve stopped trying to enjoy GOD matches because it ain’t happening, but this wasn’t the worst one that they’ve had. It featured some build for KENTA vs Goto as they did one of those dumb finishes where KENTA wanders out, causing Goto to forget he’s in a match and allowing Tama to take advantage. Then, after the bell, KENTA beat him up a bit. As I get over the lack of Shibata, I have to admit that I’m looking forward to that fight.
Verdict: Two And A Half Stars
CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI) (6-1) defeated GBH (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) (3-5)
When the pressure is off YOSHI-HASHI, he’s not a bad wrestler. It’s just a shame that he always shits the bed in big spots. Despite that, he and Ishii are having a good tournament, which they continued by getting a strong showing out of Makabe and Honma. The key to wrestling GBH in 2019 is to hit them and get them to hit you back. It’s not complicated, but it works. Although if anything is going to signal the end of Honma’s career, it’s tapping out to the fucking Butterfly Lock.
Verdict: Three And A Half Stars
Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA and EVIL) (6-0) defeated The Bullet Club (KENTA and Yujiro Takahashi) (3-4)
To continue my TED Talk on ‘SANADA is good and all you people who say he isn’t are mental’, I’d like to point to this match. It was dull as shit until he got tagged in. TED Talk over. Seriously, though, this took a while to get going, but when it did, it was good enough. These matches are all starting to blur into one, so all I can really say is that it neither sucked or excelled.
Verdict: Three And A Quarter Stars
Overall Show
I’ve lost track of whether I enjoyed this show or not. Sorry, I opened a beer halfway through. I think it was pretty good? It certainly didn’t stink. A scroll up shows a lot of three to three and a half star ratings, so either I’m in a good mood or, by Tag League standards, they delivered.
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