Day four and there’s still not much to say up here. It’s World Tag League, you know what you’re getting yourself in to. Plaster a smile on your face, grab yourself a beverage and try to enjoy it as much as you can.
Night three and I don’t have much to say. It’s a single cam show which would generally lead to a drop in the effort levels. However, no-one tries in this tournament anyway, so I doubt it’s going to make a difference. Let’s get it over and done with.
I went straight into the review on night one and didn’t mention that World Tag League has ditched the two group format in favour of every team being chucked into the one. It makes for a rather unwieldy block, and I’m a bit worried New Japan is going to produce another three-way dance in the final. Fingers crossed I’m wrong. Anyway, that’s a while off, so let’s focus on night two and all the fun that entails.
Right, I’m going have to work double time to catch up on World Tag League which considering it’s World Tag League and a chore at the best of times is not going to be fun. As usual for NJPW tournaments, I will not be reviewing the undercard because life is too short. Let’s do this!
Disgraceful behaviour from Red Shoes. Credit: NJPW
One of these matches is pivotal in deciding who goes to the final of this tournament and the other means fuck all. Considering the levels of effort put into this tournament when they were still supposedly wrestling for something, I’m a bit worried about what the match for pride will look like. We must treat every New Japan day like it’s Christmas, though. They might surprise me yet.
New Japan has split the final four group matches of the Super Junior Tag League onto separate shows, but I’m going to review them in groups of two rather than doing a piece for each one. Both of today’s bouts have potential final implications, so they at least hold some interest.
It was nice of Despy to cover BUSHI’s face for him. Credit: NJPW
I’m not going to change my tournament long policy of ignoring the undercard, but it would be remiss to not mention what happened in the final multi-man match of this show. In what has become a common theme, The Firing Squad went after Okada post-match and Tanahashi made the save. This time, rather than rejecting the Ace’s help, Okada embraced in. In fact, Okada and Tanahashi shook hands while Korakuen Hall exploded. I watched that moment spoilt, yet it still gave me goosebumps. It’s so much more than a handshake, it’s the greatest feud in pro-wrestling coming full circle. Okada and Tanahashi gave the Juniors an impossible moment to follow just by clasping hands.
We now live in a world where Lanny Poffo is commentating on New Japan shows. That’s a world I distrust. I’ve got nothing against Lanny Poffo, it’s just fucking weird. Anyway, we’re back in Korakuen which means we’re getting four tournament matches and hopefully a smidge more effort.
New Japan’s Super Junior Tag League has sadly been a bit flat so far. There’s not much about it that I’d describe as bad, and yet, it’s hardly got the blood pumping. It’s been fine with a couple of spots where it’s leapt above that level to good and just the one (back on the first night) where it managed to hit great. Sadly, I doubt this single-camera show will be the moment that changes, but you never know.
The Super Junior Tag League rolls on and, to be honest, I don’t have much to say in this intro. It’s another one camera show with only two matches on it, so we know not to expect much. Hopefully, someone will surprise us.