Four teams in the hunt before last league night Sunday
World tag League hit Kochi on December 9, with four league bouts setting up the last night of block action Sunday before Wednesday’s final in Sendai.
The main event saw Tetsuya Naito and SANADA in a must win scenario against Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki. Even though the Kochi crowd was behind the LIJ pair from the start, an early brawl from the crowd, and Archer traumatising some local children put them firmly on Naito and SANADA’s side. Naito could use the sympathy; Archer pounced El Ingobernable out of the ring before pounding on him with a chair in front of the already unsettled minor in the crowd. keeping Naito well away from SANADA, Suzuki-Gun had the match well in hand until a basement dropkick, and a long awaited tag to SANADA.
Cold Skull was fired up in ring, able to suplex the huge Archer and drop him throat first over the guardrails. A big cross body from the Murderhawk Monster would see Suzuki back inside, but he would be the recipient of a dropkick to the knee, and Naito, now recovered, was able to get back in. After a combination attempt in the corner, Suzuki would be able to stretch and punish Naito’s knees, combining with Archer to create a nearfall, and though SANADA broke up a heel hold from Suzuki on his partner, things looked bleak for the LIJ side.
As Archer and Suzuki looked for a stereo Blackout and Gotch Style combination, both men wriggled free, and SANADA suplexed Suzuki for a near jackknife pin from Naito at the 15 minute mark. The duo looked for an assisted tornado DDT on Suzuki, getting just enough of the move before Destino followed for three.
A dream tag bout of Australia’s top two teams would also prove crucial to the standings into the last night, as Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls of TMDK took on Aussie Open for the first time. Mark Davis would start with Mikey Nicholls, Mad Mikey showing his strength with an easy vertical suplex to the bigger Davis, before Dunkzilla used his own power to lead to a tag and combination work with Fletcher. Nicholls and Haste would be brought back to back on the floor by Davis and Kyle Fletcher, but Fletcher would be caught getting back in the ring, and it would be TMDK in charge as a result.
The Aussie Arrow, taped up in the shoulder and neck after a tour’s worth of damage, would be worked over by Haste and Nicholls before willing himself to land an impactful brainbuster. Davis would be a wrecking ball that set for Fletcher to connect with Dental Plan on Haste, but Nicholls would be there for much needed support, sacrificing his partner for a Tower of Doom superplex that nearly put Fletcher away. In return, Davis broke up an attempted Tankbuster on Fletcher, and the Dental Plan scored on Nicholls for another near fall.
Corealis seemed sure to follow, but Haste would make the save, leading to a series of collisions and all four men brawling. As three went down, Nicholls stayed up for the Tankbuster on Fletcher to gain two; Thunder Valley would be broken up by Davis, but a Corealis attempt backfired. Chaotic scenes in ring finally ended with Tankbuster on Fletcher once more, and this time the three count was rendered.
EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi, long since eliminated from contention, nonetheless had a chance to spoil Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toru Yano, Be-Bop Tag Team needing a win to stay in. Dick Togo would accompany the two as ever, forcing Toru and Hiroshi to go into their own bag of dirty tricks to stay in with a chance. H.O.T would play the numbers game, Togo getting into the ring so Yujiro could come in with his cane and deck the referee. As has so often happened through the league, interference backfired. Low blows rang home for Yano, and Tanahashi hit Slingblade to EVIL and prepared for the High Fly Flow; a sudden appearance from SHO gave EVIL enough time to recover though, and got knees up into the ribcage of the Ace.
The first league match of the night saw the Mechanical Bulls side of Alex Coughlin and Gabriel Kidd look for their second win, and to spoil Bishamon in the process. Kidd would start with Hirooki Goto, the Young Bull carried extra confidence earned from he and Coughlin having scooped their first two points, but when YOSHI-HASHI got free to Hirooki Goto, the result was a powerful string of offence. Coughlin landed a DVD on Goto to bring Kidd back inside, the two connecting to deal a nearfall on YOSHI-HASHI off the Tenzan Press, but the Android missed an intended powerbomb for Kidd onto YOSHI-HASHI, instead only getting the canvas. Shoto was blocked initially by Kidd, but scored on the second try for the win.
