World Tag League 2014 - Day 2

World Tag League 2014

(2014/11/23)

1.      Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Taichi, Desperado) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Sho Tanaka, Yohei Komatsu

Great fucking opener, a smashing mixture of chaotic brawling, comedy and nonstop hatred, MiSu and Taichi ruled the ring here. I hope they give us MiSu/Kojima somewhere in 2015.

****

2.      WTL 2014 – Block A: IronGodz (Rob Conway & Jax Dane) vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows

Good fast paced tag, constant movement, true American style. Jax Dane looked good again, and he’s better than Conway, IMHO.

***

3.      WTL 2014 – Block B: Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma)

YES! Knew it would be awesome, but didn’t expect THIS awesome. Looking at the participants it’s easy to guess this was a total maulfest full of manliness and nasty smacking. Sumptuous tag with a terrific pacing and execution, Yuji and Manabu are 2-0 now, the old dogs can still hunt indeed.

****1/4

4.      AJ Styles & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Toru Yano & Gedo

Good tag despite the fallman being so obvious. Gedo has aged insanely well, both physically and as a smart wrestler. Also, I’m digging AJ and Yujiro as a strange duo.

***1/2

5.      Tetsuya Naito, Sombra, BUSHI vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Cpt. New Japan

Good, colorful 6-man tag, with fast paced action and good chemistry all around. Needless to say, Sombra/Tana is the way to go.

***1/2

6.      WTL 2014 – Block B: Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.) vs. CHAOS Invincible (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii)

A rematch year and a half in the making, this was almost as good as that awesome Korakuen match, loved it.

****

7.      WTL 2014 – Block B: Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata

Damn good tussle, one of the best Tonga performances ever, dude was good here, Fale too, they work surprisingly well as a big bad duo, they look compelling despite Tonga being an ultimate jobber. Shibata ate the pin again, they’re 0-2 now, props to G&J for ballsy booking.

***3/4

8.      WTL 2014 – Block A: Matt Taven & Michael Bennett vs. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI

I have no idea why this main evented over match number 6, but whatever, this was a super fun match. The ROH duo was totally good once again, this time they relied on comedy by playing goofy heels but still with a nice adulterant of dirty American malice. Simple, effective and borderline great tag.

***3/4