My NJPW World Tag League 2017 Day 15 Overview

NJPW World Tag League - Day 15

Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan

Sasebo General Ground Gymnasium

Attendance: 1,006

NJPW World Tag League 2017 Day 15 Pre-Show Standings
A Block	Points
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA)	8
Bullet Club (Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi)	6
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka)	6
Death Juice (Juice Robinson & Sami Callihan)	6
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)	6
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens)	6
TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)	4
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi	2
B Block	Points
CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano)	8
Michael Elgin & Jeff Cobb	8
Best Friends (Beretta & Chuckie T)	8
Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)	8
Killer Elite Squad (Vance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.)	6
War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe)	6
Togi Makabe & Henare	0
Muscle Candy (David Finlay & Katsuya Kitamura)	0

Day 15 will feature two matches from the A Block. The leaders of the A Block as of right now are EVIL and SANADA with eight points. On this show, The Bullet Club (Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi), CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)  and Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) all have a chance to also have eight points by the end of the show. I know that in the event of a tie that there are factors that play into which team is slotted higher than the other based on their wins during the tournament but my brain is a mess trying to delve into the intricacies of the tournament. I miss John Pollock's breakdowns in NJPW round robin tournaments (although I'm pretty sure he just covers the G1 with that kind of depth)

World Tag League 2017 Block A Match

Tag Team Match

Bullet Club (Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi)(6 points) vs Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka)(6 points)

• The action starts when Suzuki and Iizuka rush Page and Yujiro on the walkway. They brawl in the crowd and at ringside.
• For some reason, nothing takes me out of a NJPW match more than brawling outside of the ring.
• Page hits that lariat where he flips over the ropes and takes down Suzuki with it. That move always gets a reaction.
• Back to brawling on the outside. I swear, I can hear those barricades in my sleep at this point.
• Suzuki goes for the Gotch-style Piledriver, Page counters and tries to set up the Rite of Passage, Minoru goes up and grabs the referee's shirt to block the move. Minoru throws the ref down and low blows Page.
• Suzuki holds Page up as Iizuka strikes with the iron fingers.
• In a rare move, the ref (red shoes) actually calls for the DQ.
• Suzuki and Iizuka continue to attack Page and Yujiro after the match.

Winners by DQ: Bullet Club (Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi)(8 points)

My Take: Not much of a match.

World Tag League 2017 Block A Match

Tag Team Match

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)(6 points) vs Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi (2 points)

• Good match between these two teams.
• Nagata and Nakanishi worked as the defacto babyfaces since the crowd seemed to be more behind them.
• They all hit their usual spots like Nagata's Backdrop and Shirome (seated armbar) and Nakanishi's Diving Cross Body and Torture Rack. 
• Nakanishi actually kicks out of that assisted GTR move from Goto and YOSHI-HASHI. However, he is pinned shortly after with what looked like the Magic Killer.

Winners: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (8 points)

My Take: Good match!

Closing Promos

• Juice Robinson puts over the young lion, Shota Umino (Referee Red Shoes' son). Sami Callihan regrets kissing Hiroyoshi Tenzan who apparently turned that kiss around on Sami. Umino says something in Japanese but says it with an exhausted confidence before walking away crouched in pain. Juice just goes "hell yeah!" in agreement even though I don't think he understood what Umino said.
• I will now transcribe Hiroyoshi Tenzan's promo as he reacts to the Callihan Kiss: "It was so soft. Very soft. Ah. Feel good! But...AHH...oh my god...my wife never kiss me but he kiss me. Yeah? Oh, terrible...but good! I like it!". I think I love Tenzan now!
• Elgin and Cobb start cutting their promo. They may or may not have squashed whatever beef started on social media but nevertheless this was a little bit awkward for me to watch.
• There was a GIF going around of Rowe mouthing "FUCK Michael Elgin!" that I can only assume was from a WTL event that I haven't watched yet. Interestingly enough here, Rowe never makes eye contact with Elgin which may or may not be an indicator.
• Makabe doesn't even stop to be interviewed. He just walks right on by the cameras and yells out whatever he has to say without even looking the camera's way. Probably angry that his team lost again.
• Henare pretty much backs that up. He says that they still have two more chances and warns the Killer Elite Squad.
• The KES just say that everyone is going to die and that the WTL...I'm sorry.....the KTL....belongs to them.
• I skipped the promos in Japanese, by the way.
• Hangman Page is coming to from the attack from Suzuki-gun as Yujiro tries to tell him that they won the match. Yujiro . 
• Yujiro doesn't know Sami's last name. 
• Page says that when he faces Sami he's going to take his scrambled up brain and headbutt Sami right in the face until he bleeds. Please don't. As BAD-motherfucking-ASS as the Shibata headbutt looked from Shibata at Sakura Genesis (that even my casualest of friends thought was bad ass) I'd give it back to have Shibata be able to wrestle again.
• "No problumm, no sorprrrrisa! DISSS...IS...EEEEVIIILLLLL. EVERRRATHENG....IS EEEEEEVILLLL. * sideways peace sign * 

Closing Thoughts

So now the A Block has a little log jam of their own with a three-way tie for 1st place as EVIL & SANADA, Hangman & Page and Goto and YOSHI-HASHi all have eight points.

NJPW World Tag League 2017 Day 15 Post-Show Standings
A Block	Points
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA)	8
Bullet Club (Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi)	8
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)	8
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka)	6
Death Juice (Juice Robinson & Sami Callihan)	6
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens)	6
TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)	4
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi	2
B Block	Points
CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano)	8
Michael Elgin & Jeff Cobb	8
Best Friends (Beretta & Chuckie T)	8
Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)	8
Killer Elite Squad (Vance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.)	6
War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe)	6
Togi Makabe & Henare	0
Muscle Candy (David Finlay & Katsuya Kitamura)	0