We are down to the last three days of the NJPW World Tag League, where the winner will go on to face Suzuki Gun’s Killer Elite Squad for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12. There are still at least eight different teams in contention for a spot in the finals, spread across two blocks, and we’ve laid out the remaining matchups below.
The A Block finals take place December 8th with several teams still in contention. Interestingly, it’s down to three teams representing the three biggest factions in NJPW: Bullet Club, Chaos and Los Ignobernables de Japon. The way the points are laid out, even if the main event ends in a draw each team will have nine points, meaning that anyone currently sitting at six points has been mathematically eliminated.
Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata (2) vs. Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale (6)
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4) vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka (6)
Sami Callihan & Juice Robinson (6) vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page (8)
Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi (8) vs. Sanada & Evil (8)
The B Block finals take place on December 9th, and unlike the A Block it’s way too close to make any actual predictions. There are six teams sitting at eight points, so more than likely we’ll end up in a situation with two, if not three teams tied for first place. As with all the G1 tournaments, in the event of a tie the win goes to whoever took the advantage in their previous head-to-head. For instance, if the Killer Elite Squad and Guerrillas of Destiny tie, GoD would advance as they defeated KES earlier in the tournament.
Togi Makabe & Henare (0) vs. Katsuya Kitamura & David Finlay (0)
Jeff Cobb & Michael Elgin (8) vs. War Machine (8)
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano (8) vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (8)
Chuck Taylor & Beretta (8) vs. Killer Elite Squad (8)
Below is the current match card for the World Tag League Finals set for December 11th. The show will air live on New Japan World at 4:30AM EST with English commentary from Kevin Kelly and Don Callis. The undercard will be filled with bouts pending the results of this week’s A Block and B Block finals.
World Tag League Finals
A Block Winner vs. B Block Winner
Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
Roppongi 3K vs. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks
Kota Ibushi & Kushida vs. Cody Rhodes & Marty Scurll