Three teams sit atop the World Tag League A Block standings following Saturday’s round of matches in Aomori.
The tournament reached its midway point at the Mutsu Maeda Arena, where a four-way tie for the lead was narrowly avoided in the main event. Yota Tsuji and Gabe Kidd defeated Toru Yano and Oleg Boltin to improve to six points, joining two other teams at the top of the block.
In the final match of the night, Tsuji and Kidd secured the victory over the previously unbeaten pairing of Yano and Boltin. The finish saw Kidd pin Yano following the War Blaster double-team maneuver, capping off a match where the winning team had to adapt to Yano’s chaotic tactics and the exposed turnbuckles.
Shuji Ishikawa and El Desperado also climbed to six points by defeating the former World Tag League winners, Bishamon. After a back-and-forth encounter involving all four men, Ishikawa pinned YOSHI-HASHI following a running knee and a Giant Slam.
House of Torture’s EVIL and Don Fale maintained their share of the lead with a win over Satoshi Kojima and Taichi. The match featured interference from Yoshinobu Kanemaru, which allowed EVIL to hit “Everything is EVIL” on Kojima for the pinfall.
Shingo Takagi and Drilla Moloney improved to four points by defeating the winless team of Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi. The match ended when the “War Dragons” hit their tandem finisher on Owens, following a gore by Moloney.
The tournament continues on Sunday with B Block action from Akita.
Match Results
- Lance Archer, Alex Zayne & Zane Jay def. Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura & Shoma Kato
- Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young def. Yuto Nakashima, Oskar Leube & Daiki Nagai
- Ren Narita, SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. David Finlay, Hiromu Takahashi & Gedo
- Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, El Phantasmo & Katsuya Murashima
- World Tag League A Block: Shingo Takagi & Drilla Moloney [4] def. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [0]
- World Tag League A Block: EVIL & Don Fale [6] def. Taichi & Satoshi Kojima [2]
- World Tag League A Block: Shuji Ishikawa & El Desperado [6] def. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [4]
- World Tag League A Block: Yota Tsuji & Gabe Kidd [6] def. Toru Yano & Oleg Boltin [4]
World Tag League Standings
A Block
- EVIL & Don Fale [6]
- Yota Tsuji & Gabe Kidd [6]
- Shuji Ishikawa & El Desperado [6]
- Toru Yano & Oleg Boltin [4]
- Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [4]
- Shingo Takagi & Drilla Moloney [4]
- Taichi & Satoshi Kojima [2]
- Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens [0]
B Block
- Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa [4]
- David Finlay & Hiromu Takahashi [4]
- Lance Archer & Alex Zayne [4]
- Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman [4]
- Ren Narita & SANADA [4]
- Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura [2]
- Yuto Nakashima & Oskar Leube [2]
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & El Phantasmo [0]
