The semi-finals of New Japan’s World Tag League are set following the conclusion of the B Block round-robin matches.
Tuesday’s show in Fukuoka drew 1,305 and saw six of the eight teams still alive going into their final matches, with four receiving the boot.
IWGP tag team champions OSKAR & Yuto-Ice clinched first place in the block with their win over Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino in the main event of the show.
The champions overcame a flurry of offense after Umino landed a massive lariat to OSKAR and attempted the Second Chapter. Yuto-Ice saved his partner from the maneuver that led to hitting the KOB for the victory.
By finishing in first place, they will meet the #2 seed of Gabe Kidd & Yota Tsuji later this week to determine who advances to the final.
Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa are also advancing to the semi-final after a quick win against Monster Sauce’s Lance Archer & Alex Zayne.
It was explained that Zayne has suffered a neck injury and has limited mobility. The match layout gave credence to the severity as Zayne was sent out of the ring, and they worked the match as a handicap with Archer against the TMDK members. Zack took a Blackout and was lying on the mat as Oiwa was hoisted by Archer for the same maneuver, but avoided it, and sent Archer into a roll-up by Zack.
TMDK tied the point total of Yuto-Ice & OSKAR, but based on the tiebreaker, the champions are the winners of the block.
ZSJ & Oiwa will headline Wednesday’s show against Bishamon’s Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI in the first semi-final contest.
David Finlay & Hiromu Takahashi played spoilers by defeating Great O-Khan & Callum Newman after hitting Overkill and a Time Bomb on Newman.
Hiroshi Tanahashi competed in his last World Tag League tournament match, teaming with El Phantasmo and beating Ren Narita & SANADA to eliminate the House of Torture members from the block.
Full results
- World Tag League B Block: OSKAR & Yuto-Ice over Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino in 21:53
- World Tag League B Block: Hiromu Takahashi & David Finlay over Great O-Khan & Callum Newman in 14:34
- World Tag League B Block: Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa over Lance Archer & Alex Zayne in 2:23
- World Tag League B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi & El Phantasmo over Ren Narita & SANADA in 10:14
- Yota Tsuji, Gabe Kidd & Gedo over Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto in 7:53
- EVIL, Don Fale & SHO over Oleg Boltin, Toru Yano & Katsuya Murashima in 6:38
- Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney & Daiki Nagai over El Desperado, Shuji Ishikawa & Shoma Kato in 8:01
- Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi over Taichi, Satoshi Kojima & Masatora Yasuda in 7:02
World Tag League standings
A Block
- YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto (10 points)
- Gabe Kidd & Yota Tsuji (10 points)
- Shingo Takagi & Drilla Moloney (8 points)
- EVIL & Don Fale (8 points)
- Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano (8 points)
- El Desperado & Shuji Ishikawa (8 points)
- Satoshi Kojima & Taichi (2 points)
- Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi (2 points)
B Block
- Yuto-Ice & OSKAR (8 points)
- Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa (8 points)
- Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino (8 points)
- Great O-Khan & Callum Newman (8 points)
- Ren Narita & SANADA (6 points)
- Lance Archer & Alex Zayne (6 points)
- David Finlay & Hiromu Takahashi (6 points)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & El Phantasmo (6 points)
