Bishamon and GoD collide in main event
December 10 will see the finals of World Tag League. 16 teams have become two, and the world’s best duos will do battle Sunday afternoon to determine the 2023 WTL winners, and the future of the IWGP Tag team Championships at Wrestle Kingdom 18.
Watch LIVE on NJPW World! (English to follow very soon after the event)
Main event: World Tag League Final- Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs Guerrillas of Destiny (Hikuleo & El Phantasmo)
Tag record: 1-0 GoD
The World Tag League final is supposed to determine the top tag team over a three week period, and its fitting that two sets of tag team champions comprise our final for the first time ever. Hirooki Goto, already a four time winner of the tournament seeks his fifth overall trophy and an unprecedented third in a row with YOSHI-HASHI, as Bishamon seek to further make history as the first IWGP tag team Champions to win the winter tag classic.
Yet victory will be no easy task. Hikuleo and El Phantasmo are the NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions, and started their campaigns with a win over Bishamon in Korakuen Hall, a venue that has historically been to YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto’s extreme advantage. Now, they stand to stop the streak of Bishamon and move closer to double tag gold in the Tokyo Dome- but if Goto and YOSHI-HASHI are victorious, what might be in the pipeline for the tag gold at Wrestle Kingdom?
7th Match: Just Five Guys (SANADA, Taichi, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Zandokan Jr.& BUSHI)
Tetsuya Naito makes his return to in ring competition after eye surgery to face off with SANADA less than one month away from their main event showdown over the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 18. With just four weeks separating both men from their date with destiny, tonight will see an important step on the road to Wrestle Kingdom. NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi is also involved in the Tokyo Dome card, and with opponent Tama Tonga absent, will be looking to make a show of force ahead of WK18. For Uemura meanwhile, a win Friday night in Kagoshima did little to satisfy the recent returnee, still sore from a humiliating loss to Tsuji at Power Struggle. Insistent he will get the upper hand on the Gene Blast before the year is out, will this be a big step toward that point?
6th Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)
A massive opportunity for the Gates of Agony sees them end their first tour of Japan by taking on the Dream Team of Tanahashi and Okada. The Ace and the Rainmaker will combine as a duo for the first time since April 15 and Capital Collision in Washington DC. That night was a sore memory for Tanahashi, who sustained a rib injury