The 2024 NJPW World Tag League is closing in on its finalists.
Just a few candidates remained in the promotion’s B Block following a card at the Saga Karatsu City Cultural and Sports Center on Wednesday night, where the division’s second-last night of action took place.
A win for the United Empire team of Great-O-Khan and HENARE against The Natural Classics duo of Stevie and Tome Fillip put them up to 10 points, making them the leading group in the division.
However, they are not a lock to win the block just yet. A couple of other teams still have the chance to spoil the party:
The Los Ingobernables de Japon duo of Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi trail by just two points, remaining slightly behind the leaders after beating the duo of EVIL and Ren Narita in Wednesday’s 23-minute main event.
The match effectively eliminated the House of Torture duo from making the finals. While they hold eight points, hypothetically putting them prime for a shot at stealing first place, losses to all three teams still in the hunt make them ineligible to prevail in any tiebreaker circumstances.
The fate of the entire tournament is in the hands of Los Ingobernables de Japon on Friday. When the duo faces Great-O-Khan and HENARE, a loss would seal a block win for the United Empire duo. However, a victory would allow them to potentially win the tournament altogether due to tiebreaker rules.
With that being said, there is a wild card at play: The eclectic pairing of Toru Yano and Oleg Boltin, who moved up to eight points in the division this Wednesday with a win over Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jado, are also still in the hunt.
If Boltin and Yano overcome the TMDK duo of Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste on Friday, and LIJ prevail, Yano and Boltin will leave Kagoshima as the B Block winners.
This tiebreaker result is only possible due to an upset win the Boltin and Yano alliance pulled off against LIJ last month, favoring them in an instance where they would be neck-and-neck at the top of the standings.
In summary, here’s a quick rundown of all the pathways to victory, some slimmer odds than others:
IF United Empire beats Los Ingobernables de Japon: United Empire wins the B Block, regardless of the result in the Yano and Oleg match.
IF Los Ingobernables de Japon beats United Empire AND Yano/Oleg loses their match: United Empire win the B Block.
IF Los Ingobernables de Japon beats United Empire BUT Yano/Oleg wins their match: Yano and Oleg win the B Block.
The A Block’s final night will conclude on Thursday, with a three-way tie currently atop the standings. Here are the full results from Wednesday, plus an updated look at the standings:
NJPW 2024 World Tag League Night 12 results
- Chase Owens & KENTA def. Alex Zayne & Katsuya Murashima
- Gabe Kidd, Gedo & SANADA def. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Shoma Kato
- BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji def. Shota Umino, Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Honma
- Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste def. Taichi & TAKA Michinobu (B Block)
- Great-O-Khan & HENARE def. Stevie Fillip & Tome Fillip (B Block)
- Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano def. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jado (B Block)
- Hiromu Takahashi def. EVIL & Ren Narita (B Block)
A Block Standings
- Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (8)
- Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji (8)
- Gabe Kidd & SANADA (8)
- Jeff Cobb & Callum Newman (6)
- KENTA & Chase Owens (6)
- Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma (4)
- Alex Zayne & Ryusuke Taguchi (4)
- Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa (4)
B Block Standings
- Great-O-Khan & HENARE (10)
- Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg (8)
- Tetsuya Naito & Hiroomu Takahashi (8)
- EVIL & Ren Narita (8)
- Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste (6)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jado (4)
- Taichi & TAKA Michinoku (2)
- Tome Fillip & Stevie Fillip (2)
