[Spoilers] World Tag League 2025: Night One (11/20) – A Block

Wolf watch: present

A few minutes before the official start of the stream, YOH came out to the ring. He did some comedy with the YL, then again (he started at the untelevised show a few days ago) pled the case for the NEVER 6s being defended at WK. Said he wouldn’t leave the ring until he got an answer, then had to be carried out by the YL.

We open with a video of Tanahashi announcing the additional seating sections that will be opened up after the original WK allotment sold out (outfield stands, plus more Arena B and C) and when they’ll be on sale (11/30). They were showing the screen from within the arena and Wolf walked in front of the camera.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SANADA^{[beach day version],} Ren Narita def Zane Jay, Monster Sauce (Alex Zayne, Lance Archer) — (5:58, Boston Crab)

• So far we seem to just be not acknowledging Lance Archer being a big shitty Don Callis Family heel in AEW. He does his usual schtick, with Wolf being the victim of Lance’s propensity for beating up YL.

• Beach Day SANADA is just his gear, his new merch towel on his shoulders, and sunglasses.

• Archer calls out SANADA to start, and gets it. Clean start for a second before Ren and Nobu come in.

• HoT Shenanigans level: relatively light. A whiskey mist turned things in their favor They did a variant of the simultaneous submissions spot for the finish; SANADA getting Zayne in the Paradise Lock while Nobu dissuades Archer from getting back in the ring.

Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa, Zack Sabre Jr. def Jakob Austin Young, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan — (8:13, Modified Boston Crab [actually written as a “Boston Crab”, usually they use the Japanese name for it])

• Callum is one notch past clean shaven and has a new jacket; a regular black motorcycle jacket with green flames on the sleeve and a crown/dagger logo on the back.

• I hadn’t noticed this before but apparently it’s not the first time it’s happened; none of these guys did the UE hand sign during their entrance.

• Post-entrances they all do some light shit talking; Callum gets a little spicy with throwing Orange Cassidy-esque kicks at Oiwa but it doesn’t become a big deal. Oiwa steps up to start, Callum and JAY leave the ring to reveal GOK is starting.

• We get a true simultaneous submission spot finish here; ZSJ with Callum in the octopus and Hartley with GOK in a Boston Crab.

• These are two factions to keep an eye on during this tournament. This match is worth watching if you have the time, but their tournament match on our next show (22nd) is likely to be a must-watch.

• Post match, Callum shoves Oiwa on his ass but backs off when Zack and Hartley turn their attention to him.

Shoma Kato, Yuya Uemura, Shota Umino def Katsuya Murashima, El Phantasmo^[w/Jado], Hiroshi Tanahashi — (11:06, Lariat)

• Some light fanservice by Shota as he enters.

• So they actually did a legitimate mash-up of themes for Tana and ELP, instead of the “just play part of one theme and then play part of another” thing they’re doing for a lot of others. Unfortunately, this legitimate mash-up is dogshit.

• Shota is stretching on the ropes while his opponents enter, and ELP gives him a smooch on the cheek then they do the heart fingers to each other.

• Meanwhile Yuya’s focus is on Tana.

• The YL decide to start.

• This was really fucking fun, highly recommended.

• Post match, ELP and Tana leave the ring to help Murashima. From the outside they have a staredown with Yuya and Shota.

• As Shota and Yuya leave they do some fanservice.

Gedo, Hiromu Takahashi, David Finlay def Daiki Nagai, Knock Out Brothers (OSKAR, Yuto-Ice) — (6:10, Power Bomb Whip)

• Hiromu and Finlay, in kayfabe, don’t really know each other, so they’re still feeling each other out.

• Yuto’s look wasn’t lacking anything, but his new hoodie adds a lot.

• Post-entrances Finlay and Gedo start the bark, then Hiromu joins in but doesn’t have the right spirit to it. Finlay and Gedo coach him to an acceptable level of improvement.

• Hiromu calls out Yuto and they butt years for a minute before separating to officially start.

• Bomboclaat level: 0.5

• A very interesting match worth watching.

• Post match, Hiromu and Finlay try to get on the same page. Then Finlay and OSKAR and Hiromu and Yuto get forehead-to-forehead, with Yuto taking a cheap shot at Hiromu and then stomping him a bit.

• The YL start dragging Ice away, but he gets free and goes back for more. Finlay grabs him Yuto by the neck and starts dragging him away, so OSKAR grabs Finlay by the waist and starts dragging him. Hiromu gets up and dropkicks Yuto; they go outside and start brawling until the YL finally drag Yuto out the curtain.

They play a video promoting Fantastica Mania, whose dates were recently announced. The names listed were: Mistico, Mascara Dorada, Titan, Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Templario, Stigma, Ultimo Guerrero, Hechicero, Averno, Soberano Jr., OKUMURA, Magnus, and first time FM tour participants Futuro, Valiente Jr., and Hijo de Stuka Jr.

WTL 2025 A Block: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano def Shuji Ishikawa, El Desperado — (9:56, roll up [of both Despe and Shuji])

• Oleg’s right shoulder is all taped up.

• Despe hides behind Shuji, who starts with Oleg.

• I’m not going to judge Ishikawa off a Toru Yano match, and this was very much a Toru Yano match.

• Post match, Despe briefly argues with the ref about whether or not the pin should’ve counted.

• Next Block Matches: Oleg/Yano vs Taichi/Koji, Despe/Shuji vs Shingo/Drilla

WTL 2025 A Block: Don Fale, EVIL^{[w/Dick Togo]} def Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi — (7:10, Scorpion Deathlock)

• Chase Owens entering to absolute silence while his cheesy cowboy theme plays is hilarious. Yujiro came out with him and they couldn’t even get a pop until Yuj’s entrance announcement. Chase then got a respectful applause and like one or two people yelling his name.

• Post entrances, multi-time(?) WTL team Chase and Fale have a little bit of a staredown. But Yujiro calls out EVIL, in the wake of their impromptu singles match at Purge Night last night. They start for like a minute before Yuj tags out to Chase.

• HoT Shenanigans level: Moderate. For the finishing segment Nobu showed up and everyone took a drink; EVIL being last and spitting it in Chase’s face. Fale feeds Yujiro into the blinded Chase for a DDT, which led to the finish.

• Post match, EVIL and Dick semi-comically bow to apologize to Yujiro and Chase. After conferring, Chase and Yuj agree to a truce and somewhat accept the apology.

• Next Block Matches: EVIL/Don vs Tsuji/Gabe, Yuj/Chase vs Bishamon

WTL 2025 A Block: Satoshi Kojima, Taichi def Bishamon (YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto) — (12:30, Black Mephisto)

• New red-accented gear for Bishamon.

• Goto and Taichi start.

• Very good match. YH worked Taichi’s left knee, which will probably be an ongoing factor in the tournament.

• Post match, a jubilant Kojima and Taichi celebrate and hug.

• Next Block Matches: Bishamon vs Yuj/Chase, Taichi/Koji vs Yano/Oleg

WTL 2025 A Block: Drilla Moloney, Shingo Takagi def Gabe Kidd, Yota Tsuji — (17:01, WAR DRAGON [a double team Made in Japan variant])

• Drilla has a new very furry jacket(? Not sure because it’s very similar to other ones he’s wore.)

• Tsuji is back to the bomber jacket. It’s better without the baseball cap and I guess matches Gabe’s vibe, but this is a potential Tokyo Dome main-eventer and this look is far lesser to his trench coat. (And it’s not like he’s Naito where that’s part of the gimmick.)

• As soon as Gabe gets in the ring he gets forehead-to-forehead with Drilla. After the entrances, both sets of factionmates have a face off; with Gabe and Drilla’s lasting a bit longer.

• Tsuji elects to start against Shingo.

• All four of these guys have varying degrees of things about their ring work that I don’t love, and this match brought a lot of that out. But there was enough other/new stuff that it was still an enjoyable watch.

• Post match, after celebrating, Drilla goes over and gives Gabe an ice pack, then some words and a little bro-kiss on the forehead. Shingo stares down Tsuji on the outside, who gets his Global belt and then helps a YL help Gabe backstage.

• Shingo promo. His and Drilla’s time has come. They sold out Korakuen, and Shingo and Drilla need to win this tournament so they’ll have a big match at the sold out WK20. Shingo calls the by what he thinks their team name should be, “Kita Kita Brothers,” but Drilla stops him.

• Shingo jokingly says he’s the senior here, Drilla apologizes but he thinks Shingo’s name is shit. He proposes “War Dragons.”

• Shingo says that’s a decent name but they already decided on “Kita Kita Brothers.” The crowd boos.

• They hold a crowd poll, eventually “War Dragons” wins. And War Dragons will win WTL.

• They hug and pose together to close out the show, and do some fanservice as they leave.

• Next Block Matches: Tsuji/Gabe vs EVIL/Don, Shingo/Drilla vs Despe/Shuji

• After War Dragons have left the ring, YOH comes back out and sits in the ring again. He stays there as the closing announcement happens and the ring starts getting taken apart.

• When we cut back from War Dragons Backstage Comments, YOH has a mic. But it’s been cut, because the show is over. Now it’s working. Once again he says he’ll be sitting here until someone comes out to make a NEVER 6 match at WK official.

• He calls out Matsumoto for starting to try and mooch off Goto, and Yasuda for forgetting to do YOH’s laundry quite a few times. He tells them to join him in the ring, and they do so. YOH starts yelling demanding Chairman Sugabayashi come out; and he does so.

• The demeanor changes, the three men getting on their knees. YOH respectfully asks for a NEVER 6 match at WK20, please; and they bow.

• Sugabayashi signals no. YOH asks again, more desperately. Another no. YOH desperately asks again. This time it works. So some sort of NEVER 6 title match is confirmed for WK20.

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