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Dominion

The tag title scene was a bit of a mess going into Dominion, plagued by vacancies and 0-defense reigns. Hoping to bring some stability back to the titles, Callum Newman and Great-O-Khan walked into Dominion in each man’s second reign of the IWGP Tag titles, though their first with each other. In order to establish themselves, however, they would have to contend with the somewhat unlikely pairing Taichi and Tomohiro Ishii, a product of Main Unit taking in both Chaos and Just 4 Guys. 

I say only somewhat unlikely, because the two do go way back, being part of the group dubbed as the “Four Black Saints” (along with Milano Collection AT and Tomoaki Honma). However, time has kept them apart, with Ishii spending the better part of the past decade and a half with Chaos, and Taichi taking up residency with Suzuki-gun before forming Just 4 Guys. Now, fate has brought them back together, and the two hard-hitting vets have a chance to win Tag Team gold.

It was a lively match, with the veteran team winning the hearts of the crowd, not allowing the younger team to get the better of them. At the climax of the match, the crowd grew to a fever pitch, cheering on the ragtag team. With their support, Taichi & Ishii managed to turn the tides in their favor, defeating the newly crowned United Empire team to claim the IWGP Tag Team titles for themselves in an emotional win. It was also after this match that Just 4 Guys would be officially dissolved and absorbed completely into Main Unit.

G1 Climax

However, despite having won tag team gold, the two tag champions made it clear that their own singles careers wouldn’t be set aside, and with the G1 Climax coming up, what better place than there to show that they can still hold their own in singles competition. There was just one problem: Neither man had made the cut for a guaranteed spot in the G1 Climax. Instead, the two would have to fight for a spot in qualifying matches.

First up was Tomohiro Ishii, who would have to face the newest addition to the heavyweight division, Drilla Moloney. Although Ishii had beaten Moloney previously in a Strong title match, it seems Moloney has better acclimated to New Japan’s heavyweight division, taking out Ishii and solidifying his spot for the G1 Climax. Ishii failed to qualify.

Next up was Taichi, taking on one half of the former tag team champions, Callum Newman. Newman felt some pressure here. He got into the G1 last year under similar circumstances, but his poor performance then has caused him to have to fight for a G1 spot once more. On top of that, he would have to face one of the men who took away his Tag Team gold. With this chip on his shoulder, Newman overcame Taichi, once again claiming a spot in the G1 Climax. Taichi failed to qualify.

It seemed like things came to an abrupt end for the tag team champions. Despite making bold claims that they would be a force to be reckoned with in the singles division, neither one managed to take a spot in the premier heavyweight tournament in wrestling. However, an unfortunate incident turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the tag champions, as Hirooki Goto’s unfortunate injury opened up a spot in the tournament that needed to be filled. 

The way it would be filled was through a gauntlet match featuring the other wrestlers who lost in their respective qualifying matches. That included Both Ishii and Taichi, as well as Chase Owens and Satoshi Kojima. The match started with Owens and Kojima, where Owens pinned Kojima. Next out was Taichi, who was able to beat Owens. That meant that the final two in the gauntlet would be our tag champions, who fought tooth and nail for that spot. In the end, though, the one who would prevail was Taichi.

And so Taichi would participate in the G1 Climax. He would put on a spirited performance, putting on some of the best matches of the tournament. Unfortunately, the results didn’t match the effort, and he finished at the bottom of his block with only 3 wins and 6 points. It was a rough result for Taichi after having fought so hard to get into the tournament.

Destruction in Kobe

As the tournament came to a close, Taichi would be rudely reminded that he was still one half of the tag champions. On the day of the finals, after teaming up with his old stablemate Satoshi Kojima, Taichi was confronted by a notable tag team. Yuto Nakashima and Oskar Leube would make their return from excursion, now rechristened as Yuto-Ice and Oskar, the aptly named Knockout Brothers are back in New Japan as the newest members of the Bullet Club War Dogs, immediately setting their sights on tag team gold. They beat down Taichi and challenged him and Ishii to a title match.

It was a brash move by the new team, but they were emboldened by their success in Europe. The duo had a few lengthy reigns as tag champions in Germany and Holland, and with that experience under their belt, they felt confident enough to aim for the top of the division in their home promotion. At Destruction in Kobe, the two vets would take on the young blood of the Knockout Brothers, and as it turns out, the kids were ready. The Knockout Brothers beat Taichi & Ishii, becoming the new IWGP Tag Team champions, and putting an end to another defense-less tag team title reign.

King of Pro-Wrestling

The two were on a high. Their first two-on-two tag team match back, and they already have championship gold. However, with the gold around their waists comes a target on their backs, and who would take a shot at the titles but the newly formed team of Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura. Umino had been trying to convince Uemura to tag with him for World Tag League, and Uemura eventually gave in, agreeing to the team-up. However, as fate would have it, the two would be tested much sooner, as they decided to go up against the new tag champs. The two teams were set to face off at King of Pro-Wrestling.

However, this match would come to mean more than just the tag titles. See, Yuto-Ice has a personal grudge against Yuya Uemura (something that would become a trend in his feuds). In his debut match as a young lion, Yuto faced Uemura, but during the match, after less than a minute, Uemura had dislocated Yuto’s elbow, an event that would put the young lion out of action for 8 months after just having made his debut. It apparently weighed heavily on his mind, as he would have it out for Uemura. 

Along the way, two singles matches were scheduled in order to build to the tag title match, pitting the members against each other. First would be Oskar vs Shota Umino. Umino struggled against the giant, but he eventually prevailed. The second would pit Yuto-Ice against Yuya Uemura, giving Yuto a chance to work out his frustrations. This match wound up more brutal than the other, with both men going all out against each other. However, it would be Uemura exploiting that old injured arm of Yuto’s that would bring him the win, giving the Main Unit team two wins in this mini-series, which would be expected, since Uemura and Umino do have far more singles experience than Oskar and Yuto.

Even so, the final match would be a tag team match, where the Knockout Brothers would have the experience advantage. Would it be enough to overcome their more tenured opponents? They sought to prove as much in their title match. The four younguns once again laid it all on the line, but on this occasion, it was the tag team synergy of KOB that won out, giving them their first ever successful defense of the IWGP Tag Team titles, and the first successful defense of the belts in any reign in over a year.

New Japan Road in Anjo

The next major test for the Knockout Brothers would take place at the end of the year in the World Tag League tournament. However, in the meantime, Yuto-Ice had other business to take care of.

After the Global title match at Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Final Homecoming, Yuto-Ice came down to the ring to confront Tanahashi himself. Yuto has a personal beef with Tanahashi, that being that both he and Tanahashi are both from the town of Gifu. See, when Yuto was growing up, everyone told him that the baddest man from Gifu is Hiroshi Tanahashi, and that pissed him off, so much so that it inspired him to pursue professional wrestling. 

Now, he finds himself in a rather fortunate position, having returned from his excursion before Tanahashi’s retirement, so he has the chance to prove those doubters wrong and show that he is the “baddest man from Gifu” by beating Tanahashi himself. He challenged Tanahashi to a match, and it would take place at New Japan Road to Anjo, where Yuto put on his usual show of brutality, but it looks like Tanahashi is still the baddest man from Gifu, as he was able to put away Yuto for the 1-2-3.

World Tag League

While that was not the result Yuto probably wanted, he would have to focus up, as right around the corner was World Tag League, and as the young, upstart tag team champions, they were in everyone’s crosshairs. Conversely, as the young, upstart tag team champions, the two had a lot to prove, and had the perfect stage to prove themselves on.

The tournament started a bit rocky for the brothers, opening with two straight losses, but the champions would not be deterred. They fought from the back of the block right to the end of the block phase, where they once again defeated their old pals Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura. With that win, KOB was able to make 8 points with a 4-3 record, reaching the #1 spot in their block thanks to some very fortunate tie-breaks, and allowing the team to get to the semi-finals. There, they would meet a formidable team: the IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji, and the former IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion and fellow War Dog Gabe Kidd. They were the #2 team in the opposite block, and so were proven to be a tough team to deal with. Still, the Knockout Brothers weren’t phased. Like all their matches thus far, they took the fight to their opponents, regardless of who they might be, but in this champion vs champions contest, the Tag Team champions ended up falling to the Global champion, eliminating KOB from the tournament.

New Year Dash

However, By the time the tournament was over, it would not be Tsuji & Kidd who KOB would have to worry about, for they ended up losing in the finals to the TMDK team of Zack Sabre Jr. and Ryohei Oiwa. TMDK won World Tag League, and so had proven themselves worthy of challenging for the tag titles. However, ZSJ continued his trend of bucking tournament traditions. Instead of Wrestle Kingdom, the duo would challenge KOB at New Year Dash. The two expressed wanting to win the first main event post-Tanahashi’s retirement. Thus, it’ll be Yuto-Ice & Oskar vs Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa for the IWGP Tag Team Championship in the main event of New Year Dash, the night after Wrestle Kingdom 20.

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