Another installment for the superior tag league ran by AJPW. Anyone still not convinced should read Mathew’s in depth coverage and see what a tag league with important participants looks like.

We’re back with more AJPW Tag League and the last five shows have been pretty stacked with great tag team action.

Right now, we only have two tag teams that are considered undefeated and only one of them claims the top spot in the standings, while The Bomber is close behind them with six points as well. As we do the next three shows here, we should be near the halfway mark of how we’re looking.

Who’s going to get more points? Let’s find out as we…dive right in.

11/23/2018
Real World Tag League 2018 Match
Jake Lee & Ryouji Sai vs. TAJIRI & Gianni Valletta

Review: We got only two matches for this show and our first one for this day is Sweeper once again being in the mix as they take on TAJIRI and Gianni Valletta. Sweeper has failed to win their last two matches, leaving them with zero points while TAJIRI and Gianni are considered undefeated with only two wins under their belt and if they win here, they’ll be tied with the Violent Giants. Do TAJIRI and Gianni tie up or will they be swept?

Soon as Sweeper made their way to the ring, their opponents would first attack Jake’s knee and left him in the ring while they attacked Ryouji on the outside of the ring. TAJIRI and Gianni would show nice heel work in the match by attacked Jake’s injured knee during the whole match while making sure he didn’t get a chance to tag in his partner, causing TAJIRI and Gianni to get heat from the crowd since that’s what you want. I’ve really been enjoying the team-up between these two since they just have that chemistry in the ring to connect with each other and know how to be humorous while also playing as the bad guys. Jake did his part with selling the injury given to him and getting the crowd behind him while he would eventually get the chance to tag in Ryouji for the hot tag. Gianni would attempt to try and hit Ryouji with the chain while the referee wasn’t looking but Ryouji was able to throw it out of his hand and hits the Brainbuster. Jake Lee is back in the match along with TAJIRI and once TAJIRI kicked Jake down to his knees, he would attempt a Buzzsaw Kick which Jake ducks and accidentally pushed him into the referee, which caused TAJIRI to spit red mist into Jake’s eyes this time instead of green. Gianni would try to use this time to hit Jake with the chain but Ryouji would knock him down and hits the Shining Wizard onto TAJIRI into the corner so Jake could try to pin him, but Jake picked him up and hits him with a knee to the jaw of his own and now he pins him to give Sweeper their first victory in a solid bout.

Rating: Eric Bischoff and a quarter

Real World Tag League 2018 Match
Naoya Nomura & Yumi Aoyagi vs. KAI & Kengo Mashimo

Review: This Yoshiken didn’t have a match scheduled for the league today, this final league match for this show wouldn’t main event it to close it out, but still doesn’t stop them for giving the fans a show at least. KAI and Kengo Mashimo were able to pick up their first victory together at the previous show and now look to get their second one as they take on the All Asia Tag Team Champions, Naoya Nomura and Yumi Aoyagi. Nomura and Yumi were unable to secure their first victory in the tournament yet and have three losses already under their belt, so they would need to pick up a win here to try and stay alive in the tournament. Can NEXTREAM get their first win or will Team Senpai get another win?

It’s the little things that I enjoy with KAI and Kengo before the bell where they would see who would be the one going first and when KAI decided to go first for the match, he would poke Kengo’s injured shoulder at the same time which gives Kengo with death glare towards him. Yuma and KAI started the match off with standard chain wrestling until Nomura got tagged into the ring and the fans chanted for Kengo to get involved into the match as well, so Kengo agrees by slapping KAI’s chest to get himself tagged in and the two would wrestle as the fans wanted. Seeing Nomura and Kengo square off in the ring made me wanna see a one on one match between the two since an opponent like Kengo would do wonders for Nomura and for his career.

I thought the match was nicely done with great wrestling, nice story, and just intensity between the two of these teams as they brought their game for this match-up. During the second encounter of Kengo and Nomura, the two would go back and forth with the punches until Nomura caught his injured arm to apply the Fujiwara Armbar to try and make him tap out but was unable to do so. When Kengo failed to get the Crucifix Pin on Nomura, he would roll it around to apply the Mudo but Yuma broke the hold before Nomura could tap out. Kengo accidentally kicked KAI in the face which gave NEXTREAM the opening they needed to take Kengo out of the equation and double team on KAI as Nomura hits the Splash and Yuma hits the Elbow Drop to go for the cover and Kengo breaks the count. NEXTREAM would come close to getting the victory but KAI would pick Yumi up for the Michinoku Driver and gets the pinfall victory, giving NEXTREAM four losses in a row. Great match, definitely worth checking out.

Rating: Bruce Prichard and a quarter

【全日本プロレスTV】
12018世界最強タッグ決定リーグ戦11.23新木場大会見逃し配信中！
公式戦は
野村、青柳 VS KAI、真霜
ジェイク、崔 VS TAJIRI、ヴァレッタ

本日開催横浜大会もオンデマンド配信予定！
アクセスはこちらから！
⇩https://t.co/frk8rvC07K#ajpw #ajpwtv pic.twitter.com/OG9XTE8bUn

— AJPW TV/全日本プロレスTV (@AjpwTv) November 25, 2018

11/25/2018
Real World Tag League 2018 Match
Jake Lee & Ryouji Sai vs. Naoya Nomura & Yumi Aoyagi

Review: Another show with only two matches in it as NEXTREAM are ready to go at it against for their fifth match as they take on Sweeper for this one. The Sweeper was able to secure their first victory at the previous show against TAJIRI and Gianni while NEXTREAM were unable to get their first victory in this tournament, so this is a critical point for them at this time or they would be considered eliminated from the tournament. Will they be able to get their first win or does Sweeper keep the ball rolling?

Bit of history for this once since Jake Lee left NEXTREAM when he made his return a few months ago, so both Nomura and Yumi seem to have a little bit of a resentment towards Jake for doing so and they get to take out that aggression in this match to hopefully give them the edge for the needed win. The match itself was standard but not a bad type of standard since it was just a straight tag team wrestling match and nothing more you could ask for in this type of bout. Naoya and Jake were the standouts for the match since you can see who are the more dominant ones in the tag teams while some can be equal, these two are just amazing while showing who the future really is. A lot of back and forth action to give both teams an equal amount of time together to add more depth to their match.

Nomura was on fire during the hot tag of the match and his encounter with Ryouji since it was almost non-stop with them. Nomura went for the Splash off the top rope but Ryouji puts his knees up before he could connect and when Ryouji tried to go for a German, Nomura turned it around for a Brainbuster. Nomura went to the top rope as Ryouji would stop him to do a Superplex and goes back up to attempt a Double Stomp but Nomura moved out of the way and hits him with a big forearm while Yuma comes in to hit a fisherman Suplex to help out his partner. Nomura would finally hit the Spear on Ryouji for a two count and now tries to do a Splash off the top for another kick out, but Nomura would have time to pick up Ryouji for a Death Valley Driver and NEXTREAM finally gets their first win!

Rating: Eric Bischoff and a half

Real World Tag League 2018 Match
KAI & Kengo Mashimo vs. Kento Miyahara & Yoshitatsu

Review: Our main event for the show and final match for this days edition of the tag league is KAI and Kengo Mashimo having another match as they take on the team of Kento Miyahara and Yoshitatsu. Kento and Yoshi are at the halfway point of their set of matches in this tournament with only two wins under their belt and three losses, so they would need to have a win here to have a little bit of room to keep alive in the tournament. KAI and Kengo won their last two matches and are still in a good spot in the tournament, but would need to win this won to solidify it a little bit better. Which of these two will win it?

Kento and KAI started the match off and they would go back and forth with the kicks to the face as it was a stalemate while the crowd gave the two a round of applause before they tagged in their respective partners. Kengo and Yoshi were also going back and forth with random kicks in the match until they were on the outside where KAI would hit a Suicide Dive onto his opponents and he seeks his senpai’s approval but Kengo would not shake his hand still. I honestly thought this match was great between the two teams as it had a lot that I look for in a match with a nice and slow build-up, in the beginning, to make it interesting until it would pick up near the end with the type of ending where it was the right way to do it for that type of pop which I’ll get to later on.

KAI really stepped up his game in this match, especially when he was in the ring with Kento when they did share one together but he also did a good job with Yoshitatsu in the match to make him look solid as well as Kengo did when he was in the ring with Yoshi. Both Kengo and KAI would have a big of a miscommunication once again when Kengo would kick KAI by accident and Kento hits KAI with a Blackout while Yoshi tops it off with a Tornado DDT right after for a two count. Yoshiken would do their Codebreaker of Jericho and German Suplex Hold combo for Keng o to break the pinfall in time. KAI would almost hit Kengo but stopped himself in time as they both would quickly work together to both kick Kento down as the fans start to love it and it looked like Kengo was gonna finally shake his hand to notice KAI, but he stopped himself and told him to go to the ropes.

Kento would hit a Blackout, German Suplex, and another Blackout all in a row onto KAI for him to kick out again when he did it and Kento starts to get all fired up now. It looked like Kento was going to end it with his Shutdown German Suplex Hold as he had it in but Kengo would kick Kento down before he could pick KAI up to save him from being pinned. KAI gets all fired up as he hits the Lariat for a two count and would pick him up for the Michinoku Driver and he gets the win over the Triple Crown Champion! I knew Kento would get pinned at least once in this tournament to help set up a future championship match once the tournament was over, but it looks like KAI was the one to get the pin and potentially has a future Triple Crown Championship match sometime in December if he and Kengo fail to win the league.

Rating: Bruce Prichard and a quarter

11/26/2018
Real World Tag League 2018 Match
Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama vs. TAJIRI & Gianni Valletta

Review: Violent Giants make their return to the league as they’re set to take on TAJIRI and Gianni Valletta. Violent Giants are still the only ones in the tournament that’s undefeated with only three wins and they would like to keep that ball running with another victory. TAJIRI and Gianni recently suffered their first loss against Jake Lee and Ryouji Sai and wish to make up for that loss as they take on the World Tag Team Champions. Will Violent Giants remain undefeated or will they lose their undefeated streak?

TAJIRI and Gianni would attempt a handshake with the Violent Giants before the bell would ring but Shuji and Suwama would not fall for it and shake each other’s hands instead while TAJIRI and Gianni do the same thing as the bell starts to ring. This match was a little more on the comedic side of things and that’s expected when TAJIRI and Gianni are involved since that’s their thing and nothing wrong with that at all as they do it well together, plus it makes the fans happy so that’s a win all on its own. The match itself wasn’t bad at all but also nothing special either since it was just a comedy match with regular wrestling, so not much to really to give it a high grade or anything but still worth watching if you’re into that.

TAJIRI would hit Shuji with a kendo stick when they were on the outside and even Gianni looked like he was biting his injured should like a crazy cannibal that he is…(I mean not that I would know or anything…) Suwama was finally able to get in the ring for a brief moment in here to give his partner a break from all of the abuse he took in the match until Gianni stopped his momentum and tagged TAJIRI in. Once TAJIRI was tagged in, Suwama hits him with a Shoulder Block on his injured arm and started pulling on it a few times before tagging in Shuji. The referee would accidentally be knocked out and TAJIRI hits Shuji with the kendo stick and held him in place for Gianni to hit him with the chain, but Shuji ducked and hits TAJIRI by accident. TAJIRI would hit himself with the kendo stick right after before collapsing in the ring as Shuji picked TAJIRI up for the Fire Thunder Driver and picks up the win, meaning Violent Giants are still undefeated! Can anybody in that league end this streak? Someone has to.

Rating: Eric Bischoff

Real World Tag League 2018 Match
Manabu Soya & Takao Omori vs. Naoya Nomura & Yumi Aoyagi

Review: Get Wild is back for action and looking to get another win under their plate as they take on NEXTREAM. NEXTREAM were able to pick up their first win at the last show when they defeated The Sweeper to keep themselves in the race a little bit longer, but a loss here would technically consider them to be eliminated. Can NEXTREAM get a second win in a row or will things Get Wild?

NEXTREAM has had a series of very solid to great matches in this tournament so far but it would be expected to see them have a weak bout coming and it would, unfortunately, involve Get Wild for that to happen. The match isn’t bad since it’s still solid enough to watch, but definitely one of their weaker ones at the same time and it could’ve been a lot better if they wanted to. My main problem with it was that it would feel pretty dull a few times and even when it was just standard wrestling action, wasn’t really enough to get fully invested into it either except for the last few minutes of the match. Yumi I feel like was the highlight of this match at least since he did try to keep it interesting for when he could when he was involved with Manabu and Takao in the ring. NEXTREAM would try to do their top rope combo but Yumi missed the Elbow Drop and Manabu gives Naoya a Superplex to take him down. Get Wild hits a Double Forearm onto Yumi to get him knocked out as Takao would attempt a Lariat onto Aoyga, but he blocked it and would get hit a few times before Takao tried again as he connected to give NEXTREAM another lose as things would Get Wild with another win for them.

Rating: Eric Bischoff

Real World Tag League 2018 Match
Joe Doering & Dylan James vs. Kento Miyahara & Yoshitatsu

Review: Kento Miyahara and Yoshitatsu are in the main event spot once again as they are set to take on The Bomber. Yoshiken has four losses now and only two wins still, so their position in the tournament isn’t looking too good but still not eliminated just yet as they have a chance to stay afloat, but they gotta beat the powerhouse gaijin team. Joe Doering and James Dylan are in a good position right now with three wins and one loss, so a win here would have them tied with Violent Giants again. Does the Bomber get it or will Yoshiken get a win?

Kento and Joe starting off the match felt like it was the right move to give Kento that early start in the match and Kento does bring out the best in Joe and Dylan whenever he fights the both of them and just makes Joe more intense in the ring with how Kento sells the moves. Yoshitatsu would make it in the ring now to try and kick the big man down but not The Bomber starts to overpower Yoshi in the match to get the heat. Dylan really does have some stiff chops and Lariats in his arsenal, and while they’re no WALTER, they’re pretty close with the impact on them that you can hear the loudness of either strike he pulls. Bomber did well with the heat part of the match with dominating Yoshitatsu to get the fans to rally behind him and hits the Enziguri to Joe to tag in his partner, Kento.

Kento started coming in hot in this match but gets derailed by Dylan and the two started to work on him in the outside of the ring for a little bit. Joe would eventually try to pick him up for the Revolution Bomb but Kento would flip him over for a Hurricanrana as the both of them try to hit Kento with a Lariat and they missed to connect with each other by accident, enough time for Kento to tag back in Yoshitatsu. Yoshi would get some kicks into Dylan but would get hit with some stiff chops to take him down as Joe calls for the Double Piledriver but Kento hits Joe with the Blackout to get him out of the ring as he calls for Yoshi to try and take out Dylan, but Dylan hits both of them with a Double Lariat and hits a few more into the corners back and forth. Dylan picked up Yoshi for the Chokeslam and Yoshi turned it into the Codebreaker of Jericho just in time and now applies the Koji Clutch to knock Dylan out and give Yoshiken their third victory! Very solid match and a nice way to end it without making Dylan look weak.

Rating: Eric Bischoff and three quarters

Overall: Not a single bad match in these last three shows, which is rare to see in my coverage and is a nice treat for me to witness when I write these up. All of the matches were either solid or great and made me very hyped up for the next set of shows to watch, can’t wait to see how part 4 will go and I hope you guys do also.

Favorite Match: Naoya Nomura & Yumi Aoyagi vs. KAI & Kengo Mashimo

Least Favorite Match: Manabu Soya & Takao Omori vs. Naoya Nomura & Yumi Aoyagi

Score: 8.5/10

Current Standings
Violent Giants: (4-0) (8 Points)
The Bomber: (3-2) (6 Points)
Get Wild: (3-1) (6 Points)
Yoshiken: (3-4) (6 Points)
KAI/Kengo: (3-2) (6 Points)
Gianni/TAJIRI: (2-2) (4 Points)
Jun/Daisuke: (2-1) (4 Points)
The End: (1-2) (2 Points)
Sweeper: (1-3) (2 Points)
NEXTREAM: (1-5) (2 Points)
The Big Guns: (0-1) (0 Points)

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