New Japan Pro Wrestling
Hiroshima Sun Palace (Hiroshima, Japan)
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
There was almost no heat for this match and that should not have come as a surprise. A match between four gaijins is a tough sell to begin with. They were also the victims of unfavorable positioning on the card, sandwiched in-between the Okada match and the main event. Those two elements combined to form a relatively heatless match, even if the action was solid.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. has looked good the past couple of times out. His knee lifts looked good. Poor Lance Archer tried every fired up, babyface “appeal to the crowd” tactic that he could muster, but they were not having much of it. Gallows looked a bit off in spots but was fine overall. There are a lot of poor double team finishers out there these days but the Killer Bomb is a decent one. The Killer Elite Squad pulled the move out three times in the end stretch – one on each of their opponents and one on an interfering Tama Tonga.
Gallows and Anderson retain the titles and it’s not clear who the next challengers for the titles might be. With two straight title losses, this might be the end of the road for Archer and Smith as a fulltime tandem. Maybe Smith will get more of an opportunity in singles matches later this year.
Diagnostics
Japan Tag | Common | Quality
