Suzuki-Gun once again carries tag team gold.
During this morning’s NJPW Road To Castle Attack event El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru challenged the Bullet Club’s Taiji Ishmori and El Phantasmo for the IWGP Junior tag team titles. After a wild back and forth…Kanemaru and Desperado managed to pick up the win to bring the titles back to Suzuki Gun.
NJPW has since issued the following press release and details of title bout, which you can read below.
After the scheduled main event on February 25’s Road to castle Attack was altered as a result of Hiromu Takahashi’s torn pectoral muscle, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru challenged the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori in a rematch of January 30’s Road to The New Beginning event Thursday.
Not waiting for the bell or the referee’s checks, Desperado charged in on Phantasmo to start the match before the bell officially rang, and Kanemaru kept up the pressure with boots in the corner. Well used to controlling his opponents in the BULLET CLUB corner, Phantasmo found himself the subject of targeted aggression, until a low bridge from Ishimori sent Desperado to the floor and brought control from one villainous duo to the other.
ELP and Ishimori would rake at Desperado’s back and though the masked man took the dreaded purple nurple from Phantasmo as an insult too far, Ishimori would yank Kanemaru off the apron to prevent Despe from making the tag. The heel master wasn’t delayed for long however, and charged at Phantasmo, with a brutal basement dropkick and a British Fall for two. ELP gutted through the follow up Figure Four however, and still had the base to spike Kanemaru with a high angle DDT to force a tag both sides.
Desperado and Ishimori traded violent strikes before Despe was able to land a spinebuster. A transition into Numero Dos was denied however, with Ishimori instead countering into the Yes Lock. As both fought back to their feet, Ishimori pulled from Desperadop’s playbook to land a stiff right hand, but Kanemaru was there to support. A double team led to stereo submissions by challengers on the champions until Phantasmo used a hip block to get free of an abdominal stretch and fling Kanemaru into his partner.
As the crowd came alive, ELP and Ishimori took to the skies with athletic double teams to put Desperado in danger; the masked man kicking out at two from the double team Argentine neckbreaker. A 450 from Ishimori followed, but Kanemaru again was there to make the save.
Realising Kanemaru needed to be taken out of the equation, ELP loaded his boot to stomp at the foot of Kanemaru, the heel master rolling to the floor as Desperado took a double team Cipher Utaki and a frog splash for a near two. Phantasmo loaded up his boot to take out Desperado, but Kanemaru redirected the Sudden Death into Ishimori; an emphatic Pinche Loco scored and the three count saw new champions crowned.
