The 2018 World Tag League from New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is the seventh under that name, with fourteen competing tag teams but only one team win the tournament to make it to Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4 for the IWGP tag team championships. EVIL and SANADA and The Guerrillas Of Destiny made it to the Finals for the second year in a row, with matching 20 Points. EVIL and SANADA held the IWGP tag team championships this year but they lost those titles to The Young Bucks at Dominion at Osaka-Jo Hall.
WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018 Winner#EVIL and #SANADA pic.twitter.com/Nfxd70r7VQ
— EVIL (@151012EVIL) December 9, 2018
Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa tried to wear down the Los Ingobernobles De Japon members for most of the contest with the crowd firmly behind EVIL and SANADA. The Guerrillas Of Destiny went into the World Tag League Finals as the IWGP tag team champions, so if they won they would have gotten the advantage of choosing their challengers at Wrestle Kingdom 13. That would not be the case because EVIL and SANADA walked away the winners of the 2018 NJPW World Tag League with the Magic Killer. Post-match, The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) came to the ring to claim they never received a rematch after losing the IWGP tag team championships to The Guerrillas Of Destiny, so they want a Three-Way at Wrestle Kingdom 13 for the IWGP tag team championships.
飯伏幸太が後藤洋央紀を撃破し、NEVER無差別級王座を初戴冠！
“次期挑戦者”ウィル・オスプレイとの“ドリームマッチ”が実現か!?
☆12.9岩手大会を新日本プロレスのスマホサイトで独占詳報中！https://t.co/UOmfOVggCz #njpw #njwtl pic.twitter.com/14axaO1kcW— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) December 9, 2018
Also on the card was a hard-fought match for the NEVER Openweight championship, a title Hirooki Goto held for better part of 2018. Goto just survived Michael Elgin and Taichi the past few months and traded the title with both only for Kota Ibushi to become the new NEVER Openweight champion with the Kamigoye. This is all to set up Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay in a dream showdown one-on-one at Wrestle Kingdom 13 and that’s exactly what happened, “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay laid out the challenge to Kota Ibushi post-match after Ospreay’s number one contender’s victory over Taichi earlier in the night. Wrestle Kingdom is shaping up to be one of the biggest cards of all time after this excellent World Tag League Final available on New Japan World.
