12 Biggest Stories From NJPW's Year-End Events And How They Affect Wrestle Kingdom
10. Togi Makabe Reunites With Most Violent Partner
The final night of World Tag League action saw an six-man match between Jay White's Bullet Club and a group led by Kazuchika Okada. The bout was full of wild and disparate action which highlighted multiple feuds heading into Wrestle Kingdom.
Taiji Ishimori and KUSHIDA, who will battle for the Junior title in the Tokyo Dome, mixed it up in the ring while Okada and White brawled around ringside. The fall eventually came when Bad Luck Fale laid out Toru Yano with his Grenade finisher. White and his BC brethren then continued the onslaught after the bell before being run off by Togi Makabe.
Togi and Yano -- then known as the Most Violent Players -- previously held the IWGP Tag belts together in 2008 before Yano helped found the Chaos stable by turning his back on his partner. Why Makabe decided to save his former friend isn’t yet clear, but the two will team up -- along with Ryusuke Taguchi -- as part of Wrestle Kingdom's NEVER Six-Man gauntlet match. Perhaps some definitive answers will follow, but for now, it seems Makabe has made peace with the once-traitorous Yano.