NJPW News: Historic title change takes place at Honor Rising
What's the story?
On the second day of the NJPW and ROH co-produced Honor Rising event, a historic title change took place at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, as Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa - The Guerillas of Destiny once again captured the IWGP Tag Team Championships.
In case you didn't know...
The Guerillas of Destiny first made their debut in 2016 when Tama Tonga introduced his brother Tanga Loa as the newest member of The Bullet Club, and also as his new tag team partner, following the departure of the BC's mainstay tag team Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows.
Later that same year, Tama and Loa won their first IWGP Tag Team Titles by defeating The Great Bash Heel. Within the next few years, GoD had eventually cemented their place as one of NJPW's top tag teams, sharing the ring with the likes of The Briscoes, Killer Elite Squad, War Machine, The Young Bucks, and Evil & Sanada.
The heart of the matter
At tonight's ROH/NJPW: Honor Rising event, The Guerillas of Destiny made history when the duo of Tongan duo of Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa became five-time IWGP Tag Team Champions by defeating now former champions, Evil and Sanada.
The Los Ingobernables de Japon team of Evil and Sanada had captured the IWGP Tag Team Titles from GoD at Wrestle Kingdom 13, however, following a successful title defense over the Suzuki Gun duo of Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr at New Beginning, tonight marked the ending of their second title reign.
The match itself was an explosive contest and one of the best tag matches New Japan has produced in a while. With the outside interference from Bullet Club's Jado, Evil and Sanada almost retained their titles, but a Super Powerbomb from the top rope eventually got the job done for Tama and Loa.
The finish to the match was certainly a nice tribute from The GoD to their fellow BC mentors Gedo and Jado.
Nevertheless, The Guerillas of Destiny are now five-time champions and have equaled the record of most number of IWGP Tag Team Title reigns alongside Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan.
What's next?
Following The Guerillas' historic title win, both Tongan brothers were called out by another set of champions, as ROH World Tag Champions, The Briscoes, after their successful title defense over the Lifeblood duo of David Finlay and Juice Robinson, called out The Guerillas of Destiny.
GoD and The Briscoes eventually agreed to a historic ROH Tag Team Champion vs IWGP Tag Team Champion match at Madison Square Garden.