At Wrestle Kingdom 15, the team of Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, collectively known as the Guerrillas of Destiny (G.O.D), captured the IWGP Tag Team Championships for a record-breaking seventh time.
The Bullet Club tandem defeated the Suzuki-Gun pairing of Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi, otherwise known as Dangerous Tekkers, at the Tokyo Dome to end their opponents’ 176 day reign.
Both the Bullet Club and Suzuki-Gun stables are known for their less than sportsmanlike tactics and this became apparent towards the final stretch of the bout when Bullet Club’s ‘Master Heater’ Jado attempted to interfere.
Whilst this attempt was unsuccessful, it did provide enough of a distraction for Tonga to strike Taichi with his own iron glove before Tanga Loa could seal the victory with his ‘Apesh*t’ finisher.
NJPW broadcast statistician Chris Samsa noted on Twitter that the Tag Titles have now changed hands on eight consecutive occasions at the Tokyo Dome.
But the bigger story here is surely the landmark victory for G.O.D who, having recently triumphed in the World Tag League, now embark on a historic seventh reign with the tag straps.
The duo first won the belts back in 2016, defeating G.B.H (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) at the Invasion Attack event, to scoop their maiden championships.
Since then, the pair have held the belts at least once in each subsequent year, with an accumulative title reign of 607 days.