Super Junior Tag League hits the midway point
Monday August 9 sees the Super Jr. Tag League reach its midway point in Korakuen Hall. Teams may be falling by the wayside tonight, while the top markers will be looking to put themselves in strong shape for next week’s final matches.
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Main event: Team ‘Six or Nine’ (Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi) (0-2) vs Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) (0-2)
Headlining night three of the Super Jr. Tag League will be Master Wato and Ryusuke Taguchi as they take on Roppongi 3K. At this critical turning point in the league, neither team can afford another loss. Six or Nine tasted defeat at the hands of Suzuki-Gun and BULLET CLUB, while RPG3K lost to Phantasmo and Ishimori and then Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask. For SHO and YOH in particular, the 0-2 record is especially painful; a fourpeat in the tournament they have dominated seems almost completely out of reach, and the team may be approaching a reckoning unless they can get past a crisis of combined confidence. Will this be the scene of their resurgence, or their demise?
4th Match: Flying Tiger (Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask) (2-0) vs Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) (2-0)
After Robbie Eagles defeated El Desperado at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome to lift the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time, the Tokyo Dome opponents lock up in tag league action on August 9. Eagles’ Tokyo Dome victory was an upset in many fans’ eyes on July 25, and as the Sniper of the Skies teams up with veteran Tiger Mask for the first time during this league, the odds on paper aren’t in the Australian’s favour tonight against a formidable team in Despe and Kanemaru.
Certainly Desperado and Kanemaru’s form has matched their resume thus far in the league, and Kanemaru has been the star of the duo to boot, rolling up Taguchi for an opening match win, and landing Deep Impact to pin Gedo in a chaotic bout Sunday. Yet ‘Flying Tiger’ are intent on destroying any ‘on paper’ perceptions, with two convincing wins under their belts against the Far East Connection and Roppongi 3K. It’s in just these circumstances that Eagles and Tiger can thrive; will they win out Monday?
3rd Match: BULLET CLUB (El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori) (2-0) vs BULLET CLUB (Dick Togo & Gedo) (0-3)
An all BULLET CLUB affair will see the current IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori take on the veterans of the league in Dick Togo and Gedo. The club’s ‘cutest tag team’ one of the favourites to win the league. Meanwhile Togo and Gedo have had to handle submission and then pinfall losses to go 0-2 in their first two matches. Will team orders see to it that Togo and Gedo give the champs an easy night? Or might personal pride get in the way, causing conflicts of interest to lead to conflicts in ring?
2nd Match: Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito)
24 hours before CHAOS and LIJ teams collide over the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championships, they meet in four on four action tonight. Will this match set the pace for Yokohama Tuesday? And before Shingo Takagi engages in non title singles action with Yujiro Takahashi in Yokohama, how will he interact with bruising opposition tonight?
1st Match: Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Jado)
Toru Yano and Chase Owens continue their vendetta in the opening match of the evening. What steps will they take on the road to a KOPW clash in MetLife Dome September 4? Meanwhile Yujiro Takahashi gets set for his singles bout Tuesday with Shingo Takagi by taking on some hard hitters in TenKoji here tonight.
