Super Jr. Tag League resumes as climax approaches
Summer Struggle returns to Korakuen on August 16, with two matches left to wrestle in Super Jr. Tag League. Tonight’s matches will be especially key, as we see who the front runners will be before August 17’s league conclusion.
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Main event: Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) (0-3) vs Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) (2-1)
Direct tag record: 6-4 Roppongi 3K
Roppongi 3K are mathematically eliminated.
Desperado and Kanemaru need to win.
Already mathematically eliminated from proceedings, Roppongi 3K try to get something together in our main event as they face El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru.
Kanemaru and Desperado have always been Roppongi 3K’s greatest detractors, but this is something belied by the practical resyults between the two teams of late. Including an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag team Championship victory and successful defence, RPG3K have won their last four matches against the Suzuki-Gun side. That said, the CHAOS duo haven’t been doing a whole lot of winning at all of late.
Repeated losses, including three league match defeats, have seen SHO and YOH crash out of contention in the Super Junior Tag League, and has seen SHO try to console an increasingly withdrawn YOH. Having taken the falls and submissions over the last several weeks, YOH has battled increasing mental pressures, only able to apologise to his partner, admitting that he’s been ‘broken’ by the defeats.
Should Roppongi 3K pull out a victory, and spoil the Suzuki-Gun team’s league chances in the process, it may turn things around for RPG3K, but another defeat will require SHO and YOH to have serious conversations about their future as a duo, and YOH’s immediate future as a competitor.
4th Match: Flying Tiger (Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles) (3-0) vs BULLET CLUB’s Cutest Tag Team (El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori) (3-0)
A Flying Tiger victory secures the league
A BULLET CLUB win and Suzuki-Gun loss or draw secures the league
It says much about the level of competition in the junior heavyweight tag ranks that a team consisting of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and a legendary former champion in tags and singles ranks in Tiger Mask was viewed as a dark horse pick. Yet Flying Tiger was just that going into this league, and Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask have surpassed every single expectation to go 3-0.
In fact, not only are they unbeaten, their victory over other contenders in El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru has seen to it that a win tonight will gurantee them the Super Junior Tag League title. Yet their opposition tonight are sure to do everything in their power not to let that happen. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions have lived up to all expectations put upon them as well (both negative and positive), and through fair means and foul, have similarly reached the six point mark. The smaller field in this year’s tag league means that the point standings could well be wrapped up before the final night, in favour of one of these two teams.
3rd Match: Six or Nine (Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato) (1-2) vs Far East Connection (Gedo & Dick Togo) (0-3)
Both Six or Nine and the Far East Connection are effectively eliminated
Aside from the ‘Food Poisoning Defence’ once claimed by Minoru Suzuki in G1 action for unlikely league winning scenarios, both teams in this first league match Monday are out of the running; even Six or Nine’s first two points on the board coming too late last weekend to make a difference. Yet Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato will nonetheless look to build momentum in their last two league matches; meanwhile as devious and despicable as the Far East Connection have been through the tour, and despite results not following for the veteran duo, it’s hard to dispute that Gedo and Togo’s tag work has been silky smooth, and troubles could follow for their remaining opposition. Who wins out Monday?
2nd Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Shingo Takagi, tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI) vs BULLET CLUB (EVIL, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Jado)
After coming up just short of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Championships last week in Yokohama, Los Ingobernables De Japon reunite behind IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi to take on the forces of BULLET CLUB.
In Yokohama, a non title singles match between Takagi and Yujiro Takahashi was ruined by the interference of EVIL and Dick Togo, drawing a DQ loss for Yujiro, and ire from Shingo, who had his title belt bounced off his head by the King of Darkness. The Dragon has to be resigned to the fact that his world title defence at the MetLife Dome will likely be a handicap bout against EVIL on September 5, but tonight, a chance to play with even teams.
1st Match: Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, DOUKI, Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.)
Kicking the evening off, co-challengers for the IWGP Tag team Championships Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI team with six time former champions TenCozy to face current champions Dangerous Tekkers alongside DOUKI and Minoru Suzuki. A big lineup of heavy hitters, action should be intense from the opening bell Monday.
