Cheering crowds in Korakuen start Super Jr. Tag League
Super Junior Tag League kicks off on November 21, with ten teams vying for the top spot over 23 days. Many of these events will see cheering crowds welcoming the spectacular action, and such will be the case for opening night on November 21 with five big league matchups!
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Main event: CHAOS (Lio Rush & YOH) vs Catch 2/2 (TJP & Francesco Akira)
The main event will see the new combination of YOH and Lio Rush take on the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag team Champions, TJP and Francesco Akira. YOH knows what it’s like to be a tag team champion, and he knows what it’s like to win the Super Junior Tag League. Yet teaming with Lio Rush, recruited for the former Roppongi 3K member by Rocky Romero, is new ground for him. In 2017, R3K instantly won the tag titles and the Super Jr. Tag Tournament on their first attempts; should the duo defeat the champs tonight they would be well on their way to doing the same.
Yet Catch 2/2 have similarly shot to instant success. With a title win on their own first attempt against Team Six or Nine, they’ve put together a pair of successful defences already, and will be wrestling every match in this league as if the gold is on the line. Will they be able to assert their superiority in Korakuen?
7th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Titan & BUSHI) vs BULLET CLUB (Chris Bey & Ace Austin)
IMPACT Wrestling’s BULLET CLUB contingent of Ace Austin and Chris Bey take on Titan and BUSHI in the semi main event of the evening. A hugely popular debutant in Best of the Super Jr. 29, Ace Austin stunned his new fan following at the tournament finals, turning his back on the public to align with BULLET CLUB. Carrying his new allegiance back with him across the pacific, he formed an effective combination with Chris Bey, and the two will be looking to make a mark on another impressive team in Titan and BUSHI. Having just fallen short of the junior tag titles in Osaka on November 5, the pressure will be on Titan and BUSHI to deliver the goods, but against stiff competition on opening night.
6th Match: Flying Tiger (Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (SHO & Dick Togo)
IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions at this point last year, Robbie Eagles and Flying Tiger want to regain that status, and take a spot in the Tokyo Dome on January 4 in the process. Certainly fans will be most pleased if that meant Dick Togo didn’t get the biggest payday of the year, but Tiger and Robbie have to have their heads on a swivel for any sneaky tactics from the HOUSE OF TORTURE duo if they want to start their campaign with a win.
5th Match: Wild Hips (Clark Connors & Ryusuke Taguchi) vs Suzuki-Gun (DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
2021 tag league winner Yoshinobu Kanemaru will be without regularly partner El Desperado this year, as the masked man will be a part of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight four way at the Tokyo Dome on January 4. Desperado has long credited Kanemaru with helping him find his true place and sense of self in the ring, and has spoken about wanting the same for DOUKI. Meanwhile, after facing Ryusuke Taguchi in one of the more unique BOSJ 29 matchups, the Wild Rhino Clark Connors has requested the chance to learn the ways of the Coach as his partner making for an intriguing mentor and protege combination in the fifth match of the card.
4th Match: Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA vs El Lindaman & Alex Zayne
The Super Junior Tag League will kick off with a characteristically dynamic matchup, as the fresh team of Kevin Knight and KUSHIDA meet El Lindaman and Alex Zayne. Zayne has been loosely affiliated with #STRONGHEARTS for several years since his first outing to Japan for OWE, and now gets to team up with the explosive Lindaman. On the opposite side, KUSHIDA will be a strategic mentoring hand for the similarly explosive Knight, who will be showing the world the potential he’s offered for the past year on STRONG.
3rd Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado, Taichi & Minoru Suzuki)
While both Tetsuya Naito and Minoru Suzuki will be part of the World Tag League kicking off the very next day, and Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado will be continuing to size one another up ahead of January 4’s junior heavyweight four way match, more attention may be on Shingo Takagi and Taichi tonight. Taichi has challenged Shingo to one last KOPW 2022 match before the title ‘expires’ at the end of the year. Takagi has stated that Taichi will get his shot if a sufficient stage is set; could that stage be set Monday night?
2nd Match: Oskar Leube, Ryohei Oiwa, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs United Empire (Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
Later in World Tag League, Aussie Open will have to go to battle against United Empire teammates Great-O-Khan and Aaron Henare, but tonight they will be partners opposite GBH and a Noge Dojo combination. Oskar Leube will be in just his second NJPW match tonight, but can he stand out against world class competition?
1st match: Kosei Fujita vs Yuto Nakashima
Singles record: 2-2-8
Starting the evening will be a singles meeting for Yuto Nakashima and Kosei Fujita. As is so often the case for Noge Dojo classmates, Nakashima and Fujita started their rivalry with one another with a string of time limit draws, before now trading victories. With the scores between the two level heading into this lucky 13th bout for the two, who pulls ahead?
