Ten team league starts October 21
The lineup for Super Jr. Tag League is now official, with ten teams participating across two action packed weeks. The top two point scorers in this round robin league will compete at Power Struggle on November 4- here are the teams gunning for the top two spots!
Watch Super Jr. Tag League/Road to Power Struggle on NJPW World!
BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney): Debut entry. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions
After an impressive defence against the Intergalactic Jet Setters on October 9, the BULLET CLUB War Dogs will be wearing the titles heading into the Super Jr. Tag League- provided that is they survive the challenge of Leon Slater and Cameron Khai in London this weekend. If an upset sees the RPW young guns take the title, Connors and Moloney will be stopping at nothing to ensure they get the belts back as soon as possible, while if they’re still champions, they’ll be relishing the targets on their backs.
YOH & TBD: debut entry
The 2022 Super Junior Tag League winners, YOH and Lio Rush would be set for a sure favourite spot in Super Junior Tag League, but after illness beset Rush on the last tour, YOH is preparing a different partner for this year. What will happen when the wraps come off, and could YOH make the team dream work for a second year in a row?
Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita)- debut entry
Kosei Fujita’s ‘world tour’ takes him back to Japan where he combines with TMDK teammate Robbie Eagles. Eagles and Fujita have been impressive in Australia in recent weeks with wins including over the Natural Classics in NJPW TAMASHII. Now, this first time SJTL combination could be a dark horse tandem to win the whole league.
Catch 2/2 (Francesco Akira & TJP) 2nd entry, 2nd consecutive
Catch 2/2 headed into last year’s Super Junior Tag League as champions, and as a championship team that restored prestige and value in the IWGP Junior Tag titles as workhorse championships in the pro-wrestling world. Though coming up short of the trophies, they did retain the tag titles int he face of eventual winners Lio Rush and YOH- this year they’ll be using the league as a jumping off point to get back to title contention.
Los Ingobernables De Japon (Titan & BUSHI) 2nd entry 2nd consecutive
Back in Japan for the first time since making the Best of the Super Jr. 30 final, Titan reforms his masked man tag team with BUSHI. A dynamic and hard hitting combination, the LIJ pair were well in the mix heading into the final days of last year’s league, and look to go a step further in 2023.
Master Wato & El Desperado Debut entry
The Best of Seven trios series that played out through the road to Destruction was meant to settle just who were the better men across three separate rivalries, and determine who was the best team overall. It doesn’t exactly seem like that turned out to be the case after Destruction in Ryogoku, but it does seem to have engendered a mutual, if grudging respect between both sides. Royal Quest III will see Shota Umino and Ren Narita unite for a common good in London this weekend, and in SJTL, Master Wato and El Desperado will put long held differences aside in the hope of securing the tag trophies.
HOUSE OF TORTURE (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SHO) Debut entry
If SHO’s behaviour was contemptible enough to be dubbed ‘the shame of Ehime’ during last year’s SJTL tour, things might get even worse with Heel Master Yoshinobu Kanemaru acting as the Murder Machine’s ultimate enabler. In SHO and Kanemaru, H.O.T now have two of the most dominant players in the junior tag ranks of the last six years under the same team banner, and the two are sure to throw wrenches (and whiskey) in the works of any other team plans.
The DKC & Ryusuke Taguchi Debut entry
Ryusuke Taguchi doesn’t have the best of reputations when it comes to having tag team partners leave him, and history has repeated for the coach from last year to this. Clark Connors and Ryusuke Taguchi made quite the endearing team in the 2022 SJTL, but Connors’ new direction and current success in BUILLET CLUB War Dogs put paid to that. Connors’ departure came at the bitter and violent expense of the DKC, who now looks to bring the fire to this combination, and has a lot of unfinished business with Clark.
Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) 2nd entry, 2nd consecutive
Kevin Knight and KUSHIDA head into their second Super Junior Tag League with top flight experience under their belts and confidence in themselves and one another. Last year’s tournament saw an unprecedented rise for Knight, who graduated from Young Lion status mid tour, and it could be argued that Knight was just as responsible for KUSHIDA’s success in the team as the other way around. This year they could well be in the running heading into the final night in Osaka.
Just Five Guys (DOUKI & TAKA MIchinoku)
Rounding out the lineup are DOUKI and TAKA Michinoku for Just Five Guys. Pairing the ever dynamic and popular DOUKI with the ‘legend’ TAKA may seem on its surface like an underdog side, but Michinoku has pciked up quite a few wins in the last tour, and this duo could surprise over the course of the league.
