Two leagues, ten matches in a cheering Dolphins Arena
Cheering crowds are back this Sunday in Aichi as World Tag League and Super Junior Tag League combine for one big ten match card.
Watch Super Junior and World tag Leagues LIVE or in English on demand on NJPW World!
Main event: World Tag League- Bihsamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (1-1) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) (2-0)
Tag record: 2-1 Naito & SANADA
Tetsuya Naito and SANADA are well accustomed to Bishamon as a tag team, and carry a 2-1 record over their CHAOS opponents tonight. More important, they carry an undefeated record as the heavyweight tag tournament hits one third distance. Should they keep that streak going, Naito and SANADA’s presence in the end of the league in Sendai will be ever more secure, while Bishamon’s hopes of going back to back will be in danger. Having felt the tag team dominance of Aussie Open in Fujisawa, can they find an answer against fellow former IWGP Tag Team Champions tonight?
9th Match: Super Junior tag League Flying Tiger (Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask) (2-1) vs Catch 2/2 (TJP & Francesco Akira) (2-1)
When you’re on a roll in professional wrestling, you can be unstoppable, but losing is just as contagious as winning. Catch 2/2’s rise has been spectacular, but Titan and BUSHI finally proved in Gunma Friday that the two are beatable. With tough competition in Flying Tiger tonight, TJP and Francesco Akira cannot let the loss be anything more that an isolated incident as the Super Jr. Tag League approaches mid distance.
8th Match: World Tag League- TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) (1-1) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi) (0-2)
After reigns of terror in other tournaments, it seems the only people to have felt the tortuous sting of HOUSE OF TORTURE’s brand of ‘justice’ has been HOUSE OF TORTURE themselves. Fujisawa saw EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi have interference from Dick Togo and SHO backfire yet again, bringing the group to 0-5 on the tour. Both their junior and heavyweight compliment are more than mathematically capable of making a comeback, but perhaps it may be smarter for EVIL and Yujiro to get their points by hook rather than crook tonight.
7th Match: Super Junior tag League- CHAOS (Lio Rush & YOH) (2-1) vs Suzuki-Gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) (0-3)
After a hard fought loss to IWGP Jr. Tag Champions Catch 2/2 on the first night of the tour, Lio Rush and YOH have picked up two straight victories. Winning is contagious in tournament settings especially, and both will be looking to keep the momentum going; YOH being undefeated against Kanemaru one on one will certainly help his confidence in this battle of two relatively new teams.
6th Match: World Tag League- Be-Bop Tag League (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano) (0-2) vs BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens) (1-1)
Tag record: 1-0 Yano & Tanahashi
Last year’s World Tag League ended for Be-Bop tag Team with a win over Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale that closed out a career best World Tag League record for Hiroshi Tanahashi, and gave hope to a man who by his own admission ‘has never been a tag guy’. This year’s WTL has not started ideally for the Ace and Yano however, and Toru and Hiroshi will have to lean on their bad boy style to get past Fale and Owens, who got on the board Saturday in Fujisawa and want to keep forward momentum going.
5th Match: Super Junior Tag League- Wild Hips (Clark Connors & Ryusuke Taguchi) (1-2) vs BULLET CLUB (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) (3-0)
After a satisfying opening victory for Wild Hips, Ryusuke Taguchi and Clark Connors have had to deal with the humiliation of two straight losses, while Connors in particular has had to get over having his head forced into his partner’s behind by Alex Zayne in Gunma. The Wild Hips can ill afford to drop another two points, and this meeting with IMPACT’s Ace Austin and Chris Bey will be key. By the same token, Ace Austin and Chris Bey haven’t been beaten so far, and with the Inevitable one still remembering how Taguchi forced Austin out of Best of the Super Junior contention back in June, the two will be looking to dole out some receipts en route to keeping their league top spot.
4th Match: World Tag League- Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) (2-0) vs Suzuki-Gun (Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki) (2-0)
Only three teams remain undefeated in World Tag League, and at least one of those perfect records will be gone tonight. Aussie Openhave certainly impressed the world in their opening two victories over first Be-Bop Tag and then Bishamon. Yet they haven’t met a team like the combination of size, aggression and outright sadism of Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki; how will they deal with the Suzuki-Gun pair tonight?
3rd Match: Super Junior Tag League- SAUCEHEARTS (Alex Zayne & El Lindaman) (2-1) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (SHO & Dick Togo) (0-3)
2-1 in the league, Alex Zayne and El Lindaman are in fine form as they enter the middle third opposite SHO and Dick Togo. The HOUSE OF TORTURE pair have had a dismal start to their league meanwhile, with their three matches all falling apart right when EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi have gotten involved. With the heavyweight H.O.T members wrestling later in the night, SHO and Togo might be best served with leaving them in the locker room to prepare for their bout, or at least to have a better gameplan to bring against ‘SAUCEHEARTS’.
2nd Match: World Tag League- LA Dojo (Alex Coughlin & Gabriel Kidd) (0-2) vs United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare) (1-1)
Japanese fans last saw Alex Cough;lin and Gabriel Kidd before the current tour when they were still Young Lions. With a combination of attitude and incredible ability, their efforts in pushing both TMDK and Naito and SANADA to the limits have definitely erased any of those perceptions, but their scoreline still leaves much to be desired. Kidd and Coughlin want to get on the board tonight in the worst way, but can they do so at United Empire expense? It seems as if Great-O-Khan had moved on from his Great Muta woes in Fujisawa, and renewed mental focus led him and Henare to their first two points, but can they double up in Aichi?
1st Match: Super Junior Tag League: KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight (1-2) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI & Titan) (2-1)
First up on the night will be Kevin Knight and KUSHIDA facing Titan and BUSHI. LIJ’s masked duo are riding high after a victory over the IWGP Jr. tag team Champions Catch 2/2 in Gunma that ended TJP and Francesco Akira’s winning streak. Now they seek to keep that momentum moving forward opposite a side that can’t afford to be downtrodden after a game defeat to Lio Rush and YOH Friday.
