Imagine, if you will, Troy Barnes coming back with the pizzas in that episode of Community with the dark timelines and all that. You’ve seen the gif. But, instead of walking into a scene of outrageous calamity and dropping the pizzas in horror, Troy simply walked past the outlandishly fiery disorder and a hemorrhaging Chevy Chase and sat back down at the table, as if nothing unusual was going on. 

That is World Tag League in 2020.

Here it is, same time as last year, as if nothing unusual, unorthodox, or metaphysically deflating has happened in the last twelve months, every second of every day. We’re not sure whether to be galvanized by the stoic stability of this completely inconsequential tournament, or resentful of it for the exact same reasons. But here it is: The Perfunctory Spectacle is back!  Thanksgiving is canceled? By the time it rolls around in two weeks, it probably will be by executive orders, if you live in one of the United States and your governor isn’t a spiteful charlatan! But fear not, there are THREE WORLD TAG LEAGUE SHOWS THANKSGIVING WEEK! LEAN INTO IT!

There are a few reasons to perhaps be a bit more favorable to a World Tag League this year. For one, it’s scaled-down and alternating dates with the Best of the Super Juniors, so World Tag League is not carrying an entire tour, which certainly has been an incapacitating notion every year. The scaling down, of course, means that there are, finally, a sensible amount of teams in the league. The other reason is mch more encouraging: the tag division has been good this year! 

We’ve seen two living legends win the belts this year, with Tanahashi and Ibushi taking the titles off of the Guerrillas of Destiny. This was a measure of revenge for their friends and previous champions FinJuice who, of course, didn’t even get a rematch against G.O.D. This led to an elongated feud between Golden ACE and Dangerous Tekkers, spanning several pandemic-elongated lifetimes, resulting in a couple of excellent matches over the summer. Tekkers were sidetracked by the G1, but defended their titles recently in another excellent match against Hirooki Goto and the flourishing King of Korakuen YOSHI-HASHI that was era-defining (in that it lasted the length of an entire goddamn era). The division is strong, at least at the top.

THE RUN-DOWN
WORLD TAG LEAGUE FORMAT BASICS

The World Tag League 2020 will run from November 15th to December 11th, alternating dates with the Best of the Super Juniors 27, sharing the opening block night, final block night, and overall finals night with that tournament. World Tag League 2020 will have 10 participating teams, down from the unwieldy 16 last year.  For the 3rd year in a row, it  will be contested in a single block round-robin format: every team will face the other nine teams over the course of the tournament, with each match having a 30-minute time limit. Points are awarded for each match in the traditional league format manner:

  • Wins: 2 Points
  • Time Limit Draws: 1 Point for each team
  • Losses: 0 Points
  • Double disqualifications, double count-outs, and other completely unrealistic outcomes like no contests: 0 points.

If teams are tied in the standings, the tiebreaker goes to whoever won their head-to-head matchup. Supposedly, there are tiebreaker levels beyond this one, but they have never come into play beyond hypothetical speculation and conjecture. One would think they will never come into play, but someone just lost the goddamn G1 Climax briefcase, so who knows anymore?

At the end of league competition, the top two teams in the block will face off for a second time in a one-match tournament final. This will be a no-time-limit match. The winners of that match are the World Tag League 2020 champions and will presumably challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions at one of the Wrestle Kingdom shows in January, unless the tag champions themselves win the block. If that happens, one would have to guess that Dangerous Tekkers will take the nights off.

PARTICIPANTS

Participant profiles/previews written by J. Michael Mastro (@ryugu_jo) and Jeri Evans (@TheJerriest_Jer)

IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS
DANGEROUS TEKKERS (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr)

AFFILIATION: Suzuki-gun
Past WTL Performances: 2018 (8-5), 2019 (9-6)

Apparently, these two rabble-rousers are the tag champions, but for the life of me I could not remember them winning it. I distinctly remember watching the match, but somehow my memory of the title change was completely absent. To rectify this, I started tracking my viewings of Dominion 2020. I quit my job, separated from my wife, and hunkered down. What I was left with was harrowing: piles of Memento-style journals documenting for my future self, in intricate detail, the match between Golden Ace and Dangerous Tekkers, each one more desperately thorough; countless 8X10 color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was; rooms rendered unnavigable but the interlocking strings pinned to the pictures on the wall, like that dopey Indian geneticist in season 1 of Heroes, or that Pepe Silvia episode of It’s Always Sunny, if you want a reference people remember. And yet, every single time, I forgot how the tag titles changed hands.

And then, like an iridescent beacon, Twitter Unknockoutable Tony Khan emerged, with the prophetic words I needed to hear: the EVIL booking made me forget. It was EVIL this whole goddamn time! Why book two daring angles in one show, that’s not wrestling, Gedo! And sure enough, I watched Dominion 2020 again, stopped after the tag match, and now I remember:

I remember that Dangerous Tekkers won the title in a brilliant match, with that instantly legendary assisted dragon screw sequence on Tanahashi. They defended the titles in an  excellent match at Jingu. I watched the sun rise, set, and rise again while they blew the doors of Korakuen against the CHAOS team of YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto. They treated the tag titles like a real prize. They gave us awesome matches. They are awesome champions, and I’ll remember this run for a long time.

Match to Watch: Frankly, all of them, especially the FinJuice (Night 7 – November 30th) match-up that main events a solid night 7 show at Korakuen that should be raucous, but the Great-O-Khan and X (Night 5 – November 24th) provide a very delicious dynamic. Suzuki-gun have generally been floating solidly on the heel side, but the increasing popularity of its members, to the point where Despy obliterated Satoshi Kojima in the KOPW poll, suggests they may be moving closer to full tweener. While there are BULLET CLUB heel teams to play with here, the novelty of the Empire’s team will be a fun canvas for these two sour-ass kids to work with. Also hilarious would be if it really is Jeff Cobb as “X.” Taichi has relentlessly taunted Cobb for a long time now, but showed almost dignified respect for Cobb after their G1 Climax match (flavored with the usual fat-shaming). Dummies like us who watch dopey side videos will note that during the legendary dunk-fest that was Taichi and Kanemaru’s card collection game video, Taichi openly wondered if Oka had quit wrestling.

Chance of winning: None, as painful as that is to accept. We will get a healthy amount of Dangerous Tekkers main events, that’s the win. -J. Michael Mastro (@ryugu_jo)

DEFENDING WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2019 CHAMPIONS
FINJUICE (DAVID FINLAY AND JUICE ROBINSON)

AFFILIATION: Hontai
Past WTL Performances: 2018 (8-5), 2019 (13-2, Winners)

It’ll be good to see them teaming up once again. They won last year, and think they’ll make a good run, possibly go back to back this year. Could that be being naivete speaking? Yes, but don’t see what else could be in store for them in the future. They gel well, wrestle well, and them winning the tag titles many years (actually months) ago was a feel good moment. It didn’t last as they lost them soon after, but it still felt good. Juice has been very up and down this year with performances but still brings the energy and knows how to interact with a limited crowd. Finley has been solid on NJPW STRONG and is making his return to Japan. This could be a lot of fun.

Match to Watch: G.O.D (Night 1 – November 15th) would be the pick here. The team they beat for the titles, the team they lost the titles back to. The rematch here is what should be looked out for. There’s history, there’s dislike, and the matches while not great are at least solid. So that would be the match to look forward to. 

Chance of winning: High. Past four years we’ve had two back to back winners (Makabe/Honma in ‘15, ‘16. Evil/Sananda in ‘17, ‘18.) So can’t discount the possibility we’re going for three. Could this be over-rating a bit? Perhaps, but recent history is on their side. Also not sure what else they could be doing come WrestleKingdom time and this would give them a match and an attempt to reclaim what they held only shortly. Either way, expect a winning record and some fun matches. -Jeri Evans (@TheJerriest_Jer)

GREAT-O-KHAN AND “X”

AFFILIATION: The Empire
Past WTL Performances: First Year of Entry

Chris Jericho was reached for comment on who he told Gedo to book here, which would have been off-the-record and accidentally leaked, but he would not concede the information. 

Mystery wrestlers are always exciting, though! It’s pretty much assumed that this will be Jeff Cobb, which would be phenomenal considering that Cobb seemed to put all the pieces together in the G1 Climax. That would give us quite a powerhouse duo, a former Olympic wrestler joining a former National Champion wrestler of Japan. People are going to be thrown, and I suggest the other 18 competitors do as many plank variations as they possibly can in the next few days, because those guts are gonna get wrenched. 

I know that it is insane to look at card placement in the goddamn World Tag League, but it cannot be helped. Whomever this mystery man might be, they might not have much impact. At the very least, don’t expect much impact. If you were predicting them to win this league… in fact, if you predicted them to even have a winning record, you might want to reconsider. This tag team is booked low, 9th out of the 10 teams, with an average card placement of 2.375 out of 5. 

Three times they are the opening World Tag League match, and twice they are the second World Tag League match. They do not main event one show. The closest they get are three semi-mains. One thing to keep an eye on, though: their opponents on the final night, with has a card order TBD, is against the Shingo Takagi and SANADA team, who are easily the highest booked team in the tournament. Maybe The Empire’s calling card in their infancy is bringing fireworks to the end of round-robin tournaments.

Match to Watch: Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare (Night 1 – November 15th). It’s tricky here without knowing officially who “X” is, and while Great-O-Khan returned by obliterating Okada, he didn’t really betray CHAOS or anything. So those match-ups aren’t natural blood feuds. We might as well go with Night 1, where we learn the mystery man’s identity. And if “X” is Jeff Cobb then we have one team that would feel very much betrayed: Hiroshi Tanahashi, having to see is former crowd-rallying Junior as this cretinous monster, and Toa Henare, who has been stuck kickboxing for 6 straight months, only to return and have someone he teamed with a mere year ago turn bad. 

Chance of winning: Slim, but maybe Dark Horse. It would do well to establish the team, but until we see X come out of the curtain it’s hard to commit to anything. -J. Michael Mastro (@ryugu_jo)

GUERRILLAS OF DESTINY (TAMA TONGA AND TANGA LOA)

AFFILIATION: BULLET CLUB
Past WTL Performances:  2016 (6-1, Won A Block, Lost in Finals), 2017 (5-2, Won B Block, Lost in Finals), 2018, (10-3, #1 After League, Lost in Finals),  2019 (12-3)

The Guerrillas of Destiny YouTube channel has shifted into a Hiku Leo Youtube channel, but there’s an overwhelming sense that you get from all of the videos that have gone up since the pandemic hit, the videos going back two years, and Tama Tonga’s podcast: Haku raised some awesome people. Haku’s just a cool as fuck dad. They talk about the game, any game, they talk about wrestling from the perspective of a fan and a worker, they make you want to hang out with them because they are intensely likable guys. 

This is important to point out because while their return to Japan might not be met with overwhelming exultation, and the match quality will probably fluctuate, it’s hard not to feel good for them. It’s also worth pointing out that these guys are more popular than you’d think. I went to the show in Lowell and there were many G.O.D. fans there. Not just BULLET CLUB fans… bona fide G.O.D. fans. They got a huge pop, and poor Roppongi 3K didn’t really stand a chance. 

G.O.D. should be welcomed back, and the booking favors them. They come in booked 3rd highest, narrowly behind Dangerous Tekkers, the reigning champions, and Shingo Takagi and SANADA, who are clearly being booked as a superstar tandem. That G.O.D. are on that tier, with a sizable gap between them and 4th ranked FinJuice, is a very clear indication of how seriously New Japan takes these guys. As shown above, their WTL record is exceptional, but without a win.

Match to Watch: EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi ( Night 3 – November 19th), naturally. With all the talk of the faltering NJPW booking, we might be getting a second chance to see a BULLET CLUB dissension story, one that won’t be tanked by people with both feet and 90% of their body out the door. Also keep an eye out for their match with Great-O-Khan & X (Night 8 – December 4th) at Joe Lanza’s hometown of Beppu. 

Chance of winning: Favorites. Did you see all the italics up there under their graphic? These guys are finally in a position where they can win, and it should be expected, even with heel champions. -J. Michael Mastro (@ryugu_jo)

EVIL AND YUJIRO TAKAHASHI

AFFILIATION: BULLET CLUB
Past WTL Performances:  First Year of Entry

Well, this is a whole lot of ugh. Real talk, EVIL is capable of good, perhaps even great things. This lackluster run in 2020 gets us to forget that. True, that could depend on the opponent he’s mixing it up with but EVIL can do well, he just hasn’t lately. Yujiro is a different story and immediately brings this team down. Don’t really have high hopes for the performances of this team, but willing to give a few matches to be proven wrong. Also, with EVIL in the lineup shenanigans galore can always be potentially expected. G-1 shows tournaments does not diminish this reality.

Match to Watch: Is there? Maybe SANADA/Shingo (Night 1 – November 15th). EVIL going up against his former stable mates may be of interest to watch if Yujiro doesn’t drag it down too much/Shenanigans are kept to a minimum. So we’ll highlight this match up. Need a secondary? 

Chance of winning: Unlikely. Want to be snark and put this in the “Hope Not” category but we won’t do that. Instead, we’ll say unlikely and that Yujiro is about to enjoy quite a few matches on his back. -Jeri Evans (@TheJerriest_Jer)

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YOSHI-HASHI AND HIROOKI GOTO

AFFILIATION: CHAOS
Past WTL Performances:  2017 (4-3)

They recently had an amazing main event tag title shot against Dangerous Tekkers. As individuals Goto is always reliable goods. He can sometimes fly under the radar and you forget how great he is until he smacks you in the face with it once more. YOSHI-HASHI this year has been the treat. A very good G-1 Run, a fun Six Man Tag Tourney that ended with his first title, and he’s just been putting in quality performances whether it be single or multi-person. They are proven good commodities in 2020 and I have no doubt they’ll have good potential for some good stuff this tournament. Maybe there’s over-estimating here, but I get the feeling they are going to make a good run at it this tournament.

YOSHI-HASHI and Goto, coming off that run with Dangerous Tekkers, are 5th in card placement, behind the LIJ team, Tekkers, G.O.D. and FinJuice. They aren’t very far behind FinJuice and will main event two shows, on nights 5 and 6. Thus, they are being positioned firmly in the mid-card, and all things considered that’s quite a victory for YOSHI-HASHI. Dig your heels out and acknowledge this man!

Match to Watch: Dangerous Tekkers (Night 1 – November 15th) is the match I would recommend. As already stated they had a great main event a short while back and I’d expect an equally fantastic rematch. I’ll go on record saying it might be one of the best of the tournament. Secondarily I’ll also highlight Team Ishii because CHAOS versus CHAOS can always be fun.

Chance of winning: Dark horse. Going to put them in the dark horse category. Why? Don’t expect them to win, but wouldn’t be shocked if they did.  Feel like they are primed to have a good tournament and may come close but ultimately come up short. Time will show if that pans out. -Jeri Evans (@TheJerriest_Jer)

BAD LUCK FALE AND CHASE OWENS

AFFILIATION: BULLET CLUB
Past WTL Performances:  2017 (3-4), 2019 (6-9)

It’s been a while, but maybe not long enough. Fale must be fresh after missing the G1 Climax this year, right? Surely there must be rumblings that Fale is in incredible shape, the best shape he’s been in since he was a Young Lion, you wouldn’t even fucking believe how svelte this suave gentleman is right now, oh my god. We’ve heard this tale before; Fale looks considerably slimmer in pictures, he shows up looking a little less slim, and moves exactly the same. Chase has always been a workhorse; he certainly was last year and he’ll need to play that role again. One thing that Chase is going to have to figure out is working with the clap crowds; Chase shines when he is stuck in the endgame of a multi-man tag, eating a main eventers offense and throwing in enough of his own crisp, well-executed offense to make things interesting. On this last tour he looked good but the crowd weren’t very responsive. He’ll have plenty of ring time to win them over again!

These guys are positioned right at the very bottom.The Card Placement ranking gives a number to each match; the first World Tag League match on a show gets a 1, and the main event gets a 5. The average shows where a team is positioned across the entire tournament. Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens’ average? 1.25! Remember, there’s nothing lower than 1. They are barely above the card placement booking of Yuya Uemura. They open every single show except for nights 6 and 7, when they bump up to the 2nd World Tag League match of the night. Honestly, there’s a case to be made that the fourth straight night of Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma vs. Yuji Nagata and Yota Tsuji should go on second, and these guys should open the show.

Match to Watch: **Grabs fencing blade, blindly stabs paper with the names of other nine teams on it** Why, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano, of course. I mean, I guess it is  Shingo and SANADA (Night 4 – November 22nd), as Chase messed with Shingo on the Power Struggle tour, taunting him for losing the NEVER title while Shingo was on commentary. With SANADA, you have the built-in fight for Milno’s affection and the shared love for the Paradise Lock, though who doesn’t?! By the way, Shingo and SANADA are in the main event or semi-main event every single night… except the night they face Chase and Fale. The BULLET CLUB team drag them down to the OPENING MATCH. Bloody hell.

Chance of winning: None, although they had a nice showing last year. -J. Michael Mastro (@ryugu_jo)

SHINGO TAKAGI AND SANADA

AFFILIATION: Los Ingobernables de Japon
Past WTL Performances:  First Year of Entry

This is good stuff right here. Sananda is good but inconsistent and lacking that thing known as personality. Shingo though, what a gem he’s been in 2020 with the NEVER scene. I think this tag team could have some high potential this tournament and be of interest to watch. If Sananda is motivated (and being WTL and a pandemic that’s not guaranteed) and Shingo just having such a great year this is a team that could be primed to go and put on some great quality this tournament. Looking at the line up they got some potentially fun match ups that could be given to us and it’ll be interesting (as interesting as the WTL can get) to see how they do.

Match to Watch: Opinion? Would be easy to say Dangerous Tekkers (Night 3 – November 19th). So we will.  Think that match up could definitely be quality. It’s possible this is getting over-extended but there’s several good possibilities here for matches to watch. Shingo is the Never Openweight champion, and it’ll be worth seeing who is able to keep his shoulders to the mat to potentially set up a title defense at one of the Wrestlekingdom shows. Don’t sleep on the match-up with Shingo Takagi and SANADA (Night 8 – December 4th), a show where we’ve heard that the mayor of Beppu will award the keys to the city to Joe Lanza. Henare was in line for a NEVER Openweight title shot before the pandemic ruined everything; expect him to come after Shingo with gusto.

Chance of winning: Unlikely. Almost want to put it in the likely department, and it’s possible they have a very good close run, but in the end don’t see it. Don’t see them as the tag title challengers for January 5th. Could be wrong, and again Shingo could pull double duty and defend one night and for for a title another night. It’s not out of the realm of impossibility, but in the end that’s not the scenario I’m seeing play out. -Jeri Evans (@TheJerriest_Jer)

HenarACE (HIROSHI TANAHASHI AND TOA HENARE)

AFFILIATION: Hontai
Past WTL Performances:  2019 (3-12)

This team is not going to win. Let us get that out of the way. This team is going to lose a lot, let us also get that out of the way. This could be fun, and hopefully  if nothing else Henare just looks good and has quality outings. With so many people out of work these holidays, Henare should be counting his blessings he will not be lacking in jobs anytime soon. This could be a fun but ultimately doomed team. Expect Tanahashi to take it a bit easy, with the exception of maybe a few match ups, and Henare to do the best to showcase himself. Really hope 2021 is the year Henare gets more. Would love to see that. Not sure we will though.

Match to Watch: Not exactly sure what to highlight as the match to watch. Nothing really stands out. Tanahashi has had his issues with Dangerous Tekkers (Night 2 – November 16th) this year so we’ll go with that, although he’ll ultimately fail against them once more. FinJuice (Night 3 – November 19th) could be fun as well. 

Chance of winning: None. Nadda. Zilch. Not happening. They’ll be fun, they’ll have solid bouts, Henare is gonna lose quite a bit, and that’s about what to expect this tournament. -Jeri Evans (@TheJerriest_Jer)

TOMOHIRO ISHII AND TORU YANO

AFFILIATION: CHAOS
Past WTL Performances:  2006 (1-2-1), 2017 (4-3), 2018 (9-4)

As I write this, we are hours away from the 2020 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame results to come in from Dave Meltzer, and I anticipate two results on my end. The first: I will punch the air in futile anger when Jim Johnston is once again denied despite being a clear slam-dunk. The second: after Ishii is denied again, I will punch myself in the face as a reminder that there are easier ways to cause myself pain than to emotionally invest in a one-category HOF candidate.

Ishii’s one taste of IWGP gold was at Wrestle Kingdom 11, when he teamed with Yano to win the titles in a three-way against G.O.D. and G.B.H. There’s an eleven year gap between this team WTL appearances, and only sporadic teaming in between. It’s a team of contrasts, the austere Ishii and cartoonish Yano, and a few of these matches are going to be brutal, but a few will also be great. Consider that you do have the King of the G1 Climax and the Kazuchicka Okada Pro Wrestling Provisional Champion in concert!

Match to Watch: Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano (Night 3 – November 19th). One of the low-key, mainly forgotten highlights of the early pandemic return period was the awesome set of matches between CHAOS members over the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship.

Chance of winning: Slim. If a Dark Horse, the James K. Polk-iest Dark Horse there could possibly be. I don’t know what you would do with these two otherwise, with two Dome cards to populate, but with champions the caliber of Dangerous Tekkers, the opponents should be a higher level than this CHAOS team. Will Yano even be recovered, a mere four days after experiencing the relief that he successfully defended his title and became the KOPW 2020 Champion? -J. Michael Mastro (@ryugu_jo)

WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2020 SCHEDULE

At this point, we can’t even make a self-deprecating joke about you memorizing the World Tag League schedule. If you’ve made it this far, you just might have. Here are the full cards for each show, starting from the main event and working down the card. All World Tag League matches are bolded.

NIGHT 1
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15TH – NAGOYA, AICHI – AICHI PREFECTURAL GYMNASIUM

**Joint Show with the Best of the Super Juniors**

  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori
  • FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga)
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Desperado
  • SANADA and Shingo Takagi vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
  • SHO vs. BUSHI
  • Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto
  • Robbie Eagles vs. DOUKI
  • HenarACE (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare)vs. Great-O-Khan and “X”
  • Master Wato vs. Yuya Uemura
  • Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano vs. Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale

NIGHT 2
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH – KOMATSU, ISHIKAWA – KOMATSU CITY SUEHIRO GYMNASIUM (YOSHIKEI ARENA)

  • Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. HenarACE (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare)
  • Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano vs. SANADA and Shingo Takagi 
  • FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
  • YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto vs. Great-O-Khan and “X”
  • Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga) vs. Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale
  • Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd

NIGHT 3
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH – TOKYO – KORAKUEN HALL

  • Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. SANADA and Shingo Takagi
  • YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano
  • Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga) vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
  • FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) vs. HenarACE (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare)
  • Great-O-Khan and “X” vs. Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale
  • Tomoaki Honma and Satoshi Kojima vs. Yota Tsuji and Yuji Nagata

NIGHT 4
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22ND – SAKU, NAGANO- SAKU CITY GENERAL GYMNASIUM

  • Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga)
  • FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) vs. Great-O-Khan and “X”
  • Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
  • YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto vs. HenarACE (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare) 
  • SANADA and Shingo Takagi vs. Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale
  • Tomoaki Honma and Satoshi Kojima vs. Yota Tsuji and Yuji Nagata

NIGHT 5
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24TH – KORIYAMA, FUKUSHIMA- BIG PALETTE FUKUSHIMA

  • YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA and Shingo Takagi 
  • Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Great-O-Khan and “X”
  • Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga) vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano 
  • HenarACE (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare) vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
  • FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) vs. Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale
  • Tomoaki Honma and Satoshi Kojima vs. Yota Tsuji and Yuji Nagata

NIGHT 6
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH – FUJISAWA, KANAGAWA – FUJISAWA MUNICIPAL AKIBADAI CULTURAL GYMNASIUM

  • Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga) vs. YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto 
  • FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) vs. SANADA and Shingo Takagi 
  • Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
  • HenarACE (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare) vs. Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale
  • Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano vs. Great-O-Khan and “X”
  • Tomoaki Honma and Satoshi Kojima vs. Yota Tsuji and Yuji Nagata

NIGHT 7
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH – TOKYO – KORAKUEN HALL

  • Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) 
  • Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga) vs. SANADA and Shingo Takagi
  • HenarACE (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare) vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano 
  • YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto vs. Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale
  • Great-O-Khan and “X” vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
  • Tomoaki Honma and Satoshi Kojima vs. Yota Tsuji and Yuji Nagata

NIGHT 8
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4TH – BEPPU, OITA – BEPPU B-CON PLAZA

  • HenarACE (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare) vs. SANADA and Shingo Takagi
  • Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga) vs. Great-O-Khan and “X”
  • FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano
  • YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
  • Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale
  • Tomoaki Honma and Satoshi Kojima vs. Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura

NIGHT 9
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6TH – FUKUOKA – FUKUOKA CONVENTION CENTER

**Joint Show with the Best of the Super Juniors**

** Match order will determined by league standings, card most likely to be announced on either December 5th or 6th**

  • Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano
  • FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) vs. YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto 
  • Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga) vs. HenarACE (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare)
  • EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale
  •  SANADA and Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan and “X”
  • Taiji Ishimori vs. SHO
  • El Desperado vs. BUSHI
  • Master Wato vs. Hiromu Takahashi
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. DOUKI
  • Yuya Uemura vs. Robbie Eagles

NIGHT 10
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11TH – TOKYO- NIPPON BUDOKAN

**Finals for both World tag League and Best of the Super Juniors. Card most likely  to be announced between December 7th and December 11th**

  • 1st place in League Competition vs. 2nd Place in League Competition
  • 1st place in League Competition vs. 2nd Place in League Competition
  • Rest of card TBD