Another year is almost over, a lot has happened in 2019 and we’re going to cap it all off with the traditional World Tag League tournament. Usually around these times, it is New Japan’s “quiet” months. Admittedly not much really happens during WTL, it is the calm before the storm so to speak and that storm is of course Wrestle Kingdom which is just two months away.
Here’s some history regarding the tournament for the newer fans. The original tag league itself dates all the way back in 1980 when it was still called “MSG Tag League” and the inaugural winners were the team of Antonio Inoki and Bob Backlund. In 1985 it was called the “IWGP Tag Title League” with the winners being Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura, a year later it was the Japan Cup Tag League won by Antonio Inoki and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, then throughout the 90’s it was called the Super Grade Tag League until in 1999 they started calling it the “G1 Tag League” and finally 2012 the World Tag League with the winners being the team of Hirooki Goto and Karl Anderson.
The two previous years, the LIJ duo of EVIL and SANADA have won the tournament and would go on to become IWGP Tag-Team Champions in Wrestle Kingdom. They will once again join this tournament along with the rest of the field compromised of familiar tag-teams and some newly formed duos. The tournament will be filled with 16 teams in a round robin single block format. It all begins on November 16 and concludes on December 8. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the teams that will be participating in the 2019 tournament.
Team #1 – Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare
On paper this looks like such a random pairing for how drastically different these wrestlers are personality-wise but it makes sense actually. Hiroshi Tanahashi is at the point of his career where he enjoys mentoring younger wrestlers and take them under his wing, luckily for Toa Henare he seems to be the one chosen by The Ace himself to partner up for this year’s tournament. Tanahashi last participated in the WTL way back in 2016 when he paired up with Juice Robinson, overall he has appeared in 11 total Tag League tournaments. Henare on the other hand has appeared on three so far, this will be his fourth consecutive WTL he has partnered with Togi Makabe the past two years when Tomoaki Honma was recovering from his injury and in 2016 with Manabu Nakanishi.
Henare has graduated from his status as a young lion earlier this year and is now a full pledged member of the main roster. Having arguably the greatest wrestler in New Japan history as his tag partner will surely help him progress in his career. Tanahashi though has other bigger fish to fry as he sets his focus on his upcoming Wrestle Kingdom match against Chris Jericho.
Team #2 – Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma)
GBH is back in full form as Tomoaki Honma returns to the World Tag League with his friend Togi Makabe. This will be their 5th entry as a team, they’ve won the tournament back-to-back in 2015 and 2016, the first team to do so. Since Honma almost got his career ended in 2018 due to a neck injury, Makabe has somewhat went on a “lone run” but would find allies later on when members of CHAOS and Sekigun bonded due to a common enemy in Jay White and the rest of the Bullet Club. Honma made his return last year and was sad that he did not get to participate in the tournament despite being on the tour, he could finally get his revenge this time around and get back a lot of momentum this team has lost. The 2x former IWGP Tag-Team Champions are looking for their third victory in the tag league but they are not favored to win this time around even though just a few years ago they were dominating the whole tag-team division, it’d be nice to see them prove the doubters wrong though as they are still a capable team and have ton of experience over the other ones in the field.
Team #3 – TenCozy (Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan)
For the 8th straight year in a row TenCozy makes their appearance in the World Tag League. 2x winners of the tournament, 6x IWGP Tag-Team Champions with a record total combined reign of 929 days. With that resume alone, they are arguably the greatest tag-team in New Japan history. They may be gone from their prime years as World Champion caliber wrestlers but Kojima and Tenzan are still very much capable wrestlers and could go to war any given night with any given team. Anyone is welcome to receive the machine gun and Mongolian chops from the two. It may surprise you but they always bring it up a notch whenever the tag league arrives and they perform well by racking up a lot of wins in the process so be wary about your brackets, don’t let their ages be the deciding factors of them losing a lot.
Team #4 – Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
From TenCozy we move to the other veteran pairing of the tournament with Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi. Together the four of them graduated in the same dojo class and would go on to become IWGP Heavyweight Champions at some point of their careers. This is Nagata and Nakanishi’s 5th entry as a team and their third straight in a row, however they have participated multiple times already in the past but just with different partners. Despite not really tagging up a lot up until recently when they got their status as “New Japan Dads” Nagata and Nakanishi makes for a formidable team due to the familiarity they have with one another. The two are great friends and respect each other as competitive rivals. They could score an upset here and there but unlike TenCozy they aren’t as decorated of a team but experience alone still makes them superior over a lot of the teams here as well.
Team #5 – FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay)
For the second straight year in a row, FinJuice is back as David Finlay makes his return from injury at King of Pro Wrestling last month when he rescued Juice from a post match attack brought forth by Lance Archer after their IWGP US Title match. Juice and Finlay have a strong connection as they started their New Japan careers together entering the dojo, I think it is fair to say that Juice so far has had the better career being a 2x former IWGP US Champion and scored a lot of high profile wins in his run so far. Finlay is a former NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag-Team Champion but is still yet to find his “groove” so to speak amongst the roster, maybe he’d get there now that he has come back. They are one of the teams that have a realistic chance of winning this year’s tournament but it looks like Juice is still focus on Lance Archer more than anything to avenge his loss and take back the title so we’ll see.
Team #6 – Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks
One of the many new pairings for this year’s tournament is Hirooki Goto and Karl Fredericks. An obvious LA Dojo connection here with Katsuyori Shibata whom Goto won the WTL with before in 2014 and they would go on to win the IWGP Tag-Team Championships at Wrestle Kingdom. Karl Fredericks on the other hand is undergoing with his training at the LA Dojo and is the top prospect among his whole class, he has a lot of momentum behind him as he won the 2019 Young Lion Cup tournament and is the very first gaijin to do so. It will be a nice experience for him learning under the tutelage of Goto throughout the tournament but don’t expect them to score a lot, or any wins at all. Interestingly enough this isn’t the first time Goto would team up with a wrestler named “Karl” as he also won the tournament back in 2012 with pre-Bullet Club Karl Anderson, an odd pairing for sure but certainly a successful one.
Team #7 – Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI
The next team we got the CHAOS duo of Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI, while they have tagged a lot before being from the same faction, this is their first entry as a team in the WTL and actually YOSHI-HASHI’s first ever WTL appearance. Another year, another time we did not get the dream Ishii-Goto pairing but I guess the world will never be ready for such a destructive duo. This will be Ishii’s 7th consecutive tag league entry and his 11th overall, he is yet to win it though and I don’t think that really changes much this year. I see this team scoring some wins but in the end won’t be at the top of the leaderboards.
Team #8 – Toru Yano & Colt Cabana
Without a doubt my favorite team throughout this entire tournament and the true winners in everyone’s heart whatever the result ends up being: Toru Yano and Colt Cabana, the true aces of the universe! Seriously though, ever since they formed a friendship earlier this year during the ROH-NJPW tours, I have enjoyed Yano and Cabana’s work a lot. They are both comedic wrestlers but different in ways of delivering their shticks, put together though and you got yourself some hilarity and enjoyable in-ring action, at least for me. We can trace back the history of this duo in 2018 when they had their dream match at ROH, then earlier this year they had their second singles meeting at the New Japan Cup. Now they are back as a team ready to dominate the whole tournament and destroy everyone’s brackets! Real talk though, they are my dark horse picks to win it all this year. That’s just between you and me.
Team #9 – Jeff Cobb & Mikey Nicholls
Another fresh new pairing both making their first appearance in the World Tag League is the team of Jeff Cobb and Mikey Nicholls, who both also made their NJPW debuts this year. Cobb is having a pretty good year so far, at the G1 Supercard he won the NEVER Openweight Championship while simultaneously retaining the ROH Television Championship in a banger of a match over Will Ospreay. He had a strong dominant undefeated run at ROH and later on would go on to enter the G1 Climax. Mikey Nicholls on the other hand is still trying to find his footing in New Japan, he’s been personally recruited by Rocky Romero to join CHAOS since leaving the WWE and has participated earlier this year in the New Japan Cup. It’s an interesting combination with Cobb’s strength and athleticism combined with Nicholls’ vast tag-team experience.
Team #10 – EVIL & SANADA
The defending champions and back-to-back winners EVIL and SANADA make their 4th entry in the World Tag League. The 2x IWGP Tag-Team Champions are great in singles action but even more successful as a team, the past two years they won the tournament and would end up as champions at Wrestle Kingdom winning the belts in the Tokyo Dome. They could make a record and have the first ever three-peat win in the tournament’s history and it looks like that will likely happen as they are the most favorable to be victorious once again. Honestly though for me, I personally want another team to win and this is coming from an LIJ fan. It’s always been this way with EVIL and SANADA, they have a hot streak as singles wrestlers but would get relegated to the tag division once the year ends. Rinse and repeat. It’s been the same for them but there really aren’t any other programs or rivalries available for them as the higher profile ones are already occupied. They had their chances to possibly main event with SANADA having multiple chances at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and EVIL with the Tokyo Dome contract from Ibushi but alas all they could hope for at least now is have another successful run in this year’s WTL.
Team #11 – Shingo Takagi & Terrible
A team that caught me by surprised is the duo of Shingo Takagi and Terrible (fka El Terrible) of CMLL. An obvious Los Ingobernables connection is strong with this one, Shingo is of course a member of the LIJ faction led by Tetsuya Naito while Terrible has joined the original Los Ingobernables in CMLL along with Rush and La Bestia Del Ring in 2018. What’s interesting as during the early years of the Bullet Club they had a subsidiary of the group in Mexico particularly in CMLL due to the partnership with NJPW and El Terrible used to be a member of that as well, just a food for thought as he will be facing plenty members of BC in this one. This will be Shingo’s debut in the WTL but Terrible has actually participated before in 2010 at the G1 Tag League when he paired up with El Texano Jr. He has tagged with the LIJ members earlier this year during the FantasticaMania tour and has done well, earning him a spot here while Tetsuya Naito focuses on his match against Jay White at Wrestle Kingdom for the Intercontinental Championship.
Team #12 – Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer
The most fearsome team in the whole field. Just two deadly men teaming up for the first time in six years, in 2011 they won the G1 Tag League. Both Suzuki and Archer will be entering their 7th tag league individually and are favorites this team around with Lance Archer specifically having the best year of his career in 2019. Ever since going solo, Archer had a lot of momentum thrown at him when he surprised a lot of fans in his match against Will Ospreay in the New Japan Cup despite a losing effort. He would continue with the impressive in-ring action at the G1 Climax with great performances one after another. Finally it would all be awarded at King of Pro Wrestling when he won the vacant IWGP US Championship defeating Juice Robinson. As for Minoru Suzuki, he primarily feuded with Jushin “Thunder” Liger throughout the year, it was a vicious rivalry that even revived the demented persona of Jushin as Kishin Liger. It all culminated at KOPW with Suzuki bowing down to a defeated Liger after a great and emotional match. Now both men will continue to wreak havoc in this year’s WTL and could possibly win it too with how dominant they have showcased thus far.
Team #13 – Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi
Making their second consecutive appearance as a team for the WTL is the other Suzuki-Gun duo of the tournament: reigning RevPro British Heavyweight Champion: Zack Sabre Jr. and the Lord Emperor himself: Taichi. As mentioned on their team profile in the NJPW website, these couldn’t be any more different in their wrestling styles and personalities but can actually get things done in tag-team action. Both ZSJ and Taichi had pretty decent years so far for their individual careers, however they aren’t really booked for any high profile matches yet at Wrestle Kingdom and are looking to do so by winning this year’s tag league and have a chance at the IWGP Tag-Team titles. They had great matches at the G1 but were primarily on the losing end of things, we’ll see if things would be different this time around working as a unit.
Team #14 – Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)
The reigning 5x IWGP Tag-Team Champions and arguably the best tag-team in New Japan today: Guerrillas of Destiny, sons of Haku, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa. Despite participating four straight years in a row though, GoD are yet to win their first WTL. Going only so far as finalists. They could not just be argued as the best tag-team in NJPW but Tag-Team of the year as well with all their impressive performances throughout 2019 since winning back the titles from EVIL and SANADA at the Honor Rising show in February. They have successfully defended the belts seven times already and are looking to possibly find out their opponents again this year in the tournament or they could go on and win it all and choose whoever they want to face at the Tokyo Dome.
Team #15 – KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
Another Bullet Club entry, the first time pairing of reigning NEVER Openweight Champion: KENTA and the Tokyo Pimp, Yujiro Takahashi a former NEVER Openweight Champion himself. Since making his debut KENTA has made a name for himself in the New Japan roster and even became a bigger star since joining the BC faction. He defeated Tomohiro Ishii at the UK show for the belt and successfully defended the belt from him at Power Struggle. Yujiro on the other hand is a reliable partner in tag-team scenarios having entered the tournament 10 times already so his experience shouldn’t be slept on.
Team #16 – Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens
Last but not the least we got the third and final representatives of the Bullet Club: Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens. The Rogue General did not participate in last year’s tournament but will be entering for the 6th time in his career this year. As for the Honorary Tongan Chase, this will only be his third appearance at the WTL. It’s an interesting combination, one we haven’t really seen much before in terms of the BC teaming up. Even though he had a lackluster G1, Fale is still one of the most dominant men in the roster today so don’t expect them to lose a lot especially to lower tier teams.
Those are all the teams competing for the 2019 World Tag League of NJPW. The winners get a chance at the IWGP Tag-Team Championships in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom. The tournament runs from November 16 to December 8.
