NJPW Super Junior Tag League Week 1 Review, 16/10-22/10/18

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Current Standings:

Bushi and Shingo Takagi – 4 pts.

Roppongi 3K (SHO and YOH) – 4 pts.

Taiji Ishimori and Robbie Eagles – 4 pts.

Jyushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask – 4 pts.

Time Machine (KUSHIDA and Chris Sabin) – 2 pts.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado – 2 pts.

Super 69 (Ryusuke Taguchi and ACH) – 2 pts.

Team CMLL (Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr.) – 2 pts.

 

Going into the Road to Power Struggle this year the big news was that the annual Junior Heavyweight Tag Tournament would be a single block, round-robin format, rather than the knockout format of recent years.  In the leadup to the start of the tour both Los Ingobernables de Japon and Bullet Club made noise about looking to add new members to compete in the tournament after Hiromu Takahashi’s injury and the split between The Elite and Bullet Club.  At King of Pro Wrestling Shingo Takagi made his debut for LIJ and was announced as BUSHI’s partner for the tournament, which overshadowed the announcement that the Australian Robbie Eagles would be coming in as Taiji Ishimori’s partner.

Both LIJ and Bullet Club looked strong over the first three tournament matches, posting identical 2-1 records.  Ishimori and Eagles started out strong with a victory over the veteran team of Liger and Tiger, and followed that up by defeating Super 69, in an emotional showdown between former partners Ishimori and ACH.  Their only loss so far came to Roppongi 3K, which could be important since they are also one of the favourites to make it to the final of the tournament.  The LIJ team opened with a win over Roppongi 3K, and then followed that with a win over Time Machine, before falling to Liger and Tiger.  Both Shingo and Eagles have looked impressive in their debuts (technically Eagles competed on the Australia shows, but this is his debut in Japan) although Ishimori and Eagles have more chemistry than BUSHI and Shingo.  The showdown between SHO and Shingo foreshadows a rivalry that I’m sure we will return to in the future, potentially when they are both heavyweight wrestlers.

Roppongi 3K have also had a strong showing in the tournament so far, defeating Bullet Club as well as the tag team champions Kanemaru and Desperado.  Their win over Ishimori and Eagles could prove decisive in determining which teams make it to the final – before the tournament started I predicted that Roppongi 3K would face LIJ in the final at Power Struggle.  Liger and Tiger round out the top half of the block and they are the surprise entrants, given that the veteran team just lost a title match and are unlikely to make the final.  I expect them to fade as the tournament goes on, but they are likely to play spoiler for some teams who are hoping to make the final.  Their match against Ishimori and Eagles, which opened the tournament on the 16th, was particularly good and there’s something to be said for two veterans who can still turn it on for matches like Liger and Tiger Mask.

The bottom half of the block contains a couple of surprise names, particularly the tag team champions Kanemaru and Desperado.  Whilst I didn’t expect them to make the final, their loss to Taguchi and ACH was particularly surprising.  I would expect them to pick up some more wins to keep it competitive as the tournament goes on, particularly targeting the Liger and Tiger match and the CMLL match as winnable.  Time Machine have also struggled somewhat in the early going, which is perhaps understandable as KUSHIDA and Sabin have never tagged before.  Rather, they were brought together by their mutual tag team partner Alex Shelley, and have impressed even in defeat.  They were cheated out of their win against Kanemaru and Desperado, and with their victory over Team CMLL I expect them to go on a winning run.  KSUHIDA just won the Junior Heavyweight Title, so I doubt that he’ll get a Tag Title shot, but at the same time I don’t see them losing all of their matches.  I had mixed feelings about Chris Sabin during Best of the Super Juniors, but he’s definitely impressed during this tournament, and I’m looking forward to seeing more matches from Time Machine.  KUSHIDA is such a phenomenal wrestler – I know some people were upset that he won the title recently, but anytime we get to see him work more I’m happy.

Super 69 have been perhaps my favourite team of the tournament so far.  ACH is a fantastic wrestler, and someone that New Japan should be looking to bring in more often that just for the junior tournaments.  If he doesn’t get a Junior Title shot at a US show next year at the very least it will be criminal.  His offence looks great, he’s incredibly agile as well as able to hit power moves, and his selling is top level.  It felt like he spent most of Best of the Super Juniors selling recurring injuries, and his commitment has been no less impressive this time around.  Taguchi always brings a lot of comedy, but he can work too, and he partners really well with ACH who has his own comedic chops.  They’ve only picked up one win so far, but it was against the tag team champions.  I don’t expect them to get too many points in this tournament, but I’ll be supporting them in all of their matches.  Rounding out the block is the CMLL team of Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr.  Volador is a New Japan regular, but Soberano is making his debut, and he’s looked a bit shaky at times.  There have been suggestions that Dragon Lee was supposed to be in the tournament but wasn’t available due to other commitments.  I have to admit that I’m not very familiar with CMLL, but I’ve enjoyed seeing this team work from a purely athletic standpoint.  They’re most likely in the tournament to take pins, but with matches coming up against Roppongi 3K, Ishimori and Eagles, and LIJ they have the potential to play spoiler for at least one team hoping to make it to the final.

The first two nights of the tournament were held at Korakuen Hall and the entire card was broadcast on NJPW World, along with full commentary.  The two main storylines that they’re building up are Hiroshi Tanahashi’s journey towards challenging Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom, and the feud between CHAOS and the new Bullet Club.  Most of the members of The Elite aren’t on the tour, so Tanahashi continued his build towards January in six-man tag matches against Kota Ibushi.  Jay White and the new Bullet Club faced Kazuchika Okada and CHAOS, seemingly building up to a Wrestle Kingdom match between the two.  Although ‘Road To’ shows are pretty repetitive, these were fun and easy to watch.  It was also striking that there was an absence of members of The Elite, who have recently been rumoured to be unhappy with the direction of New Japan.  This could be a foreshadowing of developments in January, when the contracts of a lot of the top Elite talent are up.  Clearly New Japan are moving pieces into place in case of a loss of talent – Jay White for example has been built up as a new foreign heel.  Frankly, I’m quite happy to have a break from the interminable Elite storylines, which have felt like they’ve come to dominate New Japan recently, particularly with the Kenny-Ibushi-Cody triple threat at King of Pro Wrestling.  Whisper it, but the Road to Power Struggle cards might even have been better for the absence of The Elite.

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