Final Standings:<\/p>\n
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi and BUSHI) \u2013 10 pts.<\/p>\n
Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) \u2013 10 pts.<\/p>\n
Roppongi 3K (SHO and YOH) \u2013 10 pts.<\/p>\n
Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori and Robbie Eagles) \u2013 6 pts.<\/p>\n
Super 69 (Ryusuke Taguchi and ACH) \u2013 6 pts.<\/p>\n
Time Machine (KUSHIDA and Chris Sabin) \u2013 6 pts.<\/p>\n
Jyushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask \u2013 4 pts.<\/p>\n
Team CMLL (Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr.) \u2013 4 pts.<\/p>\n
When the dust settled, three teams emerged as finalists from the Super Junior Tag Team Tournament this year \u2013 Los Ingobernables de Japon, Suzuki-gun, and Roppongi 3K all tied on 10 points.\u00a0 A final day victory for Roppongi 3K over the team of KUSHIDA and Chris Sabin brought them level with LIJ and Suzuki-gun and now means that we are looking at a triple threat match at Power Struggle for the final of the tournament and the chance to challenge for the Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles at Wrestle Kingdom.\u00a0 Which somewhat defeats the purpose of having the Tag League, but Gedo clearly loves triple threat tag matches, so here we are again.\u00a0 My pick is still LIJ, although Roppongi 3K could come full-circle and win the tournament again to go to Wrestle Kingdom as the challengers.\u00a0 The situation is also complicated by the fact that Suzuki-gun beat LIJ in the tournament, but lost to Roppongi 3K, who in turn lost to LIJ.\u00a0 As long as the match at Wrestle Kingdom isn’t a triple threat I’ll be happy.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s tournament was invigorated by both LIJ and Roppongi 3K, who have really had the opportunity to show off their ability in the tag team format.\u00a0 Shingo has proved to be a good addition to the LIJ fold, and BUSHI has looked more motivated lately, along with the fact that the tag team format hides his more obvious deficiencies.\u00a0 SHO and YOH are both great singles wrestlers, but they too look very motivated to be back together as a team, and the match they had against Super 69 at Korakuen Hall was fantastic.\u00a0 Of the three teams in the final El Desperado and Kanemaru are my least favourite \u2013 they are a good foil for a babyface team but I find their matches to be underwhelming when they aren\u2019t up against a really good opponent.\u00a0 Nonetheless, the Suzuki-gun vs. LIJ match at Korakuen Hall on October 27th<\/sup> was excellent, and the ending of Desperado unmasking BUSHI before pinning him was a powerful image considering that Hiromu unmasked Desperado in their Best of the Super Juniors match earlier this year.<\/p>\n Of the teams that didn\u2019t make it into the final this year, Super 69 has been a standout in the tournament, particularly ACH.\u00a0 I raved about the performance of ACH in the first tag league review that I wrote, and both he and Taguchi continued to deliver strong performances until the end.\u00a0 Their match against Roppongi 3K at the October 26th<\/sup> show at Korakuen Hall was excellent, and I really expected that they would lose given their overall tournament trajectory.\u00a0 I was genuinely surprised when Taguchi finally hit a Korakuen Suplex Hold to pin YOH, but happy for both members of Super 69 who got their big show victory before finishing in the middle of the pack.\u00a0 The Korakuen crowd was really behind ACH when he hit a tope con giro<\/em> to SHO and YOH on the outside, adding more fuel to my belief that he needs to be given more of a chance by New Japan, either in next year\u2019s Best of the Super Juniors or at a US show.<\/p>\n HUGE tope con giro from @GoGoACH<\/a>!! #NJPW<\/a> #njpst<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/4ULitIni5Z<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/hRqzjCK0Ok<\/a><\/p>\n — LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) October 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n