More Super Jr. Tag League action takes place tonight at Korakuen Hall.
In tonight’s main event, ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi (2 points) will take on the team of SHO and YOH, Roppongi 3K (6 points). The latter team has far more experience than Taguchi Japan, but ACH and Taguchi need the points. It all may boil down to just who wants it more.
Other tournament matches scheduled for tonight include Shingo Takagi and BUSHI (6) taking on Robbie Eagles and Taiji Ishimori (4) in the co-main event, Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr. (2) taking on El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (4) and Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask (4) vs. Chris Sabin and KUSHIDA (4).
The other half of the card, as per usual on this tour, will consist of a bunch of tag matches. The highlight will be a 5 on 5 bout pitting members of CHAOS (headed by Kazuchika Okada) against members of the Bullet Club (headed by Jay White)
Join us for live coverage starting at 5:30 a.m. EDT. There will be English commentary, with newcomers Mavs Gillis and Lanny Poffo calling the action.
**********
Yota Tsuji, Shota Umino and Toa Henare defeated Yuya Uemura, Ren Naria and Ayato Yoshida
This was a good opener, but not much of note — your standard opener. Everyone got a chance to come in and look good. The new announcer, Mavs Gillis, seems fine and has done his homework. Poffo was pretty quiet. Umino eventually submitted Uemura with a Boston crab.
Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano defeated Minoru Suzuki and Taka Michinoku
Ishii and Suzuki started wailing each other with stiff forearm shots to start things off. They even went into the crowd, using a chair. Yano came in and undid the turnbuckles. Suzuki tagged out to Michinoku who accidently ran into the turnbuckle after a charge. Yano rolled him up and grabbed the tights for the win. This was fun.
Suzuki and Ishii continued to beat each other silly after the match.Officials tries to separate them, but there was no point. Suzukii threatened Ishii with a table. Eventually they continued slapping each other as they went to the back.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma defeated Kota Ibushi, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi
This was pretty heated when Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi, who were clearly the stars of the match, worked against one another. Tanahashi got the better of the exchange, with Ibushi tagging in Owens. Tanahashi let Honma hit the kokeshi as he went to the top rope and pinned Owens with the high fly flow. Another good match.
Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Gedo defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Beretta, Chuckie T and Rocky Romero
Chuckie T took everyone out with a big dive. GoD cut off Beretta from everyone and let the rest of Bullet Club work him over. Gedo comes in and works over Beretta but he finds a way to break free and tag in Okada, who starts running roughshod. Gedo quickly bails as the rest of GoD work him over.
White comes in and attacks Okada while he had Gedo in his clutches. Turns into a big battle where both Goto and Romero came in. Crowd got very hot for this match. White had Romero on his shoulders. Romero tried to counter with an armdrag, but White held him and hit the Bladerunner for the win.
Click Here: West Coast Eagles Guernsey
Okada kicked White and sent him to the outside after the match. They exchanged some words with one another.
Super Jr. Tag League: KUSHIDA and Chris Sabin defeated Tiger Mask and Jushin Thunder Liger
Liger and Tiger Mask honed in on KUSHIDA early, working on his back. He hit a backspring elbow and tagged in Sabin, who hit a missile dropkick on Liger. KUSHIDA came back in, but was taken out by a Liger shotei.
Tiger Mask went for a tiger bomb off the top rope, but Sabin got involved. Tiger Mask dispatched him as Tiger Mask hit the tiger bomb on KUSHIDA but he kicked out. Tiger Mask followed with the tombstone. Sabin came back in and helped even things out, doing tandem work similar to the Timesplitters. They hit their finish called the Outta Time (neckbreaker/moonsault combo) on Tiger Mask for the win. Solid, but nothing special.
Super Jr. Tag League: El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr.
Desperado took Volador around the ring early, brawling with him. They wind up in the stands. Kanemaru has Soberano, and both heels why to whip their opponents into each other. Instead, Soberano and Volador whip Desperado and Kanemaru into one another, then launch off with giant dives off the top of the entranceways. That was a really cool spot.
Soberano and Kanemaru work in the ring against one another but Desperado grabs Soberano off the apron as he’s thrown into the nearby chairs. Desperado puts Soberano on the top rope and tries to take off his mask, but to no avail. Kanemaru and Volador are then in and exchange some back and forth. Both luchadors launch huge dives, wiping out Kanemaru and Desperado on the outside.
Soberano hit his tornillo, then went for something but got shoved in Kanemaru’s direction. Kanemaru sprayed whiskey in Soberano’s face as Desperado crucifixed him and scored the win. Pretty good match until the very weak finish.
Super Jr. Tag Tournament: Shingo Takagi and BUSHI defeated Taiji Ishimori and Robbie Eagles
Things started off with some back and forth. Eagles started working on BUSHI’s leg. BUSHI hit a double hurricanrana and tagged in Takagi, who took on Ishimori. They went at it for a bit before Ishimori started to grind him down with a crossface.
Eagles and BUSHI are back in as BUSHI connects with a big missile dropkick. Eagles countered back with a springboard sliced bread. He hit a 450 splash on BUSHI’s bum leg and went for a submission but Takagi managed to break it up. BUSHI hit a Canadian destroyer and the MX, but Eagles kicked out of both.
Ishimori and Takagi came in as Takagi took him out with the pumping bomber. With Takagi holding him up, BUSHI hit a second MX for the win. Another good match; the legwork Robbie Eagles did with BUSHI’s leg was well done and the action was consistently good.
Super Junior Tag League: ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Roppongi 3K
ACH and SHO started things off. ACH went for a fist bump after an exchange, but SHO refused. Taguchi and YOH did the same thing, but Taguchi instead went for a double fist bump. YOH faked him out but Taguchi got control anyway and started working him over.
ACH tried for some sort of hip toss attack on the top rope, but YOH responded by putting two of his fingers…well…where the sun doesn’t shine. Same thing for Taguchi, who’s the legal man. SHO is tagged in as RP3K focus on Taguchi.
Taguchi hits a hip attack as he tags in ACH, who runs with, including a spectacular tope con hilo that wipes out RP3K on the outside. Taguchi is eventually tagged back in, who works over YOH. He channels Nakamura as he goes for a running hip attack but YOH counters with a roll-up. RP3K try for the 3K, but Taguchi dodges.
SHO tries to deliver multiple German suplexes on ACH but is blocked after a third. Tauchi and YOH exchange some very good pinfall attempts. ACH and Taguchi hit a tandem move but SHO breaks it up. They then try for an assisted facebuster, but once again SHO breaks it up.
ACH takes out SHO with a dive as YOH kicks out of a running hip attack. Taguchi then debuts a new finish, a half nelson suplex with a bridge, for the win. This was a great match, with the last few minutes being especially fun. Definitely the best match the show.
Taguchi and ACH cut a promo at the end of the show, mostly doing humor. They promised to win the tournament.
Current standings:
Shingo Takagi and BUSHI: 8
SHO and YOH: 6
El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru: 6
Chris Sabin and KUSHIDA: 6
ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi: 4
Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask: 4
Robbie Eagles and Taiji Ishimori: 4
Volador Jr. and Soberano Jr.: 2