By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the ten teams that will be “World Tag League,” a round-robin tournament. They also announced the ten teams that will be in the “Super Junior Tag League.” These two tournaments will rotate nights, so the two tournaments will take place over 17 shows between November 17 and the finals on December 14. The Juniors kick off November 17 and the heavyweights kick off Nov. 18, with both shows in Korakuen Hall, and they rotate each night until the conclusion.
The ten teams involved in World Tag League
* Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toru Yano
* Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hoshi
* Alex Coughlin and Gabriel Kidd
* Tetsuya Naito and Sanada
* Great-O-Khan and Aaron Henare
* Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher
* Mikey Nichols and Shane Haste
* Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer
* Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens
* EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
The ten teams in Super Junior Tag League
* Ryusuke Taguchi and Clark Connors
* Kushida and Kevin Knight
* Tiger Mask and Robbie Eagles
* Yoh and Lio Rush
* Alex Zayne and Lindaman
* Bushi and Titan
* TJP and Francesco Akira
* Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Douki
* Ace Austin and Chris Bey
* Sho and Dick Togo
Vetter’s Take: The notables here include Lance Archer returning to team with Minoru Suzuki, while in the juniors, Lio Rush is headed to Japan to team with Yoh. Also in good news, Kushida returns to action after being out with foot-and-mouth disease for the past month. Notably absent is Jeff Cobb, as Great-O-Khan will instead team with Aaron Henare. That means the United Empire will have two teams in the heavyweight field, as “Aussie Open” Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis have to be seen as the favorites. “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, are not in the tournament, but that was anticipated.
Notable Americans heading to the juniors tournament with Lio Rush include a team of Ace Austin and Chris Bey, plus TJP and Alex Zayne,who both just left Japan after being part of the “Battle Autumn” tour. The winners of each tournament will get a tag title shot, presumably at Wrestle Kingdom on January 4. Being as TJP and Akira are the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions, I fully expect them to not win this tournament. Also, being as they just defeated Bushi and Titan to retain the titles, I don’t think they’ll win either. While I’m not predicting either of these two teams win, I am most intrigued to see the teams of Bey and Austin, and Zayne and Lindaman.
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