NJPW Announces Tournament To Crown New Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions
Due to an injury...
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles have been vacated, and will go to the winner of a four team round robin that culminates in less than two weeks time.
One half of the most recent champions, SHO, appeared at a press conference Monday and officially vacated the belts on behalf of he and YOH, who is sidelined long term with a knee injury. According to SHO, his partner is unlikely to return before the end of 2020.
The round robin tournament to crown new champions kicks off on September 3, and the two highest-scoring teams face off in the finals on September 11. The scheduled teams include:
*Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato
*Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI
*El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
*Taiji Ishimori and Gedo
Ishimori just defeated Takahashi to become the singular Junior Heavyweight champion this past Saturday at Summer Struggle, ending Takahashi's 238 day reign.
In their fourth reign together, SHO and YOH held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles for 239 days, after defeating Ishimori and El Phantasmo at Wrestle Kingdom 14. They made two successful defenses before abdicating.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.
