On July 25th at Dominion Suzuki-Gun members, Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr/Taichi) defeated Golden Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kota Ibushi) for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, beginning their first reign with the title.
At Summer Struggle in Jingu on August 29th, Dangerous Tekkers make their V1 defense against Golden Ace in an effort to break the streak of three consecutive 0 defense title reigns.
Tanahashi pinning Taichi during the opening round of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Championship Tournament on August 7th while teaming with Ibushi and Master Wato against Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru gave Golden Ace the right to challenge for the title.
Ever since that point, Ibushi has shown glimpses of his ‘dark’ side that has appeared during moments of rage over the past year-plus, however, now it has led him to doubt Tanahashi who at once revered as a ‘Wrestling God.’
His post-match actions and comments led many to believe Ibushi may turn on Tanahashi and possibly join Suzuki-Gun in the process. Yet on August 9th, when allowed the opportunity by Dangerous Tekkers to strike Tanahashi — Ibushi chose to instead come to his aid.
While Golden Ace remains together for now, questions remain regarding how focused Ibushi is on the team going into their August 29th title opportunity.
If Ibushi has his thoughts about him, Golden Ace will be the favorites to recapture the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, however, if he has doubts about his career direction — Dangerous Tekkers will once again pick Golden Ace apart.
Dangerous Tekkers are a fully functional unit that has grown as a tag team over the past several years after positive results during the World Tag League Tournament. While both Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr both continue to chase singles glory, neither are distracted from the goals as a tag team.
