We’re nearing the end of the year, and that means it’s time for tag team wrestling in NJPW to truly get it’s chance to shine. While tag matches are incredibly common in the promotion, World Tag League (formerly known as the G1 Tag League) is a long standing tournament that generally sees everyone step up to end the year on a high note. We know the teams in the mix this year – with the winners facing reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions FTR at Wrestle Kingdom, with FTR sadly absent from the tournament due to their AEW & ROH commitments.
Ten Top Tag Teams To Battle For Chance To Face FTR In Tokyo Dome
This year will see ten teams in a single block of matches, with the typical Round Robin format. This means each team will wrestle nine matches, with a tenth as the finals for the teams who are able to get the most victories. Last years winners Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) came out with a 7-2 record, and are in the mix once again this year.
Both teams to defeat Bishamon during the 2021 tournament are back in, with Tetsuya Naito & SANADA representing Los Ingobernables De Japon, and EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi representing House of Torture in the 2022 tournament. Other returning teams include Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale, BeBop Tag Team (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano), and Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan.
Minoru Suzuki is teaming with Lance Archer this year, after going winless teaming with Taka Michinoku in 2021. From NJPW Strong we have Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis), TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls), and the team of Alex Coughlin & Gabriel Kidd.
Three Stand Out Teams As Potential Winners
This is a jam packed field, even with FTR remaining stateside until January 4th. A clear favorite to win is Aussie Open, with NJPW striking gold with their match against FTR in the UK. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA are another set of top contenders, with Naito still looking for his path to Wrestle Kingdom. Suzuki & Archer went 10-5 in the larger field that the tournament had in 2019, putting them as a team to not overlook as well.
This is the best the tournament has looked in years, with the only lacking team being Fale & Owens – but their run as IWGP Tag Team Champions earlier this year ensured they would be in the mix. Notable by their absence is Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr), with Sabre set to battle Ren Narita over the NJPW World Television Championship at Wrestle Kingdom – and Taichi not being chosen to tag with Suzuki.
Who will win the World Tag League 2022? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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