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With the final that took place today at Tanahashi Final Homecoming, we have come to the end of the 2025 edition of the Super Junior Tag League. For a full recap of that event, you can check out Mauricio Pomares†excellent recap. My goal today is to take you through the Super Junior Tag League itself.
Usually this is one of my favourite tournaments of the year, producing a lot of exciting action and some sleeper contenders for match of the year. A combination of injuries, missing names, and some bewildering pairings conspired to make this yearâ€s edition look worrying on paper. Each block had one seemingly clear winner and one possible contender, then filler. Multiple pairings were teaming up for the first time, along with two teams with semi-active managers and one with a young lion. It was hardly a lineup that inspired confidence and built anticipation, but I have been pleasantly surprised before.
A Block
Douki & Sho (10 points)
The defending champions have done what House of Torture guys do…cheat. Every win was earned with a shot from Shoâ€s “Black Mirror†and a rollup. That said, they did a good job of making you believe they might lose, even against Daiki Nagai. The match against Master Wato and Yoh on the last night was always going to be a de facto semifinal, but it was a carbon copy of every other match they had in the tournament: look like they were about to lose, then pull it out thanks to the weapon shot. I want to say it was frustrating, but I think I am just numb to it now. This is what House of Torture does, and at least they did it without interference and ludicrous referee spots.
Jacob Austin Young & Templario (4 points)
Templario is one-half of the NJPW Strong Tag Team champions along with TJP, but he did not come out with the belt and it was mentioned only a handful of times on commentary. This was Jacob Austin Youngâ€s tournament debut for NJPW, despite having been around for a while now. He could arguably feel like he was snubbed for Best of the Super Juniors this year. With the continued absence of TJP and Francesco Akiraâ€s injury, he had a chance to show that he deserved more exposure. I canâ€t say he took the bull by both horns, but he certainly didnâ€t embarrass himself. They only won twice, against Gedo & Hiromu Takahashi and then against Clark Connors & Daiki Nagai. With that first win against Gedo & Hiromu, Young celebrated like he had just won the G1 and BOSJ at the same time. He also ate a lot of pins, including a slightly worrying one against Rysusuke Taguchi and Dragon Dia which sent a message about where the promotion views his standing right now. Templario opened a lot of eyes over the course of the tournament, including mine, but there is no way that man should be wrestling as a junior heavyweight.
Clark Connors & Daiki Nagai (0 points)
Poor Connors got stuck with a Young Lion, and as such was doomed to this sort of performance. Nagai showed a lot of promise but ultimately, heâ€s still in black tights. They tried to tell a story of Connors making Nagai violent with a view to bringing him into the War Dogs, but surely that story would have been better told in preview tags. It all stemmed from the still-bewildering handshakes between War Dogs and The Unaffiliated, and this pairing did nothing to lessen the confusion. To be fair, Nagai showed a lot of spirit and reinforced how good he is going to be. Connors played the mentor role well, but still the whole thing felt like it didnâ€t belong in a tournament that is supposed to be prestigious.
Hiromu Takahashi & Gedo (2 points)
I didnâ€t get this pairing when it was announced, especially with Nagai and Connors also teaming up. The natural pairings would have put Nagai with Hiromu. It turns out that these two were the comedy relief. Well, one of the comedy relief teams. More on that later. Hiromu has pretty much done it all in the junior heavyweight ranks, but he has never won SJTL. I would have liked to see him put in an effort, but he looked to be having an absolute blast playing the fool with Gedo. He often used Gedo as a weapon, Irish-whipping him into their opponents. They used a lot of diversion tactics to do things like loosen corner pads, and more than once Hiromu talked Gedo into going for a top-rope splash. It was fun, but we already had Ryusuke Taguchi and Yoh in this block. A third comedy-oriented team was too much.
Dragon Dia & Ryusuke Taguchi (6 points)
Taguchi seems to be dedicated to pushing his butt-based offence as far as it can go without breaking laws. I am not convinced he managed to avoid the latter in this case. Itâ€s worth watching one of their matches (I recommend the match against Wato & Yoh) just for a taste of the ridiculousness. To be fair, Taguchi had moments where he turned on beast mode and really made a good showing. Dragon Dia had in the past been a victim of NJPWâ€s allergy to giving outsiders any sort of run, but it is fair to say that this was a good tournament for him. He managed to play the straight man very well while also impressing in the ring. He still looks too young to be out at night without a parent, but at least he can wrestle. Their only losses were to the top two teams, which might have been a slight surprise coming in.
Yoh & Master Wato (8 points)
Iâ€ve made it very clear that I am a big fan of this pairing. Master Watoâ€s problem has never been ability and athleticism. Itâ€s always been the connection with the fans, the personality. Yoh had the same issue for years but seemingly found it with this new absurdist character that is part exotico, part Toru Yano, and part LIJ-era Sanada. Wato has benefitted from that and has almost gained some personality by osmosis. They were always likely to be first or second in the group, but winning the group would have meant a win over the champions which in turn would have lined them up for a title shot. I donâ€t feel like we learned anything new about the team or their place in the pecking order, but they needed to be in the running to give the block any sort of credibility.
B Block
Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori (8 points)
I could not get into Robbie X the first time he showed up in NJPW. Heâ€s extremely flashy but he needed more substance. Heâ€s shown a lot more interest in selling and telling stories in this tournament, but still heâ€s not my cup of tea. The team had an early scare with Ishimori getting a fever leading to them having to forfeit their second match, but still they won the group on what would have to be considered an upset. Itâ€s hard to call them an established team, but they have at least been through the tournament once before.
Dick Togo & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (2 points)
If thereâ€s one thing nobody asked for, it was a second House of Torture team in the tournament. When you look at the combined age of the team members, and Togoâ€s status, their inclusion becomes even more of a head-scratcher. To give the man his due, Togo did not wrestle like someone with 40 years of in-ring experience. He was energetic, smooth, and kept up with the youngsters. It wasnâ€t enough, though, to prevent the feeling that this team was just making up the numbers. Their one win, against El Desperado and Kuukai, was easily the biggest upset of a tournament that was largely paint-by-numbers throughout.
Kushida & Yuki Yoshioka (6 points)
I was disappointed that Kevin Knight was not part of this tournament with Kushida, but it does make me think that we might see JetSpeed in World Tag League next month. “Replacing†Knight with Yuki Yoshioka, who apparently had never even met Kushida before the tournament, felt a little out of left field for many. Tanahashi had “gifted†the High Fly Flow to Yoshioka during a visit to Dragon Gate, and one of the stories of their run through the tournament was him trying to hit the move. It would take until the fourth round to actually do so. The team was in the running on the last night, losing to El Desperado and Kuukai to prevent a three-way-tie at the top. They were also the beneficiaries of Ishimoriâ€s fever and subsequent forfeit, which was a shame because it meant one less chance to see what Yoshioka could do. He hits very hard, seems to have a healthy dose of talent, but there was something small missing that I canâ€t quite nail down. One to watch though, for sure.
Tiger Mask & Yamato (2 points)
This might have been the weirdest pairing of all. Yamato is a veteran who was stablemates with Shingo Takagi and has appeared in the US for Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA. Tiger Mask is in his last Super Junior Tag League as he will retire in June. Yamato played up a heavy comedy role, and Tiger Mask just did not seem to want any of it. He occasionally played it straight but mostly just felt like he was wrestling alongside Yamato, not with him. It was pretty clear that they were only here to give two older guys a run. They werenâ€t even a synergistic unit. I did enjoy Yamatoâ€s antics, especially his spot where he says heâ€s going to show you how to do a suplex…and then not actually hit a suplex. They picked up their one win on the last night against Togo & Kanemaru, ironically enough when Yamato disappeared for a while and re-emerged as a darker version with eye makeup. Because of course he did.
Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita (8 points)
First thing I noticed in the tournament was that Eagles had grown a very weird mustache that I hoped would not last the tournament. It did. On the other hand, Fujita had a new coat that was much nicer than Eagles†moustache. These guys were the undoubted favourites to advance from this group, being the team with the most experience as a unit. and went into the final night undefeated. As we know now, they lost a banger of a match to fall at that hurdle. Despite being a well-established team, they did debut a new finisher. a tandem vertebreaker that looked really good but quite safe. With how long Eagles has been around, itâ€s hard to remember that heâ€s only in his mid-30s. They consistently delivered quality matches all tournament, and it was a real surprise that they did not advance from the group.
El Desperado & Kuukai (4 points)
I was surprised that this team had such a poor showing. Their only wins came against Yamato & Tiger Mask, and Kushida & Yuki Yoshioka. Coming off a title shot against Sho & Douki, I thought there was an outside chance that they would challenge Eagles & Fujita to win the group. Kuukai was a revelation, showing the ability to play comic or straight while also more than holding up his end of the in-ring bargain. That said, their loss to Kanemaru & Togo was the biggest upset of the whole tournament. For a former Junior Heavyweight champion to only win twice is unusual, even when paired with an outsider like Kuukai.
The Final, and Final Thoughts
Coming into the final, I was already extremely down on the tournament as a whole. My gripes ranged from the minor personal dislikes (so many mashup themes) to the fundamental (a lineup populated with filler teams thrown together without rhyme or reason). There was a lot of comedy, the vast majority of results were predictable, and there were really only four teams that could have (perhaps even should have) won. Fans seemed to agree, as attendance started poor and got worse as the tour went on. If I didnâ€t know better, I would have thought this was the swan song for the Super Junior Tag League as a whole.
Sadly the result of the final, with House of Torture once again prevailing in the same way they won all their group matches, just put a putrid cherry on top of an already-rancid sundae. For a moment it seemed like the story of the tournament would be War Dogs overcoming the cheating of HoT by beating them at their own game, but no such luck. To further rub salt in the wound, no team came out to challenge HoT, there were no surprises or debuts, it was just a damp squib of a result to end a damp squib of a tournament.
I donâ€t want to be a complete downer on this tournament. It had some good moments, and a few great matches that tried to cater to a variety of tastes. Here are some of my favourites:
- TMDK vs Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori, TMDK vs Kushida & Yoshioka – Two excellent matches in the classic sense, exciting action and believable near falls throughout
- Taguchi & Dia vs Wato & Yoh, Yamato & Tiger Mask vs Desperado & Kuukai – If comedy can be done well, these matches show the ways it can be done. They both approached it from different angles, but both were entertaining to me.
- Connors & Nagai vs Sho & Douki – An excellent example of how everyone in a match can work to make one person look good even in defeat.
Next up is the World Tag League, and with any luck it surpasses this one for quality and logic. With Knockout Brothers at the top of the division, I at least have some hope that there is a plan to revive a division that legitimately has no other established contenders. Thanks everyone for stopping by, and keep your eyes open for more NJPW coverage in the days to come!
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