On a press conference that took place today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced that the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships will be vacated. The current champions, Roppongi 3K (SHO and YOH) will be unable to defend them for the foreseeable future, due to an ACL injury that YOH sustained during the New Japan Cup recently.
To crown new champions, NJPW will hold a four-team round-robin tournament over the upcoming New Japan Road tour. Here are the four teams:
- Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato
- Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI)
- Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
- Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & Gedo)
As stated by NJPW, the rules are, “Two points will be awarded to winners, zero to losers with one point each in the event of a draw; after the final league match in Sendai on September 9, the top two point scoring teams will then face off in a championship match on September 11 in Korakuen Hall.” The schedule for tournament matches is as follows (all these events will be live on NJPW World):
September 5:
- El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
- Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
September 6:
- Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
- Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
September 9:
- Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
- Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
September 11:
- Final match to determine new champions involving the two teams with the most points
