One team has been mathematically eliminated from this year’s NJPW Super Jr. Tag League following night 3 from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan on Monday evening.
The tournament’s first elimination emerged in the opening block match of the night, where AEW’s The Swirl took down Daiki Nagai and Titan. In a match that saw Nagai get split open in the closing minutes, Blake Christian and Lee Johnson took out CMLL luchador Titan at ringside before giving Nagai their Brainrot double-team finisher for the pinfall.
Despite getting close to victory many times, Titan and Nagai have gone winless through three matches. With just two more matches remaining in their Round Robin run in the tournament, there’s no way they can qualify for the tour’s grand finals.
The main event of the night saw Mistico and Young Lion Masatora Yasuda stay alive in their Jr. Tag League tournament bid, taking down Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori. After nearly getting put away by Robbie X, Mistico was able to lock in his La Mistica submission for the sudden tap-out. The duo of Mistico and Yasuda, which was made on short notice following El Desperado’s departure from the tournament due to injury, had been winless up until today.
KUSHIDA and Nick Wayne picked up their second victory of the tournament on Monday, scoring a competitive win over Kuukai and Master Wato. The closing sequence of the match saw veteran KUSHIDA score his Back to the Future suplex on Kuukai for the three-count. With just one win to their name, Kuukai and Wato are on the bubble for potential elimination by tomorrow’s show.
An undefeated record fell early on Monday night, as the duo of Hyo and YOH took down Francesco Akira and Jakob Austin Young. After inadvertently wiping out Akira with a strike (making it two matches in a row where the embattled United Empire teammates have accidentally come to blows), Austin was rolled up for the pinfall result.
Another flawless record was brought to an end when SHO and Dick Togo took down Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles on Monday night. Utilizing a stuffed animal they stole from Hyo in an earlier match on the tour, the House of Torture team loaded up the plushie and struck Eagles in the head with it for a shady pinfall win. The result spared Togo and SHO from elimination, as they had entered Monday winless.
23-year-old Kazuma Sumi was close to scoring a big win on Monday alongside tag partner Ryusuke Taguchi, facing House of Torture’s DOUKI and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. But his momentum was stopped by a whiskey mist to the face from Kanemaru, allowing DOUKI to score a bridged German Suplex for the pinfall win.
Here’s a look at the updated blocks for the junior tag league. Tomorrow’s show will focus on A Block action from Ibaraki.
A Block
- Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori (4)
- DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemar (4)
- KUSHIDA & Nick Wayne (4)
- Masatora Yasuda & Mistico (2)
- Kazuma Sumi & Ryusuke Taguchi (2)
- Kuukai & Master Wato (2)
B Block
- Hyo & YOH (4)
- Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young (4)
- Blake Christian & Lee Johnson (4)
- Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles (4)
- Dick Togo & SHO (2)
- Titan & Daiki Nagai (0)
