Matt and Nick Jackson, the Young Bucks, are the current IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, they will not be appearing in the annual World Tag League. With a lineage dating back to 1981 as the MSG Tag League, the now round robin formatted tournament generally takes place from November to December spotlighting the best heavyweight tag teams in the company. This will be the first time in 9 years that the tag team champions have not participated in the tournament and the Bucks first chance to appear as they’d wrestled exclusively as junior heavyweights prior to this year’s tournament. It’s too early to tell if this is any indication about their future plans, though there is speculation they will be wrestling a much lighter NJPW schedule than before in order to secure a better work/life balance.
