The Mercy Killing Of The IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Division
By Ross Berman
When The Young Bucks announced that they were becoming members of the Heavyweight Tag Division of New Japan, they removed the pillars of a once-great Jr. Tag Division. The 7-Time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions were a focal point of the division, and it was right of them to move onto to fresher pastures. They have grown into the kind of tag team that truly can mix it up with the best and even the biggest. As they left it, the Jr. Tag Division is less likely to similarly stand on it’s own without the Jacksons.
Currently, the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship has been flung between three teams since The Bucks’ departure from the division. Roppongi 3K, Suzuki-gun & Los Ingobernables de Japon are seemingly the entire division. While these three are amazing teams, after only 4 months they’ve already exhausted all of their matchups.
On the upcoming Road To Wrestling Dontaku tour, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi will be facing Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado, while Roppongi 3K will be mainly fighting with TAKA Michinoku, Takashi Iizuka & Taichi in 6-man tag matches all month. With no Jr. Heavyweights teaming up currently, it looks like these three teams will be feuding over the tag belts until the Super Jr. Tag Tournament, and possibly beyond.
While The Young Bucks aren’t the only team to leave the division. The end of last year saw perennial Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Beretta join the Heavyweight division, leaving Roppongi Vice partner Rocky Romero to “direct” Roppongi 3K. Like the Bucks, Roppongi Vice was a staple of the Jr. Tag Division, but mainly through Rocky Romero. Romero’s mentoring of Sho & Yoh has made Beretta’s graduation from the division less of a blow.
While the Jr. Tag belts have yet to reach the dearth of respect as the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Championship, they are already suffering from being treated like a hot potato. Unless New Japan finds another Jr. Tag Team or two to fill out the division, it could be a long 2018 for fans of the lighter, faster division.
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