12 Biggest Stories From New Japan's Power Struggle And What They Mean Going Forward

11. Three Teams Tie For Spot In Tournament Final

Chris Jericho EVIL Power Struggle
njpw1972.com

En route to Saturday’s event, New Japan held twelve Road to Power Struggle events throughout Japan. The main highlight of the tour was the Super Jr. Tag League, a block-style tournament consisting of the company’s top junior heavyweight tag teams such as the legendary Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask IV, a Bullet Club OGs duo, a Los Ingobernables de Japan contingent, members of Mexico’s CMLL, Roppongi 3K, and the reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Champions, among others.

By the end of the twelfth day, three teams had been able to garner ten points in the tournament resulting in a three-way tie for first place. With the final contest of the Tag League set for Power Struggle, it was decided that a three-way match would take place during the event - featuring Roppongi 3K, the LIJ duo of BUSHI & Shingo Takagi, and the reigning champions El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

Interestingly, while the Suzuki-gun team are the current holders of the IWGP titles, Roppongi 3K were the champions at the time of last year’s Super Junior tournament, which they won. If Sho and Yoh could repeat their performance on Saturday, it would likely secure them an opportunity to regain the belts.

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Douglas Scarpa is a freelance writer, independent filmmaker, art school graduate, and pro wrestling aficionado -- all of which mean he is in financial ruin. He has no backup plan to speak of, yet maintains his abnormally high spirits. If he had only listened to the scorn of his childhood teachers, he wouldn't be in this situation.