AJPW Real World Tag League Comes Down To The Wire As Numerous Teams Remain In Contention To Advance To Championship Match

By: Lewis Carlan

The All Japan Pro-Wrestling Real Tag League continued on Dec. 6th at Osaka Edion Arena #2 with nearly 1,000 fans on hand for the event. At the conclusion of the evening, the situation in the tournament became very interesting as numerous teams remained in contention to win their respective block and advance to the final match on Dec. 10th at Korakuen Hall.

Tbe main event saw Go Shiozaki & Shotaro Ashino take their undefeated tournament record and put it up against Hideki Suzuki & Kengo Mashimo in a Block A match-up. Suzuki & Mashimo desperately needed a victory to remain in contention to reach the finals but that was not going to be an easy task against the HAVOC duo.

After a thrilling bout, it was a Suzuki double arm suplex on Ashino that secured a victory and kept Suzuki & Mashimo alive to hopefully represent Block A in the finals of the tag league. With the win, there is now a three way tie for first place in Block A as Suzuki & Mashimo, Shiozaki & Ashino and Ren Ayabe & Jack Talos are all tied with six points a piece.

On Dec. 7th, the final night of block action, Ren Ayabe & Talos will face Go Shiozaki & Shotaro Ashino in a massive match. Hideki Suzuki & Kengo Mashimo are set to face MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka. A win for Ayabe & Talos victory will catapult them into the finals on Dec 10th as they hold a tournament win over Suzuki & Mashimo.

If Suzuki & Mashimo and Shiozaki & Ashino win their final block matches then Suzuki & Mashimo will move on to the championship match.

Image Credit: AJPW

The B Block could very well have a situation which could make it a bit confusing as to who will advance to the finals.

Ryuki Honda & Naoya Nomura defeated Takashi & Kuroshio TOKYO Japan to earn their sixth point to place them into second place in Block B. They will now head into the Dec. 7th event against Xyon & Oddyssey who lead the B Block with 8 points. Honda & Nomura must win to remain alive as a victory will give them 8 points. This would create a three way first place tie in the B Block and this is where the confusion begins.

Should Honda & Nomura win against Xyon & Oddyssey, they would then be tied with Kento Miyahara & Davey Boy Smith Jr., all with 8 points each. In the tournament, Miyahara & Smith Jr. holds a win over Honda & Nomura but Xyon & Oddyssey were victorious over Miyahara & Smith which makes it unclear who will move on to be the Block B representative in the finals should this occur.

Of course, if Xyon & Oddyssey win on Dec. 7th against Honda & Nomura then they would advance as they would win the B Block with 10 points.

Image Credit: AJPW

Here are the full results for the AJPW Real World Tag League For Dec. 6th:

• Yuma Anzai, Ren Ayabe, Talos & Shouta Kofuji defeated Hokuto Omori, Kuma Arashi, Ryo Inoue & Seigo Tachibana
• Real World Tag League – Block B: Ryuki Honda & Naoya Nomura defeated Takashi & Kuroshio TOKYO Japan
• Real World Tag League – Block A: Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato defeated MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka
• Xyon & Oddyssey defeated Jun Saito & “Mr. Saito” Naruki Doi
• Real World Tag League – Block B: Kento Miyahara & Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO
• Real World Tag League – Block A: Hideki Suzuki & Kengo Mashimo defeated Go Shiozaki & Shotaro Ashino

Here are the updated block standings for the AJPW Real World Tag League:

BLOCK A

• Hideki Suzuki & Kengo Mashimo [6]
• Go Shiozaki & Shotaro Ashino [6]
• Ren Ayabe & Talos [6]
• Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi [2]
• MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka [2]
• Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato [2]

BLOCK B

• Xyon & Oddyssey [8]
• Kento Miyahara & Davey Boy Smith Jr. [8]
• Ryuki Honda & Naoya Nomura [6]
• Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO [4]
• Takashi & Kuroshio TOKYO Japan [2]
• Yuma Aoyagi & Yuma Anzai [0] *