Saikyo Tag League

Saikyo Tag League
Nickname(s)	Saikyo Tag League (1999–2009, 2013–present); Big Japan Tag League (2011–2013);
Promotion(s)	Big Japan Pro Wrestling
First event	1999

Saikyo Tag League (サイキョータグリーグ, Saikyōtagurīgu, (English: Maximum Tag League) is a professional wrestling round-robin hardcore tag team tournament annually held by Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), considered a spin-off of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's World Tag League and All Japan Pro Wrestling's World's Strongest Tag Determination League. The tournament was established in 1999 as Saikyo Tag League and then renamed as Big Japan Tag League in 2011 before returning to its old name Saikyo Tag League in 2014.[1][2] A new format was introduced in 2014 in which the teams were divided into two blocks, "Strong Style Block" and "Deathmatch Block". The strong style block consists of normal tag team matches and deathmatch block consists of matches contested under deathmatch rules.[3]

The Saikyo Tag League is held under a points system, with 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. Top four teams advance to the semifinals in the knockout format and then the winning teams compete in the finals.

List of winners

Tournament	Year	Winners (total won as an individual)	Total won as a team	Reference
Saikyo Tag League	1999	Tomoaki Honma and Ryuji Yamakawa	1	[1]
Saikyo Tag League	2000	Tomoaki Honma and Ryuji Yamakawa	2	[4]
Saikyo Tag League	2001	Men's Teioh and Daisuke Sekimoto	1	[5]
Saikyo Tag League	2002	Men's Teioh and Daisuke Sekimoto	2	[6]
Saikyo Tag League	2003	Daikokubo Benkei and Abdullah Kobayashi	1	[7]
Saikyo Tag League	2009	Masashi Takeda and Isami Kodaka	1	[8]
Big Japan Tag League	2011	Daisuke Sekimoto (3) and Yuji Okabayashi	1	[2]
Big Japan Tag League	2012	Isami Kodaka (2) and Yuko Miyamoto	1	[9]
Big Japan Tag League	2013	Isami Kodaka (3) and Yuko Miyamoto (2)	2	[10]
Saikyo Tag League	2014	Isami Kodaka (4) and Yuko Miyamoto (3)	3	[3]
Saikyo Tag League	2015	Daisuke Sekimoto (4) and Yuji Okabayashi (2)	2	[11]
Saikyo Tag League	2016	Daisuke Sekimoto (5) and Yuji Okabayashi (3)	3	[12]
Saikyo Tag League	2017	Daichi Hashimoto and Hideyoshi Kamitani	1	[13]
Saikyo Tag League	2018	Ryota Hama and Yasufumi Nakanoue	1

Tournament history

1999

The 1999 Saikyo Tag League was the first edition of the tournament which featured four teams in one block. The tournament was held between October 27 and November 8, 1999.[1]

Final standings
Tomoaki Honma and Ryuji Yamakawa	6
Shadow WX and The Winger	4
KAMIKAZE and Shunme Matsuzaki	2
Mike Samples and Jun Kasai	0

2000

The 2000 Saikyo Tag League featured a new format as it had eight teams divided into two blocks with four teams in each block. The tournament was held between September 17 and October 30, 2000.

Final standings
Block A		Block B
Abdullah the Butcher and Shadow WX	6	Tomoaki Honma and Ryuji Yamakawa	6
Men's Teioh and Daisuke Sekimoto	4	Zandig and Jun Kasai	4
Daikokubo Benkei and Shunme Matsuzaki	2	Wifebeater and Justice Pain	2
Kamikaze and Abdullah Kobayashi	0	Mad Man Pondo and Mitch Page	0

Semifinals			Finals


A1	Abdullah the Butcher and Shadow WX	Pin

B2	Zandig and Jun Kasai	7:49
			B2	Zandig and Jun Kasai	Pin

			B1	Tomoaki Honma and Ryuji Yamakawa	8:54
B1	Tomoaki Honma and Ryuji Yamakawa	Pin

A2	Men's Teioh and Daisuke Sekimoto	16:55

2001

The 2001 Saikyo Tag League consisted of one block with five teams and was held between September 11 and September 23, 2001.

Final standings
Men's Teioh and Daisuke Sekimoto	6
Kamikaze and Hideki Hosaka	5
Abdullah Kobayashi and Daikokubo Benkei	5
Masato Tanaka and Shunme Matsuzaki	4
Fantastik and Ryuji Ito	0

2002

The 2002 Saikyo Tag League consisted of total ten teams and two blocks with five teams in each block. The tournament was held between October 8 and October 31, 2002.

Final standings
Block A		Block B
Men's Teioh and Daisuke Sekimoto	8	ODD and Homicide	6
Shadow WX and Winger	6	Ryuji Ito and Daisaku Shimoda	5
Ryuji Yamakawa and Great Kojika	4	Abdullah Kobayashi and Daikokubo Benkei	5
Kintaro Kanemura and Gosaku	2	Mafia and Monster Mack (Da Hit Squad)	4
Mad Man Pondo and 2 Tuff Tony	0	Bancho Matsuzaki and Jaki Numazawa	0

Semifinals			Finals


A1	Men's Teioh and Daisuke Sekimoto	Pin

B2	Ryuji Ito and Daisaku Shimoda	14:41
			A1	Men's Teioh and Daisuke Sekimoto	Pin

			B1	ODD and Homicide	13:57
A2	Shadow WX and Winger	Pin

B1	ODD and Homicide	13:10

2003

The 2003 Saikyo Tag League consisted of one block with five teams and was held between October 8 and November 8, 2003.

Final standings
Daikokubo Benkei and Abdullah Kobayashi	6
Daisuke Sekimoto and 2 Tuff Tony	6
Men's Teioh and Mr. Big Japan	4
Shadow WX and Mad Man Pondo	2
Katsumasa Inoue and Hiroyuki Kondo	2

	Semi-final



	Men's Teioh and Mr. Big Japan	Pin

	Daisuke Sekimoto and 2 Tuff Tony	18:28




	Final



	Men's Teioh and Mr. Big Japan	Pin

	Daikokubo Benkei and Abdullah Kobayashi	17:02

2009

The 2009 Saikyo Tag League was the sixth edition of the tournament which marked the return of the tournament after a six-year hiatus. It was held between February 13 and May 28, 2009.

Final standings
Block A		Block B
Mammoth Sasaki/Masato Tanaka and Daisuke Sekimoto	6	Masashi Takeda and Isami Kodaka	6
Ryuji Ito and Shuji Ishikawa	5	Yuko Miyamoto and Takashi Sasaki	6
Shadow WX and The Winger	4	Yoshihito Sasaki and Shinya Ishikawa	4
Abdullah Kobayashi and Masada	4	Jun Kasai and Jaki Numazawa	2
Atsushi Ohashi and Yuji Okabayashi	0	Katsumasa Inoue and Kankuro Hoshino	2

Semifinals			Finals


A1	Masato Tanaka and Daisuke Sekimoto	Pin

B2	Yuko Miyamoto and Takashi Sasaki	22:24
			B2	Yuko Miyamoto and Takashi Sasaki	Pin

			B1	Masashi Takeda and Isami Kodaka	5:35
A2	Ryuji Ito and Shuji Ishikawa	Pin

B1	Masashi Takeda and Isami Kodaka	17:10

Masato Tanaka was a replacement for the injured Mammoth Sasaki.

2011

The 2011 Big Japan Tag League was held between September 19 and November 22, 2011.

Final standings
Block A		Block B
Jun Kasai and Jaki Numazawa	8	Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei (The Brahman Brothers)	8
Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi	7	Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka	8
Abdullah Kobayashi and Masashi Takeda	6	Ryuji Ito and Masada	6
Tommy End and Michael Dante	6	Yoshihito Sasaki and Shinobu	6
Shadow WX and Kankuro Hoshino	2	Devon Moore and Rory Mondo	2
Shinya Ishikawa and Ryuichi Kawakami	1	Takashi Sasaki and Masato Inaba	0

Semifinals			Finals


B1	Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei	Pin

A2	Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi	13:27
			A2	Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi	Pin

			A1	Jun Kasai and Jaki Numazawa	17:48
A1	Jun Kasai and Jaki Numazawa	Pin

B2	Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka	14:13

2012

The 2012 Big Japan Tag League was held between September 25 and November 24, 2012.[14][15]

Final standings
Block A		Block B
Osamu Nishimura and Shinya Ishikawa	10	Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka	8
Yuji Okabayashi and Shinobu	6	Ryuji Ito and Takumi Tsukamoto	6
Tsutomu Oosugi and Hercules Senga (Speed of Sounds)	4	Takashi Sasaki and Jaki Numazawa	4
Daisuke Sekimoto and Yoshihito Sasaki	4	Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei (The Brahman Brothers)	4
Daichi Hashimoto and Kazuki Hashimoto	4	Shadow WX and Shuji Ishikawa	4
Jun Ogawauchi and Amigo Suzuki	2	Abdullah Kobayashi and Drake Younger	4

Semifinals			Finals


A1	Osamu Nishimura and Shinya Ishikawa	Sub

A2	Yuji Okabayashi and Shinobu	15:29
			A2	Yuji Okabayashi and Shinobu	Pin

			B1	Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka	20:38
B1	Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka	Pin

B2	Ryuji Ito and Takumi Tsukamoto	14:51

2013

The 2013 Saikyo Tag League was held between September 25 and November 22, 2013.[16][17]

Final standings
Block A		Block B
Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi	10	Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka	8
Masashi Takeda and Takumi Tsukamoto	8	Tsutomu Oosugi and Hercules Senga (Speed of Sounds)	6
Jun Kasai and Jaki Numazawa	6	Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei (The Brahman Brothers)	6
Kazuki Hashimoto and Yusaku Obata	4	Jake and Dave Christ (The Irish Airborne)	4
Ryuichi Kawakami and Axeman	2	Shinya Ishikawa and Madoka	4
Kankuro Hoshino and Masato Inaba	0	Ryuji Ito and Yoshihito Sasaki	2

Semifinals			Finals


A1	Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi	Pin

B2	Speed of Sounds	13:37
			B2	Speed of Sounds	Pin

			B1	Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka	15:22
B1	Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka	Pin

A2	Masashi Takeda and Takumi Tsukamoto	18:29

2014

The 2014 Saikyo Tag League featured twelve teams and two blocks with six tag teams in each block. The tournament featured a new format in which one block was named "Strong Style Block" which consisted of matches contested under strong style format and the other block was named "Deathmatch Block" in which matches were contested under deathmatch format. The tournament was held between September 20 and November 21, 2014.[18][19]

Final standings
Strong Style Block		Deathmatch Block
Koji Kanemoto and Kazuki Hashimoto	8	Ryuji Ito and Abdullah Kobayashi	8
Daisuke Sekimoto and Hideyoshi Kamitani	8	Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka	8
Manabu Soya and Ryuichi Kawakami	6	Kankuro Hoshino and Masato Inaba	6
Shuji Ishikawa and Kohei Sato	6	Saburo Inematsu and Ryuichi Sekine	4
Shiori Asahi and Shinobu	2	Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei (The Brahman Brothers)	4
Tsutomu Oosugi and Hercules Senga (Speed of Sounds)	0	Masashi Takeda and Jaki Numazawa	0

Semifinals			Finals


A1	Koji Kanemoto and Kazuki Hashimoto	Pin

B2	Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto	16:10
			B2	Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto	Pin

			B1	Ryuji Ito and Abdullah Kobayashi	18:44
B1	Ryuji Ito and Abdullah Kobayashi	Pin

A2	Daisuke Sekimoto and Hideyoshi Kamitani	13:08

2015

The 2015 Saikyo Tag League featured twelve teams and two blocks with six tag teams in each block. The tournament was held between September 21 and October 29, 2015.[20][21]

Final standings
Strong Style Block		Deathmatch Block
Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi	8	Ryuji Ito and Ryuichi Sekine	8
Shuji Ishikawa and Kohei Sato	8	Kankuro Hoshino and Masato Inaba	6
Ryota Hama and Hideyoshi Kamitani	6	Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto	6
Tsutomu Oosugi and Hercules Senga (Speed of Sounds)	4	Abdullah Kobayashi and Takayuki Ueki	6
Hideki Suzuki and Yoshihisa Uto	2	Jaki Numazawa and Takumi Tsukamoto	2
Daichi Hashimoto and Kazuki Hashimoto	2	Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei (The Brahman Brothers)	2

Semifinals			Finals


A1	Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi	Pin

B2	Kankuro Hoshino and Masato Inaba	17:32
			A1	Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi	Pin

			A2	Shuji Ishikawa and Kohei Sato	18:30
B1	Ryuji Ito and Ryuichi Sekine	Pin

A2	Shuji Ishikawa and Kohei Sato	17:00

2016

The 2016 Saikyo Tag League featured a unique format as it featured four blocks with each block consisting of four tag teams. Two blocks were Strong Style blocks and two were Deathmatch blocks in the tournament. The tournament was held between September 4 and October 31, 2016.[22][23]

Final standings
Strong Style Block A		Strong Style Block B		Deathmatch Block A		Deathmatch Block B
Kohei Sato and Shuji Ishikawa	6	Akebono and Ryota Hama	6	Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka	4	Ryuji Ito and Toshiyuki Sakuda	4
Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi	4	Hideyoshi Kamitani and Daichi Hashimoto	4	Masaya Takahashi and Takayuki Ueki	4	Abdullah Kobayashi and Jaki Numazawa	4
Tsutomu Oosugi and Hercules Senga (Speed of Sounds)	2	Ryuichi Kawakami and Yasufumi Nakanoue	2	Kankuro Hoshino and Masato Inaba	2	Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei (The Brahman Brothers)	2
Hideki Suzuki and Takuya Nomura	0	Yoshihisa Uto and Kazumi Kikuta	0	Masashi Takeda and Takumi Tsukamoto	2	Saburo Inematsu and Ryuichi Sekine	2

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka

Ryuji Ito and Toshiyuki Sakuda