The Junior Tag League is an annual

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

held by the

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...

(AJPW)

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

. The tournament is meant for wrestlers under the weight limit of , who are referred to in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

as junior heavyweights. In 2013, the tournament was rebranded , following in the footsteps of the

Junior League The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With ...

, which had been renamed "Junior Hyper League" the previous year. In 2014, the tournament was again rebranded after the singles Junior League, now taking the name . The tournament is contested in a single block round-robin format with all teams facing each other once. All matches have a thirty-minute time limit and in case of a time limit draw, both teams are awarded one point, while a win earns a team two points. In case of a draw through a double countout, the match is declared a

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neith ...

with neither team being awarded a point. After all teams have faced each other, the top two teams move onto the finals to determine the winner of the tournament. Rankings in the tournament are not determined by head-to-head matches and in the event of more than two teams finishing clear of the other teams, extra matches will be held to determine the finalists. Usually, the winners of the tournament earn themselves a shot at All Japan's secondary tag team championship, the

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA founder ...

, if not already the reigning champions.

Hikaru Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, better known by the ring name . Sato started his MMA career in February 2000, fighting for Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. During the next eight years, Sato fought, on average, five time ...

holds the record for most Junior Tag League wins with five. Sato and

Atsushi Aoki was a Japanese professional wrestler who worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a wrestler, president of talent relations and head trainer at their dojo. Aoki began his career in Pro Wrestling Noah in 2005, where he went on to become a two ...

are the only team to have won the tournament more than once, having won it in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

List of winners

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

Gran Hamada , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro and All Japan Pro ...

and

Mighty Inoue Sueo Inoue (born April 12, 1949), better known by the ring names Mighty Inoue () and All Mighty Inoue, is a Japanese professional wrestler and referee (professional wrestling), referee. He is best known for his appearances with International Wrest ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Jimmy Yang James Carson Yun (born May 13, 1981) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor of Korean and German descent. He is also best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and the WWE, World Wrestling Fed ...

and

Kaz Hayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler known simply as . He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where in addition to being a wrestler for the promotion, he also served as the head booker for the company's junior heavyweight ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Mazada (born May 23, 1975) is a Japanese people, Japanese professional wrestler, mostly known for his ring name Mazada (written in all capitals). He is one of the founding members of the renowned Stable (professional wrestling), stable Tokyo Gurentai a ...

and

Nosawa Rongai , better known by his ring names Nosawa and , (born December 17, 1976) is a Japanese freelance professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in All Japan Pro Wrestling and various independent promotions. Career Early career (19952004) Nos ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Katsuhiko Nakajima is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He started his career in Riki Choshu's Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (WJ) promotion before heading to Kensuke Sasaki's Kensuke Office/Diamond Ring dojo and promotion. He ...

and

Ryuji Hijikata (born May 17, 1978) is a Japanese professional wrestler also known under the ring name . Hijikata is best known for his tenure in Battlarts and All Japan Pro Wrestling since 2002 where he is a former World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Professi ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

: Minoru and Toshizo *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: Bushi and

Super Crazy Francisco Islas Rueda (born December 3, 1973), better known by his ring name Super Crazy, is a Mexican ''luchador'' (or professional wrestler). In Mexico, Islas has worked for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and made appearances f ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: Kai and

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and

Shuji Kondo is a Japanese professional wrestler. Prior to becoming a pro wrestler, he played rugby. After starting his career in Toryumon, Kondo eventually joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he became one of the promotion's top junior heavyweigh ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and

Kotaro Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . He is currently working as a freelancer, mainly for promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. Career Pro Wrestling Noah (2001-2013) Suzuki was the last person remaining of a grueling th ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Atsushi Maruyama is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). He previously worked for Osaka Pro Wrestling under the ring name . His ring name and original wrestling attire were inspired by the Hanshin Tigers baseba ...

and

Masashi Takeda is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and Mixed Martial Arts, mixed martial artist, primarily working for Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Deathmatch division. Takeda also competes as a freelancer for ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Koji Iwamoto is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Iwamoto has previously competed for DDT Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Heat Up. He is a former four time World Junior Heavyweight Championship (AJPW), AJP ...

and Tajiri *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and Yusuke Okada *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

( Dan Tamura and

) *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

: Total Eclipse (

Yusuke Kodama is a Japanese professional wrestler and currently wrestlers for All Japan Pro Wrestling as a freelancer. Kodama is best known for his time with Wrestle-1 (W-1), where he is a former two time UWA World Trios Champion, two time Wrestle-1 Cruiser ...

and

Hokuto Omori is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist currently signed to the Japanese promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling where he is a former All Asia Tag Team Champion. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2018� ...

)

1984

In 1984, All Japan Pro Wrestling held the "International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team League" between August 30 and September 12.

2002

In 2002, All Japan Pro Wrestling held the first "World's Strongest Junior Tag League", a junior heavyweight version of the

World's Strongest Tag Determination League __NOTOC__ The , more commonly known in the West as the Real World Tag League, is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling since 1977, usually, run on the first weeks of December. The first tournament was actually ...

. The tournament took place over eleven shows between September 8 and 22. The day after winning the tournament,

and

went on to unsuccessfully challenge

Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999 ...

and Nobutaka Araya for the

2006

After a four-year break, All Japan Pro Wrestling held its first Junior Tag League over nine shows between February 25 and March 10, 2006.

2008

After no Junior Tag League took place in 2007, the tournament returned in early 2008, held over seven shows between March 12 and 23.

2009

The 2009 Junior Tag League took place over eight shows between April 17 and 29.

2010

The 2010 Junior Tag League took place over seven shows between April 18 and May 2.

2011

The 2011 Junior Tag League took place over eight shows between April 17 and 30.

2012

The 2012 Junior Tag League took place over six shows between April 1 and 14. The winners of the tournament,

and

, went on to unsuccessfully challenge

Daisuke Sekimoto (born February 9, 1981) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He is also known for his appearances in Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max. He is a three-time BJW World Strong Heavyw ...

and

Yuji Okabayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He has been working in BJW since his debut in June 2008. He is best known as part of a tag team with Daisuke Sekimoto, with whom he ...

for the

on May 27.

2013

In 2013, All Japan Pro Wrestling renamed the Junior Tag League the "Junior Hyper Tag League", following in the footsteps of the singles

, which had been renamed "Junior Hyper League" the previous summer. The tournament was held over six shows between March 30 and April 7, 2013. The winners of the tournament,

and

, went on to defeat

Koji Kanemoto (born Kim Il-Sung (김일성); October 31, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler of Zainichi Korean descent. He has previously worked with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is currently a freelancer. Professional wres ...

and Minoru Tanaka for the

on April 25.

2014

In 2014, All Japan Pro Wrestling again renamed the tournament the "Jr. Tag Battle of Glory", following in the footsteps of the singles

, which had been renamed "Jr. Battle of Glory" the previous February. The tournament was held over eight shows between October 8 and 22, 2014. The winners of the tournament earned a spot in the 2014 World's Strongest Tag Determination League.

2015

The 2015 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory took place over eight shows between October 12 and 23.

Último Dragón (born December 12, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor, better known as . In addition to having trained in Japan, Asai learned to wrestle in the lucha libre style while working in Mexico. He is credited with popularizing the "Asa ...

and

Yoshinobu Kanemaru is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he also works as a backstage producer. Kanemaru is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he holds the records for the most reigns with the GHC ...

entered the tournament as the reigning

All Asia Tag Team Champions The is a professional wrestling tag team Championship (professional wrestling), title in Japanese Professional wrestling promotion, promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance ...

, but relinquished the title after losing to

Isami Kodaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Pro-Wrestling Basara (Basara). He originally started his career in the Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo) promotion in July 2002, but later left the promotion to become a freelancer, before signing wi ...

and

Yuko Miyamoto is a Japanese professional wrestler. He originally started his career in Wrestling Marvelous Future in August 2003, but later left the promotion and in 2004, signed with Dark Pro-Wrestling 666 (666). Miyamoto has since appeared in Big Japan Pro W ...

in their opening match.

2016

The 2016 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory took place over five shows between November 12 and 17.

2017

The 2017 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory took place over five shows between November 3 and 9.

2018

The 2018 Junior Tag League took place over ten shows between August 3 and 25.

2019

The 2019 Junior Tag League took place over eight shows between July 17 and 28.

was announced to team with

, while Yusuke Okada was supposed to team with Akira Francesco. After Aoki was killed in a motorcycle accident on June 3, Okada eventually requested to replace him as Sato's partner which was later granted while Hokuto Omori replaced Okada as Francesco's partner.

2020

The 2020 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory took place on December 27, in a self produced show by

2021

The 2021 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory was a one-day tournament and took place on December 26.

Notes

References

External links

All-Japan.co.jp
{{AJPW All Japan Pro Wrestling tournaments Tag team tournaments