| Saikyo Tag League | |
| Nicknames: | Saikyo Tag League (1999 - 2009, 2013–present) Big Japan Tag League (2011 - 2013) |
| Promotions: | Big Japan Pro Wrestling |
| Firstevent: | 1999 |
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.
| Tournament | Year | Winners | Total won as a team | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saikyo Tag League | 1999 | Tomoaki Honma and Ryuji Yamakawa | 1 | ||
| Saikyo Tag League | 2000 | 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) | 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| Saikyo Tag League | 2019 | Yuji Okabayashi (4) and Shigehiro Irie | 1 | [14] | |
| Saikyo Tag League | 2020 | Daichi Hashimoto (2) and Hideyoshi Kamitani (2) | 2 | [15] |
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]
| Tomoaki Honma and Ryuji Yamakawa | 6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow WX and The Winger | 4 | |
| Kamikaze and Shunme Matsuzaki | 2 | |
| Mike Samples and Jun Kasai | 0 |
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.
| Block A | Block B | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ! | 6 | |||
| 4 ! | 4 | |||
| Daikokubo Benkei and Shunme Matsuzaki | 2 ! | 2 | ||
| 0 ! | Mad Man Pondo and Mitch Page | 0 | ||
The 2001 Saikyo Tag League consisted of one block with five teams and was held between September 11 and September 23, 2001.
| 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 |
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.
| Block A | Block B | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 ! | 6 | |||
| Shadow WX and Winger | 6 ! | Ryuji Ito and Daisaku Shimoda | 5 | |
| 4 ! | 5 | |||
| Kintaro Kanemura and Gosaku | 2 ! | Mafia and Monster Mack | 4 | |
| 0 ! | 0 | |||
The 2003 Saikyo Tag League consisted of one block with five teams and was held between October 8 and November 8, 2003.
| 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 |
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.
| Block A | Block B | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ! | 6 | |||
| 5 ! | 6 | |||
| Shadow WX and The Winger | 4 ! | 4 | ||
| 4 ! | 2 | |||
| 0 ! | 2 | |||
The 2011 Big Japan Tag League was held between September 19 and November 22, 2011.
| Block A | Block B | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 ! | 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 | |
The 2012 Big Japan Tag League was held between September 25 and November 24, 2012.[16] [17]
| 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 | 4! | Takashi Sasaki and Jaki Numazawa | 4 | |
| Daisuke Sekimoto and Yoshihito Sasaki | 4! | Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei | 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 | |
The 2013 Saikyo Tag League was held between September 25 and November 22, 2013.[18] [19]
| 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 | 6 | |
| Jun Kasai and Jaki Numazawa | 6! | Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei | 6 | |
| Kazuki Hashimoto and Yusaku Obata | 4! | Jake and Dave Christ | 4 | |
| Ryuichi Kawakami and Axeman | 2! | Shinya Ishikawa and Madoka | 4 | |
| Kankuro Hoshino and Masato Inaba | 0! | Ryuji Ito and Yoshihito Sasaki | 2 | |
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.[20] [21]
| 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 | 4 | |
| Tsutomu Oosugi and Hercules Senga | 0! | Masashi Takeda and Jaki Numazawa | 0 | |
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.[22] [23]
| 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 | 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 | 2 | |
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.[24] [25]
| 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 | 2! | Ryuichi Kawakami and Yasufumi Nakanoue | 2! | Kankuro Hoshino and Masato Inaba | 2! | Brahman Shu and Brahman Kei | 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 | |
The 2017 Saikyo Tag League featured twelve teams and two blocks with six tag teams in each block. The tournament was held between September 6 and October 15, 2017.[26] [27]
| Strong Style Block | Deathmatch Block | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daisuke Sekimoto and Kohei Sato | 7! | Abdullah Kobayashi and Ryuji Ito | 8 | |
| Daichi Hashimoto and Hideyoshi Kamitani | 6! | Masaya Takahashi and Takayuki Ueki | 6 | |
| Shingo Takagi and Yuji Okabayashi | 5! | Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka | 6 | |
| Ryuichi Kawakami and Yoshihisa Uto | 4! | Jaki Numazawa and Kenji Fukimoto | 4 | |
| Ryota Hama and Yasufumi Nakanoue | 4! | Masashi Takeda and Takumi Tsukamoto | 4 | |
| Hideki Suzuki and Shogun Okamoto | 4! | Minoru Fujita and Kankuro Hoshino | 2 | |
The 2018 Saikyo Tag League featured a total of fourteen teams with seven teams in each block. The tournament took place between August 12 and October 25, 2018.[28] [29]
| Strong Style Block | Deathmatch Block | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryota Hama and Yasufumi Nakanoue | 10! | Ryuji Ito and Ryuichi Sekine | 10 | |
| Okami | 8! | Abdullah Kobayashi and Yoshihisa Uto | 8 | |
| Ryuichi Kawakami and Kazumi Kikuta | 6! | Masaya Takahashi and Kyu Mogami | 6 | |
| Tatsuhiko Yoshino and Kota Sekifuda | 6! | Crazy Lovers | 6 | |
| Hideki Suzuki and Daisuke Sekimoto | 6! | Takayuki Ueki and Toshiyuki Sakuda | 4 | |
| Kazuki Hashimoto and Yuya Aoki | 4 | Yuko Miyamoto and Isami Kodaka | 4 | |
| Astronauts | 2! | Minoru Fujita and Kankuro Hoshino | 4 | |
| Strong Style Block | Kawakami Kikuta | Nomura Abe | Yoshino Sekifuda | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suzuki Sekimoto | Suzuki Sekimoto (13:10) | Suzuki Sekimoto (11:53) | Kawakami Kikuta (12:12) | Hama Nakanoue (10:26) | Suzuki Sekimoto (09:49) | Yoshina Sekifuda (11:38) | ||
| Hashimoto Kamitani | Suzuki Sekimoto (13:10) | Hashimoto Kamitani (11:01) | Hashimoto Kamitani (15:10) | Hama Nakanoue (13:16) | Hashimoto Kamitani (15:47) | Hashimoto Kamitani (13:05) | ||
| K. Hashimoto Aoki | Suzuki Sekimoto (11:53) | Hashimoto Kamitani (11:01) | Kawakami Kikuta (11:16) | Hama Nakanouse (12:33) | K. Hashimoto Aoki (11:37) | K. Hashimoto Aoki (10:01) | ||
| Kawakami Kikuta | Kawakami Kikuta (12:12) | Hashimoto Kamitani (15:10) | Kawakami Kikuta (11:16) | Kawakami Kikuta (11:16) | Kawakami Kikuta (10:11) | Yoshino Sekifuda (12:33) | ||
| Hama Nakanoue | Hama Nakanoue (10:26) | Hama Nakanoue (13:16) | Hama Nakanouse (12:33) | Kawakami Kikuta (11:16) | Nomura Abe (10:58) | Hama Nakanoue (11:29) | ||
| Nomura Abe | Suzuki Sekimoto (09:49) | Hashimoto Kamitani (15:47) | K. Hashimoto Aoki (11:37) | Kawakami Kikuta (10:11) | Nomura Abe (10:58) | Yoshino Sekifuda (10:36) | ||
| Yoshino Sekifuda | Yoshina Sekifuda (11:38) | Hashimoto Kamitani (13:05) | K. Hashimoto Aoki (10:01) | Yoshino Sekifuda (12:33) | Hama Nakanoue (11:29) | Yoshino Sekifuda (10:36) | ||
| Deathmatch Block | Kobayashi Uto | Takahashi Mogami | Fujita Hoshino | Ueki Sakuda | ||||
| Kobayashi Uto | Kobayashi Uto (13:30) | Kobayashi Uto (11:37) | Ito Sekine (12:14) | Takeda Tsukamoto (13:02) | Kobayashi Uto (17:42) | Kobayashi Uto (15:24) | ||
| Takahashi Mogami | Kobayashi Uto (13:30) | Takahashi Mogami (09:27) | Ito Sekine (14:38) | Takahashi Mogami (13:38) | Fujita Hoshino (15:35) | Takahashi Mogami (12:47) | ||
| Miyamoto Kodaka | Kobayashi Uto (11:37) | Takahashi Mogami (09:27) | Ito Sekine (forfeit) | Takeda Tsukamoto (forfeit) | Miyamoto Kodaka (15:27) | Miyamoto Kodaka (12:07) | ||
| Ito Sekine | Ito Sekine (12:14) | Ito Sekine (14:38) | Ito Sekine (forfeit) | Ito Sekine (18:19) | Ito Sekine (12:36) | Ueki Sakuda (15:53) | ||
| Takeda Tsukamoto | Takeda Tsukamoto (13:02) | Takahashi Mogami (13:38) | Takeda Tsukamoto (forfeit) | Ito Sekine (18:19) | Fujita Hoshino (12:33) | Takeda Tsukamoto (14:04) | ||
| Fujita Hoshino | Kobayashi Uto (17:42) | Fujita Hoshino (15:35) | Miyamoto Kodaka (15:27) | Ito Sekine (12:36) | Fujita Hoshino (12:33 | Ueki Sakuda (12:28) | ||
| Ueki Sakuda | Kobayashi Uto (15:24) | Takahashi Mogami (12:47) | Miyamoto Kodaka (12:07) | Ueki Sakuda (15:53) | Takeda Tsukamoto (14:04) | Ueki Sakuda (12:28) |
The 2019 Saikyo Tag League featured a total of fourteen teams with seven teams in each block. The tournament took place between September 1 and November 26, 2019.[30]
| Strong Style Block | Deathmatch Block | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 ! | Crazy Lovers | 10 | |
| Okami | 10 ! | 8 | |
| 8 ! | 8 | ||
| 8 ! | Yankee Two Kenju | 6 | |
| 8 ! | 4 | ||
| StrongHearts | 6 ! | 4 | |
| Astronauts | 6 ! | 3rd Generation Chimidoro Brothers | 2 |
| 0 | |||
| Strong Style Block | Irie Okabayashi | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hashimoto Kamitani (23:18) | Sekimoto Bodyguard (16:31) | Kikuta Kawakami (13:28) | Abe Nomura (19:54) | Sekimoto Bodyguard | Sekimoto Bodyguard (16:36) | Sekimoto Bodyguard (18:38) | ||
| Hashimoto Kamitani | Hashimoto Kamitani (23:18) | Hama Nakanoue (14:46) | Hashimoto Kamitani (20:56) | Hashimoto Kamitani (14:14) | Hashimoto Kamitani (15:26) | Irie Okabayashi (20:44) | ||
| Hama Nakanoue | Sekimoto Bodyguard (16:31) | Hama Nakanoue (14:46) | Kikuta Kawakami (12:29) | Hama Nakanoue | Hama Nakanoue (11:33) | Lindaman T-Hawk (10:46) | Irie Okabayashi (16:59) | |
| Kikuta Kawakami | Kikuta Kawakami (13:28) | Hashimoto Kamitani (20:56) | Kikuta Kawakami (12:29) | Abe Nomura (12:05) | Kikuta Kawakami (9:50) | Lindaman T-Hawk (12:35) | Kikuta Kawakami (13:46) | |
| Abe Nomura | Abe Nomura (19:54) | Hashimoto Kamitani (14:14) | Hama Nakanoue | Abe Nomura (12:05) | Abe Nomura | Lindaman T-Hawk (11:39) | Irie Okabayashi (14:57) | |
| Hyodo Kato | Sekimoto Bodyguard | Hashimoto Kamitani (15:26) | Hama Nakanoue (11:33) | Kikuta Kawakami (9:50) | Abe Nomura | Lindaman T-Hawk (10:52) | Irie Okabayashi | |
| Lindaman T-Hawk | Sekimoto Bodyguard (16:36) | Lindaman T-Hawk (10:46) | Lindaman T-Hawk (12:35) | Lindaman T-Hawk (11:39) | Lindaman T-Hawk (10:52) | Irie Okabayashi (17:19) | ||
| Irie Okabayashi | Sekimoto Bodyguard (18:38) | Irie Okabayashi (20:44) | Irie Okabayashi (16:59) | Kikuta Kawakami (13:46) | Irie Okabayashi (14:57) | Irie Okabayashi | Irie Okabayashi (17:19) | |
| Deathmatch Block | Takahashi Ueki | |||||||
| Kodaka Miyamoto | Kodaka Miyamoto (15:43) | Ito Page (10:28) | Kobayashi Hoshino (15:06) | Kodaka Miyamoto (12:17) | Sakuda Ishikawa | Kodaka Miyamoto (forfeit) | ||
| Takeda Tsukamoto | Kodaka Miyamoto (15:43) | Takeda Tsukamoto | Takeda Tsukamoto | Takeda Tsukamoto (11:20) | Takeda Tsukamoto (forfeit) | |||
| Ito Page | Ito Page (10:28) | Takeda Tsukamoto | Ito Page (12:16) | Ito Page (9:07) | Sakuda Ishikawa (11:19) | Ito Page (forfeit) | ||
| Kobayashi Hoshino | Kobayashi Hoshino (15:06) | Takeda Tsukamoto | Ito Page (12:16) | Kobayashi Hoshino (12:04) | Kobayashi Hoshino (12:57) | Kobayashi Hoshino (forfeit) | ||
| Uto Parker | Kodaka Miyamoto (12:17) | Takeda Tsukamoto (11:20) | Ito Page (9:07) | Kobayashi Hoshino (12:04) | Uto Parker (15:01) | Uto Parker (forfeit) | ||
| Sakuda Ishikawa | Sakuda Ishikawa | Sakuda Ishikawa (11:19) | Kobayashi Hoshino (12:57) | Uto Parker (15:01) | Takahashi Ueki (13:14) | |||
| Takahashi Ueki | Kodaka Miyamoto (forfeit) | Takeda Tsukamoto (forfeit) | Ito Page (forfeit) | Kobayashi Hoshino (forfeit) | Uto Parker (forfeit) | Takahashi Ueki (13:14) |
The 2020 Saikyo Tag League took place as a single-elimination tournament between September 23 and October 20, 2020.[31]
The 2022 Saikyo Tag League was held from September 4 to February 13, 2023, and the format returning its old round-robin format instead of singles-elimination tournament format.[32]
| Block A | Block B | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astronauts | 10 ! | Crazy Lovers | 13 | |
| 10 ! | Abdullah Kobayashi and Daiju Wakamatsu | 12 | ||
| 10 ! | 10 | |||
| Yankee Two Kenju | 10 ! | Okami | 9 | |
| 9 ! | Yuji Okabayashi and Chicharito Shoki | 8 | ||
| 8 ! | Michio Kageyama and Yusaku Ito | 8 | ||
| 6 ! | Kazuki Hashimoto and Satsuki Nagao | 8 | ||
| 5 ! | Kankuro Hoshino and Yuichi Taniguchi | 2 | ||
| Daisuke Sekimoto and Kazumasa Yoshida | 4 ! | Brahman Brothers | 2 | |