Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2022/12/02/aussie-open-loses-first-match-at-world-tag-league-updated-standings/
Aussie Open suffered its first loss of the World Tag League in Osaka on Friday.
In the main event of Friday’s show, Tetsuya Naito & SANADA defeated Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher as Aussie Open fell to 5-1 and the winners climbed to 4-2 in the round-robin portion of the tournament.
The match went over twenty minutes with Naito pinning Fletcher after hitting Destino.
The two teams have been the most favored to win the annual tournament, which will set up future challengers for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, which is currently held by FTR.
Aussie Open is tied for first place with ten points along with TMDK’s Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls. TMDK scored a quick win on Friday against Suzuki-gun’s Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki with Haste pinning Suzuki in 1:40 and TMDK improving its record to 5-1.
The Tag League matches on Friday included Aaron Henare & Great O-Khan beating EVIL & Yujiro as the LIJ tandem moved to 4-2 with eight points. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano beat Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin with the winners leaving with a 3-2 record and eight points.
The Osaka card also featured five Super Jr. Tag League matches. The junior heavyweight tournament has a three-way tie for first as Francesco Akira & TJP, Chris Bey & Ace Austin, and Alex Zayne & El Lindaman all left Osaka with ten points and 5-1 records.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champions Akira & TJP beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Clark Connors in 11:47 after hitting 2×2 on Connors.
Zayne & El Lindman beat BUSHI & Titan of LIJ with Zayne hitting the Taco Driver on BUSHI.
Austin & Bey beat Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask in 9:28 after Austin used The Fold on Tiger Mask.
SHO & Dick Togo picked up their first win of the tournament beating Lio Rush & YOH after a Shock Arrow on YOH as SHO pinned his former partner. Rush & YOH remain at eight points.
In the opening match of the card, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI beat KUSHIDA & Kevin Night with the Suzuki-gun members earning their first two points of the tournament with Knight & KUSHIDA falling to 1-5.
Saturday’s card in Hyogo has five World Tag League matches and is headlined by Tetsuya Naito & SANADA against Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano.
Updated standings:
World Tag League
1. Aussie Open, TMDK (5-1, 10 points)
2. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA, Aaron Henare & Great O-Khan (4-2, 8 points)
3. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano (3-2, 6 points)
4. Yujiro & EVIL, Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin (0-5, 0 points)
Super Jr. Tag League
1. Francesco Akira & TJP, Chris Bey & Ace Austin, Alex Zayne & El Lindaman (5-1, 10 points)
2. BUSHI & Titan, Lio Rush & YOH (4-2, 8 points)
3. Clark Connors & Ryusuke Taguchi, Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask (2-4, 4 points)
4. KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight, SHO & Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI (1-5, 2 points)