is a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

round-robin

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

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 establis ...

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 concen ...

annually held by

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagas ...

(BJW), considered a spin-off of

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

World Tag League The World Tag League may refer to any of the following professional wrestling tournaments held in Japan: * World Tag League (JWA), 1970 to 1972, hosted by Japanese Wrestling Association * World Tag League (NJPW), annually since 1991, hosted by New ...

and

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...

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 actuall ...

. 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. 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. 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 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.

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.

2001

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

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.

2003

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

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.

2011

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

2012

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

2013

The 2013 Saikyo Tag League was held between September 25 and November 22, 2013.

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.

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.

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.

2017

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.

2018

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.

2019

The 2019 Saikyo Tag League featured a total of fifteen teams, with eight teams in the Strong Style Block and seven teams in the Deathmatch Block. The tournament took place between September 1 and November 26, 2019.

2020

The 2020 Saikyo Tag League took place as a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

between September 23 and October 20, 2020.

2022

The 2022 Saikyo Tag League was held from September 4 to February 13, 2023, with the format returning to its traditional round-robin instead of a single-elimination tournament. The tournament featured 18 teams, divided into two blocks of nine teams each.

Notes

References

External links

Big Japan Pro Wrestling official website
{{Saikyo Tag League 1999 establishments in Japan Big Japan Pro Wrestling Tag team tournaments