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New Japan Soul

As we moved into the second half of the year, we have the War Dogs as the Jr Tag champions, who have been a dominant force in the Junior Tag division. They’ve held the titles for the majority of the past year, only losing them temporarily to Catch-22 at Wrestle Kingdom, after which they quickly recaptured the titles at New Beginning. They've held the titles ever since, having successful defenses against Catch-22 in a rematch at Sakura Genesis, and against Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI at Satsuma no Kuni.

Their next challenge would come from TMDK. Connors and Moloney lost in the BOSJ to Fujita and Eagles in their respective blocks, and so the TMDK team that had come to be known as Ichiban Sweet Boys staked their claim for the tag titles. This match would come during their New Japan Soul tour, and though the Sweet Boys would fight valiantly, the War Dogs would once again assert their dominance and retain the tag titles.

Capital Collision & King of Pro-Wrestling

As with other titles, the Jr. Tag titles would take a back seat during the G1 Climax. The next developments in the Jr. Tag title scene would come a few months later at Capital Collision. A match that was supposed to be a preview of the Global title match between David Finlay and YOSHI-HASHI also featured Kevin Knight and Rocky Romero on YOSHI’s side and the Jr Tag champions on Finlay’s side. However, in the match, Kevin Knight was able to pin Drilla Moloney to get the win for his side. With a win over the Jr Tag champs in his pocket, Knight reunited with KUSHIDA to put the Intergalactic Jet Setters back in title contention. The title match took place at King of Pro-Wrestling. It was there that the War Dogs’ 8-month reign came to an end, and the Jet Setters once again reigned as Jr. Tag champions.

Super Junior Tag League

However, there would be no rest for the Jet Setters. Their first defense came less than a week later, when the Jet Setters defended their newly tag titles in a four-way match at Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling’s first show. They won there, but right around the corner was the Super Jr. Tag League, and going into that tournament as champions painted a target on their backs. They performed well, being amongst the top scorers in B Block. However, a loss to Catch-22 prevented them from going into the finals. Instead, Catch-22 faced the winner of the other block, Ichiban Sweet Boys, and the two teams battled for the trophy at Power Struggle, where Ichiban Sweet Boys emerged victorious.

Building to Wrestle Kingdom

The aftermath of the finals match, however, left a lot of questions hanging in the air. As the winners of Super Jr. Tag League, Ichiban Sweet Boys had a strong claim for a Jr. Tag title match. However, Catch-22 were the other finalists who also beat the champions during league competition. What’s more, the War Dogs also beat Ichiban sweet Boys during league competition as well, and they are also the former champs (they also came down to the ring and attacked all these teams to assert their position). This opened up a lot of potential challengers for the Jr. Tag titles. The resolution would be a 4-way tag match between these teams, and it will take place at Wrestle Kingdom. What’s more, the match would later be made into a Tokyo Terror Ladder match, turning an already frantic match up to 11.