Introducing the World Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
Jun 18, 2023 18:23:27 GMT
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Post by 円相! TV on Jun 18, 2023 18:23:27 GMT
An Introduction to the World Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
After the official announcement of the inaugural World Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Tournament to be held at CRUISERWORLD!, more details have emerged regarding the new championship.
The titles were established by the International Development Office (IDO) of the All-Japan Sports and Wrestling Commission (AJSWC), a formal institution that establishes and approves standards for a variety of athletic contests across the country, which approved the creation of the titles in May 2023. The purpose of the office is to promote awareness of Japanese sports at the global level as well as serve as an engagement to pursue partnerships and new opportunities.
MAX-J brand CEO Masaaki Sano, long a proponent of spreading Japanese pro-wrestling internationally as evinced by the TOUKON ROAD world super-tour he initiated from January-April 2019 as the GM of MAXIMUM Japan Pro-Wrestling, approached the IDO-AJSWC with the idea to establish a world class title at the junior heavyweight title. With very few team titles contested solely among wrestlers below the heavyweight division, he pitched the World Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship as a rare opportunity to create a premier championship at the sub-heavyweight class that could be used to promote Japanese athletics around the globe.
As an official world championship, the title must be contested in at least two countries during the calendar year, running from May 1 to April 30th (to commemorate the anniversary of the Reiwa era). If this requirement is not met, the current champions must vacate the title and it will return to the possession of the AJSWC where it will exist in an inactive status. Each of the participants must weigh no more than 100 kg (220.5 lb) by the start-time of the event. Failure to meet weigh-in requirements will result in both champions vacating the titles.
The title can be contested under both pro-wrestling and official AJSWC sport form (modified submission shootfighting) rules which must be approved by the IDO-AJSWC prior to each contest. Other key stipulations are as follows:
- In most cases (see below for exceptions), a disqualifying act (e.g., usage of a foreign object inside of the ring against an opponent) will disqualify the entire team.
- Wrestlers tagged out are expected to promptly return to the apron.
- “Incidental contact” is not tolerated; when a tag is made, the referee must stop the action and re-start the match with both fighters in a standing position at/around the center of the ring
- If, at the end of a match, there is a 2-1 advantage in remaining participants, the team with the advantage is declared the winners.
After the official announcement of the inaugural World Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Tournament to be held at CRUISERWORLD!, more details have emerged regarding the new championship.
The titles were established by the International Development Office (IDO) of the All-Japan Sports and Wrestling Commission (AJSWC), a formal institution that establishes and approves standards for a variety of athletic contests across the country, which approved the creation of the titles in May 2023. The purpose of the office is to promote awareness of Japanese sports at the global level as well as serve as an engagement to pursue partnerships and new opportunities.
MAX-J brand CEO Masaaki Sano, long a proponent of spreading Japanese pro-wrestling internationally as evinced by the TOUKON ROAD world super-tour he initiated from January-April 2019 as the GM of MAXIMUM Japan Pro-Wrestling, approached the IDO-AJSWC with the idea to establish a world class title at the junior heavyweight title. With very few team titles contested solely among wrestlers below the heavyweight division, he pitched the World Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship as a rare opportunity to create a premier championship at the sub-heavyweight class that could be used to promote Japanese athletics around the globe.
As an official world championship, the title must be contested in at least two countries during the calendar year, running from May 1 to April 30th (to commemorate the anniversary of the Reiwa era). If this requirement is not met, the current champions must vacate the title and it will return to the possession of the AJSWC where it will exist in an inactive status. Each of the participants must weigh no more than 100 kg (220.5 lb) by the start-time of the event. Failure to meet weigh-in requirements will result in both champions vacating the titles.
The title can be contested under both pro-wrestling and official AJSWC sport form (modified submission shootfighting) rules which must be approved by the IDO-AJSWC prior to each contest. Other key stipulations are as follows:
- All contests have a 60-minute time limit unless otherwise approved (e.g., tournament finals)
- All contests are waged between two participants on either side
- Matches can be decided by pinfall, submission, technical knockout, referee stoppage, count-out, and disqualification.
o Typically, the title will not change hands on a disqualification. However, if a title is defended via disqualification twice in a row, and the disqualification in both cases is committed by the defenders, the title will be vacated by the champions.
o Given the aggressive nature of pro-wrestling, “incidental contact” with an opponent is generally not considered grounds for disqualifying a team. If that contact becomes excessive, i.e., the referee makes the determination that the now tagged-out member has no intention of returning to the apron, the referee has the discretion to render a disqualification.
- A wrestler can become the legal man if both of his partner’s feet touch the outside and he is holding onto the top rope, providing that he enters the ring while his partner remains on the outside.
- A non-tagged-in opponent may leave the apron and remain on the outside of the ring for a period no longer than 30 seconds as long the other team’s opponent is holding onto the top rope. If at the end of this period the non-tagged-in opponent has not returned to his corner, he will be individually disqualified, resulting in a 2-on-1 match for the duration.
o If the sole remaining team member wins the match, the disqualified individual will also receive or retain their share of the championship.
- Each team has one “save” per match in which the illegal man can affect the in-ring action by disrupting a pin or submission attempt. A second “save” will result in disqualification of the entire team.
- If both illegal men exit the apron or enter the ring, the referee has the discretion to force both participants back to their corners without penalty or, if the participants do not obey his direction, render the match a no contest.
o This rule is generally upheld under the norm of “dual violation” where if both illegal men are engaged in the conduct of a match (by leaving their respective corner), neither side has an unfair advantage and, therefore, no grounds exist to disqualify either team. However, if the in-ring action becomes chaotic to the extent the referee believes that the match participants will no longer adhere to the tag team format, the referee may determine that the participants’ actions have effectively in practice ended the match, thus resulting in a no contest determination. Other stipulations
If a match is contested under the AJSWC-approved sport form rule set, the following deviations specific to tag team competition apply:
- The match is fought over three (3) ten-minute rounds.
- Each team must appoint a corner man who has the power to render a stoppage, resulting in the elimination of the legal man
- All matches are fought under elimination rules
- Legal tags cannot be made by exiting the ring
o If a participant cannot stand, the referee may call for a stoppage thus rendering the elimination of said participant.
- Neither team receives a “save”.
- If, at the end of a match, no participants have been eliminated, the match is rendered a draw.