World's Strongest Tag Team League

The nihongo|World's Strongest Tag Team League|世界最強タッグ決定リーグ戦|Sekai Saikyō Taggu Kettei Rīgu-sen", 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 actually called the Open Tag League, but it was renamed to its present name the following year.

The tournament is held under round-robin rules, with 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss; in earlier tournaments, only a time limit draw would provide the one point, with other methods (such as a double countout) providing nothing for either team.

The name "Real World Tag League" was a mistranslation by AJPW promoter Giant Baba; "saikyō" in Japanese means "strongest," not "real", but Baba used Engrish for promotional material.

Results

List of winners

1978

The 1978 Tag League, featuring 6 teams, was held from December 1 to December 15. Abdullah the Butcher used both The Sheik and Tor Kamata as partners.

1981

The 1981 Tag League, featuring 9 teams, was held from November 27 to December 13.

1983

The 1983 Tag League, featuring 8 teams, was held from November 25 to December 12.

1986

The 1986 Tag League, featuring 9 teams, was held from November 22 to December 12.

1988

The 1988 Tag League, featuring 11 teams, was held from November 19 to December 16. It was also to decide the vacant AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship.

1991

The 1991 Tag League, featuring 13 teams, was held from November 16 to December 6.¹Hansen and Ted DiBiase originally defeated Slinger & Smothers in 7:11; however, when Baba replaced DiBiase, the teams wrestled a rematch.

1994

The 1994 Tag League, featuring 10 teams, was held from November 19 to December 10.
2TeamBracket
RD1=Final
RD1-seed1=1
RD1-team1=Kawada & Taue
RD1-score1=Pin
RD1-seed2=2
RD1-team2=Kobashi & Misawa
RD1-score2=27:04

1996

The 1996 Tag League, featuring 7 teams, was held from November 16 to December 6. In an alteration of previous years, each team faced each other twice during the group stage.
2TeamBracket
RD1= Final
RD1-seed1=1
RD1-team1=Kawada & Taue
RD1-score1=Pin
RD1-seed2=2
RD1-team2=Akiyama & Misawa
RD1-score2=30:52

1998

The 1998 Tag League, featuring 8 teams, was held from November 14 to December 5.
2TeamBracket
RD1=Final
RD1-seed1=1
RD1-team1=Hansen & Taue
RD1-score1=Pin
RD1-seed2=2
RD1-team2=Akiyama & Kobashi
RD1-score2=20:15

2000

The 2000 Tag League, featuring 8 teams, was held from November 19 to December 9. Due to a four-way tie for first place, the four teams were placed into a semifinals instead of the traditional one-match final.
4TeamBracket

RD1-seed1=1
RD1-team1=Kawada & Nagai
RD1-score1=Sub
RD1-seed2=3
RD1-team2=Harris Brothers
RD1-score2=7:05

RD1-seed3=2
RD1-team3=Kea & Muto
RD1-score3=Pin
RD1-seed4=4
RD1-team4=Fuyuki & Tenryu
RD1-score4=14:30

RD2-seed1=1
RD2-team1=Kawada & Nagai
RD2-score1=Pin
RD2-seed2=2
RD2-team2=Kea & Muto
RD2-score2=16:49

2002

The 2002 Tag League, featuring 8 teams, was held from November 23 to December 6.
2TeamBracket
RD1-seed1=1
RD1-team1=Credible & Jamal
RD1-score1=Pin
RD1-seed2=2
RD1-team2=Hayashi & Kojima
RD1-score2=17:50

2004

The 2004 Tag League was held from November 21 to December 1. It was the first to utilize a multi-block system, featuring 10 teams in two blocks, with the winners of each block facing each other in the final.
2TeamBracket
RD1=Final
RD1-seed1=A1
RD1-team1=Akebono & Muto
RD1-score1=Pin
RD1-seed2=B1
RD1-team2=Bubba Ray & Devon
RD1-score2=20:23

2006

The 2006 Tag League, featuring 7 teams, was held from November 19 to December 2.
3TeamBracket
RD2-seed1 = 1
RD2-team1 = Doering & Muto
RD2-score1 = Pin
RD1-seed1 = 2
RD1-team1 = Kawada & Sasaki
RD1-score1 = Pin
RD2-seed2 = 3
RD2-team2 = Kojima & Suwama
RD2-score2 = 26:05
RD1-seed2 = 3
RD1-team2 = Kojima & Suwama
RD1-score2 = 15:18

ources

* [http://www.all-japan.co.jp/history/07.html AJPW official site]
* [http://ajpw.puroresufan.com/history/rwtl.php Shining Road]