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57-564: On December 17, 2013 after the team of Daemon Ueda and Yusaku Obata won the Furinkazan 2013 , Ueda turned on Obata. Subsequently, Obata and Masato Tanaka formed an alliance, and Daichi Hashimoto also joined them to form a stable. On January 1, 2014 Obata and Tanaka received an opportunity for the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship but they lost to KAMIKAZE and Shinjiro Otani . On January 11 they started

114-476: A championship division for tag teams. The first "World" tag team championship was promoted in San Francisco in the early 1950s. Tag matches with three-man teams were developed, and in some territories, a championship division was instituted for these teams, but the concept failed to become widely popular; outside Mexico , multi-man tag matches are seen as a special attraction. Typically, a tag team championship

171-548: A championship opportunity. At the 2017 'Great Voyage In Yokohama' show on March 12, Marufuji teamed with Japanese wrestling legend Keiji Muto to defeat debuting Impact Wrestling star Moose and Kazma Sakamoto . Marufuji formed a new team with former rival Maybach Taniguchi and, on the April 14 'Countdown to GTL' show, the new pairing defeated Takashi Sugiura and Kenoh for the GHC Tag Team Championships shortly before

228-453: A feud with Daemon Ueda's stable Daemon-Gun . Five days later Ikuto Hidaka joined the stable. On January 29 Ikuto Hidaka, Masato Tanaka and Yusaku Obata defeated Kohei Sato, Ryouji Sai and Shinjiro Otani. After the match, they invited Yoshikazu Yokoyama to join the group but he refused. However, it was announced that Hidaka's friend Fujita Hayato and Takashi Sugiura had joined the stable. On February 27 Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto joined

285-433: A legal tag: As the ultimate authority over the match, a referee may overlook any of these at his discretion, and during the frenzied action, often will be more lenient with them. In some multi-man tag matches in lucha libre , a wrestler can make himself the team's legal man simply by setting foot in the ring, and his partner then leaves. This allows for action to become nearly continuous. Two referees, one stationed inside

342-728: A record of five wins and four losses with a loss against Hirooki Goto on the final day eliminating him from the finals. Marufuji's win over Okada earned him a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on October 10 at King of Pro-Wrestling , where Okada retained the title. As part of his foreign excursion to the United States, Marufuji challenged Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Championship on December 17, 2005, in Edison, New Jersey . Danielson retained his title, but

399-472: A six-man tag team match the 2016 'Great Voyage In Korakuen' event. From April 21 to May 4, Marufuji took part in the 2016 Global Tag League with Toru Yano , who took part despite being mainly a competitor in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The pair got eight points, good enough for second in the block, and ultimately avenged a loss by defeating Killer Elite Squad in the finals. As a result of winning

456-608: A successful tag team with KENTA and win the 2004 Super J-Cup . In early and mid-2005, Marufuji toured through Germany and Austria, competing for Westside Xtreme Wrestling and Rings of Europe. Along with Minoru Suzuki , they were the first talent delegation that was sent over that began the Noah/European Talent Trade Partnership. On March 5, 2006, Marufuji pinned former Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and former GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue . On September 9, 2006, Naomichi defeated Jun Akiyama for

513-465: A tag is made, the wrestler tagging out has a grace period (typically five to ten seconds) to leave the ring before risking disqualification. Offensive cooperation from a team member is allowed during this time window; thus it is rather commonplace for both members of a team, especially heel teams, to milk this grace period and have two men in the ring simultaneously with only one member of an opposing team The following are standard requisites for making

570-486: A tag team match. Marufuji returned to NJPW that August to take part in the 2012 G1 Climax tournament . After a slow start, which saw Marufuji lose two of his first three matches, he bounced back by defeating reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi on August 5 and afterward made a challenge for his title. After four wins and three losses, Marufuji was eliminated from the tournament on August 12, after losing to Toru Yano in his final round-robin match. Following

627-431: A tag. The tension builds as the legal man is unable to tag out until something happens (a second wind, miscommunication between the opponents or another stroke of luck) that allows the first team to tag and reverse the momentum of the match in their favor. When done well, this results in a large audience reaction, and was the typical climax of tag matches for decades. WWE employs this tactic in nearly every tag team match to

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684-533: A team match. However, only one wrestler from each team, called the "legal man" is allowed in the ring at a time (although heels will often flout this rule in an attempt to gang up on a single opponent). All other members of the team wait outside the ropes (on the ring apron or the floor) in the team's specified corner. Only an active/legal wrestler is allowed to score a fall or have a fall scored against him/her. But any wrestler, legal or outside, may face disqualification for himself or his team for violating rules. Once

741-719: A third tour, along with Kenta. Both started off the tour with a win, teaming up to defeat the Briscoe Brothers at Glory By Honor V: Night 1 . The following night at Glory By Honor V: Night 2 , he successfully defended the GHC Heavyweight Championship against Nigel McGuinness . Marufuji also appeared at Ring of Honor's first pay-per-view , Respect Is Earned , where he defeated Rocky Romero . On September 28, 2008, ten years after his original debut in All Japan Pro Wrestling, Marufuji returned to AJPW and won

798-414: A unit and have a team name and identity. In most team matches, only one competitor per team is allowed in the ring at a time. This status as the active or legal wrestler may be transferred by physical contact, most commonly a palm-to-palm tag which resembles a high five . The team-based match has been a mainstay of professional wrestling since the mid-twentieth century, and most promotions have sanctioned

855-490: Is awarded to and defended by a team of two. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, a dominant trio in the NWA known as The Fabulous Freebirds won several regional tag team championships and were allowed to employ any combination of the group's members in their title defenses. In kayfabe , this made it difficult for challengers to prepare for their upcoming title fights since the challengers did not know exactly whom they were facing. This

912-737: Is the other). In 2009, he was appointed to the position of Vice President of Pro Wrestling Noah, and has retained the position since, being reappointed in September 2011. He also makes occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Ring of Honor (ROH), and Impact Wrestling . Marufuji pursued amateur wrestling and basketball during his high school days before joining All Japan Pro Wrestling , and trained in Satoru Sayama 's Super Tiger Gym. His debut match came on August 28, 1998 against Yoshinobu Kanemaru . For

969-421: The 2015 Global League . Marufuji began the tournament with four straight victories, however a loss to Masato Tanaka on October 29 and a subsequent loss to Satoshi Kojima at the next show on November 3 put Marufuji in a four-way tie on points at the top of his block. On the final group stage day, paired with a loss by Tanaka, Marufuji beat fellow co-first place contender Chris Hero to win the block and advance to

1026-477: The 2016 Global League and was placed in the 'B' block. Marufuji, with eight points, faced off with Masa Kitamiya on the final day's main event and a spot in the tournament final on the line, however, Marufuji ultimately lost and Kitamiya finished first in the B block. The next day, the day of the Global League Final, Marufuji and Yano lost their championships to Killer Elite Squad, the team they defeated for

1083-657: The GHC Heavyweight Championship at the Budokan Hall, utilizing the Perfect Inside Cradle. In doing so, he became the first wrestler to win all five GHC titles in Noah and became the lightest GHC Heavyweight Champion of all time. A little over a month later, Marufuji's successfully defended the title against his tag team partner Kenta on October 29, 2006. The match received critical acclaim, and Tokyo Sports named

1140-723: The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship in a three-way match, but he lost to winner Jason Lee. On September 21 Hidaka and Mineo Fujita lost a match for the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship to the champions Takuya Sugawara and "brother" Yasshi . In December, Tanaka and Sugiura won the 2014 tournament . On February 2, 2015 Tanaka lost a match for the World Heavyweight Championship against Kohei Sato. On May 5 Hidaka had another chance for

1197-550: The World Junior Heavyweight Championship from Ryuji Hijikata . He would go on to successfully defend the title against Shuji Kondo in a match that won the Tokyo Sports Best Bout of 2008 award and Takashi Okita before losing it to Kaz Hayashi . Marufuji returned to AJPW to compete in the 2018 Champion Carnival , where he finished his block with a record of five wins and two losses to advance to

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1254-534: The 'Great Voyage in Tokyo vol.3' show. Following Marufuji's appearance on Wrestle Kingdom 9 , the New Japan stable Suzuki-gun made their debut in Noah invading the company and on March 15, 2015, Marufuji lost his title to the stable's leader Minoru Suzuki . Marufuji took part in the 2015 Global Tag League with Katsuhiko Nakajima as his partner. The pair finished with six points and a disappointing fourth-place finish in

1311-606: The 2014 tag team of the year. They lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to TMDK ( Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste ) on January 10, 2015. On May 4, Tanaka and Sugiura won their second Global Tag League in a row. On May 10 they failed to regain the GHC Tag Team Champions losing to K.E.S. ( Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr. ) due to an interference by Shelton X Benjamin . Both Tanaka and Sugiura participated at Global League 2015 but both failed to advanced to

1368-647: The 2015 Fire Festival but after the first match against Tanaka, Hayato was forced to pull out of the tournament with a knee injury, forfeiting the rest of his matches. On January 1, 2016 Tanaka had a shot for the World Heavyweight title but he lost to the champion Hideki Suzuki. On April 7 Hidaka and Hayato defeated Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa to win the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Titles. On May 6 Tanaka and James Raideen defeated Daisuke Sekimoto and Kohei Sato to win

1425-703: The 2016 G1 Climax. They defeated Suzuki and Iizuka on July 5 followed by a defense over Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kitamiya on July 16. Upon Marufuji's return, he and Yano defended their belts against the team of Muhammad Yone and Quiet Storm, known as '50 Funky Powers', on September 23 and, as a continuation of his feud based in New Japan with Kazuchika Okada , Marufuji and Yano retained their championships over Okada and Chaos stablemate Yoshi-Hashi on October 8. The pair defended their belts yet again on October 23 at 'Great Voyage 2016 In Yokohama Vol. 2' where they defeated Great Bash Heel ( Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma ) From November 3 to November 22 Marufuji took part in

1482-580: The GHC Heavyweight Championship. On July 28, Marufuji and Akitoshi Saito defeated The Aggression (Katsuhiko Nakajima and Masa Kitamiya) to win the GHC Tag Team Championship, marking his sixth reign and Saito's fifth reign with the titles. On June 6, 2021, at CyberFight Festival , Marufuji won the GHC Heavyweight Championship from Keiji Mutoh . He successfully defended it against Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba before losing it to Katsuhiko Nakajima on October 10. In 2023 Kenta and Marufuji reunited in NOAH for

1539-654: The GHC tag titles. As part of the partnership between WWE and NOAH, Marufuji faced AJ Styles at Noah Destination 2024 on July 13, 2024, at Nippon Budokan but was defeated with Styles Clash . On June 10, 2003, Marufuji made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), teaming with Kotaro Suzuki to unsuccessfully challenge Jyushin Thunder Liger and Koji Kanemoto for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship . Marufuji returned to

1596-660: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. With his victory Marufuji became the first person to hold the three major Junior Heavyweight Titles in Japan (All Japan, Noah, and NJPW). On June 19 at Dominion 6.19 , Marufuji lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Prince Devitt. Marufuji's next appearance for NJPW was on January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome , where he and Go Shiozaki defeated CHAOS Top Team ( Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano ) in

1653-686: The International Junior Heavyweight and the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship but he lost to the champion Minoru Tanaka . On June 7 Tanaka and Sugiura lost the titles to Kohei Sato and Shinjiro Otani in their seventh title defense. The same night, Obata had a chance for the NWA United National Heavyweight Championship but he lost to the champion KAMIKAZE. From July 16 to August 2, 2015 Obata, Tanaka and Hayato participated at

1710-766: The NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Titles. On July 8 to July 31 Obata, defeated Shinjiro Otani to win the Fire Festival 2016. On November 30 Hidaka and Hayato lost NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Champions in a Pro-Wrestling Basara event to Kodaka and Takumi Tsukamoto. On December 18, Yusaku Obata and Kai defeated Akebono and Shogun Okamoto in the finals to win 2016 Furinkazan Tag Tournament . On February 22, 2014 Tanaka and Sugiura defeated Brave ( Naomichi Marufuji and Atsushi Kotoge ) in their tag team debut in Pro Wrestling Noah . On April 27,

1767-696: The basic tag team match is referred to as Lucha de Parejas (Doubles Fight), a six-man match as a Lucha de Trios , and an eight-man match as a Lucha Atómica (Atomic Fight). A "bookend" tag team is a (sometimes derogatory) term for a tag team where the members look and/or dress alike (e.g., The Killer Bees , the British Bulldogs , Los Conquistadores , the Hart Foundation , etc.). Bookends are common in North America , Europe and Mexico , but not in Japan as

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1824-478: The belts six months prior and thus marking the end of the team. The final tour of 2016 went poorly for Marufuji as he and his various partners were unable to beat the team of Alejandro Saez and Takashi Sugiura the entire tour and, on the final show of 2016, Marufuji was defeated in a singles match by Sugiura. On the first show of 2017 on January 7, Marufuji and partner Atsushi Kotoge failed to dethrone GHC Tag Team Champions Go Shiozaki and Maybach Taniguchi in

1881-542: The championship for a fourth time by defeating Daisuke Sekimoto of Big Japan Pro Wrestling at the 'Great Voyage in Yokohama' show on October 23. Marufuji then, still as champion, took part in the 2014 Global League . Marufuji finished with eight points and a four-win, three-loss record, including losses to Nakajima, Morishima, and Satoshi Kojima . Marufuji defeated the Global League winner Takashi Sugiura on December 6 at

1938-573: The company on December 9, failing in his attempt to win the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship from Hiroshi Tanahashi . On May 3, 2004, Marufuji would make his final appearance for NJPW in over five years in a six-man tag team match, where he, Heat and Tiger Mask were defeated by the American Dragon , Koji Kanemoto, and Último Dragón . On December 22, 2009, Marufuji made his return to NJPW, defeating Jyushin Thunder Liger in

1995-543: The crowd gave Marufuji a loud ovation after the match. Marufuji returned to the United States to wrestle for Ring of Honor on the main event of the "Best in the World" show on March 25, 2006 show in New York City , teaming with Kenta for the first time in the United States against the team of Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson ; the team of Marufuji and Kenta won after Kenta pinned Danielson. Marufuji returned to Ring of Honor for

2052-629: The final on November 8. In the final, Marufuji defeated fellow Suzuki-gun member Shelton Benjamin who had finished his block without a single loss to go on and receive a championship opportunity. Marufuji received his title match at the DESTINY 2015 show and he regained the title from Suzuki on December 23, 2015. However, immediately following the match as his Noah roster members celebrated with him, Takashi Sugiura turned on Marufuji to join forces with Suzuki-gun. On January 31, 2016, Marufuji faltered in his first defense of his newly won championship as he lost

2109-526: The finals. On December 23 Sugiura left the stable after he turned on Noah and joined the villainous Suzuki-gun stable. Tag team Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s 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 established teams who wrestle regularly as

2166-531: The first round of the 2009 Super J-Cup . The following day he defeated Tigers Mask , Ryusuke Taguchi , and finally Prince Devitt in the finals, to win the Super J-Cup and earn a match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship . On January 4, 2010, Marufuji represented Noah in the New Japan vs. Noah match series at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome , where he defeated Tiger Mask to win

2223-545: The first two years of his career, under Giant Baba and Mitsuharu Misawa 's isolationist policy, he was a jobber; one of the few rare interpromotional matches he worked was in Michinoku Pro Wrestling in 1999, a lucha libre six-man tag match, gave him a chance to shine. After the Noah secession, he joined the upstart promotion and became an integral part of its Junior Heavyweight division, impressing many with his high-flying style and charisma. He would go on to form

2280-454: The match the 2006 Match of the Year . On December 10, 2006, Marufuji lost the GHC Heavyweight Championship to Mitsuharu Misawa in his third defense. On July 5, 2009, Marufuji was appointed to the position of Noah's Vice President alongside Kenta Kobashi by Noah's current President, Akira Taue , in the wake of Misawa's death. On July 5, 2014, Marufuji won the GHC Heavyweight Championship for

2337-406: The point that they fired a referee in 2008 after a botched finish that, while the match produced the intended finish, did not feature a hot tag . A common variation on the hot tag sees both wrestlers from the heel team attacking a face, while his partner protests to the referee about this bending of the rules (and therefore, unintentionally "distracting" the referee away from the heels). Eventually

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2394-493: The promotion had expired, and he had decided not to re-sign, therefore leaving the stable. On May 6, Tanaka and Sugiura won the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship . On June 1 Tanaka and Sugiura made their first successful title defense by defeating Daisuke Sekimoto and Kazuki Hashimoto. On September 14 Hidaka received an opportunity for the International Junior Heavyweight Championship and

2451-567: The promotion of wrestlers to singles championships in that country is based in part on their work in tag team matches. Naomichi Marufuji Naomichi Marufuji ( 丸藤正道 , Marufuji Naomichi ) (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah . Marufuji is a four-time GHC Heavyweight Champion , as well as the first of two men to win Junior Heavyweight Championships in all three major Japanese promotions ( Minoru Tanaka

2508-488: The ring and one on the floor, are employed to maintain order for this type of match. In independent discussion and analysis of matches, certain terms are used to describe specific scenarios involving tag team matches. These are planned and timed to inject drama into a match. One spot common to many tag team match is the hot tag . One member of one team is in the ring, too weakened to move or otherwise impaired, while his partner watches helplessly, struggling to reach him for

2565-545: The second time, defeating Yuji Nagata . That same month he defended the championship against BRAVE stablemate Katsuhiko Nakajima on July 21. He then defeated Takeshi Morishima on August 24 in his second title defense at Korakuen Hall . That same night, Maybach Taniguchi won a number one contenders match over Nakajima and the two men squared off on September 23 at the 'Great Voyage in Niigata' show where Marufuji successfully retained his championship. Shortly after, he retained

2622-589: The six-team block. However, at 'Great Voyage in Yokohama' on May 10, Marufuji received a rematch with Suzuki for the championship. Marufuji, however, ultimately came up short in his attempt to dethrone the Suzuki-gun leader. Marufuji continued the year outside of the title picture taking part in tag team matches squaring off with Suzuki-gun foes, however at the September 19 'Great Voyage in Osaka' show Marufuji defeated BRAVE stablemate Atsushi Kotoge . Marufuji then took part in

2679-443: The stable, and they also revealed the name of the stable as Dangan Yankees. On March 18 Obata was defeated in a match by Daemon Ueda and because of match stipulations, changed his name to Omatayuuchaku. On March 30 Hayato and Hidaka failed to capture the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship in a three-way tag team match. On April 8, while Hashimoto was recovering from a broken jaw, Zero1 announced that his contract with

2736-458: The start of the 2017 Global Tag League 's beginning. The team took part in the tag league finishing at the top of the block with ten points and ultimately won the final as well by defeating Shiozaki and Kotoge. The champion duo was then promptly challenged by a team they lost to in the tournament, Cody Hall and Randy Reign, and on June 4 Marufuji and Taniguchi defeated them in a championship title defense. On August 26, Marufuji and Taniguchi lost

2793-538: The tag league, the duo won a shot at the GHC Tag Team Championships held by Killer Elite Squad. On May 28 at the 2016 'Great Voyage In Osaka' event, the pair defeated Killer Elite Squad and became the new GHC Tag Team Champions. The pair's first match as champions was an immediate title defense over the former champions at 'Emerald Spirits In Korakuen' on June 12. The pair defended their championships twice more before Marufuji went to New Japan to take part in

2850-529: The title to Takashi Sugiura . The next month, on February 19, Marufuji took part in a ten-man tag team match that pitted Suzuki-gun members against Noah roster members. Marufuji was the second to last person eliminated being pinned by Sugiura. On March 19, 2016, Marufuji continued to battle against the Suzuki-gun stable that had invaded Noah as he alongside Muhammad Yone and Mitsuhiro Kitamiya defeated Shelton Benjamin , Takashi Iizuka , and Suzuki himself in

2907-407: The title to Atsushi Kotoge and Go Shiozaki. On December 22, the two received their rematch for the titles, but lost to 50FP (Quiet Storm and Mohammad Yone) after Taniguchi turned on him, revealing himself as the traitor within NOAH that Mitsuya Nagai had been hinting at for several shows. On May 29, 2018, five days after his Triple Crown challenge, Marufuji unsuccessfully challenged Takashi Sugiura for

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2964-661: The tournament, Marufuji was named the number one contender to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On September 23 at Destruction , Marufuji unsuccessfully challenged Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On September 29, 2013, Marufuji returned to New Japan, challenging Shinsuke Nakamura to a match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship . Marufuji failed in his title challenge on October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling . Marufuji returned to New Japan on December 20, 2014, when he, along with fellow Noah wrestlers TMDK ( Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste ),

3021-399: The true legal man, often from behind. A tag team match involving more than two wrestlers per team is often referred to by the total number of people involved (e.g. a six-man tag team match involves two teams of three), while a tag team match involving more than two teams is referred to by normal qualifiers (e.g. a triple threat tag team match involves three teams of two). In lucha libre ,

3078-451: The two defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima and Naomichi Marufuji to win the 2014 Global Tag League . On May 31, Tanaka and Sugiura became double champions, when they defeated Maybach Taniguchi and Takeshi Morishima for Noah's GHC Tag Team Championship . On October 18 to November 8 Sugiura won the 2014 Global League , but he failed to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship from Naomichi Marufuji. In addition, Tokyo Sports named Dangan Yankies

3135-407: The weakened face wrestler does make the tag to his partner, who comes in as the fresh man and is able to take on both opponents quite easily. A blind tag is a legal tag made without the legal opponent's knowledge, usually while his back is turned. This allows the team who uses it an opportunity to confuse the legal opponent, who turns to face what he assumes to be his opponent only to be attacked by

3192-544: Was an effective gimmick and is still utilized by other wrestling companies. The stipulation has become traditionally known as the "Freebird Rule". A common storyline is former tag team partners turning on each other with one member usually turning heel or babyface in the process, which will invariably ignite a feud . This can be used when one member is being called on to develop a new gimmick . The basic tag team match has two teams of two wrestlers facing off against each other. All standard rules for singles wrestling apply to

3249-498: Was revealed as one of Toru Yano's tag team partners at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2015. At the event, the four defeated Suzuki-gun ( Davey Boy Smith Jr. , Lance Archer , Shelton X Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka ) in an eight-man tag team match. Marufuji returned to NJPW on July 18, 2016, by entering the 2016 G1 Climax tournament and defeating reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada in his opening match. On August 12, Marufuji finished his tournament with

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