Taguchi Japan


Taguchi Japan is a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The group was formed the night after Wrestle Kingdom 11 on January 5, 2017. Starting out as a trio formed by Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi and Ryusuke Taguchi, the stable appointed Taguchi as their namesake and leader, and have gone on to primarily feud with Los Ingobernables de Japón over the IWGP Intercontinental, IWGP Junior Heavyweight, and NEVER Openweight 6-Man [Tag Team Championship]s. Later members included Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin and Ricochet.
The stable initially found its roots within the tag team of Tanahashi and Elgin, as well as their occasional team-ups with Robinson. After an eye injury suffered by Elgin, Tanahashi teamed with Nakanishi and Taguchi to capture the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship from Los Ingobernables de Japón, leading to the official foundation of the stable. Once Elgin was healed, he was invited into the stable, along with Robinson and Ricochet, the latter of whom had recently lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to L.I.J. Their membership was certified when Ricochet teamed with Taguchi and Tanahashi to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship on April 4.
Due to Taguchi Japan open door policy, several wrestlers such as Yoshitatsu, Katsuya Kitamura and War Machine have made one-off appearances representing the stable. However, the regular members were Tanahashi, Makabe, Kojima, Nakanishi, Kushida, Ricochet and Finlay.

History

Background (2016)

Through ROH's working relationship with NJPW, Ring of Honor mainstay Michael Elgin made his debut for NJPW by taking part in the 2015 G1 Climax between July 23 and August 15. Elgin quickly became popular among Japanese crowds and his performance in the tournament was called a "career resurgence".
On February 20, it was reported that Elgin had signed a two-year deal with NJPW. This was confirmed by NJPW on March 3 and on March 20, he and Hiroshi Tanahashi teamed with Juice Robinson to unsuccessfully challenge Bullet Club for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.
On April 10, Elgin and Tanahashi teamed with Yoshitatsu at Invasion Attack 2016, to win the titles from Bullet Club. They made their first successful defense on April 23 against Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi. before losing the championships back to The Elite at Wrestling Dontaku 2016.
On June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall, Elgin replaced an injured Hiroshi Tanahashi and defeated Kenny Omega in NJPW's first ever ladder match to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion. On September 25 at Destruction in Kobe, Elgin lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Tetsuya Naito, beginning a feud between Elgin, Tanahashi and several others with Naito's Los Ingobernables de Japón stable. At Wrestle Kingdom 11, Tanahashi unsuccessfully challenged Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.

Taguchi Japan (2017)

On January 5, 2017, the day after Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, Tanahashi teamed with Ryusuke Taguchi and Manabu Nakanishi to defeat Los Ingobernables de Japón, while Kushida lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Will Ospreay. Ricochet blamed himself for Funky Future's loss and resigned not only from Taguchi Japan, but NJPW altogether immediately following the match.

Championships and accomplishments