Taguchi Japan | |
---|---|
![]() Founding members (clockwise from top left) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi and leader Ryusuke Taguchi in February 2017 | |
Stable | |
Members | Ryusuke Taguchi[1] (leader) David Finlay[1] Togi Makabe[1] Hiroshi Tanahashi[1]>Kushida[1] Sami Callihan[1] A. C. H.[1] Master Wato[1] |
Debut | January 5, 2017 |
Years active | 2017–present |
Taguchi Japan (タグチジャパン, Taguchi Japan) is a professional wrestling stable in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The group was formed the night after Wrestle Kingdom 11 on January 5, 2017. Starting out as a trio, the stable named Ryusuke Taguchi as their leader,[2] 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 Championships.
The group was formed by Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi and Ryusuke Taguchi, and later came to include Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin and Ricochet. The stable initially found its roots as a tag team consisting of Tanahashi and Elgin, who had teamed with Robinson in the past. 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. Once Elgin was healed, he was invited into the stable, along with Juice 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 (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) have made one-off appearances representing the stable.[3][4] However, the regular members were Tanahashi, Makabe, Kojima, Nakanishi, Kushida, Ricochet and Finlay.[5]
SquadPhoto
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).