# NJPW Names 16 Teams for World Tag League, Starting Nov. 23

Label: CONFIRMED  
Promotion: NJPW  
By WrestlingNews.com Staff  
Published Nov. 5, 2026, 9:52 PM ET  
URL: https://wrestlingnews.com/story/njpw-names-16-teams-world-tag-league-2026/

> NJPW revealed all 16 World Tag League 2026 teams on Nov. 5. The tournament runs Nov. 23 to Dec. 13, with the final in Kumamoto. Taichi has not yet named a partner.

## The quick version

- 16 teams in two blocks of eight. Opening night is Nov. 23 in Yokohama.
- The top two teams from each block reach the Dec. 11 semifinals in Kagoshima. The final is Dec. 13 in Kumamoto.
- Taichi's partner is listed only as "X". NJPW has not named him.
- All shows stream live in English on NJPW World.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced the full field for World Tag League 2026 on Nov. 5, according to NJPW's own news page. Two blocks of eight teams start a round robin on Nov. 23 in Yokohama. The tournament ends Dec. 13 in Kumamoto.

## A Block

- Knockout Bros. (Yuto-Ice and OSKAR), the IWGP Tag Team Champions
- Monster Sauce (Alex Zayne and Lance Archer)
- Yuya Uemura and Yuji Nagata
- Aaron Wolf and Boltin Oleg
- Unbound Co. (Yota Tsuji and Jeff Cobb)
- TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa and Hartley Jackson)
- United Empire (Callum Newman and Jake Lee)
- House of Torture (SANADA and Yujiro Takahashi)

## B Block

- Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI)
- United Empire (Great-O-Khan and HENARE)
- War Dragons (Shingo Takagi and Drilla Moloney)
- House of Torture (Don Fale and Chase Owens)
- Shota Umino and Satoshi Kojima
- Most Violent Players (Toru Yano and Togi Makabe)
- Taichi and a partner not yet named
- House of Torture (Ren Narita and Shun Skywalker)

## What stands out

Bishamon won this tournament three years running, from 2021 to 2023. NJPW calls them the winningest team in its history, and they head B Block.

Last year's winners were Ryohei Oiwa and Zack Sabre Jr., F4W Online notes. They took their title shot at New Year Dash instead of Wrestle Kingdom. Oiwa is back this year with Hartley Jackson.

Tsuji is the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and is set to defend against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 21 on Jan. 4, per our earlier card story. He is paired here with Jeff Cobb. Yano and Makabe return as Most Violent Players, which NJPW ties to a September brawl with the Knockout Bros. in Hokkaido.

F4W Online expects the winners to decide the next challengers for the IWGP Tag Team titles, unless the champions win it themselves.

## What to watch

Who joins Taichi, and whether any team in A Block can stop the champions.

**How we know.** Source: NJPW's announcement dated Nov. 5, 2026, checked against F4W Online and Slam Wrestling. Nothing in this story is a rumor.

## Sources

- New Japan Pro-Wrestling, "World Tag League Teams Revealed!", Nov. 5, 2026. https://www.njpw1972.com/678773
- F4W Online (Joseph Currier), "NJPW reveals full list of teams for World Tag League 2026", Nov. 2026 (date not shown in the copy we reviewed). https://www.f4wonline.com/news/new-japan/njpw-reveals-full-list-of-teams-for-world-tag-league-2026/
- Slam Wrestling, "NJPW Announces 2026 World Tag League Teams", Nov. 5, 2026 (used to check the team list). https://slamwrestling.net/news/njpw-announces-teams-for-2026-world-tag-league/
- WrestlingNews.com staff reporting: compared the three team lists. Where outlets spell a name differently, we used NJPW's spelling.

How we credit sources: [Editorial standards](https://wrestlingnews.com/editorial-standards/).