__NOTOC__ The was an annual professional wrestling tag team tournament, founded by All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW), which held it from 1985 to 2004 (with no tournament taking place in 1990). After the folding of AJW in 2005, the tournament was adopted by its one-time rival and later associate promotion, JWP Joshi Puroresu, which held it annually from 2011 to 2016.
The tournament is usually held under round-robin rules with only the 2004 and 2016 tournaments having been held in a single-elimination format. The tournament's points system has varied throughout the years. From 1985 to 1992, a win was worth one point, a draw half a point and a loss zero points. From 1993 onwards a win has been worth two points, a draw one point and a loss zero points. When JWP took over promoting the tournament in 2011, it was moved to the beginning of the year from its usual position at the end of the year. JWP was also the first to introduce two round-robin blocks in the tournament instead of the usual single block system used by AJW. In AJW, the winners usually received a shot at the WWWA World Tag Team Championship, were they not already the reigning champions, while in JWP the tournament was used to determine the number one contenders to the unified Daily Sports Women's and JWP Tag Team Championships.
Due to the tournament's unusual name, it has sometimes been referred to as "The Best Tag (Team) League" by English language reporters, however, the tournament's Japanese promoters have always called it "Tag League the Best".
Manami Toyota holds the record for most Tag League the Best wins with five, all with different partners. No tag team has been able to win the tournament twice. Madusa Miceli is the only non-Japanese wrestler to be part of a winning team in the tournament.
List of winners 1985: Bull Nakano and Dump Matsumoto 1986: Chigusa Nagayo and Yumiko Hotta 1987: Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka 1988: Hisako Uno and Mika Suzuki 1989: Madusa Miceli and Mitsuko Nishiwaki 1991: Kyoko Inoue and Toshiyo Yamada 1992: Aja Kong and Kyoko Inoue 1993: Akira Hokuto and Manami Toyota 1994: Manami Toyota and Takako Inoue 1995: Kyoko Inoue and Tomoko Watanabe 1996: Manami Toyota and Rie Tamada 1997: Kaoru Ito and Yumiko Hotta 1998: Momoe Nakanishi and Nanae Takahashi1999: Manami Toyota and Miho Wakizawa 2000: Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda 2001: Manami Toyota and Yumiko Hotta 2002: Kayo Noumi and Momoe Nakanishi 2003: Ayako Hamada and Nanae Takahashi 2004: Kumiko Maekawa and Saki Maemura 2011: Kayoko Haruyama and Tsubasa Kuragaki 2012: Ran Yu-Yu and Toshie Uematsu 2013: Dash Chisako and Sendai Sachiko 2014: Rabbit Miu and Tsukushi 2015: Aoi Kizuki and Kayoko Haruyama 2016: Hanako Nakamori and Makoto
1985 The first Tag League the Best was held in late 1985, with the finals taking place on October 10. The tournament featured eight teams in a single block, facing each other in a round-robin tournament. After the round-robin section was finished, the top team qualified straight to the final match, while teams placed second and third were put in a semifinal match to determine the other finalist.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka 6.0 Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno 5.0 Bull Nakano and Dump Matsumoto 5.0 Jaguar Yokota and Yukari Omori 4.0 Devil Masami and Jumbo Hori 3.5 Monica Castillo and Monster Ripper 2.5 Mika Komatsu and Yumi Ogura 2.0 Kanako Nagatomo and Kazue Nagahori 0.0
1986 The second Tag League the Best was held at the end of 1986, with the finals taking place on October 10, 1986. This year, the two top teams following the round-robin portion advanced directly to the finals of the tournament, with no semifinal matches taking place.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Chigusa Nagayo and Yumiko Hotta 6.5 Hisako Uno and Yukari Omori 6.5 Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno 6.0 Bull Nakano and Condor Saito 6.0 Devil Masami and Kyoko Asa 5.5 Kazue Nagahori and Yumi Ogura 5.0 Dump Matsumoto and Yasuko Ishigura 4.0 Kanako Nagatomo and Mika Komatsu 3.5 Judy Martin and Velvet McIntyre 2.0 Lioness Asuka and Mika Suzuki 0.0
1987 The third Tag League the Best culminated in a final match on October 11, 1987. For the second year in a row, there were no semifinal matches; the two top teams following the round-robin portion took part in a final match.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka 7.0 Bull Nakano and Condor Saito 7.0 Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno 6.0 Angel Manelli and Leilani Kai 6.0 Devil Masami and Yukari Omori 5.5 Kazue Nagahori and Yumi Ogura 4.0 Dump Matsumoto and Kage Kahoru 3.5 Mika Suzuki and Yumiko Hotta 2.5 Mika Komatsu and Yasuko Ishigura 2.0 Drill Nakamae and Kumiko Iwamoto 1.5
1988 The fourth Tag League the Best ran in late 1988 and culminated in a final match on October 10. The top team following the round-robin portion of the tournament moved directly to the finals, while teams number two and three faced off in a semifinal match.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Mitsuko Nishiwaki and Yumiko Hotta 7.5 Hisako Uno and Mika Suzuki 7.0 Bull Nakano and Dynamite Jack 7.0 Mika Komatsu and Yumi Ogura 6.5 Itsuki Yamazaki and Noriyo Tateno 6.0 Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada 5.5 Dynamite King and Dynamite Queen 5.5 Kumiko Iwamoto and Sachiko Nakamura 4.0 Erika Shishido and Nobuko Kimura 2.5 Kaoru Maeda and Mika Takahashi 2.0 Miori Kamiya and Raven Amada 1.5
1989 The fifth Tag League the Best was held in late 1989 and culminated in a final match on October 8. This tournament was the first two introduce two semifinal matches, with the top four teams qualifying following the round-robin portion.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Madusa Miceli and Mitsuko Nishiwaki 6.0 Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada 6.0 Raven Amada and Yumiko Hotta 6.0 Akira Hokuto and Etsuko Mita 6.0 Beastie and Bull Nakano 6.0 Bison Kimura and Grizzly Iwamoto 5.5 Mima Shimoda and Suzuka Minami 4.5 Hiromi Hasegawa and Noriyo Tateno 4.0 Kaoru Maeda and Mika Takahashi 0.5 Aja Shishido and Miori Kamiya 0.5
1991 After no tournament was held in 1990, Tag League the Best returned in 1991 taking place between October 4 and December 8.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Kyoko Inoue and Toshiyo Yamada 5.5 Aja Kong and Bison Kimura 4.5 Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano 4.5 Bat Yoshinaga and Yumiko Hotta 3.5 Debbie Malenko and Suzuka Minami 3.0 Mariko Yoshida and Takako Inoue 3.0 Etsuko Mita and Manami Toyota 3.0 Mima Shimoda and Miori Kamiya 1.0
1992 The seventh Tag League the Best was held between October 17 and December 13, 1992. This was the final tournament to feature half points. The two top teams following the round-robin portion qualified directly to the semifinals.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Aja Kong and Kyoko Inoue 6.5 Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada 6.0 Debbie Malenko and Sakie Hasegawa 5.5 Suzuka Minami and Yumiko Hotta 5.0 Takako Inoue and Terri Power 4.0 Bat Yoshinaga and Tomoko Watanabe 3.0 Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda 3.0 Miori Kamiya and Kaoru Ito 2.5 Erica Tsuchiya and Yukari Maedomari 1.0
1993 The eighth Tag League the Best was held between October 10 and December 10, with a final match taking place between the two top teams.
Notably, the final point-determining match of the League ended in a tie for the top two placements. So was immediately followed up with a sudden-death rematch for the "final". Both matches received a 5-star rating from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Kyoko Inoue and Toshiyo Yamada 10 Akira Hokuto and Manami Toyota 10 Eagle Sawai and Yasha Kurenai 8 Takako Inoue and Yumiko Hotta 8 Bull Nakano and Suzuka Minami 8 Aja Kong and Sakie Hasegawa 8 Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda 4 Kaoru Ito and Tomoko Watanabe 0
1994 The ninth Tag League the Best was held between October 8 and December 10, 1994. Due to a three-way tie following the round-robin portion of the tournament, the top three teams faced each other once more to determine the winner. Manami Toyota and Takako Inoue prevailed, defeating both Aja Kong and Reggie Bennett, and Kyoko Inoue and Sakie Hasegawa, while Kong and Bennett were able to win only one of the tiebreaker matches and Inoue and Hasegawa lost both.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Manami Toyota and Takako Inoue 10 Aja Kong and Reggie Bennett 10 Kyoko Inoue and Sakie Hasegawa 10 Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda 9 Toshiyo Yamada and Yumiko Hotta 9 Kaoru Ito and Suzuka Minami 5 Rie Tamada and Tomoko Watanabe 2 Chaparita Asari and Mariko Yoshida 1
1995 The tenth Tag League the Best ran between October 10 and December 10, 1995, and was the first and thus far only tournament to feature a match for the third place in the tournament.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Kyoko Inoue and Tomoko Watanabe 10 Kaoru Ito and Manami Toyota 10 Reggie Bennett and Yumiko Hotta 9 Aja Kong and Takako Inoue 9 Akira Hokuto and Mima Shimoda 8 Etsuko Mita and Toshiyo Yamada 6 Mariko Yoshida and Sakie Hasegawa 4 Chaparita Asari and Yoshiko Tamura 0
1996 The eleventh Tag League the Best was held between October 13 and December 1, 1996. For the first time in five years, the tournament featured semifinal matches, with the top four teams qualifying for advancement following the round-robin portion.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Chaparita Asari and Kyoko Inoue 15 Mima Shimoda and Reggie Bennett 14 Kumiko Maekawa and Tomoko Watanabe 12 Manami Toyota and Rie Tamada 9 Aja Kong and Yoshiko Tamura 8 Yuka Shiina and Yumiko Hotta 8 Etsuko Mita and Misae Genki 6 Saya Endo and Toshiyo Yamada 6 Takako Inoue and Yumi Fukawa N/A Kaoru Ito and Mariko Yoshida N/A
1997 The twelfth Tag League the Best took place in late 1997 and culminated in a final match on December 21. No semifinal matches took place.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Kaoru Ito and Yumiko Hotta N/A Kumiko Maekawa and Takako Inoue N/A Emi Motokawa and Manami Toyota N/A Kayo Noumi and Momoe Nakanishi N/A Miho Wakizawa and Miyuki Fujii N/A
1998 The thirteenth Tag League the Best took place between October 10 and November 22, 1998, again with no semifinal matches.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Momoe Nakanishi and Nanae Takahashi 10 Manami Toyota and Yumiko Hotta 9 Zap I and Zap T 9 Kayo Noumi and Miho Wakizawa 6 Emi Motokawa and Sachie Noshibori 2 Mayumi Takahashi and Miyuki Fujii 0 Kumiko Maekawa and Mika Haikae 0
1999 The fourteenth Tag League the Best was held between October 10 and December 26, 1999. For the first time in eight years, the tournament featured a single semifinal match between teams ranked two and three following the round-robin portion, while the top team qualified directly to the finals.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Kumiko Maekawa and Tomoko Watanabe 5 Manami Toyota and 5 Momoe Nakanishi and Nanae Takahashi 5 Kaoru Ito and Kayo Noumi 3 Miyuki Fujii and Yumiko Hotta 2
2000 The fifteenth Tag League the Best was held between October 15 and December 23, 2000. The winners of the tournament, Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda, went on to defeat Momoe Nakanishi and Nanae Takahashi for the WWWA World Tag Team Championship on January 4, 2001.
+Final standings Wrestlers Score Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda 7 Kayo Noumi and Manami Toyota 7 Momoe Nakanishi and Nanae Takahashi 6 Carol Midori and Sayuri Okina 6 Kaoru Ito and 4 Kumiko Maekawa and Tomoko Watanabe 0