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by Taro Nakada, October 1st, 1998 
Rumors abound that Team Tiger, the stable once formed around former superstar
Tiger Kikuchi, now an SJPW commentator, will possibly reform. Although
Kikuchi is in semi-retirement due to his commentating duties, he is still a
major inspiration to many of the younger wrestlers who go through the SJPW
training dojo. Kikuchi's influence had a major impact on Shoji Suzuki,
the man once known as Jet Jaguar. Takao Nakami, Suzuki's former tag
team partner, became a new man after he joined Team Tiger. Kendo Masao,
a promising rookie, was a core member of Team Tiger. The veteran
Masashi "Lightning" Lanther was a core member as well, before betraying the
team, and forming Team Lanther with Jiraiya II. Last, but not least,
Shinji Hamada overcame his personal demons with Kikuchi's aid, and wearing
Kikuchi's Black Tiger mask, defeated his nemesis Super Tengu at Battlecade
'98 for the WWGP Cruiserweight title.If Team Tiger does reform, my sources claim that Shinji Hamada, as Kikuchi's successor, would be the logical choice to lead the group. Mitsunori Takizawa, Hamada's new tag team partner, and an old friend of his father Gori Hamada, would also likely join the group as it's elder statesman. Considering Takizawa's recent change of attitude during a stint in MLWO, as well as reconciling with his old tag partner Akira Ono [again, thanks to Kikuchi], the fans would embrace Takizawa even more if he were to join. Jet Jaguar II, the successor to Suzuki's masked identity, is another candidate, since he has approached Kikuchi about guiding him as he did his predecessor. As Jet Jaguar II has recently agreed to team with Banshee in SJPW as the SJPW branch of Hiryuu Batsu, he may also be asked to join Team Tiger. The last name my sources have named is Shishi Fujiwara, formerly known as the masked Spirit Lion as a fifth member. Fujiwara embodies the work ethic Kikuchi always preached, so his inclusion would help solidify this diverse group as a force to reckon with. If these five men do reform Team Tiger, they may, out of respect to their spiritual leader, use the Japanese pronunciation for Team Tiger, Chiimu Tora. And what does Super Tengu think of all this? My sources tell me that as of yet, Super Tengu is unaware that this group may reform. If they do, will Tengu form a Team Tengu to counter them? If so, who will he recruit? Or will he remain the individual, and battle them single-handedly? 
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