The winners for both the World Tag League and the Best of the Super Juniors have been decided.
Hiromu Takahashi has won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament for the second time, defeating El Desperado in the tournament finals. It was a fierce back and forth match; at one point, Desperado’s mask had been ripped so much that he took it off and continued fighting. But after two time bombs, Hiromu pinned Desperado to win the tournament.
After the match, Hiromu praised Desperado, saying there was plenty more still to come. He told Desperado that he won this time, but he will see him again.
Hiromu said that before he faces Ishimori, there is something that he needs to do. He says he wants the winner of the Super J Cup tournament that takes place this weekend.
He thanked the fans, saying he loves the Jr. heavyweight division and NJPW.
In the semi-main event, The Guerillas of Destiny defeated FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) thanks to interference from both Jado and KENTA. Jado, who was repeatedly ejected from the arena only to return anyway, distracted the referee long enough to allow KENTA to come into the ring and strike Juice Robinson with his US title contract briefcase. This allowed Tanga Loa to pin Robinson following an assisted powerbomb off the top rope.
This marks the first time the team has won the trophies. Previously, they made it to the finals in 2016, 17, and 18, but lost all three times.
The full card for the Best of the Super Juniors/World Tag League finals has been revealed.
The Best of the Super Juniors 27 finals will headline the card. Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado advanced to the finals on Sunday morning’s card. The World Tag League finals will serve as the co-main event, with David Finlay and Juice Robinson squaring off against The Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa).
Tag matches round out the undercard. Wrestle Kingdom 15 opponents Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito will face off in a tag match. Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay will also face off in a six-man tag team match. A match between the Bullet Club and CHAOS stables will open the card.
Here is the full card for Friday’s show, which takes place at Budokan Hall:
Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado in the Best of the Super Juniors 27 finals
David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa in the World Tag League 2020 finals
Kota Ibushi and Master Wato vs. Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI
Shingo Takagi and SANADA vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Toa Henare vs. Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, and Great-O-Khan
Toru Yano, SHO, and Robbie Eagles vs. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, and Taiji Ishimori
The Best of the Super Juniors and World Tag League finals have been set.
Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado will meet in the Best of the Super Juniors 27 finals, both reaching 14 points. Jr. championTaiji Ishimori also finished with 14 points. Takahashi and Desperado both have wins over Ishimori, however, which eliminates him from the tournament.
After Desperado defeated BUSHI to advance to the finals, Takahashi came out and confronted Desperado as the two had a staredown.
Meanwhile, Juice Robinson and David Finlay will meet the Guerillas of Destiny in the World Tag League finals. After Finlay & Robinson defeated Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI to advance, the Guerillas of Destiny jumped Finlay and Robinson before they could cut a celebratory promo. Jado called GoD the leaders of the tournament and that they would be the winners come Friday.
Robinson & Finlay and GoD both finished with 12 points. Champions Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr. also had 12 points, but they lost to both teams.
This would be the second time that Robinson and Finlay have reached the finals, winning the tournament last year over EVIL and SANADA. They went on to defeat the Guerillas of Destiny at Wrestle Kingdom 14 for the IWGP Tag Team titles.
The finals for both tournaments will take place on December 11 at Budokan Hall. Here are the final scores for both tournaments:
NJPW has announced matches for both the Super J-Cup and Best of the Super Junior tournaments.
For BOSJ, the tour will open on November 15 with a Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori main event. It will run through December 6, which will be headlined by SHO taking on Taiji Ishimori. The top two point scorers will then meet on December 11 in the finals.
The Super J-Cup will take place the following day, on December 12 in the United States. A special tag team match will take place, with Karl Fredericks and Ren Narita teaming up to take on KENTA and Hikuleo of the Bullet Club. The first round bracket will include Clark Connors vs. Chris Bey, ACH vs. TJP, Rey Horus vs. Blake Christian, and El Phantasmo vs. Lio Rush.
Here are the full list of matches for both the BOSJ tournament and the Super J-Cup:
NJPW has announced cards for their November Road to Power Struggle shows.
The main event on November 1st will see Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI challenge champions El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles. A six-man tag team match has also been announced. Chase Owens will return to Japan, teaming with Bullet Club partners Jay White and KENTA to face Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomoaki Honma.
November 2nd will be headlined by a IWGP Tag Team title match. Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi) will defend against the CHAOS team of Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI. This follows a challenge he made at a show held on Friday morning, calling out Sabre & Taichi.
This year’s participants will be revealed during a November 2 Road to Power Struggle event at Korakuen Hall. The tournament will begin on November 15 and run through December 11 at Budokan Hall.
The tournament will run concurrently with this year’s World Tag League tournament. It wasn’t announced when the lineup for that tour will be revealed.
Here are the full cards for both shows, which will air live on NJPW World at Korakuen Hall:
November 1st:
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi
Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomoaki Honma vs. Jay White, KENTA, and Chase Owens
Kazuchika Okada & Gabriel Kidd vs. Will Ospreay & Great-O-Khan
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and Toru Yano vs. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., and DOUKI
Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
November 2nd:
Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi
Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomoaki Honma vs. Jay White, KENTA, and Chase Owens
Entrants for the Best of the Super Jr. 27 will be announced
Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kazuchika Okada & Yuya Uemura vs. Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan
NJPW announced that both Best of the Super Juniors 27 and World Tag League 2020 tournaments will take place at the same time.
Both will start on November 15 at the Dolphins Arena in Aichi, with the finals of both tournaments taking place at the Nippon Budokan on December 11.
The company also said that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, they will limit the number of wrestlers participating in the tournaments. Furthermore, the World Tag League and Best of the Super Juniors tournaments will alternate on each night. The only nights where both tournaments will be on the same show will be opening night (November 15) and the final tournament matches prior to the finals (December 6).
The schedule is as follows:
November 15: Both World Tag Leauge and Best of the Super Juniors
November 16: World Tag League
November 18: Best of the Super Juniors
November 19: World Tag League
November 20: Best of the Super Juniors
November 22: World Tag League
November 23: Best of the Super Juniors
November 24: World Tag League
November 25: Best of the Super Juniors
November 28: World Tag League
November 29: Best of the Super Juniors
November 30: World Tag League
December 2: Best of the Super Juniors
December 4: World Tag League
December 5: Best of the Super Juniors
December 6: Best of the Super Juniors, World Tag League final tournament matches
December 11: World Tag League, Best of the Super Juniors finals
Best of the Super Juniors usually takes place in May. However, this year’s tour was cancelled as a result of the pandemic.
This year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament is the latest professional wrestling event to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
NJPW announced tonight that all 19 shows that were scheduled for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tour have been canceled. NJPW wrote that the decision was made in response to the pandemic and in light of the extension of state of emergency measures in Japan.
The Best of the Super Junior tour was set to kick off at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on May 12 and conclude at Tokyo’s Ota City General Gymnasium on June 6. Refund information for the canceled shows will be announced soon.
In their statement about the cancellation of the tour, NJPW noted that they will make announcements regarding events that are scheduled for after June 6 upon careful monitoring of the developing situation with the pandemic. NJPW also wrote that they’re “continuing to explore the possibility of presenting matches without fans in attendance if staff and wrestler health and safety can be protected to the highest possible standard.”
Will Ospreay won last year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament by defeating Shingo Takagi in the finals. That match was voted Match of the Year in the 2019 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards.
Ospreay went on to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship from Dragon Lee at Dominion 2019. At Wrestle Kingdom 14 night one this January, Ospreay lost the title to Hiromu Takahashi.
Here’s NJPW’s full statement on the cancellation of this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tour:
In response to the continuing Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, and in light of the extension of state of emergency measures across Japan, New Japan Pro-Wrestling has arrived at the decision to cancel all events on the Best of the Super Junior 27 tour that was scheduled between May 12 and June 6.
We deeply apologise to fans who were looking forward to these events. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the disease. As eager as everyone at New Japan Pro-Wrestling is to return to the ring as soon as possible, the health and safety of our fans, wrestlers and staff, as well as society at large is our utmost concern.
We will make announcements about events scheduled after June 6 upon careful monitoring of this developing situation. We will soon announce refund procedures for the affected events.
NJPW is continuing to explore the possibility of presenting matches without fans in attendance if staff and wrestler health and safety can be protected to the highest possible standard.
Meanwhile, programs like the NJPW Together Project will continue to see wrestlers and staff come together to bring the best possible content to fans while we eagerly await the opportunity to entertain live crowds once more.
The following events are covered by today’s cancellations:
Tuesday, May 12: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Wednesday, May 13: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Thursday, May 14: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Saturday, May 16: Yamagata Big Wing, Yamagata
Sunday, May 17: Morioka Takaya Arena, Iwate
Monday, May 18: Iwaki City Gymnasium, Fukushima
Tuesday, May 19: Sendai Sun Plaza Hall, Miyagi
Thursday, May 21: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Friday, May 22: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Saturday, May 23: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Sunday, May 24: Kamisu Bousai Arena, Ibaraki
Wednesday, May 27: Saku City General Gymnasium, Nagano
Thursday, May 28: Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall, Aichi
Friday, May 29: Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium Sub Arena
Saturday, May 30: Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium Sub Arena
Monday, June 1: Item Ehime
Tuesday, June 2: Takamatsu City General Gymnasium #1, Kagawa
Thursday, June 4: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Saturday, June 6: Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo
Dates have been announced for the 27th Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
This year’s tournament will start on May 12 and will run three days straight in Korakuen Hall. There will be another three dates on May 21 through 23, and one final date on June 4.
The finals will take place on Saturday, June 6 at the Ota Ward General Gymnasium.
Block formatting and participants for this year’s tournament have yet to be named. Those will be announced closer to the start of the tournament.
Last year’s tournament featured Will Ospreay defeating Shingo Takagi to win the tournament for the second time. He went on to defeat Dragon Lee to win the IWGP Jr. title for the third time at Dominion. Both men now wrestle in the heavyweight division.
Here is the complete list of dates announced for this year’s tournament:
May 12, 13, 14: Korakuen Hall
May 16: Yamagata Big Wing in Yamagata
May 17: Morioka Takaya Arena in Iwate
May 18: Iwaki Municipal General Gymnasium in Fukushima
May 19: Sendai Sun Plaza Hall in Miyagi
May 21, 22, 23: Korakuen Hall
May 24: Kamisu Disaster Prevention Arena in Ibaraki
May 27: Saku-shi General Gymnasium in Nagano
May 28: Nagoya International Convention Center in Aichi
May 29, 30: Osaka City General Gymnasium in Osaka
June 1: Item Ehime in Ehime
June 2: Takamatsu City General Gymnasium in Kagawa
