NJPW is running back the 2025 Best of the Super Juniors finals with YOH hoping for a different result this time.
It will be a repeat of last year when YOH and Kosei Fujita face off in the Best of the Super Juniors finals this Sunday. Fujita won that 2025 bout to claim his first-ever BOSJ trophy. YOH, who made it to the finals in both 2021 and 2025, has never won the tournament before.
During block action this year, YOH and Fujita finished second in their blocks. They advanced to the semifinals for what ended up being matchups against their respective tag team partners. YOH defeated his ally Master Wato, the A Block winner, while Fujita was able to defeat his Ichiban Sweet Boys partner and B Block winner Robbie Eagles.
The tournament finals are being held at Ota City Gym in Tokyo on Sunday, and the show will air live on NJPW World starting at 4 a.m. Eastern time. In addition to the BOSJ trophy, an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot is at stake with either YOH or Fujita becoming the next challenger for DOUKI.
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors finals (Sunday, June 7) —
Best of the Super Juniors tournament final: YOH vs. Kosei Fujita
Rest of card to be announced
There will be both English and Japanese commentary available for the event.
The show is taking place at Budokan Hall in Tokyo this Friday (June 3) and will air live on NJPW World starting at 5 a.m. Eastern time. It’s being headlined by Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado to determine the winner of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
The winner of Takahashi vs. Desperado will likely get an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot against Taiji Ishimori at Dominion on Sunday, June 12.
Two new matches have been added to the Best of the Super Juniors finals. Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI will team up against Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI in a six-man tag match. Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru will take on EVIL & SHO.
Takagi is defending his KOPW 2022 Championship against Taichi at Dominion.
It was announced overnight that Will Ospreay, Karl Anderson, and Tanga Loa are off the card for the Best of the Super Juniors finals. Ospreay is recovering from a kidney infection, Anderson has tested positive for COVID-19, and Loa has a knee injury.
Here is the full lineup for Friday’s show:
Best of the Super Juniors finals: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado
Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Tama Tonga & Jado vs. Jay White, Doc Gallows, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI vs. Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI
Jeff Cobb, The Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare vs. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & El Phantasmo
Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. EVIL & SHO
Tomoaki Honma vs. Juice Robinson
Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. TJP & Francesco Akira
Robbie Eagles, YOH, Titan & Clark Connors vs. El Lindaman, Ace Austin, Wheeler Yuta & Alex Zayne
NJPW has revealed the full lineup for the Wednesday, December 15 World Tag League and Best of the Super Juniors 28 finals.
The BOSJ finals will main event, as Hiromu Takahashi takes on YOH. Hiromu will be trying for his third overall BOSJ crown, and his second consecutive. A win for YOH would be the first of his career.
In the semi-main event, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI of CHAOS will face EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi from Bullet Club House of Torture to decide the 2021 World Tag League winner. Both Goto and EVIL have won the tournament twice before with different partners.
Also announced for Wednesday, Katsuyori Shibata is scheduled to make a “major announcement.”
A Wrestle Kingdom night one preview will take place in the sixth match of the night. IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi will team with BUSHI against his Wrestle Kingdom challenger Kazuchika Okada and Robbie Eagles. Okada and Shingo will main event on January 4, 2022, with the winner defending the IWGP title against Will Ospreay the next night.
A hodgepodge of tag matches will fill out Wednesday’s undercard.
Here is the lineup:
NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors finals, Wednesday, December 15, 4:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
Best of the Super Juniors 28 finals: Hiromu Takahashi vs. YOH
World Tag League 2021 finals: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi
Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Kazuchika Okada & Robbie Eagles
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens
Toru Yano, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Master Wato vs. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Tiger Mask & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo
Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuto Nakashima & Kosei Fujita vs. Minoru Suzuki, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku
NJPW has released the full card for Wednesday’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament finals.
Most of the undercard was revealed tonight, featuring multi-man tag team matches from both heavyweights who have been off the tour and junior heavyweights who competed in the tournament. Kazuchika Okada will team up with Rocky Romero to face Marty Scurll and Brody King prior to the top three matches.
Already set for the show is Hiroshi Tanahashi’s comeback match following an elbow injury, facing Jay White. Jon Moxley will also be making his debut, facing Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States title in the co-main event. The main event will feature A Block winner Shingo Takagi taking on Will Ospreay, who won the B Block.
The Best of the Super Juniors finals will take place on June 5 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Here is the full card:
Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi in the BOSJ finals
Juice Robinson vs. Jon Moxley for the IWGP United States title
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White
Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero vs. Marty Scurll & Brody King
Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma and Toa Henare vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI
Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask vs. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru and DOUKI
Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH and SHO vs. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo and Robbie Eagles
Dragon Lee, Titan and Shota Umino vs. Jonathan Gresham, Bandido and Ren Narita
Hiroshi Tanahashi has an opponent for his return match.
NJPW has announced that Tanahashi will face Jay White at the Best of the Super Juniors finals at Sumo Hall in Tokyo on Wednesday, June 5. Aside from the winner of the A Block taking on the winner of the B Block to determine who wins the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, this is the first match confirmed for the event.
An angle at Wrestling Dontaku night two this past weekend set up Tanahashi vs. White for the Best of the Super Juniors finals. Tanahashi made a surprise appearance, announcing that he’ll be returning to the ring on June 5. Tanahashi said his goal after returning is to become IWGP Heavyweight Champion again, which led to him being interrupted by White and Gedo.
White said he should be next in line for a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight title and Tanahashi should be all the way in the back of the line. White attacked Tanahashi, then tried to target his elbow. White was stopped by young lions who were at ringside.
Tanahashi has been out of action with an elbow injury since facing Zack Sabre Jr. at G1 Supercard on April 6. Tanahashi underwent surgery for the injury last month.
The 24th annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament concludes tonight, with the winner very likely getting the next Junior Heavyweight title shot at Dominion.
Will Ospreay, the winner of last year’s tournament, takes on KUSHIDA in the main event. They have faced off twice in the last year, with KUSHIDA winning both times. It makes all the sense in the world for KUSHIDA to win as the last few months he’s been looking to regain the Junior Heavyweight title from Hiromu Takahashi, suffering some embarrassing losses along the way. But with Ospreay 0-2 against KUSHIDA, he too has something to prove by winning this match.
The undercard includes a number of tag team bouts, some leading towards Dominion on June 11th. In the co-main event, Kazuchika Okada teams with Gedo to battle Kenny Omega & Marty Scurll.
Meanwhile, Hirooki Goto will team with YOSHI-HASHI to take on Minoru Suzuki & Taichi in a tag team match. War Machine will also be in action, teaming with David Finlay & ACH against Guerrillas of Destiny, Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi.
Our live coverage begins at 4 a.m. ET. The show will air live on New Japan World and there will be English commentary available.
**********
Yuji Nagata, Tamayuki Oka and Shota Umino defeated Manabu Nakanishi, Katsuya Kitamura and Tetsuhiro Yagi
Nagata is Oka’s mentor and Nakanishi is Kitamura’s mentor, so there’s sort of a storyline to this match.Yagi looked really good here for his experience level. He’s one of the newer young lions, debuting earlier last month and this was probably the first match where he stood out. He took the fall, with Oka submitting him with the Boston crab.
Tomohiro Ishii, Jado and Toru Yano defeated Togi Makabe, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hirai Kawato
Kawato and Ishii had some good chemistry with one another, and it showed. the crowd were super into their back and forth towards the end. Everyone else was just there for the normal six man tag fare. Ishii absorbed a dropkick then blasted Kawato with a lariat for the win.
Volador Jr., Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Taka Michinoku
In terms of ability Volador Jr. was head and shoulders above everyone else, showing a great amount of agility. Match didn’t last long, as Volador got the win after an average match with the hurricanrana off the top rope.
They played Jushin Thunder Liger’s music after the match, as this is the last match on the tour and this is his last Best of the Super Junior tournament.
Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Guerillas of Destiny defeated War Machine, ACH and David Finlay
This picked up towards the end. ACH hit a huge suicide dive that kinda took out Fale, but more like crashed headfirst into the announce table.. Hanson flew off the top rope with a big somersault senton, wiping out everyone except Yujiro and Finlay. They had a nice back and forth until Takahashi laid out Finlay with the pimp juice DDT for the win.
Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Minoru Suzuki & Taichi
Suzuki immediately jumped Goto at the bell and posted him on the outside. Big brawl, the normal in Suzuki-gun matches. It seems like ever since they came back in January they’ve inherited all the shenanigans the other heel groups used to do.
Suzuki and Goto had some nice exchanges, but other than that it was your usual Suzuki-gun match. At one point Taichi looked like he was about to win with his superkick when YOSHI-HASHI tried to counter with a rollup, but Taichi took down the referee in the process. This allowed all of Suzuki-gun, who were out there just because, to freely interfere.
Kanemaru was going for the whiskey spot they’ve been doing on this tour when he accidently sprayed Taichi, allowing YOSHI-HASHI to lay him out, then planted Taichi with Karma for the win.
Suzuki was none too happy bout that finish, opting to completely destroy one of the young lions with a steel chair after the match.
Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, EVIL, BUSHI and SANADA defeated Juice Robinson, Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi, Dragon Lee and Satoshi Kojima
Naito at this point was far and away the biggest star in Tokyo’s Yoyogi Gymnasium, generating a massive pop when his music hit. Dragon Lee and Hiromu Takahashi had a hot exchange early in the match. Ricochet followed and looked excellent. Boiled down to a fast paced, action packed, very good match. Naito blocked Kojima’s lariat hit an atomic drop with with EVIL’S assistance was able to hit the Destino for the win.
Naito started to do an interview when Hiroshi Tanahashi arrived in street clothes, also getting a big ovation. They exchanged words, with the gist of it being Tanahashi is feeling fine and will make it to Dominion. Naito threw the belt and walked off, the storyline being he doesn’t care for the title so is actively destroying it physically. Tanahashi held it high before leaving.
Kenny Omega and Marty Scurll defeated Kazuchika Okada and Gedo
Heels worked on Gedo for a good while, even threw in some comedy with Scurll’s umbrella. Gedo finally tagged in Okada as he ran wild on both Bullet Club members. Omega holds back Okada as Scurll takes down Gedo with the chickenwing.
Okada breaks it up, but in the process Omega takes down the ref. Scurll distracts Okada long enough for Omega to jump him, allowing Scurll to lay out Gedo with a piledriver. One chickenwing later gives the win to Scurll in a good match.
KUSHIDA defeated Will Ospreay to win the Best of the Super Juniors tournament
Tremendous match, one of the best junior heavyweight matches of the year, and this is the year where Hiromu Takahashi and Dragon Lee have been tearing things up. Insane spots, great callbacks and overall excellent work and heat…can’t ask for much more in a pro wrestling match, and these two managed to capture all of that.
They start things off slow, feeling each other out. Things heat up when KUSHIDA smacks Ospreay with his feet, then hitting a huge tope con hilo to the outside. KUSHIDA throws Ospreay off his shoulders, causing him to land knees first on the floor, tweaking one of them in the process.
Both KUSHIDA and Ospreay wind up battling on the top rope, with KUSHIDA grabbing the elbow as they both jump down, with Ospreay’s arm landing awkwardly. KUSHIDA builds momentum, working on the arm until Ospreay sends him out with an enziguri and follows with a fosbury flop.
Ospreay continues to build momentum, but KUSHIDA gains the advantage after getting the knees up following a corkscrew attempt by Ospreay. KUSHIDA goes to the top rope, but Ospreay meets him there as they fight. KUSHIDA ends up being draped on the top rope and Ospreay hits a shooting star press, sending KUSHIDA to the apron.
Ospreay drills KUSHIDA with a reverse rana on the apron and follows with a Canadian destroyer DDT. Ospreay goes for the Ozcutter but KUSHIDA springboards and catches him with an armbar. Ospreay somehow finds the strength to buckle bomb KUSHIDA and hits a cutter for a nearfall. Ospreay hits the Robinson special but KUSHIDA ducks the Ozcutter and responds with one of his own.
KUSHIDA fights for the hoverboard lock but Ospreay fights back, leading to a crazy exchange of offense. KUSHIDA gets the better of it and stomps Ospreay’s head repeatedly. KUSHIDA gets the hoverboard lock in for a long while, but Ospreay refuses to submit. KUSHIDA goes for the Back to the Future but Ospreay counters with a stunner. He hits the imploding 450 splash, the move that got the title for him last year, but KUSHIDA kicks out.
A frustrated Ospreay hits multiple cheeky nandos kicks as he looks to do something on the top rope once more. KUSHIDA hits the Back to the Future off the top rope and to the floor. He then follows with one more to win the match and the tournament.
KUSHIDA hugs WIll Ospreay after the match in a show of respect. The trophy is handed to KUSHIDA. He cuts a promo, thanking Ospreay. He managed to get people to do the wave, and sure enough all of the arena did the wave, even the announcers.
KUSHIDA has all of the babyface participants in the ring to congratulate them on the conclusion of the tournament, then calls in Liger, who gets in the ring to celebrate. The confetti flies as KUSHIDA goes into the crowd and celebrates with the fans as the show closes.
Final Thoughts:
The main event, obviously, is something to watch as it’s one of the best junior heavyweight matches of the year, and probably in the top ten of the year overall. The rest of the card was fine, though nothing special. This was a one match show, and that one match exceeded my expectations big time.
