Tag: best of the super juniors

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors night 8 results: Taguchi vs. Takahashi

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Best of the Super Juniors 25 continued Sunday in Aichi with four B Block matches, all of which delivered. Here are the results from the show:

Prelim results:

  • Chase Owens and Taiji Ishimori defeated Tiger Mask and Tomoyuki Oka when Owens defeated Oka with the package piledriver.
  • YOSHI-HASHI and YOH defeated Flip Gordon and Shota Umino when YOSHI-HASHI submitted Umino with the butterfly lock.
  • Minoru Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Will Ospreay and Gedo when Kanemaru pinned Gedo with the deep impact DDT.
  • Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI defeated ACH and Toa Henare when Naito pinned Henare with the Destino.

B Block matches:

Marty Scurll defeated Desperado 

This was very good. I think Desperado has been really good in this tournament so far and for the first time in his career is really standing out as a potential top talent. Scurll is always consistently great and I think is actually a bit underrated in how good he actually is, he’s one of the best around honestly.

Scurll immediately attacked Desperado, looking to break his fingers early. Scurll tries for a monkey flip, but Desperado dumps him to the outside and throws him into the audience, who clears out as they brawl all around the arena. Beverages are thrown, trash cans are used as weapons and we get a nice view of the arena as the two eventually make it back to the ring before the 20 count.

Desperado focuses on the knee as he starts to take over the match. Scurll comes back and tries for the chickenwing but Desperado takes him down and applies the stretch muffler. He eventually goes to the outside to get a chair. Scurll tries to block him, but Desperado takes him down and beats him up with some chairs.

Back in the ring, Scurll catches Desperado with a roll-up, then stomps on Desperado’s hand. Scurll looks to use the umbrella, but the referee won’t let him. Desperado runs straight into the turnbuckle and into the chickenwing. 

The referee is taken down as Scurll looks to use the chair Desperado introduced. The referee comes to and takes it away as Desperado looks for a low blow. Scurll blocks him, breaks his finger and applies the chickenwing. With nowhere to go, Scurll submits.

Chris Sabin defeated Dragon Lee

A very good match. I was wondering if there would be a styles clash here, but there wasn’t. Like most of Sabin’s matches, they’re a touch slower than other matches in the tournament but they still kept the pace pretty hot.

Back and forth early. Sabin takes Dragon Lee to the top rope and hits a giant superplex. Dragon Lee fires back by sending Sabin to the outside and lands a giant tope con hilo to the floor.

They fight back and forth until Sabin hits a dropkick that sends Lee to the corner. Lee grabs him and suplexes him into the post. They meet on the apron where Sabin superkicks Lee to the floor. Sabin hits for a hurricanrana, then wipes out Lee again with another dive to the floor.

Lee regains his momentum back in the ring as they start to trade offense, both being taken down after lariats. Sabin connects with a boot to the corner and looks to do something off the top rope, but Lee trips him and stomps him off the top rope for a near fall. Lee looks for his finish, but Sabin escapes and hits a springboard tornado DDT.

Lee fires back with a running knee strike and lifts up Sabin again but Sabin counters with a DDT. Lee counters a cradle shock attempt, but Sabin strikes him with a super kick and hits the cradle shock for the win.

KUSHIDA defeated SHO

I wish this match was a bit more…dynamic? This was a very well wrestled match and the last half of the match was very good, but I was hoping for something a bit more flashier. They wanted to a tell a story, though, and they did a good job here.

Early in the match they do some chain wrestling, with neither getting the advantage. KUSHIDA hooks in an arm and rolls around, looking to wrench it in. SHO catches him in an a headlock, but KUSHIDA takes him back down. They traded ankle lock takedowns.

KUSHIDA took down SHO, focused on one of his arms and dropkicked it. SHO deadlifted him, slamming him back on the floor. He grinds down KUSHIDA with an ankle lock but KUSHIDA fights out of it, then sweeps down SHO and works on his leg. They fight for control until KUSHIDA gets the better of SHO.

KUSHIDA fights back, looking for the kimura. SHO counters with a tilt-a-whirl powerslam, then repeatedly slams KUSHIDA with a triple powerbomb. KUSHIDA lands on his feet after a German attempt and starts connecting with some offense. 

KUSHIDA locks in the hoverboard lock but SHO fights back until KUSHIDA hits the Back of the Future and scores the win with the first pinfall attempt of the match.  

Hiromu Takahashi defeated Ryusuke Taguchi

This was a really good match. Nice heat, great moves, good finish. It was very much the textbook New Japan main event matches, and that isn’t a knock since most of the time they do it so well. It helps that Hiromu Takahashi is an excellent athlete and Taguchi knows when to turn it on.

Taguchi gets the ankle lock in early, but Takahashi bails and goes to the outside to recover. They exchange offense until Taguchi takes him into the crowd. He runs from one side of the building to the other looking for a lariat, but Takahashi ducks and Taguchi ends up colliding into a wall.

Takahashi gets Taguchi back into the ring and starts working him over, stomping on his head and even using a tarantula like maneuver on the ropes. 

Taguchi tries to make a comeback with his butt. The first two times it fails, but third time’s a charm. He follows with a springboard crossbody to the floor, then a tope con hilo that wipes out Takahashi. Back in the ring, they brawl until Takahashi takes out Taguchi with a belly to belly that sends him into the turnbuckle.

Taguchi takes down Takahashi and hits the dodon but Takahashi kicks out. He immediately follows with the ankle lock then goes for a second dodon but Takahashi counters with a roll-up. Taguchi tries it again, but this time can only dump Takahashi on the back of his neck. He sinks in the ankle lock, but Takahashi escapes.

Takahashi takes down Taguchi with a hurricanrana and applies a triangle choke. Taguchi tries to fight out of it, but can’t and winds up submitting.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors night 5 results: Ospreay vs. YOH

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The 25th Best of the Super Juniors tournament continued Thursday with Night Five’s A Block action, held at the Ukaru Chan Arena in Shiga. Here are the results.

Prelim Matches:

  • Shota Umino & KUSHIDA defeated Yota Tsuji & Ryusuke Taguchi when Umino tapped out Tsuji with a Boston Crab.
  • Chase Owens & Marty Scurll defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Chris Sabin when Owens pinned Oka after a Package Piledriver.
  • El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki defeated SHO & YOSHI-HASHI when Desperado pinned SHO afyer a low blow. 
  • Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Toa Henare & Dragon Lee when Naito pinned Henare after a Destino.

A Block Matches:

Tiger Mask defeated BUSHI

This was mostly a one man show, as BUSHI worked incredibly hard to make sure that Tiger makes it to the end of this tournament in one piece. Tiger didn’t do much, but all of his key spots looked good. 

BUSHI jumped Tiger as he tried to get into the ring, and hit a suicide dive. BUSHI grabbed a chair and choked Tiger with it in the aisle, and rammed him into the timekeeper’s table. He threw him into the ring, and continued to choke with the chair. 

As BUSHI raised the chair to strike with it, the referee cut him off, allowing Tiger to fire up and hit some kicks. BUSHI was back in control before long, using a chinlock and a headscissors, working on Tiger’s neck. 

BUSHI went for Tiger’s mask, then hit him with a guillotine legdrop off the top. He used an STF, but Tiger reached the ropes. He went for an attack of the ropes, but Tiger hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and a cross armbreaker. BUSHI came back with a Meteora and a missile dropkick. 

They brawled on the top rope, and Tiger missed a splash. BUSHI hit a Codebreaker for a nearfall. Tiger hit a double underhook suplex for a nearfall. He hit it a second time, but this time from the top rope, and followed with a Tiger Suplex for the pin. 

Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated ACH

Kanemaru jumped ACH in the aisle during his entrance, and brawled around ringside, highlighting what appeared to be a sparse crowd. ACH had his left shoulder heaily taped. He went for a handspring attack n the ring, but his shoulder gave out. Problem is, he sold the wrong shoulder giving out. His selling was excellent through the rest of the match, which is why that minor momentary slip stood out. 

Kanemaru continued working the shoulder, using stomps and an armbar. They brawled outside and teased a countout, but ACH made it back in. Ricky Steamboat is one of the best in-ring babyfaces ever, and he had a rule about not taking more than x number of moves in a row before getting in a hope spot, or else the audience dies. The only wrestler I see practicing that principle with any regularity is Sasha Banks. In a related note, ACH hit a back elbow and a splash, his first meaningful offense of the match, seven minutes in. 

They did a cool criss-cross spot, that ended with ACH hitting a standing double footstomp. He hit a bridging suplex for a nearfall. They teased an Electric Chair, but Kanemaru raked the eyes and hit a DDT. They traded lariats, and ACH got a nearfall. 

ACH hit a slingshot cutter for a nearfall, then tore off his shoulder wrap. He hit a matrix kick for a nearfall, but missed a 450. They teased a ref stoppage, which Kanemaru used as a distraction, spitting the whiskey mist and a brainbuster for a nearfall. He immediately followed with Deep Impact for the win. 

They did a lot of good things, and the last several minutes were good. ACH exclusively selling for the first half of the match made it difficult to get into. 

Flip Gordon defeated Taiji Ishimori

This was a good action match, but lacked the time to be truly memorable. 

They worked at a crazy pace. Flip hit a moonsault off the post to the outside in the first big spot. Ishimori hit a seated senton, and cranked on Flip’s neck. He used a chinlock and a neck crank, continuing to work the neck. 

Flip came back with a springbord dropkick and a suicide dive. He landed a flipping neckbreaker off the middle rope for a nearfall. Ishimori caught him going for a springboard move, and hit his sliding suplex. He hit a Shining Wizard for a nearfall. 

Flip hit a knee strike and a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Flip missed a standing Shooting Star, and Ishimori locked in a crossface. Flip rolled through, and Ishimori slipped to a triangle, but Flip powered up and put him on the top rope, then kicked him off. 

Flip went for a 450, but Ishimori got the knees up. He went for a suplex, but Flip turned it into an O’Connor Roll for the win. 

Will Ospreay defeated YOH

They worked this as a babyface match at the outset, trading arm wringers, clean breaks, reversals, and dropkicks. Things changed a bit when YOH turned to a more strike-based offense, and Ospreay laid in some chops and uppercuts, as well as a 619. 

They did a cool sequence that ended with YOH ducking a corner strike, and hitting a springboard footstomp to Will’s back. He hit a dropkick, and hit a superkick on a prone Ospreay. Ospreay went for an O’Connor Roll, but YOH rolled it into a Dragon Sleeper. Ospreay reached the ropes. 

Ospreay sent YOH outside, and hit the Sasuke Special. He followed with a springboard forearm inside for a nearfall. Ospreay hit a step-up Enziguri and a standing Shooting Star for a nearfall, before both men collapsed to the mat, exhausted. 

They traded strikes, and Will seemed to get the best of the exchange, but he stopped while running the ropes, and really sold the neck. YOH pounced, and hit a bridging suplex for a nearfall. He went for a Falcon Arrow, but Ospreay turned it into a cutter. He hit the Robinson Special, but YOH reversed an Oscutter attempt into an elbow strike. 

They went up top. YOH slipped going for a superplex, but they somehow completed the spot without killing each other. YOH hit a Falcon Arrow for a great nearfall. Ospreay bridged into a pinning combination, but YOH kicked out, and hit a huge lariat, as Ospreay took a flip bump. 

Ospreay hit a standing Spanish Fly for a nearfall, and immediately followed with the Storm Breaker for the pin. 

This was an excellent athletic display, and the last few minutes are worth going out of your way to see.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors night 4 results: Desperado vs. Takahashi

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Here are the results from the fourth night of Best of the Super Juniors action, this time back in Korakuen Hall with B Block matches.

Prelim matches:

  • Chase Owens and Taiji Ishimori defeated Flip Gordon and Tomoyuki Oka when Owens pinned Oka with the cradle piledriver.
  • Minoru Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated ACH and Shota Umino when Kanemaru submitted Umino with a Boston crab.
  • YOSHI-HASHI and YOH defeated Will Ospreay and Gedo when YOSHI-HASHI submitted Gedo with the butterfly lock.
  • Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI defeated Henare and Tiger Mask when Naito pinned Henare with the Destino.

Chris Jericho appeared on the video screen after the Naito match when he was in the ring.  He said he’s crazy and he’ll show Naito how crazy he’ll be at Dominion. He admits that the best New Japan has to offer, but he’s seen people like him come and go. He’s going to make Naito famous, take away his title and take it to the United States. I should make note this is a very much cleaned up version of what he said. People sure like using the f word in New Japan…

B Block matches:

SHO defeated Chris Sabin 

Good match. Sabin’s matches are a bit slower than other matches in the tournament, but that’s perfectly alright, it just makes his matches stand out. He and SHO had a nice, simple bout that was built up well throughout.

Things start off slow, with some match wrestling. SHO takes down Sabin with a choke. He’s in control until Sabin plants him with a DDT. He followed on the outside with a knee to the chest and a running tope con hilo that wiped out SHO on the floor.

Sabin took SHO to the top rope and plants him with a big superplex. SHO came alive with a powerslam. After a chop battle, SHO took down Sabin and applied an armbar. Sabin countered with a crucifix and pelts Sabin with superkicks.

Both back up on their feet, Sabin is laid out with knees to the back. SHO tried for the package piledriver, then connected for the win.

Dragon Lee defeated Ryusuke Taguchi

This was okay. A bit too much comedy at the start, but they ended up having a solid, albeit short match.

Starts off with some comedy early, like Lee sending Taguchi across the ropes and Taguchi keeps running until he gets winded. Lee finally sent him to the outside and ended the games with a tope con giro.

The two go back and forth as they battled to the top rope. Taguchi fell down in the double footstomp to the floor position. Lee took the bait as Taguchi escaped and took him down with an ankle lock. Lee escaped, cut off Taguchi and connected with the desuncadora for the win.

KUSHIDA defeated Marty Scurll

I liked this a lot, a really good match. The chain wrestling at the start was really good and the last few minutes were great. Not a match of the year candidate, but a very good bout.

Some good chain wrestling to start things off. Scurll takes control and takes KUSHIDA to the top rope, slapping him. KUSHIDA responded by taking him to the floor and sinking in an armbar. Scurll countered with a cool rolling surfboard.

Scurll connected with a last shot like maneuver. KUSHIDA tried for a springboard but Scurll took him down. He goes for the chicken wing, but KUSHIDA laid him out and hit a rolling DDT. He goes for the kimura, but Scurll turns it into a roll up. 

KUSHIDA lashed out at Scurll by hitting a rolling kick as he was on the top rope. KUSHIDA climbed up but Scurll grabbed one of his fingers and broke it. KUSHIDA fell to the floor, but immediately got up and hit a DDT. He followed with a knee trembler and Back to the Future to score the win.

El Desperado defeated Hiromu Takahashi

Great match. Different than other match, more like a brawl than anything. But the crowd was into it from the start and bothe the first few minutes and the final minutes were pretty hot. Desperado’s constantly improving to the point where he’s probably one of the more underrated talents in the division. 

Takahashi jumped Desperado at the start of the match and took him into the crowd and up the stairs. He actually hit a running dropkick in an empty space and sent Desperado into a wall. Takahashi takes him back to the ring, but Desperado wakes up and pretty much does the same thing to Takahashi by taking him into the crowd and pelting him with a steel chair.

Desperado continues the assault, hitting an implant DDT on the floor. Takahashi fought back by drilling Desperado with a reverse facebuster to the floor. A running dropkick off the apron sends Desperado into production equipment. 

Back in the ring, Desperado gained control again and put Takahashi in a Boston Crab. He tried to follow with the guitara de angel but Takahashi managed to turn it into a reverse rana. Desperado then walked right into a belly to back suplex into the ring post. 

Desperado tried to use the referee as he was on Takahashi’s shoulders but missed a low blow attempt and was drilled with the running death valley driver into the turnbuckle. Desperado did get the referee out of the way and tried to introduce his tag team title into the match, but it didn’t work.

He distracted the referee for the third time, low blowed Takahashi and hit the guitara de angel but Takahashi kicked out. One angel’s wings later and it was over for Takahashi.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors night 3 results: Will Ospreay vs. ACH

Posted on by Ethan Renner

New Japan ran their third show in as many days Sunday, with Night 3 of the 25th Best of the Super Jr. taking place in Shizuoka. 

The undercard was not made available on New Japan World, but the tournament matches were posted as Video On Demand content late Sunday night Eastern Time. 

Below are the results from Sunday’s card.

**********

Prelim bouts:

  • Shota Umino & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Dragon Lee & Yuya Uemura
  • YOSHI-HASHI & SHO defeated Tomoyuki Oka & Chris Sabin
  • Chase Owens & Marty Scurll defeated Toa Henare & KUSHIDA
  • Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado defeated EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi

Best of the Super Junior Block A matches:

Tiger Mask defeated YOH

The two competitors shook hands before locking up. They exchanged holds and shoulder blocks early, keeping everything very basic. Tiger Mask took control with some strikes and worked a headlock and an armlock on the mat, then unleashed some kicks and knee lifts. 

YOH hit a sweet handspring back elbow, and a dropkick, and Tiger Mask rolled outside. YOH followed him out with a tope, but sold the damage done to his left arm as he waited for Tiger Mask to get back inside. He hit a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. 

Tiger Mask came back with a backbreaker, and teased a double underhook superplex, but YOH blocked it. Tiger applied a scissored armbar on the mat, but YOH reached the ropes. YOH hit a superkick and collapsed onto Tiger Mask for a nearfall as both men sold exhaustion. 

They traded nearfalls with cradles and backslides. Tiger hit a Destroy Suplex for a close nearfall. He landed a high kick, and hit a double underhook superplex for a nearfall, then hit a Tiger Suplex for the pin. This was good. Tiger looked better than he has in his tag outings of late, but I was surprised at how little he gave YOH. 

Flip Gordon defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Kanemaru jumped Flip at the bell, but Flip, well, flipped his way out of trouble, scored a nearfall off a cradle, and hit a tope con hilo. He went for a springboard strike, but ate a boot to the head, and the action spilled outside. 

They brawled around ringside and into the seats, with Kanemaru taking firm control of the bout. Back inside, he grounded Flip with a camel clutch. Flip hit a springboard Sling Blade, leading to a double down. The crowd got into the match, firmly behind Flip. 

Kanemaru went for a suplex, but Flip escaped. They went to the top rope, Flip flew off, and landed a superkick and a dropkick from the mat. Flip went up top, but ate Kanemaru’s knees to the gut on the landing. Kanemaru hit a lariat and a slam, but missed a moonsault. 

Kanemaru hit a Tornado DDT for a nearfall. He came off the top into a superkick, and Flip hit a standing shooting star for a nearfall. Kanemaru used a backslide for a two count. They traded strikes, and went up top. Flip kicked Kanemaru off the top, and hit his Four Flippy Splash for the pin. This was good, but they didn’t have the time to make it great. 

Taiji Ishimori defeated BUSHI

They stalled a lot early on, circling, sizing each other up. BUSHI kicked Taiji outside, but Taiji cut him off before he could hit a tope. BUSHI recovered and went for a guillotine legdrop, but Taiji avoided it and hit a seated senton, then worked a headlock. 

Taiji sat BUSHI on the middle ropes, and hit a suplex, sliding outside while BUSHI landed in the ring. That was a great spot. BUSHI came back with a DDT, and a flying headscissors. He sent Taiji outside and hit a suicide dive through the ropes. 

Back inside, BUSHI hit double knees in the corner and a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall. Taiji hit a handspring into a kick, leading to a double down. BUSHI hit a flying headscissors off the top for a nearfall. He went for an enziguri, but Taiji turned it into a cool move, using a tombstone grip, then dropping into a double knee gutbuster for a nearfall. 

They traded strikes and BUSHI got a nearfall with a Canadian Destroyer. BUSHI came off the second rope into a Codbreaker, and Taiji followed with the Bloody Cross for the pin. They did some cool stuff, but it seemed like they had some miscommunication in places. 

Will Ospreay defeated ACH

They had a hot opening sequence, and within a minute, they established that ACH was a credible threat to Ospreay, as he went flip for flip and reversal for reversal with Ospreay. ACH hit a dropkick and they rolled outside, where Ospreay took over, slamming ACH’s left shoulder into the post. 

Ospreay targeted the shoulder, and focused much of his offense on holds and strikes. ACH bounced out of an arm wringer into a hip toss attemot, and hit a standing splash, and a foot stomp to Ospreay’s back. Ospreay went for a springboard strike, but jumped into a uranage into a bridging suplex for a nearfall. 

They traded chops and strikes, and Ospreay hit a handspring enziguri, a dropkick into the corner, and a standing shooting star for a nearfall. He followed up with a springboard lariat, and went for the Storm breaker, but ACH reversed into a bridging suplex for a nearfall. 

Ospreay went for the Oscutter, but ACH turned it into a DVD for a nearfall. ACH missed a charge into the corner, and flipped to the floor. He went for a suplex from the apron, but Ospreay bblocked it, and followed up with a Sasuke Special. Back inside, he hit a corkscrew 450 for a nearfall. 

He went for another, but ACH knocked him off the top and covered for a nearfall. ACH went for a deadlift german, and finally got it after a struggle. Ospreay turned a suplex attempt into a cutter, leading to a double down. 
Ospreay went for the Storm Breaker again, but ACH escaped. He ent for a lariat, but Ospreay turned it into a corkscrew kick, and followed with the Storm Breaker for the pin. 

I personally liked the Dragon Lee match from Night 2 better than this, but this was a fine main event, and one of the two or three best matches of the tournament so far. 

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors night one results: Ospreay vs. Ishimori

Posted on by Bryan Rose

It’s time once again for New Japan’s junior heavyweight division to shine.

Since 1994, each summer in New Japan starts with the Best of the Super Junior tournament, and this year is no different. Here are results from tonight’s opening day from Korakuen Hall, featuring talent from the A block.

B block action will kick off on tomorrow’s show, also from Korakuen Hall, with Marty Scurll taking on Hiromu Takahashi in the main event.

Prelim results:

  • Chris Sabin and Ren Narita defeated KUSHIDA and Shota Umino when Sabin defeated Umino with the cradle shock.
  • SHO and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Dragon Lee and Tomoyuki Oka when YOSHI-HASHI submitted Oka with the butterfly lock.
  • Minoru Suzuki and Desperado defeated Ryusuke Taguchi and Toa Henare when Suzuki pinned Henare with the Gotch piledriver.
  • EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi defeated Marty Scurll and Chase Owens when EVIL submitted Owens with the Banshee muzzle.

A Block matches:

Tiger Mask defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru

This was fine. Nothing exceptional but had some solid action, and the finish was cool. Tiger Mask took control early, grinding Kanemaru down and sending him to the outside. Kanemaru came back inside the ring and dropkicked Tiger Mask in the knee, gaining control.

Tiger Mask rebounded and hit the tiger bomb. He looked for the butterfly suplex off the top rope and connected. TM immediately followed with an armbar, but Kanemaru managed to escape.

Kanemaru escaped a tiger suplex and cradled TM for a nearfall. Kanemaru took him out of the ring and bodyslammed a young lion on top of him, then took another one on the opposite side and threw it at Tiger Mask, looking for a count out. He makes it in at 19 as Kanemaru takes him to the top rope and goes for a superplex. Tiger Mask shifts his weight, however, and rolls up Kanemaru for the surprise win.

ACH defeated Flip Gordon

Pretty good bout The highlight was some of Gordon’s incredible offense, but this was a pretty good match that played off on both guys’ skills, though I don’t think ACH was flashy as Gordon was here.

ACH controls early, stomping and chopping Gordon around the ring and outside. ACH goes to chop him again but hits the ring post instead. This gives Gordon a window to hit some offense, including a springboard slingblade. Gordon managed to hop from one side of the turnbuckle to the other and hit a giant tope con hilo to the outside. It has to be seen to be believed.

ACH mounted a comeback, taking Gordon to the outside and brawling around the ring. Gordon fights back and finds and entryway, jumping off with a giant crossbody that wipes out ACH. They get back to the ring where Gordon was going for something off the top rope, but ACH connected with a step up dropsault, sending him crashing to the floor. 

Gordon attempted a comeback with a corkscrew splash, but ACH dodged and connected with a deadlift German suplex. He then followed with a cradle DDT to score the win. 

YOH defeated BUSHI

Really good match, particularly the final few minutes. YOH was great in what he did and BUSHI BUSHI jumped YOH at the bell, but YOH fought back, connecting with a great springboard forearm and landed a tope con hilo, wiping out BUSHI on the outside.

BUSHI gathered himself enough to slow down YOH in the ring and grinded him with a headscissors on the floor. He started to mount a comeback when BUSHI stopped him and took him down with a big suicide dive to the floor. YOH came alive again back in the ring, but BUSHI gained control again, this time hitting a hurricanrana on YOH has he was tangled on the ropes.

YOH countered an MX attempt by BUSHI by planting him with a superkick as he came down to the floor. BUSHI took him down with a Canadian destroyer but when he went for the MX again, YOH instead countered with a cradle to score the shock win.

BUSHI jumped him after the match, I guess still thinking the match was still going on. The referee told him otherwise and BUSHI left. 

Taiji Ishimori defeated Will Ospreay

This was great, but I felt like it should have gone a little longer. I think if this lasted a few more minutes it would have been really fantastic. Still, this was a cool match with a lot of hot moves on Ospreay’s part. Ishimori more than held up his own.

Ospreay hits a big machine gun dropkick in the corner to start things off, probably not too happy about what happened earlier this month. On the outside, Ospreay leaped up to a platform inside the audience then wiped out Ishimori in a really cool spot. 

The two continued to fight in the ring. Ishimori cranked Ospreay’s neck and started to focus on that. Ospreay got caught in the second turnbuckle and Ishimori countered by giving Ospreay a German suplex that landed right on his neck. He sort of needs to stop doing that if he wants to do things like walk and move in the future.

Ospreay started to rally and make his comeback, including hitting the 619. Ishimori fought back and countered Ospreay’s every move until flipping Ospreay around and connected with a lung blower. Ospreay countered a submission move by Ishimori, deadlifted him and hit what looked to be an alley oop/reverse powerbomb.

Ospreay draped Ishimori on the top rope and hit a shooting star press off the top rope for a nearfall. Ishimori fired back with a reverse rana but Ospreay immediately countered with the spanish fly. Ospreay went for the Ozcutter, but Ishimori grabbed him and hit his new finish, a suplex into a lungblower he calls the bloody cross, for the win. People reacted huge to Ishimori’victory.

NJPW reveals full Best of the Super Juniors 2018 lineup

Posted on by Joseph Currier

New Japan Pro Wrestling has rounded out the lineup for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors.

Taiji Ishimori, ACH, and Chris Sabin were confirmed as the final three additions for the tournament, joining IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, KUSHIDA, Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI, Marty Scurll, Flip Gordon, Dragon Lee, Sho, Yoh, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Tiger Mask IV.

Ospreay, Ishimori, ACH, BUSHI, Gordon, Yoh, Kanemaru, and Tiger Mask make up the A Block. KUSHIDA, Takahashi, Sabin, Scurll, Lee, Sho, Desperado, and Taguchi are in the B Block.

The first 13 wrestlers for BOSJ were revealed in advertising for the tournament. Ishimori being one of the remaining three additions became apparent when he attacked Ospreay and was revealed as the new Bone Soldier at Wrestling Dontaku night two last Friday.

Ishimori, Gordon, Sabin, Sho, and Yoh didn’t take part in the tournament last year, and Gordon, Sabin, and Sho are appearing in their first BOSJ.

The tournament will begin at Korakuen Hall on May 18th and conclude at the same venue on June 4th. If Ospreay doesn’t win, the winner will likely challenge for his Junior Heavyweight title at Dominion on June 9th. If he does, he’ll probably pick his own challenger for the show.

Here’s the schedule of tournament matches:

May 18th (Korakuen Hall, A Block) —

  • Will Ospreay vs. Taiji Ishimori
  • Yoh vs. BUSHI
  • ACH vs. Flip Gordon
  • Tiger Mask IV vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru

May 19th (Korakuen Hall, B Block) —

  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Marty Scurll
  • KUSHIDA vs. Chris Sabin
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Desperado
  • Dragon Lee vs. Sho

May 20th (Shizuoka, A Block) —

  • Will Ospreay vs. ACH
  • Taiji Ishimori vs. BUSHI
  • Flip Gordon vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Tiger Mask IV vs. Yoh

May 22nd (Korakuen Hall, B Block) —

  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado
  • KUSHIDA vs. Marty Scurll
  • Dragon Lee vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
  • Chris Sabin vs. Sho

May 24th (Shiga, A Block) —

  • Will Ospreay vs. Yoh
  • Taiji Ishimori vs. Flip Gordon
  • ACH vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Tiger Mask IV vs. BUSHI

May 25th (Osaka, B Block) —

  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee
  • Sho vs. El Desperado
  • KUSHIDA vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
  • Marty Scurll vs. Chris Sabin

May 26th (Aichi, A Block) —

  • Will Ospreay vs. BUSHI
  • Taiji Ishimori vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • ACH vs. Yoh
  • Flip Gordon vs. Tiger Mask IV

May 27th (Aichi, B Block) —

  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
  • KUSHIDA vs. Sho
  • Dragon Lee vs. Chris Sabin
  • Marty Scurll vs. El Desperado

May 29th (Tochigi, A Block) —

  • Will Ospreay vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Flip Gordon vs. Yoh
  • ACH vs. BUSHI
  • Taiji Ishimori vs. Tiger Mask IV

May 30th (Fukushima, B Block) —

  • KUSHIDA vs. El Desperado
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Chris Sabin
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Sho
  • Dragon Lee vs. Marty Scurll

May 31st (Aomori, A Block) —

  • Yoh vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Will Ospreay vs. Tiger Mask IV
  • Taiji Ishimori vs. ACH
  • Flip Gordon vs. BUSHI

June 2nd (Gunma, B Block) —

  • KUSHIDA vs. Dragon Lee
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Sho
  • Marty Scurll vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
  • Chris Sabin vs. El Desperado

June 3rd (Korakuen Hall, A and B Block finals) —

  • Will Ospreay vs. Flip Gordon
  • Taiji Ishimori vs. Yoh
  • ACH vs. Tiger Mask IV
  • BUSHI vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Chris Sabin
  • Dragon Lee vs. El Desperado
  • Marty Scurll vs. Sho

June 4th (Korakuen Hall, Tournament finals) —

  • A Block winner vs. B Block winner

Flip Gordon, 12 more advertised for NJPW Best of the Super Juniors

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Advertising for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors appears to have revealed most of the lineup for the tournament.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, Hiromu Takahashi, KUSHIDA, Marty Scurll, Flip Gordon, Dragon Lee, BUSHI, Sho, Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask IV, El Desperado, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru are featured on the poster. Assuming there will again be 16 wrestlers in the field, there are only three names left to be announced.

Gordon officially confirmed on Twitter that he’ll be in the tournament. It was teased that he would be taking part in it when he wrestled for NJPW for the first time on their Honor Rising tour with ROH in February.

Dragon Lee suffered a leg injury at CMLL’s Arena Mexico show last Friday. The severity of it has yet to be confirmed, but Luchablog notes that he was back in the gym yesterday.

This year’s Best of the Super Juniors will begin at Korakuen Hall on May 18th and conclude at the venue on June 4th. If Ospreay doesn’t win the tournament, the winner will likely challenge for his title at Dominion on June 9th.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors finals fan feedback

Posted on by F4W Staff

Thumbs Up

  • Best Match: Ospreay vs KUSHIDA
  • Worst Match: None, nothing I didn’t like

I thought the tournament was great overall. I’ve only followed NJPW closely for a few years, but it was the best BOSJ in that time. I couldn’t agree more with what you have continually said regarding Liger’s usage in the tournament. The first tapes I traded for back in college were of Liger, and I think there are a lot of people in similar situations. Given Liger’s popularity in the few American dates that he’s worked over the last 18 months, him doing well in the tournament might have given a small bump to the streaming service. Though maybe all of us hardcores have already subscribed.

– Brian Reznick

**********

Thumbs way up. Incredible main event. The LIJ match was also very good and the Tanahashi angle was really fun.

Other than that it was a bunch of good matches, enjoyable as NJPW matches always are but nothing special. Expected more from Kenny and Okada but I don’t really have a worst match since everything was good.

KUSHIDA’s post match celebration was awesome.

– Petter Olsson

**********

Thumbs Up

  • Best match: Ospreay/KUSHIDA
  • Worst: None.

Thought Ospreay/KUSHIDA was the best match of the tournament, and third best match I’ve seen this year (only Okada Omega and Okada Shibata were better, in my opinion.) It’s funny because Ospreay has been the focus of a lot of discussion, criticism and praise (deservedly so in the last category I think) recently but I thought KUSHIDA was a little more impressive and honestly he’s probably the big standout of the stacked tournament.

It’s funny because this really combined every aspect of the Jrs. division, with the flips and the technical wrestling, etc. and when compared to the Cruiserweights, it’s like clear what the distinction is, outside of Neville. Personally, I think this was a better Super Jrs. final than the past few years, and outside of doing something more with Liger and maybe not doing the same shtick with Suzuki Gun all the time, I have no complaints about the tournament.

I do think it’s too soon to take the belt off of Takahashi, but I’m not sure how you keep the feud going if KUSHIDA doesn’t win this time, though I’m really excited to see what these two guys come up with this time around, especially since I think KUSHIDA started using the Small Package Driver to win his matches in the tournament, so the counters and set ups for that will be really interesting.

Everyone will probably remember the spots on the apron (rightfully so, because both guys were amazing today) but I think the thing I’m going to remember the most is probably the point where KUSHIDA is going to the top rope and Ospreay grabs his leg, and then KUSHIDA just destroys his elbow. That, along with the Danielson kicks told so much of the story of these two guys who had gotten past the respect stage and were now in the STAY DOWN part of the match, it was incredible.

I’ll stop ranting now, sorry. Great great show, great great match. Can’t wait for next Sunday.

– Jonathan Beckner

**********

Thumbs up

Best match: Ospreay/KUSHIDA

Thought this was a really good show with the LIJ Taguchi Japan 10 man tag match being really fun and exciting to watch. An excellent mix of humor and fast paced high impact action that I believe is becoming a staple match of NJPW. I understand and get the criticism some fans have of the humor spots but I really do enjoy these matches.

– Erik Yonker

**********

Thumbs in middle

All the mix tags were fine. Built towards June 11th show. Makes sense but the show dragged something fierce. For me seeing so much of Okada-Omega in ring has lessened seeing the rematch. 

  • Worst match: opener. It was what it was but was boring. 
  • Best match: Ospreay-KUSHIDA. I didn’t think this was as great as many. I thought 2/3 of match was real sloppy at times. They missed a lot of moves. The entire finishing sequence made 0 sense. Ospreay beat the hell out of KUSHIDA then he hits the finisher from top rope and finisher for pin. Thought it was real non-sensical. Some of the match was spectacular when timing was on. Could really do without Ospreay swearing so much. Dropping F bombs, B and C word just really lessens his appeal to me. He should be above all that by now. 

One match show really. The wow factor was there for main event but again the finish and missed timing I wouldn’t call it anything but very good and entertaining. 

– Mike Flynn

**********

Thumbs down.

I’m sure I will be in the minority, but I hated the main event. Both wrestlers are among the best in the world and KUSHIDA may be my personal favorite in New Japan but that was just a series of well executed moves. Instead of doing a 30 minute match they did a six minute match five times.

Did we really need a reverse Frankensteiner on the apron and and detroyer on KUSHIDA’s head? These moves looked really dangerous and meant nothing in the match. I think the time is over for praising wrestlers for dropping people on their head. The new style of match where people kick out of 15 finishing moves is going to have bad long term consequences.  **1/2

– Russell Griffith

**********

This Ospreay vs KUSHIDA match was so amazing. It’s 5 stars no doubt. The little things in the match make it for me. Ospreay had me when he did the space flying tiger drop with no cartwheel cause his arm was too hurt. When he dug his elbow into KUSHIDA’s rib cage for the abdominal stretch was so great too. Then when they did the did the closed fist punch spot that took it over the top for me, the intensity was amazing. The reverse hurricanrana on the apron was insane too.

The crowd was so into this as well and how could they not be. Tournament finals in Japan have the best atmosphere. It’s like a NCAA tournament championship or Super Bowl. You can feel the intensity in the air and it’s so much better than a best of 7. Unless it’s a game 7. WWE should take note.

I was also so impressed by the show on the 31st. That Ricochet vs. Scurll match was just awesome and Hiromu vs. Ospreay too was so great. These bigger “PPV” shows on NJPW seem to always deliver unlike WWE with Backlash or inevitably with Extreme Rules, when they end I feel so empty like I wasted hours and got no bang for my buck. 

– Kyle Jaworski

**********

I thought the show was great overall. The first few matches were really very good. The first match had big men being big men but it was fairly forgettable.

The next match I think was the Ishii 6 man. Kawato really worked and got a lot out of little and Jado sucked. He looks to me like someone who’s playing at wrestling and isn’t believable or sufficiently surreal to be funny. I thought Kawato came across as well really. He got a lot out of a moveset that is very standard and it definitely helped that he was interacting with Ishii.

The next match got off to a great start with Desperado and Volador working very smoothly together the match was very good and Tiger had a cool sequence with a few of the Gun guys.

War machine were great and Hansen damn near killed some folks. The Fale spot with ACH where he stomped on him was very brutal looking. ACH’s gimmick is something I go back and forth on. His DB fusion jacket is a nice nostalgic callback to me for my childhood but at the same time sometimes he can be too goofy. Here he came across as so nuts I couldn’t not find it funny. Tanga Roa sold a rana were he knocked into his brother… It sucked. Tama I actually like. He’s my mini Roman.

I despise Taichi and he was in the match for too long. He actively makes me less interested in a match or feud. Suzuki is great as is Goto and Yoshi.

I fell asleep in the Naito match… not the matches fault I was tired after work but that’s what happened. Naito is my favorite NJPW guy so lets just say i thought it was good.

Okada has amazing chemistry with Omega and the spot with the umbrella was great. Okada looked great. Omega looked great.

The main event is one of my favorite matches of the year. The selling was magnificent. My favorite thing in this was when Ospreay had KUSHIDA in the octopus. He pulled his injured leg to tighten it and winced cause it was injured and Ospreay is amazing. KUSHIDA was fantastic in this match too his kicks looked brutal and he worked very well. Me and the guy I watched it with were looking for the selling and I thought it was great.

The shooting star onto a KUSHIDA hung on the ropes was a great spot done safely as KUSHIDA took very little of Ospreay’s weight HOWEVER KUSHIDA didn’t land on the ropes and had to jump back on them. I don’t really like numerating matches cause I like different matches for different reasons. Ospreay has improved so well. I watched his flippy match with ricochet (first one) and he was using the same insults and reactions a lot relying on a certain pattern to sell he’s hurt or angry. Now he’s loud and expressive. He reacts in different ways and really gets the match over. Just that is an amazing improvement.

– Faisal Yaquib

**********

Thumbs Up

  • Best match: KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay
  • Worst match: Bad Luck Fale/Yujiro Takahashi/Guerrillas of Destiny vs. War Machine/ACH/David Finlay

Automatic thumbs up because the main event was that great. The rest of card was fine basically. Scurll managed to come off as a big time star in a match involving Omega and Okada. Goto and Suzuki interaction was good in amongst all the Suzuki-gun nonsense. The Ishii and Kawato stuff in their 6 man was really good.

– Jan Buxton

**********

Thumbs up

  • Best: Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA
  • Worst: Yano/Ishii/Jado vs. Makabe/Tenzan/Kawato

A surprisingly great show. Even though it was mostly multi-man matches everyone turned it on tonight. The main event was epic & a fitting way to end the most consistently action packed BOSJ tournament I’ve ever seen. Will Ospreay stole the show both tonight & throughout the entire tournament. He’s cemented himself alongside Okada, AJ Styles & a motivated Kenny Omega as one of the best in the business right now.

Random tech note: I watched the show in Japanese instead of English because on the English feed everything was blocky & choppy while the Japanese feed was HD & smooth. Don’t know if it was just me but it was weird.

– Nick Randall

**********

Thumbs Up

  • Best Match: KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay
  • Worst Match: Volador Jr. & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taka Michinoku & Desperado

For as great as the main event match was, and I loved it, what I’ll remember from this show ten years from now is the post-match celebration with a jubilant KUSHIDA hoisting his BOTSJ trophy and ROH World TV Title belt high in the air. He was surrounded by fans who were genuinely happy that he won. It was a special moment that made for a fantastic visual.

New Japan embraces the kind of organic fan reaction that WWE seems to avoid at nearly all costs. It’s quite the contrast. Ditto for WWE robot-style interviews versus the genuine emotion from KUSHIDA, both when he won Block B and then again tonight/this morning.

Don Callis continues to impress me on English color commentary. I really liked Steve Corino in the role and figured he would be hard to replace, but Callis is outstanding. Corino did a better job of saying move names that Kevin Kelly couldn’t be bothered to call, but Callis makes me legit laugh out loud frequently. His comic timing and delivery are impressive. And, more importantly, Callis treats the product seriously and puts over positive aspects about the wrestlers.

Though, despite Callis being great, I simply can’t watch the big matches live without Shinpei on the Japanese feed. Shinpei legit calls more English language moves than Kelly, and it’s remarkable how his emotion can add to a match. Even something as simple as Shinpei freaking out over Minoru Suzuki teasing the Gotch piledriver on Hirooki Goto adds to the drama of the match — and the perception of the danger of the move.

– Lou Pickney

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors finals live results: KUSHIDA vs. Ospreay

Posted on by Bryan Rose

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.

NJPW reveals full Best of the Super Juniors finals card

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Though the main event for the show was already known, New Japan Pro Wrestling has revealed the full card for the Best of the Super Juniors finals.

That main event will have Block A winner Will Ospreay taking on Block B winner KUSHIDA in the tournament finals. The two have faced each other before, with KUSHIDA winning both times. As defending Best of the Super Juniors winner, Ospreay looks to both repeat as tournament champion and get his first win against KUSHIDA.

The winner of that match will likely get an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot against Hiromu Takahashi at Dominion on June 11th.

Tag matches fill up the rest of the BOSJ finals card, including a semi-main event that will also build to Dominion. Kazuchika Okada & Gedo will face Kenny Omega & Marty Scurll ahead of Okada and Omega’s much-anticipated rematch in Osaka.

All of Los Ingobernables de Japon will face off against Dragon Lee, Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson & Satoshi Kojima in a big ten-man tag bout. And the rivalry between Hirooki Goto and Minoru Suzuki over the NEVER title will continue as they square off in tag action, teaming with YOSHI-HASHI and Taichi respectively.

The show will take place on June 3rd and will air live at 4 a.m. ET on New Japan World, complete with English commentary. The full card is:

  • Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA to determine this year’s Best of the Super Juniors winner
  • Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Kenny Omega & Marty Scurll
  • Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, Ricochet & Dragon Lee
  • Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi
  • War Machine, David Finlay & ACH vs. Guerrillas of Destiny, Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Volador Jr., Tiger Mask IV & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taka Michinoku, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Hirai Kawato, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Togi Makabe vs. Jado, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii
  • Syota Umino, Tomoyuki Oka & Yuji Nagata vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi, Katsuya Kitamura & Manabu Nakanishi

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: The finals are set

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Aichi was home to the B Block finals of the 24th Best of the Super Juniors tournament this morning.

Will Ospreay has made it to the finals for the second year in a row from the A Block — with everyone in the opposite block at six points going into the last night of competition, anyone can wind up facing him in the finals on June 3rd.

Prelim matches —

– Taka Michinoku & Taichi defeated Hirai Kawato & Jushin Thunder Liger when Michinoku submitted Kawato with a crossface.

– SANADA, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Ricochet, Dragon Lee & Juice Robinson when SANADA submitted Dragon Lee with the Skull End.

– Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny defeated David Finlay & War Machine after Fale hit Finlay with the Grenade.

– Yujiro Takahashi, Kenny Omega & Marty Scurll defeated Gedo, Will Ospreay & Kazuchika Okada following Takahashi hitting Gedo with the Pimp Juice DDT.

Tournament matches —

Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated El Desperado by countout

This was fine. It was full of the stuff you normally see in Suzuki-gun’s matches on this tour, but it was never bad.

Taka Michinoku cornered Desperado for this match, while Taichi decided to corner Kanemaru. They started off slow, but it soon became a brawl with Desperado attempting to use a chair on the outside. Kanemaru threw him into the crowd and body-slammed him on the floor.

Taichi teased the whiskey spot, but after some counters accidentally sprayed Kanemaru. Desperado built his momentum with a big suicide dive. He tried for a brainbuster on the concrete floor, but instead Kanemaru countered with a reverse DDT on the mat.

The referee started counting. Desperado tried to climb in to beat the count, but Taichi pushed Michinoku into Desperado, sending him to the floor. Kanemaru beat the count and won the match.

Desperado wasn’t too happy about the result, even though everyone wanted to make up after the match. Desperado eventually obliged.

This eliminated ACH, Volador Jr., and El Desperado from contention based on tiebreakers.

Ryusuke Taguchi defeated ACH

Taguchi worked on ACH’s behind early. ACH countered that with two atomic drops and a cheap shot to the nether regions.

Taguchi came back and kept it on the ground, now working on ACH’s legs. He mounted a comeback until Taguchi connected with a knee. ACH tried to low blow him, but Taguchi used his thighs to block it. Taguchi continued to work him over, using a lot of butt-based offense.

ACH finally connected with a superplex. More back and forth and reversal after pin reversal followed until Taguchi countered one more roll-up with one of his own for the win. It was a solid match, but it wasn’t anything special.

Taguchi, BUSHI, and KUSHIDA remained as viable block winners.

BUSHI defeated Tiger Mask IV

This was okay. There were a few good spots, but otherwise it was just kind of average.

Early in the match, BUSHI took a chair and tried to use it, but the ref stopped him. Undaunted, he continued to work over Tiger Mask, leveling him with a missile dropkick. Tiger Mask tried to mount a comeback, and despite BUSHI going after his mask, managed to take him to the floor with an arm drag.

Tiger Mask caught BUSHI in a waistlock sleeper-type move until he was able to get to the ropes. BUSHI managed to knock the ref down and dropkicked Tiger Mask in the leg. He got a chair, threw it at Tiger Mask, and landed a Codebreaker, but it didn’t work. The MX, however, did.

That left it between BUSHI and KUSHIDA, which led us to the main event.

KUSHIDA defeated Volador Jr.

Great main event. These two worked really well together and it led to a great back-and-forth match with some great spots. At times it felt like a contest to see who could match who and that added to the excitement.

Some mat wrestling early led to some quick back and forth. KUSHIDA bailed to go to the outside — wrong move as Volador met him there with a giant tope con hilo. Not too long after that, however, the tides were turned and KUSHIDA came back with one of his own.

KUSHIDA went for a charge, but Volador jumped over him, landed his knees on KUSHIDA’s back, and utilized a reverse monkey flip. Volador went for a dive, but KUSHIDA caught him with an armbar in mid-air. KUSHIDA went to attack Volador on the apron, but Volador instead hopped over him and met him on the floor with an Asai moonsault.

Volador looked to build momentum, but KUSHIDA caught him, sending him to the floor. KUSHIDA went for something off the top rope, but Volador met him there — which gave KUSHIDA the opportunity to take him to the floor with a super rana. KUSHIDA went up, though again Volador Jr. met him there and landed a super rana of his own for a near fall.

Volador spiked KUSHIDA with a reverse rana, but KUSHIDA trapped him in an armbar — only for Volador to counter. He went for a la magistral cradle, though KUSHIDA countered with a roll-up for another near fall. KUSHIDA landed the La Mistica and sunk in the hoverboard lock, then while still in the move hit Back to the Future for the win.

That makes it Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA in the Best of the Super Juniors finals on June 3rd.

Ospreay came to the ring to cut a promo. He said he’s out here to congratulate KUSHIDA. He knows that he can beat him and needs to prove it. As much as he respects him, he will not let him stand in his way. Please bring your best, because it won’t be enough and I will be back-to-back Best of the Super Junior.

KUSHIDA’s response was simple: Let’s go crazy. The two had a staredown as Ospreay left. KUSHIDA said a few more words then left as the show went off the air.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: The A Block winner is decided

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Today’s Best of the Super Juniors show in Osaka determined the winner of the A Block as the tournament begins to wind down. The results were:

Prelim matches —

– Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado defeated ACH & Volador Jr. when Kanemaru caught ACH with a flash pin. Desperado teased hitting Kanemaru with a chair, adding some tension to their match tomorrow.

– Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson & KUSHIDA defeated EVIL, BUSHI & SANADA when Taguchi pinned BUSHI with a la magistral cradle.

– Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny defeated War Machine & David Finlay after Fale hit the Grenade on Finlay.

– Yujiro Takahashi & Kenny Omega defeated Gedo & Kazuchika Okada when Takahashi pinned Gedo after hitting the Pimp Juice DDT.

Tournament results —

Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Taichi

This was more of a story-driven match than a match telling a story. The work itself was fine, but the storyline was dramatic enough to make things pretty interesting.

Taka Michinoku and El Desperado were out there to interfere early, and did so often in the first part of the match. They all beat up on Liger, with Taichi using the camera cord to choke him. Taichi continued to dominate the match, landing a superkick, but somehow Liger found a way to kick out.

Liger mounted a comeback, laying out Taichi with the shotei. Taichi threw the ref in Liger’s way, allowing all of Suzuki-gun to come in for a beatdown. The ref at this point was about to finally throw out the two instigators when, once again, Taichi threw Liger into the ref.

Using a pair of scissors, Taichi cut Liger’s mask and bodysuit, ripping it apart. Ryusuke Taguchi and KUSHIDA finally came in to even up the odds. Taichi went to use a steel chair, but Liger responded with the koppo kick, the shotei, and a brainbuster to pick up his first and only win in the tournament.

Liger cut a promo after the match, saying thanks to Taguchi and KUSHIDA he finally picked up a win. Next year without him, the junior heavyweight scene in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament will be even better. 

Taka Michinoku defeated Dragon Lee

This was pretty short. There wasn’t much to it, though what did go down was pretty good. Michinoku focused on the mask early, but Dragon Lee made a quick comeback. A lot of good back and forth and near falls took place towards the end. Michinoku landed the Michinoku Driver and pinned him, eliminating Lee from the tournament.

Marty Scurll defeated Ricochet

This was great, as the two meshed really well with one another and had a great back-and-forth match. The drama behind Scurll being Ricochet’s possible spoiler added to the match as well. It was probably the best match of the night.

Scurll jumped Ricochet at the bell, but Ricochet quickly came back and took him out with a Fosbury flop to the floor. He went to the top rope, but Scurll caught him with the chickenwing, only for Ricochet to escape.

Scurll worked over Ricochet with a couple of surfboards, but Ricochet bounced back with a 619 and a flying uppercut. Scurll landed a version of Adam Cole’s Last Shot, though Ricochet was able to kick out.

Ricochet fired back with some great kicks that took out Scurll. He went for a shooting star press, but Scurll got his knees up and landed a piledriver, then another one. He tried for a superkick, then Ricochet tagged him with one of his own.

He went for a reverse suplex, but Scurll transitioned around. Ricochet tried to roll him up into a bridge, but Scurll trapped him in the chickenwing and despite putting up a fight, Ricochet tapped out. That puts him out of the tournament, with the winner of the main event advancing to the finals.

Will Ospreay defeated Hiromu Takahashi

I don’t think this was a complete blow-away match, but this was still great with some crazy spots.

Ospreay started off hot, hitting a huge suicide dive and dropkicking Takahashi into a bunch of empty chairs in the crowd. Takahashi soon fired back with a sunset flip bomb to the floor.

Takahashi worked over Ospreay’s leg, but Ospreay fired back with a shooting star press and a corkscrew press for a near fall. They both countered their opponent’s finishing attempts, with Takahashi landing two German suplexes after Ospreay attempted the OsCutter.

Ospreay hit a shooting star press to the floor, then tried to follow with a Phoenix splash in the ring, but Takahashi got his knees up. Ospreay hit a Canadian Destroyer DDT and the imploding 450 splash — but Takahashi kicked out. The OsCutter then sent him to the tournament finals.

Ospreay cut a promo. He said two weeks ago when he beat Ricochet he said he would make it to the finals. The butterflies and nerves are gone, and while the Best of the Super Juniors is prestigious, he wants to make it even more so.

He is the champion of his block and he will challenge all comers. It doesn’t matter who the B Block champion is, he will become a back-to-back Best of the Super Juniors winner.

Tournament standings —

Block A ends with Will Ospreay earning ten points. Dragon Lee, Ricochet, Taichi, Hiromu Takahashi, and Marty Scurll finished with eight points. Taka Michinoku jumped up to four points, and Jushin Thunder Liger scored two points in his final Best of the Super Juniors tournament.

Everyone in Block B has six points heading into tomorrow. Whoever loses their matches on tomorrow’s show will be eliminated, and whoever wins will probably rely on tiebreakers to win their block.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: Taguchi vs. KUSHIDA

Posted on by Bryan Rose

NJPW was back at Korakuen Hall this morning as we head through the last few shows before the Best of the Super Juniors finals on June 3rd. Here are the results:

– Taka Michinoku & Taichi defeated Syota Umino & Dragon Lee when Michinoku submitted Umino with a crossface.

– EVIL & SANADA defeated Hirai Kawato & Ricochet when EVIL submitted Kawato.

– War Machine & David Finlay defeated Guerrillas of Destiny & Yujiro Takahashi when Raymond Rowe pinned Tama Tonga after an assisted powerslam by Hanson.

– Marty Scurll, Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale defeated Gedo, Will Ospreay & Kazuchika Okada when Scurll submitted Gedo with the chickenwing.

Tiger Mask defeated El Desperado

Desperado controlled a lot of the match, attacking Tiger Mask’s left leg and working on it extensively. Tiger Mask tried to muster a comeback but was limited on what he could do. Out of nowhere, he hit a Tiger suplex and bridged it for the win. This was a good little match that told a nice story.

Tiger Mask wasn’t done, motioning that he wanted to remove Desperado’s mask as he threw him back in the ring. But being a good guy, he decided not to go down that road and left him laying instead.

BUSHI defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Kanemaru jumped BUSHI before he even entered the ring. They brawled into the crowd where BUSHI stunned Kanemaru, giving him enough time to climb onto an arena entryway and launch with a big crossbody, wiping out both Kanemaru and Taka Michinoku.

A good back and forth match followed. Kanemaru has like zero charisma to speak of, but he’s good at being intense.

BUSHI took out Michinoku with a suicide dive. Kanemaru used the opportunity to grab the whiskey bottle Suzuki-gun has been using on this tour to blind BUSHI, but instead BUSHI low blowed him (the ref, of course, was distracted) allowing him to soon follow with the MX for the win.

Volador Jr. defeated ACH

This was a very good, fast-paced match. Both guys looked great and worked well with one another, leading to a great match that met my expectations going in.

Volador outed himself as the heel early, taking a cheap shot after shaking hands with ACH. High-paced action followed. Volador unleashed a giant tope con hilo that looked like it connected more with the young lions protecting the crowd than ACH himself.

ACH soon followed with five suicide dives that sent Volador further into the crowd each time he did it. ACH hit a giant superplex to the floor and tried to go to the top rope once more, but Volador cut him off and instead hit the super rana off the top rope for the win.

KUSHIDA defeated Ryusuke Taguchi

This was such a great match. It was two guys going out there and giving it their all. The work early was good and pretty fast paced; a lot of cool dives and submission work as well. Taguchi has rapidly evolved into one of the more reliable great workers in this division over the last year and KUSHIDA is clearly one of the best workers in the world right now.

After starting slow with some chain wrestling, KUSHIDA started to work on Taguchi’s arm. They got up and fast-paced action followed. Taguchi went to the apron and flew off with a hip attack, but KUSHIDA grabbed him in mid-air, grabbing the bum arm and applying an armbar.

Taguchi started working on KUSHIDA’s right leg as the action continued. KUSHIDA cut him off after a hip attack attempt, rolled over, and actually landed the Dodon. When Taguchi tried to mount a comeback again, KUSHIDA caught him with an armbar. They countered each other with many submission attempts until KUSHIDA finally grounded Taguchi with a figure four leglock.

They continued fighting until Taguchi landed a straight punch to the gut, sending KUSHIDA reeling. KUSHIDA tried to go for his new finish — the move previously known as God’s Last Gift (which is now called Back to the Future) — but Taguchi took him down with the Kimura and focused on KUSHIDA’s arm. Taguchi nailed the Dodon, but KUSHIDA kicked out.

He followed with a running hip toss, but KUSHIDA kicked out of that as well. Taguchi sunk in the ankle lock. KUSHIDA struggled to escape, then managed to do so, and after some wrangling sunk in the hoverboard lock. Taguchi kept trying to escape, but KUSHIDA got up and landed the Back to the Future for the win.

KUSHIDA cut a promo after the match, giving props to Taguchi as he raised his hand in a sign of respect.

Standings —

Block A has Will Ospreay, Dragon Lee, Ricochet, Taichi, and Hiromu Takahashi all tied with eight points. Marty Scurll (six points), Taka Michinoku (two points), and Jushin Thunder Liger (zero) are out of contention.

Everyone in the B Block has six points, meaning anyone can walk out of the June 1st show as the winner of the block. A lot of variables are in play, to say the least.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2017: What you need to know so far

Posted on by Bryan Rose

With one week remaining, the 24th NJPW Best of the Super Juniors tournament still has a lot of twists and turns to sort out. While some competitors have already been knocked out of the tournament, many remain, and even some of those who are currently struggling can still pull it off given the right circumstances.

Here is everything you need to know leading into the last week of the tournament.

Current rankings

As of this writing, Will Ospreay, Dragon Lee, Ricochet, Taichi, and Hiromu Takahashi have eight points to lead Block A. Marty Scurll (six points), Taka Michinoku (two points), and Jushin Thunder Liger (zero) are mathematically eliminated from winning the tournament.

Block B has El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Ryusuke Taguchi, and ACH leading with six points each. Tiger Mask IV, Volador Jr., KUSHIDA, and BUSHI have four points.

Liger’s last stand?

Before the tournament, Jushin Thunder Liger shocked everyone by announcing that this would be his last BOSJ and after his loss to Michinoku, he vowed to win the rest of his matches. But that hasn’t come into fruition at all. In fact, he has a big ol’ goose egg heading into the tourney’s final week.

Liger is the most prolific wrestler to compete in the tournament, entering it every time since its inception with the exception of 1995 and 2000. He’s won it three times: 1992, 1994, and 2001. At 50, he’s still one of the best workers the company has as far as telling a story and overall solid workrate.

KUSHIDA’s story

One wrestler to follow in this tournament is former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA, who has been struggling to gain momentum ever since he lost his rematch to Hiromu Takahashi at Sakura Genesis back in April.

That struggle continues in this year’s tournament where as of this writing, he has only been able to rack up four points, defeating BUSHI in the main event from the May 22nd show and Yoshinobu Kanemaru on May 27th. Losses to Desperado, ACH, and Tiger Mask have impeded his path to gaining another tournament win.

KUSHIDA needs to win the rest of his matches to have a chance at winning his block and making it to the finals. If he is able to win the tournament, he’ll be able to get another crack at the title, which he’s been yearning to do since his humiliating April loss.

What you need to watch

Without a doubt, Ospreay and Ricochet have stolen the show this year, equaling, if not surpassing, their famous match from last year. They dished out every single move you could possibly imagine with Ospreay finishing things off with a dragonrana and his OsCutter finisher for the win.

Dragon Lee and Takahashi also continued their epic rivalry, capping off the opening day with a killer main event. It wasn’t as barbaric as their encounter back in February at New Beginning, but still managed to wow Korakuen Hall with some sick back and forth offense.

Lee is becoming the big MVP of the tournament and his other matches between he, Ospreay, and Ricochet are also highly recommended.

Most other matches on the card have ranged from solid to pretty good. I’d suggest avoiding anything involving Taichi as he goes out of his way to have bad matches, and I’m sure you have other things to do besides watching him stall for ten minutes.

The rest of the tournament

The tournament runs through June 3rd at Tokyo Yoyogi Gym, with the finals airing live on New Japan World with English commentary. Three other shows will air live before then:

– May 29th at Korakuen Hall will be a B Block night: El Desperado will face Tiger Mask IV, BUSHI takes on Yoshinobu Kanemaru, ACH will face Volador Jr., and KUSHIDA will face Ryusuke Taguchi in the main event.  

– May 31st in Osaka will determine the A Block winner: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taichi, Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll, Dragon Lee vs. Taka Michinoku will all take place, with Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay headlining. 

– June 1st in Nagoya will decide the B Block winner of the tournament: BUSHI vs. Tiger Mask IV, ACH vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA vs. Volador Jr. and El Desperado vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

NJPW World adds two more live BOSJ shows to schedule

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

New Japan World announced today that it is adding two live events to the service over the upcoming days.

Both the May 31st show in Osaka and the June 1st show in Nagoya, which will be the last day of competition in the A block and B block respectively, will now have the entire shows streamed live. Previously only the tournament matches were to air on a several hour delay.

Tomorrow’s show in Takasaki will be the last tape delayed show.

NJPW World was already broadcasting Monday’s show from Korakuen Hall live. So this means the live schedule will be:

  • Monday at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time from Korakuen Hall
  • Wednesday at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time from Osaka Edion Arena #2
  • Thursday at 5 a.m. Eastern time from Nagoya International Conference Hall
  • Saturday at 4 a.m. Eastern time from Tokyo Yoyogi Gym (A block champion vs. B block champion — This show will broadcast in English)
  • June 9th at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time from Korakuen Hall (This show will broadcast in English and be a loaded show shooting angles for Dominion)
  • June 11th at 3 a.m. Eastern from Osaka Jo Hall (Dominion headlined by Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi)

The lineup for Wednesday’s show from Osaka is:

  • ACH & Volador Jr. vs. Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA vs. SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI
  • Ray Rowe, Hanson & David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale
  • Jushin Liger vs. Taichi
  • Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll
  • Dragon Lee vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay

The card for Thursday’s show from Nagoya is:

  • Jushin Liger & Hirai Kawato vs. Taka Michinoku & Taichi
  • Ricochet, Dragon Lee & Juice Robinson vs. SANADA, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi
  • Ray Rowe, Hanson & David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Tiger Mask vs. BUSHI
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. ACH
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Desperado
  • KUSHIDA vs. Volador Jr.
  • Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & Gedo vs. Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale & Marty Scurll