NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 31 is down to its final four.
The last night of B Block action took place at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Friday with Taiji Ishimori and DOUKI securing their spots in the semifinals. With a victory over Hiromu Takahashi, Ishimori topped B Block with a 7-2 record and 14 points. DOUKI defeated Robbie Eagles to finish second with a 6-3 record and 12 points.
On Monday (June 3), Korakuen Hall will host both semifinal matches. It will be El Desperado vs. DOUKI and Ishimori vs. TJP. The winners advance to face each other in the finals, which will headline NJPW Dominion on Sunday, June 9.
Desperado (6-3, 12 points) won A Block while TJP (5-4, 10 points) finished in second.
None of the four wrestlers remaining have won Best of the Super Juniors before. Desperado and Ishimori have made it to the finals but lost.
The winner of the tournament will be in line for a title shot against IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO, who won the title from Desperado this February with a countout victory.
There is now a four-way tie at the top of A Block following NJPW Best of the Super Juniors night seven.
El Desperado, Blake Christian, Titan, and Clark Connors all have 4-2 records and eight points. Tuesday’s event featured Desperado, Titan, and Connors picking up victories. Christian lost his second straight tournament match.
Here are the quick results from today’s show:
– A Block match: El Desperado defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Six Best of the Super Juniors events are left before the finals are held at NJPW Dominion on June 9. The next show is on Wednesday (May 22) with both the A Block and B Block in action.
The Best of the Super Juniors finals are set to headline one of NJPW’s biggest events of the year.
It was confirmed today that the finals of Best of the Super Juniors 31 will be the main event of NJPW Dominion on Sunday, June 9. The show is taking place from Osaka-jo Hall and will air live on NJPW World.
The announcement means that the Best of the Super Juniors finals are going on last instead of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match between Jon Moxley and EVIL.
We don’t know who will be competing in the Best of the Super Juniors finals yet. There are still eight tournament shows left before Dominion. At the moment, Blake Christian has a 4-0 record and leads the A Block. KUSHIDA and Taiji Ishimori are tied for the B Block lead with 3-1 records.
Here’s everything that’s been confirmed for Dominion so far:
NJPW Dominion 2024 (Sunday, June 9) —
Best of the Super Juniors finals
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley defends against EVIL
NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi defends against Henare
KOPW 2024 title holder Yuya Uemura defends against Great-O-Khan
NJPW World Television Champion Jeff Cobb defends against Tomohiro Ishii
Four-way tornado elimination match for both the IWGP Tag Team titles and NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team titles: KENTA & Chase Owens (IWGP Tag Team Champions) vs. Hikuleo & El Phantasmo (Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions) vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls
Night five of NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament consisted of 10 matches with A Block and B Block both in action.
After a pre-show angle where he was attacked by SHO, Hiromu Takahashi got his revenge by defeating SHO in the main event. There were also victories for Kevin Knight, Francesco Akira, Blake Christian, Robbie Eagles, BUSHI, DOUKI, HAYATA, Drilla Moloney, and Kosei Fujita.
Here are the quick results:
– B Block match: Hiromu Takahashi defeated SHO
– A Block match: Kevin Knight defeated El Desperado
– B Block match: Francesco Akira defeated Taiji Ishimori
– A Block match: Blake Christian defeated Titan
– B Block match: Robbie Eagles defeated KUSHIDA
– A Block match: BUSHI defeated TJP
– B Block match: DOUKI defeated Ninja Mack
– A Block match: HAYATA defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru
– B Block match: Drilla Moloney defeated Dragon Dia
– A Block match: Kosei Fujita defeated Clark Connors
Blake Christian, first place in A Block, is the only wrestler who still has a perfect record in the tournament. KUSHIDA and Ishimori took their first losses today but are still tied for the B Block lead.
The tournament is back in action on Sunday (May 19) with another show featuring both blocks.
It was announced today that the Best of the Super Juniors finals will be the main event of NJPW Dominion on June 9. There are eight tournament shows left before that.
Taiji Ishimori and KUSHIDA maintained their perfect B Block records as night four of NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 31 took place on Thursday.
In the main event of the show, Ishimori defeated Robbie Eagles. KUSHIDA was victorious earlier in the night against Francesco Akira. Ishimori and KUSHIDA are tied for the early B Block lead with 3-0 records and six points.
Hiromu Takahashi, SHO, and Drilla Moloney also got wins on Thursday. This was Takahashi’s first victory of the tournament.
Here are the quick results:
– B Block match: Taiji Ishimori defeated Robbie Eagles
– B Block match: Hiromu Takahashi defeated Dragon Dia
– El Desperado, Boltin Oleg & Katsuya Murashima defeated Kevin Knight, Tiger Mask & Shoma Kato
There are Best of the Super Juniors shows on Saturday (May 18) and Sunday (May 19) this weekend. Each of those nights will feature a full slate of tournament action with both A Block and B Block matches.
Best of the Super Juniors runs through June 9 when the finals will be held at NJPW Dominion. The winner of the tournament will likely be in line for a shot at SHO’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight title.
Five A Block matches took place as Niigata hosted NJPW Best of the Super Juniors action on Wednesday.
El Desperado, Clark Connors, Titan, Blake Christian, and Kevin Knight all picked up victories on night three of the tournament. Here are the quick results:
– A Block match: El Desperado defeated BUSHI
– A Block match: Clark Connors defeated TJP
– A Block match: Titan defeated HAYATA
– A Block match: Blake Christian defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru
– A Block match: Kevin Knight defeated Kosei Fujita
With that, Blake Christian and Titan are leading the pack early tied with six points. Knight, Desperado, and Connors are next with four points. Fujita, Kanemaru, and HAYATA have two points. In last place, TJP and BUSHI are both still winless.
Best of the Super Juniors continues on Thursday with the B Block in action. The tournament runs through June 9, when the finals will be held at NJPW Dominion.
The winner of the tournament will likely be in line for a shot against IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO.
On Saturday, this year’s NJPW Best of the Super Juniors kicked off with a full slate of matches.
This is the 31st edition of the junior heavyweight tournament. Both A Block and B Block were in action with night one being held in Chiba. The card included KUSHIDA and Hiromu Takahashi renewing their rivalry as KUSHIDA began the tournament with a victory.
Here are the quick results:
A Block match: Titan defeated El Desperado
B Block match: KUSHIDA defeated Hiromu Takahashi
A Block match: Kevin Knight defeated TJP
B Block match: Taiji Ishimori defeated DOUKI
A Block match: Blake Christian defeated Clark Connors
B Block match: SHO defeated Drilla Moloney
A Block match: Kosei Fujita defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru
B Block match: Ninja Mack defeated Robbie Eagles
A Block match: HAYATA defeated BUSHI
B Block match: Francesco Akira defeated Dragon Dia
Twelve more shows on the Best of the Super Juniors tour will happen from now through June 3. The finals of the tournament will then take place at Dominion on June 9, which is a change from NJPW’s traditional schedule for the tournament.
If IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO doesn’t win the tournament, the winner will receive a shot at his title. A trophy is also awarded to the BOSJ winner.
The next show is on Monday (May 13), again with both blocks in action.
NJPW has revealed the block assignments for the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors 31 tournament.
The 20-man field will be broken into two blocks, A Block and B Block. Participants are awarded 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The competitor with the top points total in their block will advance to the finals.
After suffering injuries in a bicycle accident, Ryusuke Taguchi has also been pulled from the tournament and will be replaced by Dragon Gate’s Dragon Dia.
Best of the Super Juniors 31 kicks off on Saturday, May 11, with the tournament finals set for Dominion on Sunday, June 9.
The matchups for each night of tournament action have also been revealed. Details are here, and in the embedded video below.
NJPW has revealed YOH’s injury replacement for the Best of the Super Juniors 31 tournament.
In a social media post early Friday, two-time BOSJ winner KUSHIDA was revealed as the substitute for the injured YOH.
KUSHIDA notes in his video promo that he originally did not make the cut for this year’s BOSJ, but now he is stepping up and will go right for the trophy, and has cleared his schedule for May to take part in the tournament:
KUSHIDA won the BOSJ tournament in 2015 and 2017, and was the runner-up in 2014.
YOH is out of action after suffering a dislocated shoulder at Sakura Genesis earlier this month. NJPW announced Thursday that YOH also suffered damage to the labrum in the left shoulder as a result of the injury and would need to be replaced.
Block assignments have yet to be revealed for this year’s tournament which begins on May 11. The finals will take place at Dominion in Osaka-Jo Hall on June 9.
NJPW has revealed the lineup for the Best of the Super Juniors 31 tournament.
This year’s BOSJ kicks off on May 11, with the tournament finals set for Dominion on June 9 in Osaka-Jo Hall.
20 competitors have been announced for the tournament. Block assignments have yet to be unveiled.
The tournament field includes four first-time entrants –Kosei Fujita, Blake Christian, Ninja Mack, & HAYATA. The current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO, plus two former tournament winners in Ryusuke Taguchi (2012) and Hiromu Takahashi (2018, 2020, 2021, 2022) will also enter the tournament.
16 of the 20 competitors from last year’s tournament will return this year, with the exceptions being KUSHIDA, Lio Rush, Mike Bailey, and Master Wato.
The announced Best of the Super Juniors 31 lineup:
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO
Hiromu Takahashi
Ryusuke Taguchi
El Desperado
Kevin Knight
YOH
BUSHI
Titan
TJP
Francesco Akira
DOUKI
Robbie Eagles
Taiji Ishimori
Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Clark Connors
Drilla Moloney
Kosei Fujita
Blake Christian
Ninja Mack
HAYATA
YOH suffered an apparent separated shoulder in his IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match against SHO at Saturday’s Sakura Genesis event, which could necessitate a replacement.
NJPW crowned the winner of the Best of the Super Juniors 30 tournament today in Tokyo.
Master Wato defeated Titan in the tournament finals to capture the BOSJ for the first time in his career. Wato pinned Titan in 24:48 after hitting Recientemente to score the victory.
While the two were on opposite sides of tag matches during Wato’s excursion to Mexico in 2018 and 2019, this was just the second career singles meeting between the two, with the first coming during BOSJ 29, a match also won by Wato.
After racking up 14 points and a 7-2 record in tournament block action, Wato defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey in the semifinals on Friday to set up the finals.
After his victory in the finals, Wato was confronted in the ring by IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi. Wato is next in line to challenge for Hirmou’s title by way of his tournament win. The date for the title defense has yet to be made official, but Dominion on Sunday, June 4 seems the likely destination for that match.
CMLL’s Titan went 6-3 in tournament block matches, good for 12 points. He then scored an upset victory over El Desperado in the semifinals on Friday.
NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors 30 finals take place today at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.
B Block winner Master Wato will take on the winner of A Block, CMLL’s Titan in the main event. Both scored upset victories in the semifinals show on Friday to punch their tickets to the finals.
Oleg and Leube opened the match with an intense sequence before the Yuto helped the youngest team take full advantage. They also did a decent job at holding back Makabe early on. Eventually, Makabe turned things around, landing a leaping knee from the top rope to pin Yuto.
Clark Connors defeated Ryohei Oiwa
This was another good, to the point match.
This match quickly spilled to the floor, where Connors drove Oiwa into the ring post. Back in the ring, Connors maintained his lead until a well-timed dropkick from Oiwa turned the match around. Oiwa held the lead before a pair of spears ended any advances he made. Connor ended the match with a DDT.
After the match, Connors destroyed Oiwa with a chair.
Eagles and Rush opened with a quick exchange before passing the match off to YOH and Fujita. YOH and Rush were able to single out Fujita to establish an early lead.
Eventually, Eagles received a hot tag. Rush tried his best to maintain his team’s lead, landing a big tope to the floor, but Eagles continued to advance, forcing YOH to hit the ring and resulting in a match reset.
Fujita tried taking on Rush, but Rush fought through, landing final hour to win the match for his team.
United Empire (Aaron Henare, Dan Moloney, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & TJP) defeated TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima), Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) & Yuji Nagata
The match opened with a few one-on-one sequences before UE worked to isolate Knight. Once the tag came, Kojima reversed the momentum of the match, leading to a few more one-on-one exchanges.
Ultimately, Henare hit Tenzan with streets of rage to win the match.
No Contest: CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. House Of Torture (EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi)
HOT opened the match by rushing the CHAOS trio. CHAOS held on through the initial onslaught to gain the first lead, but a trip from Dick Togo allowed HOT to take a full lead.
After an extended period of HOT control, Yano tagged in and began removing turnbuckle pads. This backfired when he was whipped into the exposed corner, only furthering HOT’s control.
Eventually, YH tagged in and turned the match around. He secured a butterfly lock, which seemed to mark the end of the match. Instead, EVIL and Yujiro dragged Arron Henare and Great O-Khan into the ring and started attacking them. The United Empire pair fought back, resulting in a no contest.
Okada vs. defiant younglings continues to be the best feud in wrestling.
Taguchi tried starting the match, but Umino only wanted Okada. Once the veteran squad refused, the match opened with a typical exchange.
Eventually, rivals Desperado and Ishii came to blows. Desperado maintained a strong footing for his team, leading into a match breakdown.
Umino and Okada traded a few moves in a period of chaos before Umino tried to take on Tanahashi. Okada interrupted Umino’s advance, taking Umino to the floor, where he dropped him with a DDT.
Ultimately, Umino put Okada on the back foot, prompting Narita to tag himself in. Okada was able to fight off Narita before tagging in Taguchi. A match breakdown followed.
In the brawl, Umino threw a table at Okada, leaving Narita alone in the ring with Taguchi. Narita secured a cobra twist and forced Taguchi to submit, winning the match for his team.
After the match, Desperado and Bailey traded a couple of strikes.
Umino cut a promo where he called out the trios champions. Umino announced his partners for Dominion were Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
LIJ started the match by rushing J5G. J5G withstood the initial onslaught and turned the match in their favor early. Even though a second LIJ rush, J5G maintained a lead.
The third LIJ rush allowed Naito to take a bit of a lead over DOUKI. When J5G hit the ring to fight off LIJ, LIJ won out. Naito hit DOUKI with Destino and won the match.
BOSJ Final: Master Wato defeated Titan
Early on, the pair seemed to be on even footing. Wato scored a dive to the floor to establish the first lead. Dropkicks to the leg of Wato allowed Titan to turn the match around, at least for a moment, but a second dive to the floor left Wato back in control.
Titan threw Wato to the floor before landing a springboard flip to put Wato on the back foot; a second dive moments later only furthered this lead.
Back in the ring, the pair traded strikes before a bomb left Wato ahead once again. Wato tried for a submission, but Titan found the ropes and landed a DDT moments later to retake the lead.
Titan tried for a corner dropkick but overshot and crashed to the floor. Titan was quick to recover, landing a double foot stomp moments later before securing a leglock; Wato escaped with the rope.
Wato hit a sudden suplex to reset the match and score a near fall. Titan responded with la mistica for a near fall of his own. Titan then landed a second foot stomp, this time from the top rope, and again, Wato kicked out.
After hanging on, Wato hit another suplex. Wato then landed Recientemente and pinned Titan to win BOSJ.
After the match, Wato and Hiromu shared the ring to set up their future title match.
The Best of the Super Juniors continued on Friday from Aomori.
The show was headlined by four-time tournament winner Hiromu Takahashi facing TJP. Both wrestlers went into the match with 4-2 records. El Desperado vs. Dan Moloney was the semi-main event.
BOSJ 30 night seven 5/19 results:
B Block: Master Wato defeated Clark Connors
A Block: DOUKI defeated Ryusuke Taguchi
B Block: Robbie Eagles defeated Kevin Knight
A Block: SHO defeated Titan
B Block: Francesco Akira defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru
A Block: Lio Rush defeated KUSHIDA
B Block: YOH defeated BUSHI
A Block: Taiji Ishimori defeated Mike Bailey
B Block: El Desperado defeated Dan Moloney
A Block: Hiromu Takahashi defeated TJP
The top two in each block will advance to the semifinals. The wrestler with the best record from Block A will face the wrestler with the second best record from Block B and vice versa. It is the first time the tournament has used this format since 2014.
The updated standings are below:
A Block —
Mike Bailey (5-2) — 10 points
Lio Rush (5-2) — 10 points
Taiji Ishimori (5-2) — 10 points
Hiromu Takahashi (5-2) — 10 points
Titan (4-3) — 8 points
TJP (4-3) — 8 points
DOUKI (3-4) — 6 points
SHO (3-4) — 6 points
KUSHIDA (1-6) — 2 points
Ryusuke Taguchi (0-7) — 0 points
B Block —
Master Wato (5-2) — 10 points
Robbie Eagles (5-2) — 10 points
El Desperado (5-2) — 10 points
YOH (5-2) — 10 points
Francesco Akira (4-3) — 8 points
Clark Connors (3-4) — 6 points
Kevin Knight (3-4) — 6 points
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (2-5) — 4 points
Dan Moloney (2-5) — 4 points
BUSHI (1-6) — 2 points
BOSJ 30 night eight 5/21 from Korakuen Hall lineup:
The Best of the Super Juniors continued on Wednesday in Miyagi.
Lio Rush dropped his first match of the tournament to DOUKI on the show. He still sits atop the A Block with eight points but is now tied with Mike Bailey and Taiji Ishimori, who also both picked up victories on Wednesday.
Robbie Eagles is now alone in the top spot of the B Block. He picked up a victory over Yoshinobu Kanemaru on Wednesday.
Here are the results:
– B Block: YOH defeated El Desperado
– A Block: Taiji Ishimori defeated KUSHIDA
– B Block: Dan Moloney defeated Master Wato
– A Block: Mike Bailey defeated Titan
– B Block: Robbie Eagles defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru
– A Block: DOUKI defeated Lio Rush
– B Block: Clark Connors defeated Francesco Akira
– A Block: TJP defeated SHO
– B Block: Kevin Knight defeated BUSHI
– A Block: Hiromu Takahashi defeated Ryusuke Taguchi
Taguchi remains winless in the tournament after Takahashi defeated him with a Hiromu Roll. BUSHI also fell to 0-5 after a loss to Kevin Knight on today’s show.
Bailey got back in the winners bracket on night five after dropping his first match in the tournament to KUSHIDA in his fourth match. That remains the only win KUSHIDA has picked up thus far in the tournament.
