Tag: BoSJ

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.

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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

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

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Here are notes from the fifth day of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, which was held live at Korakuen Hall today. All of today’s BOSJ matches are from the B Block.

Interestingly, it was shown on Twitter that WWE’s William Regal and Canyon Ceman were at the show. They’ve been to AJPW and Zero-One events as well over the weekend.

– Tomoyuki Oka & Hirai Kawato defeated Syota Umino & Katsuya Kitamura when Kawato submitted Umino with the Boston crab.

– Taichi & Taka Michinoku defeated Will Ospreay & Gedo after Taichi hit Gedo with a superkick.

– Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Marty Scurll & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Ricochet, David Finlay & War Machine when Tonga pinned Raymond Rowe with a Gun Stun. This was a pretty good match that people got into. War Machine never seem to have an off day.

– Juice Robinson, Jushin Thunder Liger, Satoshi Kojima & Dragon Lee defeated SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi when Robinson pinned EVIL after hitting the Pulp Friction.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Volador Jr.

This wasn’t much of a match at all, and it had a dumb finish to boot. 

Kanemaru gained the advantage early in the match, laying out Volador with a DDT on the outside. Volador got some offense in, but when he went for a cover Kanemaru grabbed the referee’s hand in the only cool spot of the match.

Taka Michinoku distracted the ref, allowing Kanemaru to strike Volador with some sort of alcohol bottle, which let him finish Volador off with the top rope DDT for the win.

Tiger Mask defeated ACH

Pretty good match. ACH is really good and looked great when he was on offense.

Tiger Mask had control early. ACH made a really great comeback, hitting three suicide dives in succession. Tiger Mask met him on the top rope and unleashed a butterfly suplex, then hit a Tiger Driver. They traded some great back and forth until Tiger Mask caught him with a crucifix for the win.

El Desperado defeated Ryusuke Taguchi

They had a pretty good match. Taguchi has been really reliable as a great worker in the last year and with the connection he has with the crowd always brings some pretty heated matches. Desperado hasn’t had the opportunity to shine, but he can have good matches with the right opponent.

Desperado low blowed Taguchi when he was coming off a springboard for heat. He followed that up by drowning him in chairs, then threw one right on the square of his back. He continued the assault, grabbing a pen and…well, sticking it where the sun doesn’t shine.

Despite the heinous attack, Taguchi managed to make a comeback, hitting a tope con hilo on the outside, then landed a springboard hip toss. Taguchi went for the Dodon, but Desperado transitioned that into a stretch muffler. Taguchi managed to lock in the ankle lock, but Desperado managed to make it to the ropes.

Taguchi hit a running hip attack, then a modified version of the Dodon where his shins strike Desperado, but it didn’t get the job done. Desperado suddenly took off his mask and threw it at Taguchi. The ref argued with him long enough for Desperado to put on a second mask, jump Taguchi, then nail him with the Angel’s Wings for the win.

KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI

This was a really good match — the crowd was into it and the action was really good. The story of whether or not KUSHIDA could pick up a win added to the drama too.

They brawled around the ring to start. KUSHIDA hit a drop toe hold on BUSHI into a chair, kicked him, wrapped his shirt on top of his head, and hit a running dropkick. BUSHI gained revenge by grabbing KUSHIDA and slamming him down on the apron head first.

KUSHIDA caught BUSHI on the top rope with a springboard and tried for an armbar, ultimately succeeding. A hot back and forth ensued, with BUSHI getting the better after a Canadian Destroyer. He landed the MX, but KUSHIDA kicked out. He went for another, but KUSHIDA came back and nailed a Codebreaker of his own.

KUSHIDA grabbed him and sunk in the hoverlock. BUSHI tried to escape, but KUSHIDA kept him in the middle. BUSHI tried to escape again, but KUSHIDA rolled over, got to his feet, and landed a brainbuster for the win.

The show ended with a KUSHIDA promo.

Current B Block Standings —

  • El Desperado — 6
  • Ryusuke Taguchi — 4
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru — 4
  • Tiger Mask — 4
  • ACH — 2
  • Volador Jr. — 2
  • KUSHIDA — 2
  • BUSHI — 0

Current A Block Standings —

  • Dragon Lee — 4
  • Marty Scurll — 4
  • Ricochet — 4
  • Taichi — 4
  • Will Ospreay — 4
  • Taka Michinoku — 2
  • Hiromu Takahashi — 2
  • Jushin Thunder Liger — 0

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: Ricochet & Ospreay steal the show again

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Here are results from this morning’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament show. The second day aired live from Korakuen Hall on New Japan World, featuring Block A matches in the tournament.

Preliminary Matches —

– Tomoyuki Oka, Hirai Kawato & Tiger Mask defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi, Syota Umino & Katsuya Kitamura when Kawato submitted Yagi with a Boston crab.

– El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated ACH & Volador Jr. when Desperado pinned ACH with a crucifix.

– Guerrillas of Destiny & Yujiro Takahashi defeated David Finlay & War Machine when Tama Tonga pinned Finlay with the Gun Stun.

– BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL & Tetsuya Naito defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Satoshi Kojima, KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson when BUSHI pinned KUSHIDA with a backslide into a bridge.

A Block Results —

Taichi defeated Taka Michinoku

Save for some cute storytelling moments, this was bad. It had lots of stalling and goofiness and it felt like a million years until they finally did anything. Taichi is the worst kind of wrestler to have around here. He’s the kind who goes out of his way to have the lamest matches possible and this was the best example of that thus far since his return.

The two, of course, were tentative to start things off. After a while of just standing around and doing nothing, they did a quick flurry that sent Taichi reeling to the outside. He thought about using the ring hammer but put it down instead. 

Taichi continued to stall, then when making his way back into the ring, Michinoku kicked the ring ropes, effectively crotching Taichi. The latter soon returned the favor and undid a turnbuckle. Taichi sold his leg giving out forever until he low blowed Michinoku and rolled him into the Gedo clutch for the win.

Dragon Lee defeated Marty Scurll

I liked this match. I was wondering if there would be a styles clash, but they worked well together and worked in some pretty cool spots to tell a good story.

They chain wrestled to start things off, with Lee getting the better of it. Scurll worked him over until Lee hit a snap German suplex and followed that with a big tope con hilo to the floor.

Lee went for a foot stomp, but Scurll grabbed him and gave him a belly-to-belly suplex to the floor. Lee tried a suplex until Scurll grabbed his wrist and “broke” Lee’s finger. Scurll actually busted out Adam Cole’s Last Shot finish but Lee kicked out.

Lee and Scurll made their way to the top rope, where they battled it out until Lee lashed out with a headbutt, allowing him to hit the foot stomp off the top rope for the win.

Hiromu Takahashi defeated Jushin Thunder Liger

This was really great. Liger is still one of the best workers around, even in his fifties. Takahashi is one of the best junior heavyweights in the world right now. Combine this with a great match layout and you have a pretty damn good bout with some great heat.

Liger immediately hit the shotei, a rolling senton to the outside, and finished off his flurry with a brainbuster on the floor. Takahashi finally managed to gain some momentum by holding onto Liger on the outside. He blocked a sunset flip bomb, but he couldn’t block Takahashi grabbing him and laying him out with a powerbomb on the apron.

Takahashi had the advantage until Liger cut him off with another shotei and a Liger bomb for another close count. Takahashi drilled him with a German suplex, but Liger got right back up, no sold Takahashi’s offense, and landed another brainbuster. Again, a close pinfall.

Liger went for another shot, but Takahashi hit the superkick and the Time Bomb to pick up the win.

Will Ospreay defeated Ricochet

I think this may have been better than their match from last year, which is kind of amazing considering the buzz that it got. This felt like a state of the art match where just all sorts of amazing spots and stunts went down.

Both Will Ospreay and Ricochet are some of the most fluid wrestlers I’ve ever seen, and together created a match that’s up there with some of this year’s best.

They chain wrestled to start things off. They took it slow, then sped up very quickly to head to a standstill. They followed that with a great series of exchanges, finishing it off with the springboard into a kneeling position spot as a callback to last year’s match. They followed quickly with forearm shots that sent both of them down.

Ricochet soon gained the upper hand, working Ospreay over with submissions and big chops to the corner. Ospreay started to fight back, drilling Ricochet with a springboard kick to the temple. Ricochet fought back with a 619, flying forearm, and a standing shooting star press for a near fall. 

Ospreay landed a tornado DDT and went for the OsCutter, but Ricochet threw him over the top rope. Ospreay returned the favor, waist locking him and sending him down to the floor with a hurricanrana and landing the Sasuke special.

He hit his own standing shooting star press and followed with a springboard corkscrew moonsault for another good near fall.

Ospreay and Ricochet fought on the top rope, leading to a reverse rana by Ospreay, though Ricochet landed on his feet. Ospreay was cut off on the top rope as Ricochet attempted a reverse rana. He got it on his second try, but Ospreay landed on his feet as well. A sick series of crazy moves followed. So quick that it’s hard to recap it all, honestly!

The two fought to the apron, where Ricochet landed two floating suplexes in a row. Ricochet hit Ospreay’s own corkscrew punch and OsCutter, but Ospreay kicked out. More back and forth followed, which ended with Ospreay hitting the Benadryller. 

He went to the top rope, but Ricochet cut him off. Ospreay fought back and sent him to the mat with a Cheeky Nandos kick. He followed with a dragon rana, but Ricochet kicked out! Ospreay then hit the corkscrew kick and landed the OsCutter for the win. 

Ospreay first addressed Ricochet after the match, saying he loves him. He then addressed the crowd, saying he does this for everyone watching, and while Ricochet is his worst enemy, he is his best friend.

He said professional wrestling is an artform. Last year was his first Super Juniors and he won. He had a rocky start by losing to Marty Scurll, but he will get better and better, facing everyone against him, even a House of Horrors match with Randy Orton.

Ospreay promised that he will make the finals and he’ll make it a back-to-back Best of the Super Juniors victory.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors live results: The tournament begins

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Tonight kicks off the 24th Best of the Super Juniors tournament, which will run through June 3rd. It will feature some of the best junior heavyweight wrestlers in the world.

Headlining tonight’s show will be current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi taking on Dragon Lee. The two have been known to tear it up each and every time they step into the ring, both in Mexico and in Japan. With the spotlight on them, they may actually try and outdo themselves tonight, which will be tough as the two have had some of the most dangerous, but awe-inspiring matches in recent memory.

Both the A block and B block will be represented tonight. A block matches feature Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taka Michinoku, Ricochet vs. Taichi, Will Ospreay vs. the debuting Marty Scurll, and the main event.

B block matches include Tiger Mask vs. Volador Jr., ACH vs. BUSHI, KUSHIDA vs. El Desperado, and Ryusuke Taguchi against Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

Join us for live coverage this morning at 5:30 a.m. ET/2:30 a.m. PT.

**********

A Block: Taka Michinoku defeated Jushin Thunder Liger

Good opener. More about the hot crowd than anything, though it was clear both had their working boots on. Taka came out in his Kaientai Dojo gear. 

As this was the opener, it had a pretty hot start, with both brawling around the ring. Liger used a chair on the back of Michinoku to gain heat. Taka took him down with a crossface and teased a submission forever but finally but a foot on the bottom rope. 

Liger hit the Liger Bomb but Taka kicked out at 2.99. Liger went to pick up Taka, but it was a trap as he raked his eyes, grabbed his arms and took him to the ground, rolling him up for the sneaky win. 

B Block: Volador Jr. defeated Tiger Mask

This was pretty solid while it lasted, the two worked well together. After some back and forth wrestling, Volador springboarded off the ropes which is where Tiger Mask dropkicked him in the back, taking him down. Tiger Mask pelts him with kick and relatively keeps him grounded until Volador unleashes a big tope con hilo to the outside.

Tiger Mask came back with a back suplex that took down Volador, but he bounced back and hit a spanish fly off the top rope for the win.

Block A: Ricochet defeated Taichi

Before the match, Taichi appeared in the crowd lip syncing to his song. I will admit, his entrance isn’t bad. The rest of the act, however, isn’t very good. As far as the match goes, this was okay once the stalling ending.

Taichi started the match by bailing and stalling for a long while. Finally, after what felt like forever, Ricochet wiped him out with a suicide dive…..but Taichi continued to stall, calmly exiting the ring. Then threw in his lady of the day. This distracted Ricochet long enough for Taichi to jump him with his microphone stand, then started choking him with it.

Ricochet made his comeback, looking very good. Taichi came back with some strikes. Ricochet grabbed him but Taichi grabbed the ref, and in the confusion Taichi wiped him out with a superkick for a nearfall. Taichi’s lady handed him the microphone stand, but Ricochet grabbed him and laid him out the the Bendryller. He followed that with a shooting star press for the win. 

B Block: ACH defeated BUSHI

This match was a excellent highlight reel for ACH, who looked great out there, and BUSHI held his own to make it a pretty damn good early bout.

BUSHI started the match by wanting to shake ACH’s hand. Like a dope, ACH obliges and his quickly taken down with a dropkick. He quickly makes a hot comeback, but BUSHI takes him to the outside, then flies out of the ring, landing a hurricanrana and follows that with a DDT on the apron.

ACH soon starts mounting a comeback, jumping on the inside of the middle rope then launching himself the other way onto an unsuspecting BUSHI with an awesome looking crossbody. BUSHI mounts a comeback, going for the MX, but ACH fires back with a dropkick and soon lands with the Michinoku Driver for the win. 

B Block: El Desperado defeated KUSHIDA

Good match with a hot crowd.. I know a lot of people will be surprised at the result, but I’m guessing we’re doing a slow build to where KUSHIDA doesn’t pick up the wins he needs until later on in the tournament.

Desperado goes for something off the top rope, but KUSHIDA springboard kicks him in the face, climbs to the top rope and in mid air grabs Desperado’s arm. He sinks in the kimura, but Desperado quickly manages to get to the ropes. 

KUSHIDA sinks in the kimura lock again, but a ref bump means KUSHIDA doesn’t pick up the submission win when Desperado taps. KUSHIDA goes to wake up the ref, but Desperado on the outside grabs KUSHIDA’s ROH Television title. 

KUSHIDA knows what is going on and fights back, but Desperado grabs him and plants him with a underhook facebuster. KUSHIDA kicks out, but soon falls to the Guitarra de Angel in an upset.

Block A: Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay

Really great match, especially the last few minutes as they were just doing one insane move after another. Eye popping would be the best way to describe some of this stuff, just amazing moves from Ospreay. The crowd being hot for everything helped a lot, too. 

They taunted one another early in the bout. Very close back and forth match. Scurll finally caught him, putting the knees up on a shooting star attempt, then nailed him with a superkick as he recovered on the outside.

More hot back and forth action. Scurll wipes out Ospreay with a superkick as Ospreay was standing on the middle rope. Ospreay derails Scurll with a stunner as Scurll was lifting him, then hits the Sasuke special to the floor. Ospreay does the Rainmaker pose as he looks to go for the rainmaker, but Scurll grabs Ospreay’s hand and “breaks” one of his fingers. 

Scurll looks to go for a finish but Ospreay wipes him out with a pele kick, lands on his feet after a clothesline attempt and hits the Robinson special. He looks to go for the Ozcutter but Scurll latches on to him in midair and applies the crossface chickenwing. With nowhere to go, Ospreay quickly taps out.

Block B: Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru

I liked this. The work overall was solid, but I kind of enjoyed the finish and the story of the match overall.

Kanemaru quickly gains the upper advantage and works on…Taguchi’s butt. Well, sure, I guess that works. He continually has the upper hand, hitting multiple DDTs, then hits his usual finish, the DDT off the top rope but Taguchi kicks out in a surprise.

Taguchi manages to fire back with the ankle lock, but Taka Michinoku climbs to the top rope to distract the ref. Kanemaru manages to low blow Taguchi and pokes him in the eyes, but as he falls Taguchi’s legs fly up right into Kanemaru netheregions. 

Taguchi takes the opportunity to shove Kanemaru into Taka, then rolls him up as he recoils for the win. 

Block A: Dragon Lee defeated Hiromu Takahashi

Great match. The February match was definitely better as I think they were a bit safer in spots (which really shouldn’t be a negative, considering how dangerous their last match was), and there was some sloppiness towards the end of the match. With that said, they still did plenty of crazy stuff and turned out to be a pretty heated match.

A fierce chop battle starts between the two. Dragon Lee soon starts flying, hitting a hurricanrana to the floor then following with a big tope con hilo. 

Takahashi gets the advantage and slows things down a bit, but Dragon Lee fires back with a sunset flip bomb to the floor. Lee hit a cool looking suplex into a powerbomb for a near fall. He went to do a double foot stomp off the top rope, but Takahashi dodged it. He goes to do the move Lee couldn’t do…but Lee avoids it himself as they start trading some scary looking German suplexes.

Takahashi went to do the reverse sunset flip bomb off the top rope, but Lee countered with a foot stomp that sent Takahashi face first on the floor. Takahashi brushes it off and hits the time bomb a running death valley driver into the corner and starts ripping on Lee’s mask.

After hitting another death valley driver into the ring post, Takahashi goes for another time bomb but Dragon Lee awkwardly counters it, only for Takahashi to counter with a wheelbarrow suplex. Lee quickly counters, grabbing Takahashi and hitting Takahashi’s running death valley driver into the corner, then finishes off Takahashi with the phoenix plex for the win.

Dragon Lee cut a promo after the match to end the show, saying he’s thrilled to be here and will win the tournament.

Big rematches highlight NJPW Best of the Super Juniors schedule

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan Pro Wrestling has released all of the cards for the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors 24 tournament, which feature a bevy of high profile matches over the two week period.

The tournament will kick off on May 17th at Korakuen Hall with Hiromu Takahashi taking on Dragon Lee in the main event. Those two have had killer matches both in Mexico and Japan, and it seems likely they’ll continue that trend on opening day.

Another spectacular rematch from the past year pits Will Ospreay and Ricochet against one another on the second night, also to take place at Korakuen Hall. Their match in last year’s tournament became the talk of the pro wrestling world in its immediate fallout, with them having more standout bouts in other promotions since.

Other live shows will be on May 29th, with Ryusuke Taguchi taking on KUSHIDA, and the finals, which are to take place live at Yoyogi 2nd Gymnasium on June 3rd. It’s not known if the June 1st show will be live or taped, as NJPW has not put out their complete June schedule yet.

NJPW previously revealed the participants and blocks for the tournament.

The tournament lineups are as follows —

May 17th (Korakuen Hall, live on NJPW World)

  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Tiger Mask vs. Volador Jr.
  • Ricochet vs. Taichi
  • ACH vs. BUSHI
  • KUSHIDA vs. El Desperado
  • Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee

May 18th (Korakuen Hall, live on NJPW World)

  • Taichi vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Dragon Lee vs. Marty Scurll
  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiromu Takahashi
  • Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay

May 20th (Mie, VOD)

  • ACH vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Tiger Mask vs. KUSHIDA
  • El Desperado vs. BUSHI
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Volador Jr.

May 21st (Shizuoka, VOD)

  • Will Ospreay vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Marty Scurll
  • Dragon Lee vs. Taichi
  • Ricochet vs. Hiromu Takahashi

May 22nd (Korakuen Hall, live on NJPW World)

  • Volador Jr. vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Tiger Mask vs. ACH
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Desperado
  • KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI

May 23rd (Tochigi, VOD)

  • Taka Michinoku vs. Marty Scurll
  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Will Ospreay
  • Taichi vs. Hiromu Takahashi
  • Ricochet vs. Dragon Lee

May 25th (Ishikawa, VOD)

  • Tiger Mask vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Volador Jr. vs. El Desperado
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. BUSHI
  • KUSHIDA vs. ACH

May 26th (Nagano, VOD)

  • Taichi vs. Marty Scurll
  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Ricochet
  • Taka Michinoku vs. Hiromu Takahashi
  • Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay

May 27th (Ibaraki, VOD)

  • ACH vs. El Desperado
  • Volador Jr. vs. BUSHI
  • Tiger Mask vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
  • KUSHIDA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru

May 28th (Gunma, VOD)

  • Ricochet vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Dragon Lee
  • Will Ospreay vs. Taichi
  • Marty Scurll vs. Hiromu Takahashi

May 29th (Korakuen Hall, live on NJPW World)

  • Tiger Mask vs. El Desperado
  • BUSHI vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Volador Jr. vs. ACH
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. KUSHIDA

May 31st (Osaka, VOD)

  • Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taichi
  • Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll
  • Dragon Lee vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi

June 1st (Aichi, To be determined)

  • Tiger Mask vs. BUSHI
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. ACH
  • KUSHIDA vs. Volador Jr.
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. El Desperado

June 3rd (Yoyogi 2nd Gymnasium, live on NJPW World with English commentary)

  • Block A winner vs. Block B winner

NJPW reveals 2017 Best of the Super Juniors lineup

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan Pro Wrestling revealed the participants and brackets for the 2017 Best of the Super Juniors tournament at this morning’s Wrestling Dontaku show. The lineup features a number of talented junior heavyweight wrestlers from all over the world.

Block A features New Japan regulars Jushin Thunder Liger, Ricochet, Will Ospreay, Taichi, Taka Michinoku, and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi. CMLL’s Dragon Lee and ROH’s Marty Scurll round off the list.

Block B features Tiger Mask IV, Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, and BUSHI from NJPW. Volador Jr. from CMLL and newly independent wrestler ACH round out this block. 

This year’s BOSJ is the 24th edition of the tournament. It will begin on May 17th at Korakuen Hall and culminate on June 3rd at Yoyogi National Gymnasium. New Japan World’s May schedule includes live shows on the 17th, 18th, 22nd, and 29th. For the shows that aren’t live, tournament matches will be uploaded to the service the next day.

If Takahashi doesn’t win the tournament, the winner will likely get a shot at his title at Dominion on June 11th.

Big Audio Nightmare: WWE CWC, NJPW, WCW, NHL, ALF, other initialisms and acronyms

Posted on by Adam Summers

Never fear, the original alternate is back with topics including:

– There was a little man in the ALF suit?

– The natural hockey hotbed of Las Vegas Nevada

– The WWE Cruiserweight World Classic and its interesting possibilities

– The fabulous Starrcade ’90 flashbacks featuring Canadian grappling luminaries Troy Montour and Danny Johnson

– The Horsemen’s inspirational message to “Get In Touch With Your Emotions”

– Thoughts on the New Japan Best of the Super Juniors aka the Taguchi revival series, Ricochet, Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi’s shadow, Hiroshi Tanainjury, New Japan’s top six situation, the upcoming Dominion lineup, sending good vibes to Yumi Fukawa, Did someone say Pro Wrestling Bezzle?, Shimmer, and much, much more.

Lazier than Al Perez’ one eye, yet still deeper than Ole Anderson’s fake ass voice. It’s the Black Scorpion of radio shows (there’s only one, Sting…); It’s the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE proudly here at F4WOnline.com.

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NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: Taguchi vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Posted on by Bryan Rose

We roll on to day nine of New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, as the morning of 5/31 brought us more action, this time from the A Block. Matches held on this day were in Hiroshima:

Bushi vs. David Finlay

Nothing wrong with this, but felt like every young lion match you’ve seen. Makes sense as Finlay is a young lion. This was solid, but patterned in other words. Finlay made a comeback, Bushi cut him off and pinned him with the codebreaker off the top rope.

Rocky Romero vs. Matt Sydal

Good match. Solid work here as well. Romero got the heat at one point by dousing Sydal with what looked like a water bottle and gave him a sliced bread on the floor. They went back to the ring exchange some strikes .Sydal took Romero out with a powerbomb and went for the shooting star press but Romero blocked it, throwing him off. Sydal came back with a rana to the floor and pinned Romero with a shooting star press.

Gedo vs. Kushida

Really good match, best out of all four here. Kushida worked on Gedo’s arm throughout the entire match and came back to it whenever he had the chance. Gedo had a lot of offense and looked tremendous. I think he’s secretly the MVP of this tournament even though there has been a lot great matches without him. Kushida went for the armbar but Gedo countered with a roll up and did some great near falls. Crowd was really into this too. Gedo went for the Gedo Clutch but Kushida kicked out. Kushida sinked in the hoverboard lock again and after rolling around to the middle of the ring Gedo submitted.

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Another good match! There were some pre match shenanigans as Taguchi wanted the ref to pat his crotch area. When he refused, Taguchi took out a banana, because he’s wacky, you see. It’s kind of funny as Taguchi can be a pretty great worker at times, but the comedy stuff is total prelim level. There was a cool spot early where O’Reilly went for the leg sweep but Taguchi jumped, then dropkicked O’Reilly in one swift motion. They exchange leg submissions and went back and forth on another another. Taguchi grabbed the leg again and dropped in elbow, and that caused O’Reilly to eventually submit.

Current tallies:

Block A:

  • Ryusuke Taguchi – 8
  • Matt Sydal – 8
  • Kyle O’Reilly – 6
  • Kushida – 6
  • Rocky Romero – 4
  • Bushi – 4
  • Gedo – 2
  • David Finlay – 2

Block B:

  • Ricochet – 6
  • Jushin Thunder Liger – 4
  • Baretta – 4
  • Volador Jr. – 4
  • Tiger Mask – 4
  • Bobby Fish – 4
  • Will Ospreay – 2
  • Chase Owens – 2

NJPW Best of The Super Juniors live results: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Matt Sydal; Kushida vs. Taguchi

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The Best of the Super Juniors tournament continues with A block matches in Osaka.

After the foreigners took center stage on Friday in Tokyo with the Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet match everyone is talking about, it’s the Japanese in the main event tonight with Kushida (1-2) facing Ryusuke Taguchi (3-0).  In addition, we’ve got Matt Sydal (2-1) vs. Kyle O’Reilly (3-0) in what should be a great match, plus Gedo (1-2) vs. David Finlay (0-3) and Rocky Romero (2-1) taking on Los Ingobernables de Japon member Bushi (0-3).

Given the records, you can probably figure out the results but we’ll see how they get there.

WILL OSPREAY & TRENT BARETTA & TOMOHIRO ISHII VS. HIROYOSHI TENZAN & VOLADOR JR. & MICHAEL ELGIN

Heated crowd tonight.  Very good opener but usual rush job with all this talent.  Tenzan had one of his better nights.  Ospreay and Volador stole the show with some great spots.  Ospreay has started to just take over and knows he’s the big deal now and the crowd already treats it like he’s something special when he tags in.  The finish saw Elgin pin Baretta.  Baretta went for a codebreaker but Elgin blocked it and power bombed him. 

JUSHIN LIGER & TIGER MASK &. MANABU NAKANISHI & YUJI NAGATA VS. KATSUYORI SHIBATA & JAY WHITE & BOBBY FISH & JUICE ROBINSON

Another very good match.  Nagata and Shibata are going to tear the house down when they come back for their singles match in Osaka on the 19th.  They were super hard hitting and solid with everything they did.  Nakanishi actually came off the top rope twice in this match and worked surprisingly well with Robinson, who is more animiated.  But it was another rush job.  Nakanishi and Nagata double-teamed White with a chop off the top by Nakanish and enzuigiri by Nagata at the same time and Nagata put him way with the bridging back suplex.

DAVID FINLAY VS. GEDO

Another good match, very physical.  Gedo was on fire here doing all the little things that most don’t do as far as bringing intensity and selling Finlay’s stretch muffler.  Early on he used the ring bell hammer, a chair and and rammed Finlay’s head into the table a few times.  Finlay’s work and comebacks were solid all the way across.  Finlay got a cradle and a big crowd pop for the upset.

ROCKY ROMERO VS. BUSHI

Better match than you’d think largely due to Romero.  Again solid wrestling with strong heat.  Bushi did a good tope and most of his spots.  Good counters and near falls at the end.  Bushi blew green mist when the ref was distracted and then came off the top rope with a codebreaker and got the pin.

INTERMISSION

SATOSHI KOJIMA & YOSHITATSU & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN & RICOCHET VS. BAD LUCK FALE & KENNY OMEGA & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & CHASE OWENS

Another match better than you’d think largely due to Ricochet, Kojima and Omega and even Captain.  Omega was the star of the match.  Ricochet worked great spots with him including doing a twisting dive over the top.  In the end, Captain came in and got great near falls on Omega that the crowd bought including a uranage and frotn rolling cradle.  But Fale squashed Captain in the corner and Omega used Hiroshi Tanahashi’s big moves, the sling blade and high fly flow for the pin.  After the match Omega hit Captain over the head hard with a garbage can.  Even with an object that gives they can lay off the hard head shots.

KAZUCHIKA OKADA & HIROOKI GOTO & YOSHI-HASHI VS. TETSUYA NAITO & SEIYA SANADA & EVIL

Great match.  Real wild with super heat, paricularly Okada vs. Nito and and Yoshi-Hashi vs. Sanada.  Crowd is really into the latter feud.  The finish saw hard hitting action with Goto and Evil and Goto scoring the clean pin after a guillotine ino a final cut.  Naito threw the belt i the air again.  Naito grabbed Milano Collection A.T. after.  Okada stomped the hell out of Evil.  Goto wanted a singles match with Evil.  Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada brawled some after the match. 

MATT SYDAL VS. KYLE O’REILLY

This is quite the show.  Another great match here showcasing two of the best wrstelers in the world right now.  Hard hitting solid, some great moves by Sydal and great submission set ups by O’Reilly.  Sydal won when he knocked O’Reilly off the top with a head-butt from superplex position and hit a double kneedrop off the top and followed with the shooting star press. 

KUSHIDA VS. RYUSUKE TAGUCHI

Excellent match.  I can’t even remember the last time Taguchi was in something this good.  He hung wih Kushida for 16 minutes and both were drenched when it was over.  What’s interesing is that the super juniors usually means a lot of high flying but this year it’s more solid wrestling  for most guys and the high flying was left to Ospreay, Volador and Ricochet.  Lots of near fall and submissions.  Kushida once did a divoce court off the apron and a running flip dive.  Kushdia kicked out of the Dodon and Taguchi escaped the hoverboard lock.  The finish was a series of reversals and Kushida went for an armbar but Taguchi cradled him.  But Kushida then got the armbar again and Taguchi had to tap out.  Kushdia did an interview after.

Overall one of the better shows of the year.  Everyone worked hard and the key matches they were building for Dominion all hot had a lot of intensity.