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Tag: best of the super juniors

  • New Japan Best of the Super Juniors Night 3 results: Kushida vs. Rocky Romero

    Day 3 results of the Best of the Super Junior tournament are in. Here’s what went down this morning in Niigata, all Block A matches:

    Kushida vs. Rocky Romero

    They did some mat wrestling early. Kushida was out of the ring and Romero opened the ropes. So like a true dope, Kushida enters and Romero jumps him. New Japan faces are really dumb at the cheap heel heat bait sometimes. Kushida made a comeback and hit the sliced bread but Romero kicked out. Romero made a comeback of his own and won with his running knee strike. Last half of the match was very good.

    Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay

    Today’s Taguchi costume was him wearing an eggplant hat. I’ll leave it to you, the reader, to figure out what he’s trying to convey here. This was solid. Finlay looks good and will probably benefit a lot from working a lot of the guys on his block. He made a good comeback and traded some good near falls with Taguchi. Cool finish as Taguchi went for a hip attack, he countered looking like he was going for a German suplex but Taguchi floated over and snapped on an ankle lock for the submission.

    Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gedo

    Pretty solid match. Gedo is so great in his style. He never does anything flashy but everything looks good and executes stuff really well when it matters the most. They traded submissions on one another throughout; Kyle worked on the arm, Gedo had a crossface in at one point. Kyle landed some stiff shots followed by a brainbuster, but Gedo kicked out. Kyle responded by immediately sinking in an armbar which got him the submission victory.

    Matt Sydal vs. Bushi

    Kind of just there as a match. Nothing wrong, just overly solid, if that makes any sense. They traded some back and forth offense. Some of the near falls toward the end were pretty good. Sydal won with the shooting star press, so Bushi (who is a favorite heading into this year’s tournament) has now lost twice in a row. One of the big themes of these tournaments is the slow rise towards victory, though, so we’ll see.

    Current tallies:

    Block A:

    • Rocky Romero – 4
    • Ryusuke Taguchi – 4
    • Kyle O’Reilly – 4
    • Gedo – 2
    • Matt Sydal – 2
    • David Finlay – 0
    • Kushida – 0
    • Bushi – 0

    Block B:

    • Baretta – 2
    • Chase Owens – 2
    • Jushin Thunder Liger – 2
    • Ricochet – 2
    • Bobby Fish – 0
    • Tiger Mask – 0
    • Volador Jr. – 0
    • Will Ospreay – 0

  • New Japan Best of the Super Juniors Night 2 results: Chase Owens vs. Will Ospreay

    Here’s a recap of the four Best of the Super Juniors B block matches that took place this morning in Shizuoka. Thankfully, New Japan World cut the tag team matches that fill these shows. Not that they’re bad, but they’re super formulaic. Some people get into them, and for the very good ones I can get into them too. Most of the time, I just can’t.

    Chase Owens vs. Will Ospreay

    This was pretty good. Owens is solid. Not flashy like some guys in this tournament, but works really well with a lot of people. Ospreay’s offense was tremendous here, doing everything including the Sasuke special to Owens on the outside. Owens cut him off and pinned him with the package piledriver in a surprise (at least, for me).

    There will probably be many examples like this during the tournament, not just because they want to add an air of unpredictability in the tournament but also because they probably had to change a lot of results due to the Young Bucks being pulled from the tournament.

    Trent Baretta vs. Volador Jr.

    I guess the rule in Japan if you’re a luchador that’s lost his mask is you can wear it for as long as you want, but you have to take it off sometime during the match. The first half of this was okay, nothing special. Volador did a cool dive to the floor. Seems like every time there was a big spot, things would slow down for a while. Things picked up after a while, but the match as a whole was just kind of there save for a few cool spots by Volador. He hit the top rope hurricanrana that won his match on the opening day, but Baretta kicked out. Volador went to charge in the corner, but Baretta lifted up up into the Dudebuster and nailed it for the win.

    Bobby Fish vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

    Both Fish’s theme and Liger’s theme are no longer dubbed over. For some reason, though, Owens’ theme was. Fish smacked Liger’s leg with some kicks early and focused on throse throughout the match. Liger made a comeback and hit the liger bomb for a nearfall. Liger went for a hurricanrana off the top rope but Fish grabbed the ropes, causing Liger to land on his bad leg. Fish kept working on Liger’s leg in a long ankle lock submission. Liger escaped, then managed to hold Fish down long enough by grabbing the ropes t o pick up the sneaky win. Do what you gotta do, I guess.

    Tiger Mask vs. Ricochet

    This was okay for most of it. Nothing bad, but Tiger Mask’s work is always just there, just good enough not to be bad. Ricochet didn’t do anything flashy for this match either and as a result the match in general was just kinda there. Ricochet picked up the submission win with a modified armbar.

    Current tallies:

    Block A:

    • Gedo – 2
    • Kyle O’Reilly – 2
    • Rocky Romero – 2
    • Ryusuke Taguchi – 2
    • Bushi – 0
    • David Finlay – 0
    • Kushida – 0
    • Matt Sydal – 0

    Block B:

    • Baretta – 2
    • Chase Owens – 2
    • Jushin Thunder Liger – 2
    • Ricochet – 2
    • Bobby Fish – 0
    • Tiger Mask – 0
    • Volador Jr. – 0
    • Will Ospreay – 0

  • New Japan Best of the Super Juniors night 1 live results: Kushida vs. Kyle O’Reilly

    Bobby Fish & Volador Jr. & Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Trent Baretta & Will Ospreay

    Pretty solid opener. Volador and Ospreay showed fantastic chemistry for about a minute before tagging out – that should be one hell of a match when the time comes. As for this match, it was your usual six man tag. Kojima and Ishii battled for a while. Fish did too, as he beat Ishii for the ROH TV title a few weeks ago on the ROH PPV. Volador and Baretta battled for a bit before Volador got the win with a standing hurricanrana off the top rope.

    Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson & Jay White

    Solid match. Pretty much your atypical New Japan six man. Shibata and Nagata were the focus since there’s a title rematch at Dominion. White came in, got in a crossface, then was pinned pretty quickly with the back drop suplex hold.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan & Ricochet vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens

    Again, your typical multi man New Japan match. Omega and Tanahashi were the focus and worked well. Since Captain New Japan was here, you should know by now he was the one pinned, this time after a lariat and a grenade by Bad Luck Fale.

    Bullet Club laid out everyone after the match. Omega brought in a ladder and with assistance, smashed Tanahashi’s arm several times through the ladder with a chair before finally leaving, but not before threatening to rip off a fan’s Tanahashi bear’s arm. Tanahashi had to be stretchered out once Bullet Club left.

    Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil

    Good match. Naito took his sweet time getting to the ring, and eventually had Milano Collection AT open the ring ropes for him, then spent even more time stalling before finally getting in. Focus, of course, was him and Okada. The real highlight was the ending stretch between Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada. Yoshi-Hashi is super underrated; here’s hoping he gets a G1 spot this year and not Yujiro. After a bunch of near falls, he fell to the Skull End submission.

    David Finlay vs. Rocky Romero

    Finlay ran roughshod the minute he was introduced in the ring, tearing apart Romero. He looked fantastic here, the best he’s probably ever been in New Japan. Romero gained control and turned into a really good back and forth match. Finlay showed a lot here, and Romero is always consistently great. Romero won the first match of the tournament with a running knee strike.

    Gedo vs. Bushi

    Solid match. Gedo was over early, even though a lot of people in the crowd were wearing Bushi masks. As far as an all around performer goes, Bushi is improving big time. He’s probably one of the favorites to win the whole thing early. They had some great near falls that people bought as they really wanted Gedo to win. There was a ref bump toward the end but he recovered just in time for Gedo to lock in the Gedo clutch and secured the win.

    Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Matt Sydal

    Taguchi came out wearing a Big Bird balloon for a hat while playing a kazoo. No, I don’t have the faintest idea why. Really good match. Taguchi didn’t do his comedy match routine and Sydal was on point. One crazy spot was Taguchi kneeling on the apron, and Sydal on the floor leaped and hurricanrana’d him off the apron to the floor. Taguchi blocked a shooting star press with his knees and hit two dodons for the win.

    Kushida vs. Kyle O’Reilly

    Kushida spent the early part of the match working on O’Reilly’s arm. O’Reilly returned the favor, taking Kushida’s knee by smashing it on a chair. O’Reilly ran off the apron and went to attack Kushida but in midair Kushida turned it into an armbar. That was amazing! This was easily the best match of the night, not to the level of their match last year but it was in the ballpark. Excellent body part work by both as they kept going for submissions. O’Reilly finally caught Kushida in a standing armbar. Kushida tried to escape, but O’Reilly got to the ground and Kushida had to tap. O’Reilly gained a measure of revenge by picking up a win over the guy that beat him in the finals of last year’s tournament.

    Kushida didn’t shake hands with O’Reilly and went to the floor. O’Reilly said he’d win Best of the Super Juniors and bowed to everyone as his music played to close out the show.

    Really fun opening day. Totally check out the main event, though all of this morning’s card was fun to watch.

  • New Japan on AXS TV results: Best of the Super Juniors XXII night 1

    Tonight’s show is our first of two shows looking at the highlights of last year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament. I believe all matches on this show took place on May 22nd, 2015 at Korakuen Hall

    Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Yohei Komatsu

    This was a wild, back and forth match from the get-go. Komatsu brought it early and they brawled everywhere. Really good match, Komatsu showed the most fire I’ve ever seen in this match. Once he comes back from Mexico, he’s going to be awesome no matter where he’s at. The future of the Junior Heavyweight division in New Japan is so bright, I hope they realize that. As with every young lion match, Komatsu gave it his all, but fell to a Liger brainbuster.

    Liger says Komatsu has some nice stuff, but all he needs is some experience. He’s interested in seeing how he incorporates new moves in future matches. Komatsu’s sole reply after the match was “Damn it”.

    Mascara Dorada vs. Kushida

    I was really excited to see this as the one match I wanted to see Mascara Dorada in last year was a singles match with Kushida. They’re both so immensely talented I thought for sure they’d tear the house down no matter what situation they were put in. This match ended up being really good, but unfortunately they weren’t given enough time to make this a really memorable match, with it only going eight minutes with Kushida getting the win with his hoverboard lock (kimura) submission.

    Kushida says he debuted in Mexico ten years ago, and finally he had Lucha Libre eating out of his hand. Someday, he wants to make the Best of the Super Juniors bigger than the G1. Watch him climb up the ladder.

    Gedo is interviewed. He says that he was surprised he was in the tournament this year, but he was last minute as Omega cancelled at the last minute. In terms of their upcoming match, he said he didn’t allow himself to be in awe of Taguchi so he was careful not to have him get the upper hand. He was surprised about being in the main event, and felt pressure about headlining, but they knew there were certain expectations for him, so he was a bit relieved, especially since Okada was on commentary nearby.

    Gedo vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

    This was pretty good. You’re not going to get anything flashy with these two, but Gedo is one of the most underrated juniors in the divison as he can have a great match by doing very little. It’s nice to see these kinds of matches every once in awhile as you don’t have to kill yourself every time you step into the ring; it’s simple as just knowing your audience and knowing what works. Taguchi had the ring bell hammer and as the ref was taking it away from him, Gedo low blowed him and used the Gedo clutch for the win.

    Taguchi said “oh my penny” and this this was the most “Oh my and Garfunkel” moment ever. He sincerely hopes his son feels better later tonight. I have no idea what he meant.

    Gedo made fun of Okada during their interview, saying he thought he couldn’t win, and said so earlier. Okada only said he thought he would win two in a row. Gedo said they’ll both be champions in Osaka. Since Taguchi is favored to win his block, winning tonight gives him confidence. Gedo says there’s no doubt Okada will win the title from AJ at Osaka Jo Hall, and reiterated he’ll beat Kenny Omega in the same building.

    Gedo reiterated that he thought Taguchi looked goofy, but had to not be in awe so that he could get into his rhythm. He said his win gave great atmosphere in that anyone ould advance. He mentions how other promotions don’t have a junior heavyweight class (well, I know at least All Japan and NOAH have one, but true for the most part in North America) so for many, the best way to get noticed is by going to New Japan.

    —–
    Nice highlight show this week. Next week features the Kyle O’Reilly/KUSHIDA match which was all kinds of awesome, so check it out if you haven’t yet.