Week two of Best of the Super Juniors saw four shows that featured cards composed entirely of junior heavyweight matches, which I believe is the first time that this has happened during a BOSJ. Three consecutive nights in Korakuen Hall were followed by a show in Chiba as the tournament starts its western leg. The shows in Korakuen Hall were a clear step up in terms of quality and big match feel – Korakuen looked like it was sold out every night and the crowd was red hot, which really added to the atmosphere. The juniors have really had a great tournament and I hope that this gives New Japan the confidence to trust in the junior division more going forward.
Results
Night Seven – Korakuen Hall
| Taiji Ishimori def. TAKA Michinoku |
| Bandido def. Ren Narita |
| Jonathan Gresham def. Titan |
| YOH def. Rocky Romero |
| Dragon Lee def. Tiger Mask |
| BUSHI def. Douki |
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. SHO |
| Robbie Eagles def. Ryusuke Taguchi |
| Shingo Takagi def. Marty Scurll |
| El Phantasmo def. Will Ospreay |
Night Eight – Korakuen Hall
| El Phantasmo def. Ren Narita |
| Titan def. TAKA Michinoku |
| BUSHI def. Robbie Eagles |
| Jonathan Gresham def. Tiger Mask |
| YOH def. Douki |
| SHO def. Marty Scurll |
| Ryusuke Taguchi def. Rocky Romero |
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Taiji Ishimori |
| Will Ospreay def. Bandido |
| Shingo Takagi def. Dragon Lee |
Night Nine – Korakuen Hall
| SHO def. Tiger Mask |
| Will Ospreay def. Ren Narita |
| Marty Scurll def. Yoshinobu Kanemaru |
| Robbie Eagles def. Douki |
| Shingo Takagi def. TAKA Michinoku |
| Bandido def. Ryusuke Taguchi |
| Taiji Ishimori def. Jonathan Gresham |
| BUSHI def. YOH |
| Dragon Lee def. Titan |
| Rocky Romero def. El Phantasmo |
Night Ten – Makuhari Messe, Chiba
| Ryusuke Taguchi def. Ren Narita |
| Jonathan Gresham def. Yoshinobu Kanemaru |
| Rocky Romero def. Douki |
| Marty Scurll def. Titan |
| BUSHI def. Bandido |
| Shingo Takagi def. Tiger Mask |
| YOH def. El Phantasmo |
| Robbie Eagles def. Will Ospreay |
| Taiji Ishimori def. SHO |
A Block
Shingo Takagi 14 pts. – The Dragon remains undefeated on top of A Block, and it really looks like he’s going to be the block winner, unless Ishimori can stop him on the final night of A Block. Shingo beat Scurll, Dragon Lee, TAKA, and Tiger Mask this week and his matches overall were good, although seeing Shingo selling for Scurll’s antics was a bit much. While he’s clearly a very good wrestler I’m not sure that the junior division is the best place for Shingo, so if he wins this tournament I’m interested to see what the plan is for him next. A run with the junior title until Hiromu returns and then a move up to heavyweight perhaps?
Taiji Ishimori 12 pts. – Ishimori is keeping pace with Shingo, and provided he wins his match against Tiger Mask in Aichi the final night’s match against Shingo will determine the winner of the block. I think Ishimori improved this week in his matches against TAKA, Kanemaru, Gresham, and SHO (incidentally they are some of the best performers in this tournament). His loss to Kanemaru was certainly a shock, but it keeps things interesting for the last week of shows. I still think that Shingo will win the block, but Ishimori will push him all the way.
Dragon Lee 10 pts. – Lee can’t win A Block now, thanks to his loss to Shingo, but he had some very good matches this week against The Dragon, Titan, and Tiger Mask. His match in Chiba against TAKA was cancelled due to an injury to TAKA so Lee picked up two points by forfeit. I expect Lee to beat Kanemaru and Scurll on the last two nights and end with a respectable fourteen points. His opponent at Dominion will probably end up being Shingo – is it possible that Lee will get his win back in Osaka?
Jonathan Gresham 8 pts. – It’s been good to see Gresham pick up some wins this week, and the crowd at Korakuen Hall seemed to really be behind him. Gresham beat Titan, Tiger Mask, and Kanemaru, and lost to Ishimori, which tells you where he is in the block. Gresham’s wrestling continued to be amazing, and his matches are all worth going out of your way to watch. He may well end up on 8 points after the tournament finishes – he almost certainly won’t beat Shingo and his final match against SHO will be tough.
Marty Scurll 8 pts. – I will grudgingly admit that Scurll improved this week, particularly in his match against Kanemaru, which was good fun. As expected Scurll lost to Shingo and SHO, but beat Kanemaru and Titan. TAKA is now out of the tournament with an injury, so he’s guaranteed two more points, but he’ll almost certainly lose to Dragon Lee on the final night, ending in the top half of A Block. Hopefully we at least get to see more Brody King after this tour.
SHO 6 pts. – SHO has had a mixed tournament so far, unable to beat Shingo and Dragon Lee in his first two matches, and then suffering a shock count out loss to Kanemaru on the first night in Korakuen Hall. He recovered from that loss to beat Scurll and Tiger Mask, but lost to Ishimori in Chiba. SHO is clearly seen as a huge future star but at this point he’s not being booked to consistently beat the top guys in his block. Maybe a junior tag title challenge could come from one of his losses here, Bullet Club could be a good direction if Ishimori doesn’t make it to the final.
Titan 4 pts. – Titan has continued to have a solid, if unspectacular, tournament and he picked up his second win over TAKA this week (with a botched pin at the end). His loss to Dragon Lee was probably the best match of the tournament, although he had a good showing in defeat against Gresham. Titan almost definitely won’t beat SHO, but he might pick up a win over Tiger Mask on the final night.
Tiger Mask 4 pts. – After starting off quite hot Tiger Mask has been taking pins all throughout the second week of the tournament, but he continued to put in good performances as a grumpy veteran. His match against Gresham was a real highlight of the week. I expect Tiger will be taking more pins in his final two matches against Ishimori and Titan.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru 4 pts. – The Heel Master had two amazing wins at Korakuen Hall – beating SHO by shoving a Young Lion into him as SHO tried to avoid a count out, and then a cheeky roll up on Ishimori. He was out cheated by Scurll and out grappled by Gresham, but it promises to be an interesting week for Kanemaru. He has a main event coming up, and while I expect he’ll lose to Dragon Lee he’s guaranteed two more points now that TAKA is out of the tournament. A shame, since Suzuki-gun matches are usually a lot of fun.
TAKA Michinoku 0 pts. – TAKA continued to wrestle really good matches and take pins on every night at Korakuen Hall. Unfortunately it was announced today that TAKA, who already missed the Chiba show with an injury, is out of the tournament so his final two matches against Scurll and Kanemaru will be forfeited.
B Block
El Phantasmo 10 pts. – B Block is crowded on top, with four wrestlers all on ten points. El Phantasmo beat Ospreay in something of an upset, but then lost consecutive matches to Rocky and YOH. I think I’ve realised my problem with Phantasmo is that he has a series of spots that he goes through almost regardless of match, which doesn’t feel as organic as a lot of the other wrestlers. The crowd was really into both his matches against Ospreay and Rocky but they haven’t been my favourite matches. ELP takes on Taguchi and then Douki for control of the block, and I think that he’s probably going to win B Block to set up a clear heel vs. face final with Shingo.
Robbie Eagles 10 pts. – Eagles has come back from a slow start to beat Taguchi, BUSHI, Douki, and Ospreay and reach ten points this week. His match against Ospreay in Chiba was notable for El Phantasmo interfering and hitting Ospreay with a chair to help Eagles win. The Australian seems to be quite conflicted with his fellow Bullet Club member’s outright heelish behaviour, possibly foreshadowing a split from the heel faction. His win over Douki was also very good, and notable for Eagles bleeding hard way after a chair bump, which looked even more badass. Eagles has his final matches against Bandido and YOH, and I think he’ll drop points to finish just behind the block leaders.
Will Ospreay 10 pts. – Losses to El Phantasmo and Eagles set Ospreay back this week, and means that Eagles and ELP both have to drop points for Ospreay to win the block. His match against Narita was excellent, and he also beat Bandido in a solid match. Will seems determined to have really long matches, perhaps as preparation for when he becomes a heavyweight, but my favourite match of his was against Narita which was under ten minutes. Ospreay finishes the tournament against Douki and Taguchi, and I think he’ll finish level on points with ELP but lose out on head to head record.
Ryusuke Taguchi 10 pts. – Taguchi has kept pace with the block leaders, despite losing to Bandido and Eagles. He’s kept putting on really good matches, especially against Narita and Eagles. The matchup between Taguchi’s rugby style and Rocky’s basketball style was also pretty great. Given that Taguchi’s final two matches are against fellow block leaders El Phantasmo and Ospreay I expect that he probably won’t be picking up anymore points, unless he pulls off an upset victory to spoil the tournament for one of them.
BUSHI 8 pts. – The Los Ingobernables de Japon representative in B Block recovered from a slow start to beat Douki, Eagles, YOH, and Bandido this week. In his first week’s losses he wasn’t able to hit the MX, but this week he’s successfully beaten all of his opponents with it. BUSHI finishes the tournament against Rocky and Narita, so he’s sure to pick up at least one more win before the end of BOSJ.
YOH 8 pts. – YOH has continued to put on very good matches this week, with wins over his mentor Rocky, Douki, and El Phantasmo, and a loss to BUSHI. YOH has been getting a bit more of a push than SHO, although they will probably end up on a similar points total by the end of the tournament. This year YOH has been incorporating a dragon suplex into his moveset as a new finisher, which I like as an alternative to the five star clutch. His final matches are against Narita and Eagles, and I have a sneaking suspicion he might win both matches.
Rocky Romero 6 pts. – Rocky proved that he’s definitely not in the tournament to make up the numbers by beating El Phantasmo in his first ever Korakuen Hall singles match, and he beat Douki in Chiba to keep his score respectable. The crowd were really into the ELP match, but like many New Japan main events it just went too long for my taste. Rocky is out of the running for B Block, and with final matches against BUSHI and Bandido I fear he may not pick up another win.
Bandido 6 pts. – Bandido has impressed me on his first BOSJ and I hope that he returns to New Japan if they plan to do another junior tag league this year. He’s clearly had a mixed tournament in terms of results, and is out of the running to win B Block, but he’s had some very good matches. His 21 Plex finisher looks really cool, but it’s got a bit of a ridiculous setup since the opponent has to be bending over holding the ropes. His final matches against Eagles and Rocky sound like a loss and a win to finish off a good debut in BOSJ.
Douki 2 pts. – A last minute replacement for El Desperado, Douki has been really good as a heel wrestler who can put everyone else over. His match against Eagles at Korakuen Hall was a real highlight, since Eagles bled the hard way and made Douki look even more vicious than normal. With matches coming up against Ospreay and El Phantasmo it looks very unlikely that Douki will get any more points, but I hope we see more of him in NJPW.
Ren Narita 0 pts. – For me, Narita has been the MVP of B Block. He’s taken his chance as a last minute replacement and absolutely killed it in every match he’s been in. He’s probably going to end up on zero points, but the crowd at Korakuen was hugely invested in every match he was in, and he has amazing underdog babyface fire. His suplexes are so good. Narita’s excursion must be close and I wonder where they’ll send him. Hopefully not ROH, since that company does not look good right now, but Mexico could be a good fit for him. His final matches are against YOH and BUSHI, so he probably won’t pick up a win in either match, but I’ll be rooting hard for him to finish the tournament with at least two points in his final match.
