{"id":9334,"date":"2018-06-06T20:51:46","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T20:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=9334"},"modified":"2018-06-06T20:56:33","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T20:56:33","slug":"njpw-bosj-final-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/06\/njpw-bosj-final-review\/","title":{"rendered":"NJPW BOSJ Final Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tokyo Wrestling Fan<\/strong> @twf87<\/a><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s 25th Best of the Super Juniors tournament has been one of the best, and the juniors\u2019 matches have been given more time and greater prominence on the shows.\u00a0 The finals were normally held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, but they are currently undergoing repairs for earthquake proofing, so the finals were held at Korakuen Hall. \u00a0The final tonight between Taiji Ishimori and Hiromu Takahashi was the first final to feature two Japanese wrestlers since 2011, and featured two of the best competitors of this year\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flip Gordon and Chris Sabin <\/strong>vs. Tiger Mask and Shota Umino<\/strong> \u2013 This was a fun match that featured three of the BOSJ competitors and one of the Young Lions.\u00a0 Chris Sabin had a decent tournament run that improved as it went on, and Flip Gordon definitely wowed the Japanese crowds with his high-flying abilities.\u00a0 I\u2019m not convinced that Sabin will be back in New Japan aside from some tag team work if Motor City Machine Guns come back, but Flip will almost certainly be back again.\u00a0 Tiger Mask had a good BOSJ run as well, and he looked a lot more motivated in the tournament matches than he had recently.\u00a0 This match was a good opener to pop the crowd, who showed their appreciation for all of the effort the juniors put in.\u00a0 Flip secured a win for his team after hitting Umino with the Four Flippy Splash.<\/p>\n

Winners: Flip Gordon and Chris Sabin, 6:32<\/strong><\/p>\n

YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, and Tomohiro Ishii <\/strong>vs. TAKA Michinoku, Minoru Suzuki, and Takashi Iizuka \u2013 <\/strong>With the majority of the BOSJ shows being single camera shows which only featured the tournament matches I\u2019ve gotten out of the habit of seeing the multi-man heavyweight matches, and honestly I didn\u2019t miss Iizuka one bit.\u00a0 This match had all the shenanigans of a lower card Suzuki-gun match, although Minoru Suzuki lifts the quality of any match he\u2019s in.\u00a0 Hopefully this is setting up some kind of match featuring Suzuki, Ishii, and Yano at Dominion.\u00a0 Yano was able to out-cheat Suzuki-gun and score a pin after hitting TAKA with a low blow.<\/p>\n

Winners: YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, and Tomohiro Ishii, 10:01<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and El Desperado <\/strong>vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO and YOH) and Hirooki Goto \u2013<\/strong> SHO and YOH had some breakout performances in this year\u2019s BOSJ, and El Desperado really showed off his skills in some of the matches, particularly his match against Hiromu.\u00a0 Unfortunately YOH kept his BOSJ gear for this match, which still looks diabolical.\u00a0 Goto and Taichi are facing each other at Dominion along with Michael Elgin in a triple threat for the NEVER title, so this match was a set up for the title match on Saturday.\u00a0 There was plenty of brawling on the outside in this match as well, but some good stuff in ring between Roppongi 3K and the Suzuki-gun juniors, and YOH finally got a win with his Five Star Clutch.\u00a0 Post-match Suzuki-gun continued to beat down on the CHAOS members.<\/p>\n

Winners: Roppongi 3K (SHO and YOH) and Hirooki Goto, 11:44<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tanahashi Hiroshi and Toa Henare <\/strong>vs. Marty Scurll and Yujiro Takahashi \u2013 <\/strong>Marty had another good showing in the BOSJ tournament this year, getting eliminated on the last day with a loss to SHO.\u00a0 He\u2019s really mastered a blend of comedy and seriousness, and the Japanese crowds really like him. \u00a0As Marty made his entrance there were two people in the audience in full Villain costumes who he two-sweeted.\u00a0 He also flipped off a Jyushin Thunder Liger lookalike in the audience, and the real version who was on commentary.\u00a0 Scurll and Yujiro worked over Henare for a lot of this match, although when Tanahashi was tagged in he held his own against the Bullet Club duo.\u00a0 After seeing their interactions in this match I would like to see Scurll and Tanahashi go at it one-on-one, as unlikely as that is.\u00a0 Yujiro picked up a victory after hitting Pimp Juice on Henare.\u00a0 After the match, Scurll and Yujiro beat down Henare, then Scurll caught Tanahashi in the chickenwing until Liger ran in to make the save.\u00a0 Liger then issued a challenge to Scurll on behalf of himself, Tanahashi, and Rey Mysterio for Dominion!<\/p>\n

Winners: Marty Scurll and Yujiro Takahashi, 13:17<\/strong><\/p>\n

ACH, Dragon Lee, Ryusuke Taguchi, and KUSHIDA <\/strong>vs. BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL, and Tetsuya Naito <\/strong>\u2013 The four BOSJ competitors got a big pop when they entered, particularly ACH who was singing along to KUSHIDA\u2019s theme song.\u00a0 When Naito\u2019s music hit for the Los Ingobernables de Japon entrance ACH started dancing in the ring and the Naito chants transformed into ACH chants.\u00a0 He really needs to be in New Japan more frequently \u2013 he\u2019s been great in the ring this tournament and is clearly over with the fans.\u00a0 Naito was clearly amused and when got to the ring he asked ACH to show him the dance, then proceeded to kick him in the back.\u00a0 When the match started Dragon Lee hit Naito with his own corner dropkick to loud cheers from the crowd.\u00a0 He\u2019s another guy that should be in New Japan more often than just once a year.\u00a0 SANADA won the match for LIJ with a Skull End that forced ACH to tap out.\u00a0 After the match finished another Chris Jericho promo video played, taunting Naito about the fact that Jericho vs. Omega was the real main event of Wrestle Kingdom 12 and promising to make him a star with their match at Dominion.\u00a0 After the video finished Naito took the microphone and questioned why Jericho was so famous but still recording his own selfie videos, and then promised that he would beat Jericho at Dominion.<\/p>\n

Winners: BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL, and Tetsuya Naito, 8:09<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay <\/strong>vs. Kota Ibushi and Chase Owens \u2013 <\/strong>This match is a set-up for the Okada vs. Omega title match at Dominion, and at one point Ibushi hit the Cross Slash on Ospreay and pointed at Okada, who followed up by hitting Owens with a V-Trigger.\u00a0 This was a good tag match, and Ospreay and Ibushi had one amazing sequence of fast paced moves, which ended with the aforementioned Cross Slash.\u00a0 A singles match between those two would be amazing to see as well.\u00a0 Owens also performed well \u2013 he\u2019s really improved this year and I always enjoy him in these tag match spots \u2013 and the crowd got excited when he nearly hit Okada with a package piledriver.\u00a0 Okada finally won with a Rainmaker to Owens, and then cut a promo saying that he would beat Kenny at Dominion and bring the belt back to Tokyo with him.<\/p>\n

Winners: Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay, 13:02<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Best of the Super Juniors Final<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taiji Ishimori <\/strong>vs. Hiromu Takahashi<\/strong> \u2013 Ishimori won A Block after beating Will Ospreay on night one and then drawing with him on ten points.\u00a0 Hiromu won B Block by defeating KUSHIDA on the final night, which meant he finished top of the block with ten points.\u00a0 This was a first time match between the two, which would also result in a first time winner of the tournament.\u00a0 This was an absolutely amazing match between two competitors who seemed determined to prove that the juniors were able to put on a main event as good as the heavyweights.\u00a0 Ishimori had a really good tournament this year \u2013 his first as Bone Soldier, but not the first time he had appeared in a BOSJ \u2013 and Hiromu was the standout competitor in my opinion.\u00a0 This match was high-intensity, including a section of brawling in the stands during which Hiromu hit a vicious dropkick on Ishimori onto the concrete.<\/p>\n

\n

JOHN WOOOOOO!!!! #NJPW<\/a> #njbosj<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/4ULitIESXx<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/7ZQjA7H1Ol<\/a><\/p>\n

— LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) June 4, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n