The B Block of New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors entered its penultimate round today, as four of the world’s finest junior heavyweights faced elimination in the face. Tiger Mask, BUSHI, Volador Jr. and KUSHIDA all needed a win to keep their hopes of winning the tournament alive, but who managed to pull out a desperation victory? Elsewhere on the card, Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada faced off in tag team action, and the LIJ/Taguchi Japan issues continued. Here are your full results and review.
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#1 Taichi & TAKA Michinoku vs. Dragon Lee & Shota Umino
Your typical opening match fare here, as the three Best of the Super Juniors had a night off while Umino put in an energetic performance. The young lion got a few near-falls in on TAKA, but the wily veteran was able to reverse Shota into a crossface for the submission victory.
Taichi & TAKA Michinoku def. Dragon Lee & Shota Umino
#2 SANADA, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi def. Juice Robinson, Ricochet & Hirai Kawato
The LIJ members all received individual entrances here. Kawato went right after Hiromu to start the match, but it soon went pear-shaped for Hirai. This was a nice back and forth match with plenty of energy, with everyone getting their trademark spots in, but it was Kawato whose stock increased the most here. It was Kawato who took the loss too, tapping out EVIL’s submission move that one can only presume it called EVIL.
SANADA, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi def. Juice Robinson, Ricochet & Hirai Kawato
#3 War Machine & David Finlay def. Guerrillas of Destiny & Yujiro Takahashi
A re-match from night 10 saw War Machine continue their dominance over Bullet Club, with Raymond Rowe pinning Tama Tonga to pick up another victory for the current IWGP Tag Team Champions. If this were WWE, the assumption would be that consecutive losses for G.O.D means a title victory is in the offing, but we’ll have to wait until Dominion to see. War Machine (and David Finlay) pick up the W here.
War Machine & David Finlay vs. Guerrillas of Destiny & Yujiro Takahashi
#4 Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale & Marty Scurll vs. Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & Gedo
Bullet Club took on Chaos in the final match before intermission, with the focus clearly on any and all interactions between Omega and Okada. The two stared each other down before the bell, before allowing Ospreay and Scurll to put on a brief clinic at the start. Gedo took the majority of punishment for the CHAOS team before the long-awaited showdown between Okada and Omega, which did not disappoint. Gedo predictably fell at the last, tapping out to Scurll’s chicken wing. Three submission finishes out of four on this show so far.
Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale & Marty Scurll def. Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & Gedo
#5 B Block: Tiger Mask vs. El Desperado
Tiger Mask needed to win this match to stay alive in the tournament, but El Desperado took out the veteran’s knee early on to make the job that much harder. Despy was a little too pre-occupied with Tiger Mask’s mask throughout, losing focus on critical occasions when he decided to trip and rip the famous mask instead of winning the match. Tiger Mask seemed to have the bout won after he hit the Tiger Driver, but it wasn’t enough to keep El Desperado down. Tiger Mask picked up the win at the last with the Tiger Suplex, although Despy’s feet were clearly on the ropes
Tiger Mask def. El Desperado
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#6 B Block: BUSHI vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
BUSHI @BUSHI_njpw #njbosj Bhttps://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP #njpwworld #njpw pic.twitter.com/Mw4hicFoWR
— njpwworld (@njpwworld) May 29, 2017
BUSHI found himself in the same position as Tiger Mask here, needing a win to stay alive in the competition. BUSHI also had Suzuki-gun opposition, and it was Yoshinobu Kanemaru who got the jump on the masked star before the bell. The fight went up into the crowd, with BUSHI taking out both Kanemaru and TAKA Michinoku with an incredible dive. Kanemaru gained the advantage in the ring, before the inevitable ref bump. BUSHI avoided Kanemaru’s whisky, however, and picked up the win with the MX.
BUSHI def. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
#7 B Block: Volador Jr. vs. ACH
ACH @GoGoACH "SUPER"5Jr.#njbosj Bhttps://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP#njpwworld #njpw pic.twitter.com/DwhaTPghzb
— njpwworld (@njpwworld) May 29, 2017
A great sprint between two fan favourites here, with both men playing to the crowd to begin things. ACH hit a series of great dives to the outside, and it looked for all the world like Volador Jr. was about to be eliminated. The Skywalker somehow survived, however, pinning ACH after a huge top rope rana. Volador joins ACH, BUSHI, Kanemaru, Tiger Mask and Desperado on six points.
Volador Jr. def. ACH
#8 B Block: KUSHIDA vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
KUSHIDA @KUSHIDA_0904 vs@taguchiryusuke1 #njbosj (?!)2…https://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP #njpwworld #njpw pic.twitter.com/GDGo3jC7VT
— njpwworld (@njpwworld) May 29, 2017
The main event of the evening was a battle between two former winners of this tournament, but it was KUSHIDA who kept himself alive at the last. KUSHIDA controlled the majority of the early going, working over the arm of the Funky Weapon. The veteran Taguchi was able to turn the tide, however, focusing on KUSHIDA’s ankle in the hope of slapping on the ankle lock at some point during the bout.
KUSHIDA avoided Taguchi’s attempts, however, even managing to hit the Funky Weapon with a Dodon. One beautiful exchange saw KUSHIDA avoid a springboard hip attack by slapping on an armbar, which Taguchi transitioned into the ankle lock before finding himself in an ankle lock of KUSHIDA’s, which somehow led to another Taguchi armbar before KUSHIDA finally locked Taguchi in a figure four leglock.
It looked like curtains for KUSHIDA when Taguchi hit a Boma Ye into an ankle lock, but KUSHIDA was able to lock in the Hoverboard Lock before hitting Back to the Future for the win.
So all eight participants enter the final round of matches on six points. With one round of group bouts to go, only Marty Scurll, Jushin Thunder Liger and TAKA Michinoku are eliminated out of the 16 participants. Incredible.
KUSHIDA def. Ryusuke Taguchi
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