also i lied. it was the bosj 26 match that i had already watched and the bosj 28 one that i still needed to. which i am doing now ehehe

Best of the Super Jr. Day 1 preview

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mike Bailey - This is an A Block match in the Best of the Super Jr. tournament, with 2 points at stake--two for the winner, zero for the loser, or one apiece if it goes to the 30-minute time limit. After the last A Block matches on May 23, the two wrestlers with the most points will square off on May 26 to determine the block winner, who will meet the B Block winner in the tournament final on May 28.

Takahashi is the IWGP junior heavyweight champion, but no championships are at stake during the tournament. The tournament winner will presumably challenge Hiromu for the belt, probably on June 4. Unless, that is, Takahashi wins the tournament himself, in which case he can name his next challenger. Hiromu has won four of the last five BOSJ tournaments, and he only missed 2019's edition due to a neck injury. So he's clearly the man to beat in this thing.

Bailey is best known as a key name on Impact Wrestling and the US indies. This is his first tour in Japan since April 2020, and although he was a regular in DDT back in the day, he's only worked a handful of NJPW shows in the US. I'm surprised it took this long to get him booked for BOSJ, and to get him in the ring with Hiromu. He's just the sort of new blood this tournament has needed for a few years.

New Japan likes having major upsets in the early going of its big tournaments. So I could certainly see Bailey winning to make a statement in his debut, set up a title match down the line, and put Hiromu under pressure to recover. But there are other places you could do a big upset on this card, so I'll go with Takahashi to win.

El Desperado vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru - This is a B Block match, again with 2 points on the line. Same deal as the A Block, but the last B matches will be on May 24. The top two scorers will face off on the 26th to decide who goes to the final on the 28th.

From 2016 to 2022, Despy and Nobu often represented Suzuki-gun as a tag team, capturing the IWGP junior tag title four times. But after Suzuki-gun amicably disbanded, Kanemaru aligned with Taichi's Just 5 Guys group, and Desperado's been teaming with Minoru Suzuki and Ren Narita. This is the first time these former teammates have been pitted against one another since the breakup; in fact, I think it's the first time all year that any former Suzuki-gun members have squared off.

The outcome isn't in much doubt. Despy was the BOSJ runner-up in 2022 and 2020, and he made third place in 2021. Kanemaru has always been an also-ran in the tournament, and at 46 years old he's probably not about to change all that with a sudden hot streak. Look for Despy to win here and finish with at least five or six wins; Nobu will be lucky if he can get four victories.

Titan vs. TJP - This is an A Block match. Titan is the CMLL world welterweight champion; again, titles aren't at stake here. TJP is fresh off losing the IWGP junior tag title and sustaining a nasty cut in the process. It's not clear if TJP will continue in the tag division with Francesco Akira or pursue a singles run; his performance in this tournament may shed some light on that. As for Titan, he joined Los Ingobernables de Japon about six months ago mostly so BUSHI would have a tag partner in Super Jr. Tag League. I keep forgetting he's in the group, so it'd be nice if this tournament gave me a reason to care. I think this one could go either way.

YOH vs. Robbie Eagles - Two points in B Block are on the line. Yoh and Robbie had both been in the same faction--Kazuchika Okada's CHAOS--but Eagles recently joined his fellow Australians in TMDK. I don't think that makes him a heel, but he and Yoh sure aren't going to be friends in this one. Both men recently came up short challenging for the junior singles title, so they need to finish the block with at least a winning record to stay relevant in the division. Robbie is always coming up short for some reason, so I guess I'll pick him to lose here too.

Lio Rush vs. SHO - Another A Block match. Sho was best known for being in Roppongi 3K until he viciously betrayed his tag partner Yoh. Recently Yoh has bounced back in a new tag team with Lio Rush. Other than that these two haven't had much to do with one another, so expect Yoh to be a big part of the story on commentary. Since aligning with the House of Torture Sho's whole act is to try to clobber his opponent with a wrench, so I don't think this will be very good. I'd like to see Lio do well in the tournament, but I suspect he'll be fed to Sho to build up heel heat.

Francesco Akira vs. Master Wato - More B Block action. As noted, Akira's run with TJP as junior tag champs just ended. I'm a little more interested in seeing Akira make a run for the singles title than TJP, so I hope he at least goes 5-4 in the block. Wato has been going nowhere fast for years, and I'd be open to seeing him get a push but New Japan seems determined to not let him get an ounce of momentum. Akira will likely win.

KUSHIDA vs. DOUKI - A Block again. Kushida is one of the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team champions, but more to the point he was the ace of this division before he jumped to NXT in 2019. When he returned last year I thought he'd go on a tear through the singles division but that never got off the ground. Now he's got a big chance to show he's still got it.

But I think the bigger story here could be Douki. In Suzuki-gun he was always kind of the job guy, but now with Just 5 Guys there's a sense that he's on the cusp of breaking out into something bigger. There's bound to be a big upset on this show, and I think this is it. A Douki win establishes that he's for real, it gives him something to crow about even if he finishes 4-5, it sets up a tag title program for him and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and it gives Kushida the big "does he still have it" storyline. I'll take a Kushida win but I'm ready for Douki to shine.

BUSHI vs. Dan Moloney - This is a B Block match. Bushi isn't a nobody but he's never going to be the top junior in Los Ingobernables de Japon, so I don't figure he'll do much better than 8 points in this tournament. Moloney is the real story here. I've literally never heard of the guy, probably because I don't follow the UK scene and that's where he's spent most of his career. I read that he tries to bring as much heavyweight style and power as you can put into a junior heavyweight body, so that should be a good change of pace from the usual flippy stuff. My preference would be for him to debut with a win, but that's not assured in New Japan.

Taiji Ishimori vs. Ryusuke Taguchi - Back to A Block. Ishimori has been a face in the crowd amid the goings-on with Bullet Club. If he's going to be credible threat to the singles title this year, he should have no difficulty beating a comedy guy like Taguchi. But Taguchi is known for turning it up during BOSJ, and this might be one of those nights. Either of these guys could finish near the top of the block, but Ishimori is that one who belongs there.

Kevin Knight vs. Clark Connors - The opener is a B Block match. Knight is one of the IWGP junior tag champions, alongside Kushida. Connors joined Bullet Club last month, and this should be our first chance to see whatever new look he has, now that he's ditched the "wild rhino" gimmick. Both guys are still finding their footing after graduating from the dojo, but Connors needs this win just a little more than Knight does.

Official Match Card for "Best of Super Jr 30" Final 4 and predictions

Now that we have our final 4, we have the official match card for Yoyogi set to take place this Friday May 26. Here is the official match card with my predictions.

Opening Match: Clark Connors/Gedo vs. Robbie Eagles/Kosei Fujita Prediction: Based on all I've seen throughout this tournament I would be predicted a BC win but got to somehow control Connors' rage. To me, it's because of that rage he wasn't able to win the block or finish in the top two. As for Robbie Eagles, boy did he finally arrive. His future seems bright and I'm sensing that by this time next year, he could make history. But...again BC with the win. Just hoping Connors can stay calm.

Match #2: Great O-Khan/Aaron Henare vs. Toru Yano/Tomoaki Honma Prediction: Considering how Yano has so many enemies and is apparently scared of most of them, my prediction on this is Yano somehow sneaking a win by pinning Aaron Henare. Yano will do stopping that'll irritate Henare to a point no one wants to be at.

Match #3: TJP/Francesco Akira/Dan Moloney vs. KUSHIDA/Kevin Knight/Ryusuke Taguchi Prediction: Based on the fact that KUSHIDA and Kevin Knight are the reigning champions, I see one of them (most likely KUSHDA) getting pinned by Dan Moloney. However, it is more likely that Taguchi will get pinned due to his poor performance in this year's BOSJ. Got the feeling Taguchi is almost ready to walk into the sunset.

Match #4: EVIL/Yujiro Takahashi/SHO/Dick Togo vs. Hirooki Goto/YOSHI-HASHI/YOH/Lio Rush Prediction: Throughout the tour I asked where were Dick Togo and Yujiro Takahashi when SHO only had EVIL to help him win matches. In Osaka, Yujiro finally showed up but Togo never did. So going into this match, I see Bishamon's team emerging victorious because clearly HOT has some inner problems that we don't know about and somehow they could involve the Spoiler himself.

Match #5: Shota Umino/Oskar Leube/Boltin Oleg vs. Kazuchika Okada/Hiroshi Tanahashi/Tomohiro Ishii Prediction: Based on all I saw, heard, and read; sensing Okada getting his revenge as he'll pin one of Shota's partners but it may seem that Shota Umino will have the final word. The reason...he did what both Kaito Kiyomiya and Ren Narita failed to do. That is laid out Okada and it was all thanks to Jon Moxley. Anyway, see the 6-man champs winning but sensing Umino has something up his sleeve.

Match #6: Tetsuya Naito/Shingo Takagi/Hiromu Takahashi/BUSHI vs. SANADA/Taichi/Yoshinobu Kanemaru/DOUKI

Prediction: Considering SANADA's challenger is not on this card or in this match, it's almost clear that Yota Tsuji may not be LIJ after all. But can sense that this 8-man tag could serve as a key to him officially joining in. Will that happen here or will it happen Sunday in Ota? Anyway, this match above serves as the key to all that'll happen between now and Osaka. Will Tsuji show up to officially join LIJ or will Just 5 Guys prove their dominance over LIJ once again? Tune in Friday to find out the answer to this. That's my prediction on this match.

Semi-main Event Match: Best of the Super Jr 30 Semi-Final #1: Mike Bailey (A Block #1 Seed) vs. Master Wato (B Block #2 Seed)

Prediction: Mike Bailey has been nothing but impressive since this tournament began. Heard a lot about him in the past year and boy did he not disappoint. Wish I can say I sense an upset win in Master Wato but I don't. I'm sensing a hard-fought victory for Mike Bailey who's seeking to become only the second Canadian wrestler to win the Best of the Super Jr. and the first person to do it in his first try since Will Ospreay did it back in 2016.

Main Event: Best of the Super Jr 30 Semi-Final #2: Titan (A Block #2 Seed) vs. El Desperado (B Block #1 Seed)

Prediction: Considering how many were predicting Desperado to win last year only for Hiromu to win his third a row, the last thing anyone wants is another heartbreaking ending for Desperado. Titan surprised many even myself. Making it this far and making a big gamble by joining Los Ingobernables de Japon back in October 2022. This match for him is make or break. So with that said, I see Desperado advancing to the finals to face Mike Bailey and...I can see Desperado finally winning the trophy that eluded him in 2020 and in 2022.

Those are my predictions for "Best of the Super Jr 30" in Yoyogi. To see if these predictions come true or not, watch the event LIVE on NJPW World this Friday at 6:30 PM Local Time/5:30 AM Eastern/4:30 AM Central/2:30 AM Pacific. Go to timeanddate.com and type in the city that you are living in to find the start time of the event in your area.

idk wat hes doin but i would die for him

When you use your opponent's head like a punchball 😛

[NJPW Best of the Super Jr.26 Final, June 5th 2019]

Why is it like... impossible for some of y'all to enjoy a match unless your fave wins???? Like I get being upset. But just choosing to despise a wrestler 'cause he beat your guy once is ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong, despite being a Dean/Mox stan myself, I find a lot of them toxic and annoying. (I have my reasons.) But like.... it's wrestling??? There's gonna be a winner and there's gonna be a loser. And also shit and outcomes that happens in one match are often builds for things at a later time???? But y'all just choose to vilify things right off the bat. Ugh I don't know. Y'all just... Y'all just suck the fun out shit with the constant, unnecessary bitching about wins and losses.

This isn't a specific problem for only this match. But has been a general tumblr wrestling community issue.

But if Juice would have won it would have been just as good. They both did awesome and gave us a great match! I say this knowing there'd also be endless bitching from Dean/Mox stans if he lost. But it really would have been fine either way.

Lighten up. ALL of you.

NJPW BEST OF THE SUPER Jr. 26 Blocks and Match Announcement       

So the Blocks and matches have been announced for this years BOSJ. It looked like a fantastic tournament on paper, and with these match announcements, it looks like it won’t dissapoint. Below I’ve listed the bouts which look the most interesting to me.

May 13th and 14th, Miyagi, Sendai Sunplaza Hall

Marty Scurll vs, Jonathan Gresham

SHO vs. Shingo Takagi

Dragon Lee vs. Taiji Ishimori    

Bandido vs. El Phantasmo

Will Ospreay vs. BUSHI

May 15th, Amori Martial Arts Hall

Titan vs. Shingo Takagi

Marty Scurll vs. Taiji Ishimori

Dragon Lee vs. SHO

May 16th, Amori Industrial Hall

Flip Gordon vs. Robbie Eagles

YOH vs. Bandido

May 18th and 19th, Yamagata Big Wing

Dragon Lee vs. Jonathan Gresham

Bandido vs. El Desperado

El Phantasmo vs. Robbie Eagles

May 22nd - 24th, Tokyo, Korakuen Hall

Bandidio vs. Flip Gordon

Marty Scurll vs. Shingo Takagi

Will Ospreay vs. El Phantasmo

SHO vs. Marty Scurll

Will Ospreay vs. Bandido

Dragon Lee vs. Shingo Takagi

Jonathan Gresham vs. Taiji Ishimori

Dragon Lee vs. Titan

Will Opsreay vs. Flip Gordon

May 26th, Chiba, Mukuhari Messe

Will Ospreay vs. Robbie Eagles

SHO vs. Taiji Ishimori

May 31st, Ehime Item

Dragon Lee vs. Marty Scurll

Shingo Takagi vs. Taiji Ishimori

June 3rd, Okayama Zip Arena

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Will Ospreay

El Phantasmo vs. El Desperado

June 5th, Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White

The three nights at Korakuen Hall, all three of which are full tournament cards, look exceptional. In particular Will Ospreay’s matches with Phantasmo, Bandido and Flip Gordon, and the match I’m looking forward to the most from either block in this whole tournament; Dragon Lee vs. Shingo Takagi. We will also finally get that long awaited Shingo/SHO singles clash in Sendai on Night 1, as well as the Lee/Ishimori rematch, both of which will be great, I have no doubt.

As for a winner, I wouldn’t like to say, as that A Block in particular is stacked. But if I were fantasy booking, I’d want to see an Ospreay vs. Dragon Lee Final, as that just seems like it would be phenomenal, followed closely by Ospreay vs. Shingo, which would be completely different, but probably equally as good. Let this start already.

NDT

Robbie Eagles🦅🇦🇺

What the FUCK is on his face

okay but the A block booklet is also great

William Osprey meant it when he said he wanted to slay the dragon, going all out with a FUCKING KATANA

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 26 Final Review

I’m not going to review everything on the card, because not everything was super important to the overall stories. So we will start at the Tanahashi Comeback match, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White. White attacked before the bell, trying his best to ruin Tanahashi’s moment. White targetted the arm, as Tanahashi recently came back from elbow surgery. At one point, it looked like Tanahashi was going to lose by countout, but White pulled the ref out of the ring to interrupt the count and continue to attack Tanahashi. Even when Tanahashi was on the offense, simple things like holding the ropes during an Irish whip would cause him a lot of pain. As Tanahashi continued to beat down White, White began to play possum, refusing to get up for suplexes, and instead picking the arm for a fujiwara armbar. It was a rough looking armbar too, looking like it was killing Tanahashi. He was able to get to the ropes, much to the crowd’s thrill. Tanahashi worked over White’s knee a bit, but was almost never on the offensive. Tanahashi hit two consecutive slingblades for a near fall, and then went up for high fly flow. Gedo tried to stop him, but was kicked off the apron, still allowing White to crotch him on the top rope. Gedo even tried to get involved with Brass knuckles, so Tanahashi put him on his ass. The ref was distracted by Gedo, allowing White to hit a low blow. He then went for the bladerunner, but Tanahashi fought out and hit a low blow of his own, but only a near fall. They then struggled for finishers, but White hammerlocked the arm and got a rollup for the win.

Grade: B+. Really good match, and some really good booking for Jay White. I love the idea of a heel winning the comeback match, and he was drawing a ton of heat for everything that he did. These guys have a rivalry for the ages, and I doubt this is their last match, but as things stand, White has Tana’s number for now. Still, their matches always deliver. 

Into the US Championship match, the debuting Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson. Moxley entered through the crowd, Shield style. Kevin Kelly talked about how they used to feud waaaaaay back in FCW, when it was Dean Ambrose vs. CJ Parker, which I thought was pretty interesting. This had a big fight feel even before the match started. Robinson even cut off his dreads for this match, which made him look much more serious. They beat the hell out of each other right at the bell. It wasn’t even a minute in when they brawled through the fans. At one point, Juice drilled Moxley with a somersault senton off of the rigging by the entrance, wiping out his opponent and several young lions. Another time, he tried to canonball Moxley on the outside into the barricade, but he dodged and Juice crashed and burned at a super high speed. Robinson was busted open pretty early, right above the eyebrow, and I think it was too small of a cut to be a blade job, but it accomplished the same effect. When the ref tried to tell Juice to lay off a bit while he was laying into Moxley, he straight up told red shoes to fuck himself, not something that Robinson does often. At one point, Robinson went to the top rope, and Moxley shoved him right off and to ringside. Then he grabbed a table from underneath the ring, and even drilled Juice with a chair shot. He then did a sort of splash with a chair onto Juice, but the table did not break. So, Moxley gave him a suplex through the table instead. Moxley continued to work over Robinson’s knee throughout the match, whipping it into the ringpost, and doing the figure four on the ringpost as well. He was going to attempt to break Robinson’s leg with the chair, but Red Shoes argued with him about it, allowing Robinson to grab the chair and throw it into Moxley’s face. The two traded chops and jabs, with Robinson firing up as they did, even no selling a few of Moxley’s hits. The battle spilled to the outside once again, and Robinson gave Moxley a running canonball into the table. He was a little overzealous and nearly soared over the barricade too. The table didn’t break, so Robinson powerbombed him through it instead. Moxley fought back into it, able to lock in a cloverleaf at one point. Both guys tried for their finishers, with Moxley being able to hit the double arm DDT after a kick to the knee, but only for two. So, Moxley picked him right back up and hit the double arm DDT, which has been called Death Rider, for the win.

Grade: A-. An awesome brawl, and definitely fitting for his first match out of WWE. They beat the living crap out of each other, and almost none of it took place inside the ring. I loved all the table spots and weapon shots and the hate that Moxley brought out of Juice. Not to mention what this means for AEW. One of their top stars holds a title in New Japan. They have their hooks in, and I think we may be looking towards a business agreement between the two companies. I sure hope so, and I hope that this starts to instigate that. 

And in the main event, we had the finals of Best of the Super Juniors 26. Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay. Ospreay came to the ring with a sword, and I was so excited and that was awesome. There was a bit of a feeling out process early on. The two had a series of counters that lasted nearly a full minute, with Ospreay flipping out of a rebound german suplex, and Shingo countering an os cutter with an arm drag. Shingo was not playing it straight here. He was being a heel, and the fans treated him as such. Ospreay did his classic fake out of a suicide dive, and Shingo was so frustrated that he threw a water bottle at Ospreay. At one point, Shingo actually pulled out a tope con hilo, destroying will Ospreay and crotching himself on the barricade in the process. This forced Ospreay to play from behind, and he was rocked with strikes and slams. At one point, Shingo hit a huge double hand chop, and Ospreay just kipped right back up and hit a roundhouse to the chest. At another, Shingo caught a kick from Ospreay, and he flipped him right around so that Ospreay landed on his back. Ospreay even countered a verticle suplex into stundog millionaire, a little callout to Mark Andrews over in the UK. There was a sick spot where Ospreay hit cheeky nandos, and then went up to the top for a stormbreaker, only for Shingo to counter it into a top rope death valley driver. Shingo even went for a burning hammer, but Ospreay flipped out of it to hit a double kick. He then went for os cutter, only for Shingo to counter that into a noshigami. Then Shingo went for a pumping bomber, and Ospreay countered that into a sickening powerbomb. That was just an insane series of moves. At some point during this, Ospreay’s mouth got bloodied, not so bad that it was clearly noticeable, but it was there. As the two were hurt on the apron, Ospreay fought out of a noshigami and hit an os cutter on the apron. That nearly got Ospreay the win by countout, but Shingo made it back in just in time, and then hit a Springboard dropkick across the entire ring. Ospreay then hit an inverted 630 senton onto Shingo’s back, followed by a shooting star press, a robinson special and an Os cutter, but still only a near fall. Nothing would put Shingo down. The two then had a striking contest that left Ospreay completely battered, and Shingo was able to hit last of the dragons, but Ospreay wouldn’t stay down. Shingo tried to hit it again, but Ospreay countered into a nasty looking reverse rana. Ospreay nailed Shingo with a hidden blade, and nailed an os cutter from the top, then a stormbreaker for the win. 

Grade: A+. Fucking hell, this was so good. The way they both fought, trying to get the win in any way that they could. Shingo looked crazy strong in defeat, taking 4 finishers to take him down. Shingo’s incredible strength during this match really made it seem like he was unbeatable. He seemed invincible after kicking out of the os cutter. And ospreay sold like crazy, flipping all over the place to make Shingo look awesome in defeat. This was the perfect match to end the tournament, and a perfect end to the arc of Will Ospreay as a junior heavyweight. I really doubt that he will continue in the juniors. This would be an awesome fairwell to the BOSJ as well, but I guess we will see. This match was goddamn incredible.

After the match, Ospreay announced that he was moving to Japan, really integrating to the company. He even said it in Japanese. It was a heartwrenching moment. He said that he will challenge anyone who steps up to him, heavyweight or juniors, because he loves the company, and he is the best of the super juniors. 

Overall grade: A-

Predictions: 3/7. I was super close though, I had all the names right, but in the wrong orders. I had Taguchi at 3rd and Phantasmo at 2nd, and also Ishimori at 3rd and Lee at 2nd.

Pros: Tanahashi comeback match; us championship match; main event

Cons: A weird moment where Gedo ran into the ring with brass knuckles and didn’t get disqualified

☔️☔️☔️

umbrella man 2019

when hes rite hes rite