NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI

Here are notes from the fifth day of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, which was held live at Korakuen Hall today. All of today’s BOSJ matches are from the B Block.

Interestingly, it was shown on Twitter that WWE’s William Regal and Canyon Ceman were at the show. They’ve been to AJPW and Zero-One events as well over the weekend.

– Tomoyuki Oka & Hirai Kawato defeated Syota Umino & Katsuya Kitamura when Kawato submitted Umino with the Boston crab.

– Taichi & Taka Michinoku defeated Will Ospreay & Gedo after Taichi hit Gedo with a superkick.

– Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Marty Scurll & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Ricochet, David Finlay & War Machine when Tonga pinned Raymond Rowe with a Gun Stun. This was a pretty good match that people got into. War Machine never seem to have an off day.

– Juice Robinson, Jushin Thunder Liger, Satoshi Kojima & Dragon Lee defeated SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi when Robinson pinned EVIL after hitting the Pulp Friction.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Volador Jr.

This wasn’t much of a match at all, and it had a dumb finish to boot. 

Kanemaru gained the advantage early in the match, laying out Volador with a DDT on the outside. Volador got some offense in, but when he went for a cover Kanemaru grabbed the referee’s hand in the only cool spot of the match.

Taka Michinoku distracted the ref, allowing Kanemaru to strike Volador with some sort of alcohol bottle, which let him finish Volador off with the top rope DDT for the win.

Tiger Mask defeated ACH

Pretty good match. ACH is really good and looked great when he was on offense.

Tiger Mask had control early. ACH made a really great comeback, hitting three suicide dives in succession. Tiger Mask met him on the top rope and unleashed a butterfly suplex, then hit a Tiger Driver. They traded some great back and forth until Tiger Mask caught him with a crucifix for the win.

El Desperado defeated Ryusuke Taguchi

They had a pretty good match. Taguchi has been really reliable as a great worker in the last year and with the connection he has with the crowd always brings some pretty heated matches. Desperado hasn’t had the opportunity to shine, but he can have good matches with the right opponent.

Desperado low blowed Taguchi when he was coming off a springboard for heat. He followed that up by drowning him in chairs, then threw one right on the square of his back. He continued the assault, grabbing a pen and…well, sticking it where the sun doesn’t shine.

Despite the heinous attack, Taguchi managed to make a comeback, hitting a tope con hilo on the outside, then landed a springboard hip toss. Taguchi went for the Dodon, but Desperado transitioned that into a stretch muffler. Taguchi managed to lock in the ankle lock, but Desperado managed to make it to the ropes.

Taguchi hit a running hip attack, then a modified version of the Dodon where his shins strike Desperado, but it didn’t get the job done. Desperado suddenly took off his mask and threw it at Taguchi. The ref argued with him long enough for Desperado to put on a second mask, jump Taguchi, then nail him with the Angel’s Wings for the win.

KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI

This was a really good match — the crowd was into it and the action was really good. The story of whether or not KUSHIDA could pick up a win added to the drama too.

They brawled around the ring to start. KUSHIDA hit a drop toe hold on BUSHI into a chair, kicked him, wrapped his shirt on top of his head, and hit a running dropkick. BUSHI gained revenge by grabbing KUSHIDA and slamming him down on the apron head first.

KUSHIDA caught BUSHI on the top rope with a springboard and tried for an armbar, ultimately succeeding. A hot back and forth ensued, with BUSHI getting the better after a Canadian Destroyer. He landed the MX, but KUSHIDA kicked out. He went for another, but KUSHIDA came back and nailed a Codebreaker of his own.

KUSHIDA grabbed him and sunk in the hoverlock. BUSHI tried to escape, but KUSHIDA kept him in the middle. BUSHI tried to escape again, but KUSHIDA rolled over, got to his feet, and landed a brainbuster for the win.

The show ended with a KUSHIDA promo.

Current B Block Standings —

  • El Desperado — 6
  • Ryusuke Taguchi — 4
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru — 4
  • Tiger Mask — 4
  • ACH — 2
  • Volador Jr. — 2
  • KUSHIDA — 2
  • BUSHI — 0

Current A Block Standings —

  • Dragon Lee — 4
  • Marty Scurll — 4
  • Ricochet — 4
  • Taichi — 4
  • Will Ospreay — 4
  • Taka Michinoku — 2
  • Hiromu Takahashi — 2
  • Jushin Thunder Liger — 0