NJPW Best of the Super Juniors night 14 results: Ospreay vs. Taguchi

Okayama was home to the finals of the B Block for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament.

Conveniently, the main event of this morning’s show determines the winner of the block. Either Will Ospreay or Ryusuke Taguchi will face off against A Block winner Shingo Takagi on 6/5 at Sumo Hall. The winner of that match will likely challenge Dragon Lee for the IWGP Jr. title at Dominion this weekend.

Here are prelim results from tonight’s show. Taiji Ishimori is suffering from a shoulder injury, so he is out of tonight’s prelims:

– SHO and Jonathan Gresham defeated Tiger Mask and Yuya Uemura

SHO submitted Uemura with a Boston crab.

– Juice Robinson and Toa Henare defeated Marty Scurll and Brody King

Robinson pinned King following the Pulp Friction.

– Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Tomohiro Ishii and Shota Umino

Kanemaru defeated Umino with the Deep Impact DDT. Taichi jumped Ishii after the match and cut a short promo, standing over him.

– Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi defeated Dragon Lee and Titan

Takagi pinned Titan with the Last of the Dragon.

Block B matches:

BUSHI defeated Ren Narita

BUSHI dominated the match early, grinding Narita to the ground. Narita tried for the overhead belly-to-belly, but BUSHI blocked it. Narita instead worked for the cloverleaf and got it. BUSHI made it to the ropes, and fought back after Narita tried for the overhead again.

BUSHI applies a Boston Crab of his own. Narita tries to make it to the ropes, but BUSHI drags him back in the middle. BUSHI then hits the MX and that is it, Narita ends the tournament with zero wins. A solid bout.

Bandido defeated Rocky Romero

The two started off with some simple offense. Romero went for the armbar, but Bandido quickly made it to the ropes. Romero worked over the arm, dropping the knee on the injured arm. Bandido regains control for a bit, but Romero fights back, taking him down with a clothesline.

Bandido drops Romero on his knee then launches himself in the air, planting Romero with a one man spanish fly. He goes for the 21 plex and connects, giving him one final win. This was a fun match.

YOH defeated Robbie Eagles

After a couple of minutes of action, YOH wiped out Eagles on the outside with a dive. Eagles made a comeback, dropkicking YOH in his knee. Eagles continues to work on YOH’s knees, but YOH comes back with a dragon screw. Eagles is undeterred, taking YOH to the corner and hitting running knees for a nearfall.

The two countered one another until YOH attacked, blocking a kick and hitting a dragon suplex for the win. This ended kind of suddenly, but this was a nice, fast-paced match.

El Phantasmo defeated DOUKI

DOUKI charged at ELP before the bell, but ELP threw a chair at DOUKI as he went for a suicide dive. ELP then flew off the ring to the floor, attacking DOUKI and choking him with his shirt. After some time in the ring, ELP falls to the floor and DOUKI responds by hitting a suicide dive of his own, then hit a giant senton that took both him and ELP out.

After trading some offense back in the ring, ELP kicked DOUKI as he was on the top rope and looked like he was going for a springboard hurricanrana, but DOUKI instead landed on his throat on the ropes, falling to the floor. ELP threw him back in the ring and hit a big splash for a nearfall.

ELP hit the airplane spin, but DOUKI kicked out. ELP ripped off DOUKI’s face mask then hit the VR2 for the win. This was pretty wild, another good match.

Will Ospreay defeated Ryusuke Taguchi to win the B Block

Things start off pretty slow, just some back and forth teasing, some slow work. Ospreay seems to have control early, working over Taguchi with a cloverleaf. Taguchi finally comes alive with a hip attack then the three amigos. Ospreay blocked the third suplex, but Taguchi sent him to the outside then flung off with a crossbody to the floor.

Ospreay mounted a comeback, taking out Taguchi on the outside with a corkscrew press. The two exchanged some great, fast-paced offense, ending when Taguchi with another hip attack. Ospreay went for and Ozcutter but Taguchi blocked it and hit Ospreay low, then followed with a tiger suplex into a bridge.

Ospreay hit a superkick then tried for the stormbreaker but Taguchi countered, fell to the floor and grabbed the leg for an ankle lock. Ospreay somehow escaped then countered with a power bomb. Ospreay hit the Robinson Special and went for the Ozcutter but Taguchi grabbed the ankle lock then hit the dodon for a nearfall. Taguchi continues to hold on with the ankle lock, but Ospreay escapes and hits a spanish fly.

Going to the top rope, Ospreay hit a shooting star press but Taguchi kicked out. Ospreay tried for the Oscutter again but Taguchi countered with a backslide. Ospreay escaped, cut off Taguchi then hit the stormbreaker for the win. This was one hell of a match, Taguchi kept up with Ospreay’s pace and they had an excellent bout filled with some great drama.

Will Ospreay is the winner of the B Block. This means he will face the winner of the A Block, Shingo Takagi, this Wednesday at the Best of the Super Juniors finals.

Shingo Takagi came out after the match and congratulated Ospreay on the win. He said Ospreay was strong, but he was stronger.

Ospreay took the mic and said he’s not scared of Shingo. He’s scared of one thing, failure. He says it’s the worst year of his personal life but he is happy when he enters the ring. He thinks with his heart because he loves this, he loves being a junior heavyweight. He is going to be the man to beat his streak. He’s not going to just beat him, he is going to slay the dragon.

Takagi leaves as Ospreay reiterates what he said earlier. Will Ospreay, Shingo Takagi, he says he will win Best of the Super Juniors.

FINAL A BLOCK STANDINGS

  • Shingo Takagi: 18 (Winner)
  • Taiji Ishimori: 14
  • Dragon Lee: 14
  • Marty Scurll: 10
  • SHO: 10
  • Jonathan Gresham: 8
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru: 6
  • Titan: 6
  • Tiger Mask: 4
  • TAKA Michinoku: 0

FINAL B BLOCK STANDINGS

  • Will Ospreay: 14 (Winner)
  • Ryusuke Taguchi: 12
  • El Phantasmo: 12
  • BUSHI: 12
  • YOH: 12
  • Robbie Eagles: 10
  • Bandido: 10
  • Rocky Romero: 6
  • DOUKI: 2
  • Ren Narita: 0