By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Best of the Super Juniors tournament”
May 13, 2023 in Nagano, Japan at Budokan
Streamed on New Japan World
The venue is a large room with nearly all seating on the floor, between 500 and 1,000 spectators. Kevin Kelly provided commentary; Chris Charlton is slated to return Sunday. TJP, who wrestled in the opening match, joined Kelly on commentary prior to the third match.
BoSJ is a 20-man tournament, with 10 wrestlers in each Block in a round-robin tournament, spread out over 12 shows in an 18-day span. So, each wrestler will have nine matches within their block. From there, we have a “final four” this year. The A Block winner will face the second-place finisher of the B Block, and the B Block winner will finish the second-place finisher of the A Block. Those winners head to the finals. Each win is worth two points. A draw is worth one each. To the show!
1. TJP (2) defeated Kushida (0) in an A Block match at 9:38. Kelly talked how both men lost their first tournament match, and this is a first-ever singles matchup. Quick mat reversals early on, and they tied up each other’s legs.TJP snapped Kushida’s left arm backward at 4:00, and he switched to a Muta Lock, then a mid-ring Octopus, but Kushida reahed the ropes at 7:00. Kushida fired back with a basement dropkick to the face and a nice Pele Kick at 9:00. TJP went for a springboard move, but Kushida caught the left arm and applied a cross-armbreaker. TJP got an inside cradle for the pin out of nowhere.
2. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (4) defeated Dan Moloney (2) in a B Block match at 5:42. Kanemaru opened with some European Uppercuts. Kelly reiterated how Moloney cut weight to get below the 100 kilogram (220 pound) cut-off. Kanemaru hit a dropkick to the knee at 3:30, and he applied the Figure Four leglock. Moloney tapped out! WOW, I didn’t see that coming, at least this early in the match. I think a quick loss for a newcomer like Moloney really hurts him.
** TJP joined Kelly on commentary.
3. Lio Rush (4) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi (0) in an A Block match at 5:19. Lio did his quick side-step cuts in the ring, and Taguchi was winded before they even locked up. Funny. Taguchi hit a plancha to the floor. In the ring, he hit a flying buttbump for a nearfall. Lio barreled through the ropes onto Taguchi at 2:00, then a second one. Lio went for the Final Hour frogsplash, but Taguchi got his knees up. Taguchi nailed a hard clothesline and a Lungblower move for a believable nearfall.
Taguchi missed a frogsplash, and Rush immediately hit a sit-out piledriver move for a believable nearfall. They traded forearm shots. Taguchi hit a dropkick on the knee. Taguchi hit a top-rope flying buttbump at 4:30. Lio hit the stunner off the ropes, then the Final Hour frogsplash for the pin. I liked this; that was a fast-and-furious short match.
4. Robbie Eagles (4) defeated Clark Connors (2) in a B Block match at 5:56. Seconds into the match, Eagles applied the Ron Miller Special (Jaime Noble Trailer Hitch) leglock and Connors scrambled to reach the ropes. Connors fired back with a release German Suplex and Eagles rolled to the floor. Connors whipped him into the ring post at 2:00 and slammed him on the thin mat at ringside. In the ring, Connors was in control. Eagles hit some Yes Kicks to the chest at 4:30.
Eagles hit a mid-ring Sliced Bread #2 for a nearfall. Connors fired back with a spear. Connors set up for his “No Chaser” DDT finisher, but Eagles got a rollup out of nowhere for the pin. TJP on commentary belittled Connors for not hitting the finisher when he had the chance.
5. Mike Bailey (4) defeated Sho (0) in an A Block match at 13:20. Sho grabbed a chair, charged at Bailey, and hit him on the entrance stage. (I start my stopwatch at first contact.) They got in the ring at 1:00 to officially begin, with Sho already in charge. Bailey fired back a stiff kick to the jaw, sending Sho to the floor to regroup. Bailey hit his Speedball kicks to the ribs as they fought on the floor. EVIL, who we hadn’t seen yet, hit Bailey as he climbed the ropes at 3:00, allowing Sho to take control of the offense. Bailey hit some chops; Sho stomped on Bailey’s bare foot.
Bailey went to the floor, where EVIL again hit him with a chair, then tossed him back in the ring. Sho hit a series of kicks and remained in control. Bailey hit a second-rope missile dropkick at 6:30, and he kicked EVIL when he tried to interfere. Bailey nailed the Corner Moonsault to the floor. In the ring, Bailey hit his series of kicks and a running Shooting Star Press for a nearfall at 8:30. EVIL again distracted Bailey, allowing Sho to hit a German Suplex.
Sho nailed a clothesline for a nearfall, then a piledriver for a believable nearfall. TJP said he didn’t mind if Sho worked Bailey over, as TJP has Bailey in the next round. Bailey hit a moonsault double kneedrop at 10:30, and they were both down. Sho shoved Bailey into the ref, and he hit Bailey’s foot with his wrench! He jabbed the wrench into Bailey’s bare foot. EVIL got in the ring and put the boots to Bailey. Bailey was hobbled on one foot, but he hit a crane kick. Bailey nailed the Tornado Kick in the corner, then the Ultima Weapon second-rope moonsault kneedrop for the pin. I think the ‘official time’ is about 12:08.
6. Francesco Akira (2) defeated Kevin Knight (0) in a B Block match at 8:40. Akira hit a huracanrana seconds in. Knight hit a plancha to the floor. TJP was cheerleading for his teammate Akira, who hit a sliding basement dropkick to the face as Knight was tied in the Tree of Woe. Akira tied Knight up on the mat, but Kevin reached the ropes at 3:30. Knight fired back with some forearm shots; he went for his dropkick but Akira held onto the ropes to avoid it. Knight hit a Stinger Splash, and this time, he hit the dropkick at 5:30.
Knight hit a D’Lo-style Sky High powerbomb. Akira countered with a superkick and a DDT for a believable nearfall at 7:00. Knight hit his jump-up Frankensteiner. Akira got his knees up to block a splash. Akira nailed a swinging faceplant and a running double knees to the back of the head for the clean pin. Good match. It also means the tag champs (Knight and Kushida) are both off to a 0-2 start.
7. Taiji Ishimori (4) defeated Titan (2) in an A Block match at 9:24. Quick reversals to open. They went to the floor, where Ishimori slammed Titan shoulder-first into the ring post at 2:00. In the ring, Ishimori began untying Titan’s mask and was booed, and Ishimori was in charge of the offense, hitting a Lungblower for a nearfall at 4:30. Titan hit a tornado DDT and he dove through the ropes onto Ishimori. Ishimori nailed a handspring-back-spin kick, and they were both down at 7:30. Ishimori hit a shoulder breaker over his knee, and Titan sold the pain of the move. Ishimori applied the Bone Lock/modified STF, and Titan tapped out. Decent match.
8. El Desperado (2) defeated Bushi (0) in a B Block match at 8:51. Standing reversals to open. Bushi hit a second-rope dropkick to the knee and he tied up Desperado’s knees. Desperado hit a side slam at 4:30 but sold the pain in his knees. He hit a suplex for a nearfall. Bushi slammed Desperado’s knee into the mat and tied up the legs again. Bushi hit a Lungblower for a nearfall at 7:00. Desperado applied the Stretch Muffler Leglock around his neck. Desperado hooked both arms, got a mousetrap cover and the pin. Okay match.
9. Hiromu Takahashi (2) defeated Douki (2) in an A Block match at 12:55. Douki hit a baseball slide dropkick as Hiromu was entering the ring to kickstart the match, and they fought on the floor. In the ring, Douki hit a Rude Awakening standing neckbreaker for a nearfall at 2:00. Hiromu hit a headscissors takedown. Hiromu hit a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall, but he was selling the pain in his neck. Douki hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall. Douki applied the ‘Douki Chokey’ modified triangle choke at 6:00, but Hiromu reached the ropes.
Hiromu hit a Death Valley Driver into a corner, and they were both down. Hiromu hit a side slam for a nearfall. “Douki is tougher than he looks,” TJP observed. Douki again applied the Douki Chokey; Hiromu eventually reached the ropes at 9:30. Hiromu nailed a Flatliner out of nowhere, and they were both down. Douki hit a thrust jab to the throat. They hit simultaneous clotheslines, but Douki got a nearfall out of it at 12:00, and he was fired up. Douki nailed a swinging sideslam for a believable nearfall! However, Hiromu nailed the Time Bomb swinging side slam for the pin. Really good match.
10. Yoh (2) defeated Master Wato (2) in a B Block match at 18:12. Quick reversals early on and Yoh rolled to the floor at 3:00 to regroup. In the ring, Yoh hit a huracanrana then a plancha to the floor. Yoh hit a second-rope summersault slam for a nearfall, then a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall. He applied a leglock around Wato’s head at 6:00. Wato nailed a flip dive to the floor, and they were both down.
Wato hit his double-arm slam for a nearfall at 9:30. Yoh hit a dragon screw leg whip, and they were both down. Yoh nailed a second-rope superplex for a nearfall. Wato countered with his springboard flying forearm at 13:00. Yoh hit a basement dropkick to the knee. Wato countered with a spin kick to the jaw. They got up and traded forearm shots. Wato hit a spin kick to the face at 17:00. Yoh nailed a Poison Rana and a superkick, then a short-arm clothesline. Yoh nailed his double-arm DDT to score the pin. Good match.
Final Thoughts: An okay show, nowhere as good as the opening night. I feel like New Japan made a mistake by opening with TJP-Kushida, which, if given the time, would have been match of the night. So, I’m awarding best match to Bailey-Sho. Even with the interference by EVIL, that was an intense match, and there were multiple times I thought Sho was getting a tainted victory, so there was definitely some mystery over the outcome. It was the clear highlight of the night. Douki continues to shine of late, and I’ll go with his match against Hiromu Takahashi for second place. Even though it was short, TJP-Kushida earned third place. I can’t go higher than honorable mention for the main event, as I still don’t see Master Wato anywhere close to the top tier of juniors, and the match felt like it stayed in second gear too long.
The tournament continues on Sunday before the first off-day on Monday.
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