NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 1 began with a huge main event, as Will Ospreay took on the debuting Taiji Ishimori.
This tournament kicked off the summer events for NJPW, providing a lot of high flying action and spectacular matches.
Shota Umino & KUSHIDA vs. Ren Narita & Chris Sabin
KUSHIDA and Sabin gave us a nice little preview of their upcoming match. Sabin ended up getting the pinfall over Umino with a Future Shock.
Result: Chris Sabin
Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5
Tomoyuki Oka & Dragon Lee vs. CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI & SHO)
Dragon Lee and Sho are going to have an incredible match tomorrow. They had a series of exchanges in this match that was just awesome. YOSHI-HASHI got the win over Oka with the submission.
Result: CHAOS
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Ryusuke Taguchi & Toa Henare vs. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki)
Suzuki was the highlight of this match for me, as I laughed manically as Suzuki kicked Taguchi in the face and beat Henare around the ring. Suzuki hit a big Gotch-style Piledriver and got the pinfall on Henare.
Result: Suzuki-gun
Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & EVIL) vs. The Bullet Club (Marty Scurll & Chase Owens)
Marty Scurll attacked a fan’s Daryl to great heat from the crowd. This match featured a lot of fun spots with Hiromu trying to use his superior speed to stay on top of Scurll. EVIL looked to overpower Owens. A funny spot happened with Chase and Marty taking out Hiromu with the Daryl in the crowd that Marty stepped on earlier. EVIL submitted Chase for the win.
Result: Los Ingobernables de Japon
Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5
That marks the end of the opening tags, which provided a nice preview for the matches for night 2. SHO looked particularly good, and I’m really looking forward to Hiromu/Marty. Needless to say, all four matches will be fun to watch, and night two looks to be very good. The tag matches got the show off to a good start, and now it’s time to move onto the block matches.
Block A Matches
Tiger Mask IV vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-gun)
This was a relatively slow match, as Tiger Mask, while once a fantastic worker, has slowed down considerably. Kanemaru used one of the young lions as a weapon and slammed him on Tiger Mask outside of the ring. He then grabbed another young lion and threw him into a dive and he crashed onto Tiger Mask. Tiger Mask barely got back in the ring. Kanemaru went for a superplex, but Tiger Mask cradled him on the landing on got that pinfall.
Result: Tiger Mask IV
Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5
An okay start to the tournament. Nothing special, but it wasn’t that bad. The work was technically solid, but just not something I was overly into. Tiger Mask getting the win was a very nice surprise, and I laughed when Kanemaru used two young lions as weapons, because why not?
ACH vs. Flip Gordon
Both men started this match fast, with Flip Gordon doing his usual kick up dodge spot. This got a good reaction from the crowd as the Book Flip section cheered him on. ACH hit a backbreaker and a German Suplex. ACH went for a chop on the outside, but accidentally chopped the ring post. Flip hit a missile dropkick, and a springboard sling blade.
Flip hit a double springboard flip dive to the outside, which was absolutely incredible. ACH hit a series of double stomps that caused the crowd to cheer. Flip and ACH brawled into the crowd, and Flip hit a massive balcony dive onto ACH. Both men made their way back to the ring just before the 20 count.
Flip hit a springboard frog splash but ACH kicked out at two. Gordon hit his inverted fireman’s carry and standing shooting star press. Flip went to the top rope, and ACH hit a springboard flipping kick that almost killed Gordon.
That was spectacular. ACH proceeded to kill Flip with several chops, but Flip responded with dropping ACH and hitting a superkick before missing a corkscrew plancha. ACH hit a package DDT and got the win!
Result: ACH
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
This match was spectacular. If you like high spots, this is a good match to watch. Lots of near falls and it did tell a good story. Flip came out of this looking like a star, and ACH proves why NJPW brings him in for these kind of matches occasionally.
YOH (CHAOS) vs. BUSHI (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
BUSHI came out wearing one of the coolest masks I’ve ever seen. This started off fast with YOH hitting a tope con giro onto BUSHI on the outside of the ring. YOH then got into a chop battle with BUSHI, and BUSHI got the best of it. BUSHI went for a pinfall, but the ref broke it at one, which was weird. Both wrestlers looked a little confused by it.
The exchanged chops again, and YOH hit a series of dropkicks before giving up the advantage to BUSHI. BUSHI hit a big hurricanrana into the ring on YOH, and both men exchanged chops again. There was a series of kicks that culminated in BUSHI hitting a Canadian Destroyer. YOH kicked out. BUSHI went for the MX, but YOH countered with a Jackknife pin and got the victory.
Result: YOH
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
This was a lot of fun. YOH pick up his first singles win since returning from excursion, and it’s a big one. This was a huge way to put him over and start the tournament off strong for him.
Will Ospreay (CHAOS) vs. “The Bone Solider” Taiji Ishimori (Bullet Club)
Ospreay wasted no time drop kicking Ishimori and killing him with forearms right away. Ospreay hit a big dropkick and the action spilled to the outside. Ishimori sent Ospreay flying towards the crowd, and Ospreay jumped over 3 rows of chairs, landing on the platform behind it. Ospreay dove off the platform with a flip dive.
Both men provided a flurry of incredible offence in this one, with Ospreay hitting spring boards, and missing some major moves from the top rope. It seemed, in the story of this match that Ishimori stayed one step ahead of Ospreay. This is the first time in ages that Ospreay actually looked to be one upped by someone. Ishimori was able to neutralize much of Ospreay’s offence with some great counters, and even looked to overpower the champion.
The rise of Ospreay in NJPW has been an interesting one, where he seemed to be able to overcome everything his opponent threw at him, and still come up with the victory. His superior skill and incredible resilience led to him being able to weather the storm and win in the end. Like they used to say about Bret Hart in the 90s, “He takes a licking, but he keeps on ticking!” While the style of wrestling is obviously different (though Ospreay can work a technical and brawling style), the saying is appropriate. Ospreay has been able withstand incredible beatings and still come out on top using his superior flying and technical skills. Ishimori was able to counter that.
Ospreay went for an Os-Cutter, and Ishimori caught him. Ishimori blocked it, and turned him around and hit the Bloody Cross for the pinfall, giving his NJPW debut a very strong look. If Ishimori doesn’t went Best of the Super Juniors, you can bet that NJPW is going to use this win to give him a title shot at some point. Maybe Dominion, maybe the G1 Special at the Cow Palace. Either way, a spectacular debut for Ishimori, and NJPW have made an instant star in one night.
Result: Taiji Ishimori
Rating: 4.75 stars out 5
This match was so awesome. Both guys looked great, and as I said, NJPW made a star in one night. Absolutely must see.
Final Thoughts
Show Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Next: Cody to Challenge for the NWA Worlds Title
This was an excellent start to the Best of Super Juniors tournament, and it demonstrated why the way NJPW books does so well at creating stars. Ishimori is brand new to the promotion, and NJPW decided they wanted to make a star. He’s an exceptionally talented wrestler, so they let him go in and wrestle a match that he was able to get over in. Ospreay sold like crazy for him, and he beat Ospreay clean. We now have an instant star in the Junior division, and a top guy in that division all in one night. Ishimori can now be spoken off as at the same level as Ospreay, KUSHIDA, Hiromu Takahasahi, and Marty Scurll. That was excellent stuff. Definitely check out this show if you get a chance.