NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2018 Night 2: Results, Grades, and Analysis
Ryusuke Taguchi (Taguchi Japan) vs. El Desperado (Suzuki-gun)
El Desperado attacked Taguchi right away, keeping up his Suzuki-gun tactics. There’s some good comedy spots here with Taguchi being wacky. Desperado pulled the ropes up to cause a low blow. Despy then used a chair to drive another chair into Taguchi’s nether regions. It seems Desperado has been watching Shinsuke Nakamura lately.
Desperado tried to use a tire iron on Taguchi’s rear, which the ref took away. I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence in this review. It’s not often that you see a wrestling match with someone hitting his opponent with a series of low blows. Taguchi was eventually able to hit a few hip strikes before hitting a tope con giro. However, his advantage didn’t last long, and Despy was able to lock in the stretch muffler. Taguchi got to the ropes.
Taguchi went for the Guitarra de la Muerta, but El Desperado was able to reverse it. There was several attempts at finishers here before Despy shoved the referee and low blowed Taguchi. Despy then rolled Taguchi up and got the pinfall!
Result: El Desperado (1-0)
Rating: 3.25 stars out of 5
KUSHIDA vs. Chris Sabin (ROH)
This match is interesting to me for a variety of reasons. The first is that it features two fantastic wrestlers. The second is that both men share a tag team partner in common. Alex Shelley has teamed with both and had success with both men. While in Japan, he’d team with KUSHIDA as the Time Splitters, and while in the US, he’d team with Sabin as the Motor City Machine Guns.
This match started with a series of solid technical wrestling, then broke down into a crisscross where neither man was able to get the advantage. KUSHIDA decided to slow it down a little and worked over the arm of Sabin, setting up for the Hoverboard Lock. KUSHIDA went for his handspring elbow, but Sabin anticipated it and hit a dropkick. Maybe his tag partner helped him train for KUSHIDA, because Sabin has been able to anticipate all his moves.
Sabin worked over the neck with submissions, clearly setting KUSHIDA up for the Cradle Shock. This match featured a ton of technical wrestling with holds and counter holds, as both men tried to work each other over. KUSHIDA was relentless in his pursuit of the Hoverboard Lock, and Sabin seemed to have an answer for most of the match. Sabin finally got caught in it, but made it to the ropes. The assault from KUSHIDA continued as he kicked the arm of Sabin.
Sabin managed to catch KUSHIDA when he went for a jumping DDT and went for the Cradle Shock, but KUSHIDA countered. Sabin was eventually able to hit a Tornado DDT. KUSHIDA hit a handspring kick, sending Sabin to the outside. KUSHIDA went for his flip dive off the top rope, but Sabin quickly ran into the ring and hit a German suplex off the top rope! Sabin hit a Cradle Shock, but KUSHIDA kicked out! Sabin followed this up with a modified Cradle Shock and got the pinfall!
Result: Chris Sabin (1-0)
Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5
This was absolutely excellent. Hail Sabin. Sabin looked great in his NJPW debut, and they put him over strong. One of the great things with NJPW is that they are willing to put new stars over. The equivalent would be how Kevin Owens beat John Cena in his first match on the WWE roster. However, unlike WWE, KUSHIDA probably won’t be getting this win back a month later. If KUSHIDA wins the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title, it’s entirely possible that Sabin will challenge for it. He even has a case based on beating KUSHIDA alone, even if KUSHIDA doesn’t win the title. Regardless, NJPW has some great options going forward, and NJPW made a new Junior star in one night.