NJPW Best of the Super Jr. 25
Event Date: May 20, 2018 (15:00 JST)
tournament matches posted on NJPW World
City: Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan
Venue: Kira Messe Numazu
Attendance: 1,550
Presented By: Fire Pro Wrestling World
Series: Best of the Super Jr. 25
Commentary: none
Ring Announcer: Makoto Abe
Match 1
Shota Umino & Ryusuke Taguchi vs Yuya Uemura & Dragon Lee
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Shota Umino forces Yuya Uemura to submit to a Boston Crab
Time: 11:08
Match Thoughts
This match is not available on NJPW World.
Match 2
Tomoyuki Oka & Chris Sabin vs YOSHI-HASHI & Sho
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: YOSHI-HASHI forces Tomoyuki Oka to submit to a butterfly lock
Time: 12:02
Match Thoughts
This match is not available on NJPW World.
Match 3
Toa Henare & KUSHIDA vs Chase Owens & Marty Scurll (NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Chase Owens pins Toa Henare after a package piledriver
Time: 10:08
Match Thoughts
This match is not available on NJPW World.
Match 4
Hiromu Takahashi & EVIL (IWGP Tag Champ) vs El Desperado (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ) & Minoru Suzuki
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: El Desperado pins Hiromu Takahashi with El Es Claro
Time: 11:24
Match Thoughts
This match is not available on NJPW World.
Match 5
Best of the Super Jr. 25 A-Block Match
Yoh (1-0-0 : 2) vs Tiger Mask (1-0-0 : 2)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Tiger Mask wins via pinfall with a bridging tiger suplex
Time: 13:33
Match Thoughts
Good match. Tiger Mask and Yoh went back and forth to start. Yoh seemed to get a bit of an advantage with some strikes, but Tiger Mask stayed in the match by taking Yoh down to the mat. Yoh controlled a lot of the middle part of the match, but Tiger Mask started hitting some big moves late in the match to regain control. This was a solid bout from both guys.
Match 6
Best of the Super Jr. 25 A-Block Match
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (0-1-0 : 0) (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ) vs Flip Gordon (0-1-0 : 0)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Flip Gordon wins via pinfall after a springboard 450 splash
Time: 10:03
Match Thoughts
Good match. Flip was able to play to his strengths (flipping and flying) while Kanemaru didn’t spend as much time doing what he does best (brawling and cheating). Kanemaru could never really seem to figure Flip out, so that cost him throughout the match. This was a good effort from Flip, but maybe not Kanemaru’s strongest match.
Match 7
Best of the Super Jr. 25 A-Block Match
Taiji Ishimori (1-0-0 : 2) vs BUSHI (0-1-0 : 0)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Taiji Ishimori wins via pinfall after the Bloody Cross (lifting single underhook double knee gutbuster)
Time: 12:02
Match Thoughts
Good match. This had a lot more energy than the previous tournament matches tonight. Ishimori again showed his strength and agility in this match. He performed some very nice moves, including a snap release German suplex from the ropes as he was sliding out of the ring. Though BUSHI seemed wary at first, he did put up a good fight. It’s going to take a lot to stop Ishimori though.
Match 8
Best of the Super Jr. 25 A-Block Match
ACH (1-0-0 : 2) (AAW Heavyweight Champ) vs Will Ospreay (0-1-0 : 0) (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: )
Result: Will Ospreay wins via pinfall after the Storm Breaker (double underhook Canadian backbreaker rack into a corkscrew neckbreaker)
Time: 16:50
Match Thoughts
Very good match. This was by far the most fast-paced tournament match of the night. ACH came into this match ready to fight, and he took the fight directly to Ospreay. ACH had counters for a lot of Ospreay’s big moves, including one of his dives and even the OsCutter. Unfortunately for ACH, he also came into this match hurt. His hand was still hurting from his match with Flip Gordon, and his left arm was in pretty bad shape. ACH practically fought the match one-armed a lot of the time. Ospreay was also looking to bounce back from his loss to Ishimori, so he came into this with an attitude and a lot of aggression. All these factors led to a very good and exciting main event.
Show Impressions
The first three tournament matches definitely made this feel like a lesser show than nights one and two, but ACH and Ospreay probably put on the best match of the tournament so far.
Match of the Night
ACH vs Will Ospreay
This was a little bit of a heartbreaker for me, but I loved how the match came together.
Standings After Night 3
Block A
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiji Ishimori | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tiger Mask | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| ACH | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Flip Gordon | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Will Ospreay | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Yoh | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| BUSHI | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Block B
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Sabin | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dragon Lee | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| El Desperado | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hiromu Takahashi | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| KUSHIDA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Marty Scurll | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ryusuke Taguchi | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sho | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/136581?showResult=1