NJPW Best of the Super Jr. 25
Event Date: May 22, 2018 (18:30 JST)
available on NJPW World
City: Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
Venue: Korakuen Hall
Attendance: 1,720
Presented By: Fire Pro Wrestling World
Series: Best of the Super Jr. 25
Commentary (English): Kevin Kelly
Commentary (Japanese): Jushin Thunder Liger, Milano Collection AT
Ring Announcer: Makoto Abe (1 – 4), Kimihiko Ozaki (5 – 8)
Video
This year’s B-block competitors are introduced.
Match 1
Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori vs Tomoyuki Oka & Flip Gordon
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Chase Owens pins Tomoyuki Oka after a package piledriver
Time: 7:28
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match and a nice opener. Ishimori and Owens worked well as a team. Oka got beat up a lot in this, and Gordon only really managed to get into the match a few short times. Gordon looked good when he did get into the ring, but Bullet Club had an easy night tonight. This was pretty fun.
Match 2
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ) & Minoru Suzuki vs Shota Umino & ACH (AAW Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Yoshinobu Kanemaru forces Shota Umino to submit to a Boston crab
Time: 9:43
Match Thoughts
Good match. Umino spent a lot of time in the ring which seemed to be a way to give ACH a lighter night so he could rest his injured shoulder. ACH apparently doesn’t know how to have a lighter night though, and when he got tagged in he did everything he could to provoke Minoru Suzuki even though Suzuki wasn’t legal in the match. ACH’s efforts worked, and Suzuki stretched and struck ACH. A lot. Suzuki also seemed to have a great time hurting Umino throughout the match (Umino made efforts to provoke Suzuki as well). In the end, Kanemaru seemed to have the lighter workload tonight which does not bode well for ACH’s chances in their upcoming tournament match.
Match 3
YOSHI-HASHI & Yoh vs Gedo & Will Ospreay (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Tiger Hattori)
Result: YOSHI-HASHI forces Gedo to submit to a butterfly lock
Time: 8:58
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. It didn’t feel super competitive, but that’s probably by design. This was an intra-stable match with both teams being members of Chaos. I think the fact that they’re all stablemates led to the most interesting parts of the match. Ospreay was all smiles when the match was starting, and he kept telling Gedo, “no tricks.” Of course, when Gedo got tagged in a few minutes into the match, he immediately started with dirty tricks and the apparent truce was broken. After that the pace of the match picked up.
Match 4
Toa Henare & Tiger Mask vs Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC Champ) & BUSHI
(referee: Tiger Hattori)
Result: Tetsuya Naito pins Toa Henare after Destino
Time: 9:58
Match Thoughts
Good match. Tiger Mask seemed to have a chip on his shoulder tonight. He was very aggressive and took the fight to BUSHI. BUSHI quickly went for cheap tactics, trying to take off Tiger Mask’s mask early in the match. When Tiger Mask tried to turn the tables and started to remove BUSHI’s mask, Toa Henare was able to bring Tiger Mask back to his senses and stop him from stooping to BUSHI’s level. BUSHI and Tiger Mask fought a pretty heated battle. Naito and Henare weren’t in the match as much, but they helped swing the fight in their team’s favor from time to time. Of course, Naito was way more successful than Henare, and when Henare and Naito both got tagged in late in the match, it was clear that the end was near.
Ring Area
After the match, BUSHI again attempts to take of Tiger Mask’s mask. BUSHI succeeds, and Tiger Mask is covered by the young lions at ringside and quickly ushered to the backstage area. BUSHI then throws the mask into the crowd (though we can see that a young lion retrieves the mask from the person who caught it).
As BUSHI and Naito celebrate, the lights go out. A video plays of Chris Jericho talking about what he’s going to do to Naito at Dominion. Jericho says Naito is great, but he’s also a “piece of shit.” Jericho is going to make Naito famous… by beating him and taking away his IC Title. Jericho’s promo is expletive-filled and very patronizing.
After the video, Naito makes light of Jericho’s foul language and shifts the focus from himself and Jericho back onto the Jr. Heavyweights and the Super Jr. tournament. It’s a classy act from a guy whose parter just classlessly ripped the mask off of a legend’s face.
Match 5
Best of the Super Jr. 25 B-Block Match
Sho (0-1-0 : 0) vs Chris Sabin (1-0-0 : 2)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Sho wins via pinfall after the Shock Arrow (cross-arm package piledriver)
Time: 15:09
Match Thoughts
Great match. Sabin seemed to have this fight well in hand for the first half. Sabin was outsmarting Sho and displaying that his greater experience gave him a great advantage. Sabin was using technical skills combined with a little speed and flying to dominate Sho early on. Sho looked like he was on his way to another defeat, especially after a particularly brutal DDT about half way through the match. Sho started to come back by using his considerable strength and some nice submission skills. In the end it seemed to be a battle of wits, skill, age, and experience that shaped the eventual winner. I really enjoyed this match.
Match 6
Best of the Super Jr. 25 B-Block Match
Dragon Lee (1-0-0 : 2) vs Ryusuke Taguchi (0-1-0 : 0)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Dragon Lee wins via pinfall after Desnucadora (vertical suplex into a sit-out powerbomb)
Time: 11:14
Match Thoughts
Good match. Taguchi’s antics seemed to befuddle Dragon Lee early in the match, but Lee’s strength ended up being the deciding factor. Taguchi was entertaining as always, but he did get shut down quite a lot after the first few minutes of the match.
Match 7
Best of the Super Jr. 25 B-Block Match
Marty Scurll (0-1-0 : 0) (NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Champ) vs KUSHIDA (0-1-0 : 0)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: KUSHIDA wins via pinfall with Back to the Future (small package driver)
Time: 19:22
Match Thoughts
Great match. KUSHIDA and Scurll were both very impressive early in the match with their sequences of trading holds and counters. They did a fantastic job of setting certain things up and paying them off with a clever counter or response many times. It was fun and at times funny, and it was a pleasure to watch. The match got more serious as it went along, and Scurll seemed to be getting the better of KUSHIDA. KUSHIDA had to fight through some pain, and both men hit some big moves in the final segments of the match. Very well done by both guys.
Match 8
Best of the Super Jr. 25 B-Block Match
El Desperado (1-0-0 : 2) (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ) vs Hiromu Takahashi (1-0-0 : 2)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: El Desperado wins via pinfall after Pinche Loco (spinning double underhook sit-out facebuster)
Time: 22:48
Match Thoughts
Very good match. There seemed to be a lot of anger in the fight between these two men. Takahashi started strong, brawling and hitting Desperado with a running shotgun dropkick out in the crowd early in the match. After surviving the initial assault, Desperado turned things in his favor with a lot of brawling of his own. Desperado would dominate much of this match. Takahashi pushed back in the final few minutes and mounted a comeback, but Desperado was the better cheater tonight. This match, more than any other tonight, felt like a fight.
Show Impressions
Another good show, and a very strong showing from the B Block. Some of these tournament matches surprised me in how much I enjoyed them.
Match of the Night
Chris Sabin vs Sho
I think the KUSHIDA/Scurll match was great as well, but I think Sabin and Sho surprised me a little more. I really enjoyed this match a lot.
Standings After Night 4
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Lee | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| El Desperado | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Sabin | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Hiromu Takahashi | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| KUSHIDA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sho | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Marty Scurll | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Ryusuke Taguchi | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Official Results: https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/136576?showResult=1