NJPW Best of the Super Jr. 26
Night 5 – A Block
#njbosj
Event Date: May 18, 2019 (18:30 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Yamagata, Yamagata, Japan
Venue: Yamagata Big Wing
Attendance: 1,213
Series: Best of the Super Jr. 26
Commentary (English): Kevin Kelly, Caprice Coleman
Commentary (Japanese): Shunichi Fujisawa, Milano Collection AT, Taichi (5 – 9)
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (1 – 4), Makoto Abe (5 – 9)
Video
The competitors in A Block of this year’s Best of the Super Jr. Tournament are briefly profiled.
Match 1
Taichi (NEVER Openweight Champ) & Douki vs Yota Tsuji & Bandido
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Taichi submits Yota Tsuji with the Holy Emperor’s Tomb (stretch plum)
Time: 8:51
Match Thoughts
Good match. It served its purpose well. It was a nice preview for Douki versus Bandido. Douki was in control for a while, but Bandido hit a big dive on Douki late in the match that set the stage for tomorrow.
Ring Area
After the match, Douki attacks Bandido and steals his mask.
Match 2
Jado & Robbie Eagles vs Gedo & El Phantasmo (RPW British Cruiserweight Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: El Phantasmo pins Jado with a schoolboy (and a distraction from Gedo)
Time: 9:39
Match Thoughts
This was fun. All four of these men are in Bullet Club, so there was a question about how physical this match would be. Eagles and Phantasmo started the match against each other, and at first they both seemed reluctant to fight yet distrusting of each other. They got into it for a bit, and there was a lot of running around and avoiding each other with very little contact. Then Gedo and Jado got tagged in. The crowd (and I) definitely wanted to see that, but Jado and Gedo fought each other even less than Eagles and Phantasmo. Eventually they all started to get into the fight, but the hits weren’t heavy, and the finish was a schoolboy. I liked it.
Match 3
Shota Umino & Rocky Romero & Yoh (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ) vs Ren Narita & Will Ospreay & Juice Robinson (IWGP US Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Juice Robinson submits Shota Umino with a Boston crab
Time: 8:24
Match Thoughts
Good match. The video Juice keeps seeing played before the match, and that completely ruined Juice’s mood. Juice didn’t want to be tagged in until late in the match, and when he did get tagged he was all business. Juice was angry, and he took out his anger on Shota Umino. Besides Juice, the rest of the match was good as well. There were some nice previews, especially of the upcoming match between Ospreay and Yoh. I’m looking forward to that one as well as Romero versus Narita.
Match 4
Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI vs Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Tetsuya Naito pins Toa Henare after Destino
Time: 8:20
Match Thoughts
Good match. Taguchi and Henare dominated the early part of the match, but they didn’t do a lot of damage to LIJ. Taguchi was having fun, but it felt like that just made LIJ a little angry. Once LIJ gained control of the match, the pace picked up considerably. Naito and BUSHI worked very well together and pushed quickly towards a fun finish.
Match 5
Best of the Super Jr. 26 A Block Match
TAKA Michinoku (0-2-0: 0) w/ Taichi (NEVER Openweight Champ) vs Sho (0-2-0: 0) (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Sho wins via pinfall after the Shock Arrow
Time: 10:02
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Sho went into this match beat up and hurting. His ear was taped up from the brutal match he had with Shingo, and his elbow was wrapped after the dive he took from Dragon Lee. TAKA is a smart man, and he tried his best to capitalize on Sho’s injuries. TAKA showed his technical skills and threw Sho off his own power game for a large part of this match. Eventually, Sho began to get some technical moves of his own, and that led to a rather tense and fun finish.
Match 6
Best of the Super Jr. 26 A Block Match
Marty Scurll (1-1-0: 2) w/ Brody King (ROH 6 Man Tag Champs) vs Tiger Mask (2-0-0: 4)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Marty Scurll wins via pinfall after the Black Plague
Time: 13:01
Match Thoughts
Good match. For a while, this was a battle of who could hurt the other person’s hands more. Scurll tended to come out on top in that battle, mostly because he would fight dirty when Tiger Mask wouldn’t. As the match went on, it became a nice exchange of counters, pin attempts, and struggles for leverage and supremacy. It was back and forth all the way until the end, and I very much enjoyed it.
Match 7
Best of the Super Jr. 26 A Block Match
Taiji Ishimori (2-0-0: 4) vs Titan (1-1-0: 2)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Taiji Ishimori pins Titan after the Bloody Cross
Time: 11:42
Match Thoughts
Good match. Ishimori was still hurting from his match with Marty Scurll a few nights ago, and Titan looked to capitalize. Ishimori did a good job of protecting his neck though, and it took Titan a while before he was really able to put Ishimori’s neck in danger. Ishimori did his best to avoid Titan and hit him with flurries of offense when the opportunity rose. I like how this match played out, though I wonder if Ishimori will be able to continue like like this.
Match 8
Best of the Super Jr. 26 A Block Match
Jonathan Gresham (1-1-0: 2) vs Dragon Lee (1-1-0: 2) (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Dragon Lee wins via pinfall after Desnucadora
Time: 9:42
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Gresham and Lee started the match by shaking hands and presumably telling each other that they wouldn’t focus on each other’s injuries (Gresham’s fingers and Lee’s elbow). Gresham began to dominate the match quickly, and true to his word, Gresham focused on Lee’s healthy arm instead of his bad one. Gresham continued to out-wrestle Lee, so Lee eventually had to turn to some of his power moves to try to pull out a win. This was a lot of fun to watch, and I wouldn’t have minded if it had been a bit longer.
Match 9
Best of the Super Jr. 26 A Block Match
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (0-2-0: 0) vs Shingo Takagi (2-0-0: 4)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Shingo Takagi wins via pinfall after Last of the Dragon
Time: 15:24
Match Thoughts
Good match. About 80% of this match was dominated by Kanemaru. In a way, Kanemaru had started his abuse of Shingo on the last show. Kanemaru attacked Shingo in the leg with a chair after their tag preview match a couple of night ago, and he went right after Shingo’s leg again tonight. Kanemaru was very successful in his attack, even driving both of SHingo’s knees through a table at ringside.
As the match went on, Shingo struggled, but he managed to pll together some power moves. That’s when Taichi attacked. Taichi’s interference was frustrating in an entertaining way, and it made the finish of the match way more tense and exciting than I thought it would be. I didn’t expect a ton from this match, but it ended up being a very good main event. It also puts a lot of doubt on Shingo as far as him possibly remaining undefeated in this tournament. He’s collecting injuries in each match he has.
Show Impressions
I believe this show was the shortest so far, but it was still quite good. The guys in A Block are all great, so even though this wasn’t the best night of the tour so far, it was still very good.
Match of the Night
TAKA Michinoku vs Sho
Sho is one of my favorites to watch in this tournament (although I know I do have a lot of favorites). Plus, TAKA surprised me a little with how ready he was to give show a tough match. I liked this a lot.
Standings After Night 5
Block A
| Wrestler | Win | Loss | Draw | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shingo Takagi | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Taiji Ishimori | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Dragon Lee (Jr. Heavyweight Champ) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Marty Scurll (ROH 6 Man Champ) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Tiger Mask | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Jonathan Gresham | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Sho (Jr. Tag Champ) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Titan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| TAKA Michinoku | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Block B
| Wrestler | Win | Loss | Draw | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Phantasmo (RPW British Cruiserweight Champ) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Robbie Eagles | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Ryusuke Taguchi (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Will Ospreay | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Douki | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Yoh (Jr. Tag Champ) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Bandido | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| BUSHI | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ren Narita | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Rocky Romero | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/186440?showResult=1