NJPW Best of the Super Jr. 26
Night 12 – B Block
#njbosj
Event Date: May 30, 2019 (18:30 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Minato, Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Venue: Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium (Maruzen Intec Arena Osaka)
Attendance: 1,455
Series: Best of the Super Jr. 26
Commentary (English): Kevin Kelly, Gino Gambino
Commentary (Japanese): Haruo Murata, Milano Collection AT, Taichi (5 – 9)
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (), Makoto Abe ()
Video
The competitors in B Block of this year’s Best of the Super Jr. tournament are briefly profiled.
Match 1
Toa Henare & Jonathan Gresham & Titan vs Yota Tsuji & Tiger Mask & Sho (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Toa Henare pins Yota Tsuji after the Toa Bottom (Rock Bottom)
Time: 8:33
Match Thoughts
This was a good opener. My favorite part of this tag preview was Gresham versus Sho. Gresham put his injuries aside and tried to match Sho power for power. I’m not sure how well he’ll fare if he does that in their tournament match, but it was fun to see tonight.
Match 2
Shota Umino & Tomohiro Ishii vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi (NEVER Openweight Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Yoshinobu Kanemaru pins Shota Umino after Deep Impact
Time: 8:50
Match Thoughts
This was kind of an assault. Taichi wanted to hurt Ishii before their upcoming title match, and he might have done a decent job of it. Taichi and Kanemaru worked well together as they eliminated Umino from the equation and worked on Ishii. I think this did a good job of building up some more interest in the NEVER Openweight Title match.
Match 3
Brody King & Marty Scurll (ROH 6 Man Tag Champs) vs Juice Robinson (IWGP US Champ) & Dragon Lee (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Juice Robinson pins Brody King after Pulp Friction
Time: 6:43
Match Thoughts
Good match. Everyone had some nice moments here. Lee and Scurll gave us a good preview for their final tournament match, and Juice took out some of his aggression on Brody King. This was fun.
Match 4
Gedo & Taiji Ishimori vs Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Tetsuya Naito pins Gedo after the Pumping Bomber from Shingo
Time: 8:55
Match Thoughts
Good match. Shingo and Ishimori started the match, and it seems clear that their final tournament match against each other is going to be a good one. They had a great sequence early in tonight’s match, then Gedo tagged in and LIJ took over completely. Naito and Shingo showed some great teamwork as the pretty much destroyed Gedo.
Match 5
Best of the Super Jr. 26 B Block Match
Ren Narita (0-7-0: 0) vs Yoh (4-3-0: 8) (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Yoh wins via submission with the Stargazer (calf crusher)
Time: 12:22
Match Thoughts
Good match. Narita once again brought a good fight to the tournament. The crowd began to get behind Narita more and more as the match went along, but Yoh didn’t have a ton of trouble with the young lion. Narita got some good moves and had some good moments, but Yoh had a relatively easy night tonight.
Match 6
Best of the Super Jr. 26 B Block Match
Robbie Eagles (5-2-0: 10) vs Bandido (3-4-0: 6)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Bandido wins via pinfall after a top rope inverted moonsault powerslam
Time: 9:35
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Eagles needed this win to realistically stay alive in the tournament, and Bandido desperately wanted a win to try to have a better showing overall. This match started quick, and though the pace dipped a few times, the tension was always there. Eagles might have been a step slower than usual, but Bandido seemed energized. These men had some very nice exchanges, and their struggles to hit one big move to finish their opponent off was a lot of fun to watch. I quite enjoyed the poison rana Eagles did, and I very much enjoyed the finish of the match.
Match 7
Best of the Super Jr. 26 B Block Match
BUSHI (4-3-0: 8) vs Rocky Romero (3-4-0: 6)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: BUSHI wins via pinfall after MX
Time: 10:21
Match Thoughts
Good match. After Rocky’s glorious night in the main event at Korakuen Hall, his injuries seem to be catching up to him. Rocky came out in one of his old Black Tiger masks, and he used that as a distraction to spit some mist in BUSHI’s face to start the match. Despite the sneaky start, BUSHI quickly recovered and started capitalizing on Rocky’s injured leg. Rocky put up a good fight, but he wasn’t able to perform as he usually does.
Match 8
Best of the Super Jr. 26 B Block Match
Douki (1-6-0: 2) vs Will Ospreay (5-2-0: 10)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Will Ospreay wins via pinfall after the Hidden Blade and Stormbreaker
Time: 16:17
Match Thoughts
Very good match. The biggest intrigue in this match was whether or not Douki was going to hurt Ospreay. With Taichi at ringside, there was also a bit of a question of whether or not Ospreay would even win the match. Douki probably had his best match of the tournament tonight. This surprised me with how tense it got at the end. There were plenty of shenanigans from Douki and Taichi, but that just seemed to piss Ospreay off. The finish to this match was completely definitive, and I really enjoyed it.
Match 9
Best of the Super Jr. 26 B Block Match
El Phantasmo (5-2-0: 10) (RPW British Cruiserweight Champ) vs Ryusuke Taguchi (5-2-0: 10) (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Ryusuke Taguchi wins via submission with Oh My & Garankle
Time: 20:18
Match Thoughts
Very good match. El Phantasmo’s hot streak has been in danger of being completely reversed, but he still came into this match supremely confident. ELP toyed with Taguchi and didn’t seem to take him seriously at all early in the match. Taguchi did have a lot of silly antics early in the match, but that could very well have been a way to lull ELP into a false sense of supremacy. Taguchi gradually accumulated damage on ELP, and by the end of the match Taguchi was on fire. This was a fun main event.
Show Impressions
I think it’s been interesting how B Block developed over the course of the tournament. At one point during tonight’s show about half the block was tied. That changed by the end of the night, but it meant that this next-to-last round meant a lot more for B Block than it did for the previous show’s A Block. The matches were all good tonight, and the finishes of many of the tournament matches were quite tense and fun.
Match of the Night
Robbie Eagles vs Bandido
The final two matches of the night were good and built very well to their finishes, but overall I really enjoyed Eagles versus Bandido the most bell to bell.
Standings After Night 12
Block A
| Wrestler | Win | Loss | Draw | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shingo Takagi | 8 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Taiji Ishimori | 7 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| Dragon Lee (Jr. Heavyweight Champ) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| Marty Scurll (ROH 6 Man Champ) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Jonathan Gresham | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Sho (Jr. Tag Champ) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Tiger Mask | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| Titan | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| TAKA Michinoku | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Block B
| Wrestler | Win | Loss | Draw | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryusuke Taguchi (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| Will Ospreay | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| BUSHI | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Yoh (Jr. Tag Champ) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| El Phantasmo (RPW British Cruiserweight Champ) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Robbie Eagles | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Bandido | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Rocky Romero | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| Douki | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| Ren Narita | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/186476?showResult=1