New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) recently held night 6 of their Best Of The Super Juniors Tournament which emanated from the Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan. The show was highlighted by Dragon Lee taking on Hiromu Takahashi in the main event. Below are the results from the show:
Prelim Matches:
– Shota Umino, Tomoyuki Oka & Tiger Mask def. Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji & Flip Gordon when Umino tapped out Uemura with a Boston Crab.
– YOSHI-HASHI & YOH def. Toa Henare & ACH when YOSHI-HASHI tapped out Henare with the Butterfly Lock.
– Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori when Suzuki pinned Owens after a Gotch Piledriver.
– BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito def. Gedo & Will Ospreay when BUSHI pinned Gedo after an MX.
B Block Matches:
– Marty Scurll def. Chris Sabin.
This was a good outing for both guys. Sabin looked better than in his earlier tournament bouts, and they did a lot of cool cross-up and counter spots.
They started with some crazy good chain wrestling sequences, with Sabin using something that looked like a La Magistral hip toss. They did some comedy, which worked well. Sabin went for a springboard DDT, but Scurll countered, and went to work on Sabin’s left arm.
Sabin hit a DDT and got a couple of nearfalls with cradles. Scurll hit a Sunset Flip, but Sabin rolled through and landed a kick, and a Fisherman’s Suplex, getting another nearfall. Scurll slapped on a Surfboard, then stomped on both of Sabin’s surgically repaired knees. He hit an inverted brainbuster for a nearfall.
Sabin got the best of an exchange in the corner, and tied Scurll to the Tree of Woe for a dropkick. They traded shots on the apron, and Sabin shoved Scurll into the post, before hitting a flip dive to the floor. Sabin got a nearfall, and avoided the finger break spot.
They traded strikes and counters. Scurll teased the Chicken Wing, while Sabin teased hitting All Hail Sabin. A sequence of strikes ended with Scurll taking a flip bump off a lariat, only to pop back up and hit Black Plague for the win.
– Ryusuke Taguchi def. KUSHIDA.
The ring entrances were longer than the match. They teased locking up for a bit, then their opening volley ended in a stalemate. They hit each other with stereo hip attacks, then KUSHIDA caught taguchi in a flying armbar. Taguchi turned it into a cradle attempt for a nearfall, then caught KUSHIDA jumping in with a front face-lock, and small packaged him for the upset.
– SHO def. El Desperado.
Desperado jumped SHO at the bell, and beat him all around ringside, including using a chair. They teased a countout, but SHO made it back inside, and sold the left leg in a big way. Desperado spent five minutes working the leg, until SHO hit a sweet dropkick, and a series of lariats.
Desperado flipped SHO off, so SHO grabbed his arm and slapped on a cross arm breaker. He hit a baseball slide, but Desperado nailed him with a series of low dropkicks to the bad leg, reclaiming control.
Desperado hit an Angle Slam for a nearfall, but SHO was able to backdrop out of a follow-up double underhook bomb. SHO hit a suplex, and a powerbomb lung-blower for a nearfall. He went for another, but Desperado turned it into a pinning combination for a nearfall.
The finish saw Desperado miss a low blow, and eat a lariat and a Shock Arrow for the pin.
– Dragon Lee def. Hiromu Takahashi.
These are two of the best performers in the world, and they showed why here.
They came out of the gate going a thousand miles an hour, then threw a change-up and had a prolonged exchange of slaps to the chest in the center of the ring. They teased a hurricanrana from the apron to the floor, but Hiromu power-bombed Lee on the apron instead.
They brawled into the crowd, and Hiromu used a chair. Back inside, Hiromu played bully, and went for Lee’s mask. Lee threw some chops, but they established that Hiromu was the more powerful striker of the two. Hiromu used a Tarantula on the ropes, and followed with a wheelbarrow facebuster to the floor. He came off the apron into a dropkick, and the tide turned in favor of Lee.
Lee hit a Tope con Hilo, and followed with an Angel’s Wings for a nearfall. Now it was Lee’s turn to play bully, as the crowd heated up. He hit the slingshot dropkick in the corner, and taunted Hiromu with the Tranquilo pose. They traded cradles, then a series of suplexes. Hiromu hit a lariat, and Lee took a flip bump, leading to a double down near the ten minute mark. Lee used an armbar, but Hiromu reached the ropes. They teased a double foot-stomp in the corner, but Hiromu turned it into a suplex, then went outside.
Lee hit a running dropkick over the top rope to the floor. They teased a double countout, but Hiromu hit a suplex on the floor, and made it back inside, before pie-facing Red Shoes, stopping the count. He then landed a senton from the post to the floor. They teased a countout again, but both men beat the count. They exchanged strikes, and Lee hit a Frankensteiner. Hiromu countered with a Canadian Destroyer. Hiromu hit a series of elbow strikes, but Lee countered with Desnucadora for a close nearfall, as Hiromu was just able to reach the ropes.
Lee charged in for an attack, but Hiromu suplexed him into the corner, then hit the Dynamite Plunger for a nearfall. They went up top, and Lee hit a double foot-stomp to the back off the top rope for a nearfall. Lee hit a standing Spanish Fly, which is go-to move of the tournament for a lot of guys, for a nearfall. With Hiromu spent, Lee hit the Dragon Driver, and scored the pinfall.
Block A Standings:
– Tiger Mask = 6
– Flip Gordon = 4
– Will Ospreay = 4
– Taiji Ishimori = 4
– ACH = 2
– YOH = 2
– Yoshinobu Kanemaru = 2
– BUSHI = 0
Block B Standings:
– Dragon Lee = 6
– SHO = 4
– El Desperado = 4
– Hiromu Takahashi = 2
– Chris Sabin = 2
– KUSHIDA = 2
– Marty Scurll = 2
– Ryusuke Taguchi = 2