New Japan Pro Wrestling
Best of the Super Juniors XXII – Day 6
May 29, 2015
New Sunpia Tochigi – Tochigi, Japan

There are one-camera, visible basketball hoop New Japan World exclusive house shows, then there’s Best of the Super Juniors – Day 6 at New Sunpai Tochigi. This is one of the more dreary “arenas” you’ll ever see for New Japan, it was endearing when it was all said and done but between the wood paneling on the walls and the two (count ’em TWO) visible backboards seen throughout the event, this was going to be a long one.

Fun Fact: New Sunapi Tochigi is a hotel complex in Tochigi, Japan with the event taking place in their multi-purpose gymnasium which can be rented out for volleyball, “basket” and badminton… or in this case, a stop on New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors tour. Let’s get to the action.

Best of the Super Juniors (A Block) – Chase Owens vs. Yohei Komatsu: Komatsu was coming in looking for his first win in the tournament while Owens was looking to emerge from the bottom of the pack. When it was all said and done, both guys had a solid match but unfortunately Komatsu was once again on the losing end. Owens controlled the first half of the match, slowing the pace down and being as NWA as you can be. Komatsu then hulked up and got on the offensive hitting some nice dropkicks, a senton and started trying to get Owens in the Boston Crab.

It looked like Komatsu had the match in hand with a half-crab in the middle of the ring but Owens fought out of it to get to the ropes. The momentum shifted quickly when Owens got the ref between he and Komatsu, the young lion shoved the ref aside, Owens poked Komatsu in the eye, went to the top, hit the Blockbuster and the Package Piledriver for the win. Good little match, even if the crowd was comatose. **3/4

Best of the Super Juniors (B Block) – David Finlay vs. Nick Jackson: Look, you know what the result is here. If Finlay wins even a match or gets as close as a draw, I’ll be shocked. He’s in this tournament to learn and more importantly, to lose. This wasn’t great, it wasn’t bad either, just kind of there. Jackson controlled much of the match save for a few European Uppercut flurries from Finlay. The result was never in doubt though as Jackson hit the 450 for the win. **

Best of the Super Juniors (B Block) – Barbaro Cavernario vs. Berrata: This was a much-needed, high-paced match that finally got the crowd going. Cavernario flew all over the ring (and sometimes out of it). The first quarter of the match was a lot of comedy as Berrata trying to avoid the caveman, including some biting of the fingers from Cavernario. Everything after that portion was balls to the wall action between the two with a few near-falls and a lot of nice stuff from Berrata. As mention, Cavernario flew all over the place including his patented splash to the outside which never gets old. Eventually, Berrata hit him with a flying knee strike and the Dudebuster for the victory. If you only watch one match from this 5/29 show, make it this one. Impressive match from both guys and one of the standout matches from the tournament thus far. Both men are still very much in play for their block. ***1/4

Best of Super Juniors (B Block) – Rocky Romero vs. Tiger Mask: Two of the top contenders thus far in the B Block battle in our “main event” (as far as matches available on New Japan World). As many predicted, Rocky busted out his famed Black Tiger mask for this one. I won’t lie, I was pretty disappointed and the crowd agreed with me.

Romero controlled a good majority of the match with very heel-ish offense focusing on taunting Tiger Mask and trying to get his mask off. Tiger Mask got a little bit of a rally going after countering a Romero low-blow attempt into a nice spinning heel kick but it was short-lived as Romero took control, hitting the Kurayaminoten for the win.

This was a fairly blah match from guys I expected a lot more from. It wasn’t outwardly bad by any means but very dull outside of the last two to three minutes.  *1/2

Final Thoughts: Watch Cavernario vs. Beretta, you’ll thank me later. The rest, eh, it’s generally skippable. If you have an hour or so to spare, give this show a watch but don’t expect be blown away by anything.

Updated standings for Voices of Wrestling’s Best of the Super Juniors Pick’Em contest can be found at voicesofwrestling.com/bosj15-standings.Â