New Japan Pro Wrestling
Best of the Super Juniors – Night Eight
May 31, 2015
Numazu, Shizuoka – Kiramesse Numazu

NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors rolls on to Night Eight at Kiramesse Numazu, in front of just over 1100 people, as all three matches feature NJPW veterans going up against the young guns of the NJPW juniors division. The big match of the night was KUSHIDA vs Tiger Mask. A win by KUSHIDA would catapult him to the top of the standings in Block B, while a Tiger win would even him up with KUSHIDA on top. With only a match to go with David Finlay, Tiger would have been sitting pretty in that scenario.

Gedo vs Chase Owens (Block A): Well, this match flew by. At only eight minutes, that isn’t a shock. I’m not into Chase Owens at all, but if you are, I applaud you. Every time I see a Chase match, which encompasses only NJPW matches, he just looks so familiar. Not to any one person in particular, but to a generic wrestler. I used to think that, as many did, about Bobby Fish. Does Chase have the potential to break out like Fish has years later, or will Chase always be a somewhat obscure NWA wrestler until he decides to give up wrestling. Or is this question ridiculous, seeing as how the guy in in NJPW after all. Not only is he in NJPW, but he’s winning matches, including this one. After a blockbuster and a package piledriver, Chase pinned Gedo to run up his score to 6 points. **

Jushin Thunder Liger vs Beretta (Block A): Beretta was super colorful here, and I don’t just mean his wardrobe selection. I was way more into this match than I would have been if someone like Owens or Finlay had the exact same match, because Beretta’s expressions were fantastic. Liger was motivated to have a battle, too, and it helped out. This, for an eight minute match, was highly enjoyable and it felt like a big deal. Liger got the win with a sitout pinfall, countering a Beretta pinning attempt. It was a heated match, with many a nearfall that the crowd was into. Not knowing the result before watching, I bought some of the nearfalls myself. ***1/4

Tiger Mask vs KUSHIDA (Block B): Knowing the point situation, and the overwhelming opinion that KUSHIDA was going to win the tournament overall, it was tough to find suspense in the match. KUSHIDA just had to win this one. WWE fans would be used to the style that was employed, also, as Tiger Mask worked over KUSHIDA’s leg for the majority of the match before KUSHIDA found a way to gain the victory. In what amounted to a last ditch effort for a win after being worn down so much, KUSHIDA found a way to lock in the kimura on Tiger for the submission win. The win gives KUSHIDA 10 points, making him a virtual lock to win Block B. He has one match to go in the tournament, as he’ll take on Rocky Romero on June 3 (Wednesday night wars!) If Romero won it, that would mean he’d have to lose to David Finlay for KUSHIDA to win the block. I don’t see that happening. In the immortal words of many, many people… We shall see. **1/2

Tiger Mask’s next BoSJ match isn’t happening until June 5 at Korakuen, the final night of the group stage. After starting with 6 points in his first three matches, Tiger followed up with three straight losses to remain at 6 points. With only Finlay to go, Tiger will likely end up with 8 points. That won’t be good enough to win, so Tiger is mathematically eliminated.

We’re over half way through the Best of the Super Juniors 22, so how about we update the scoreboard, shall we? Most wrestlers still have a few matches left, but as noted above, Tiger Mask and KUSHIDA are down to their final game. As predicted, Block A remains anyone’s for the taking as we head into the final week of the tournament.

voicesofwrestling.com njpw best of the super juniors bosj 22 standings

 


 

Voices of Wrestling – Best of the Super Juniors Pick’Em Standings (Night 8)

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NameTotal22-May23-May25-May26-May27-May29-May30-May31-May2-Jun3-Jun4-Jun5-JunBonuses
Jordi5971344222334618
Edgar Morales5872342332334616
Kelly Harrass5862343422434516
Max Bachhuber5853443223434516
Brian Brennan5762332432434516
Darren Lyne5751422433424716
A. S.5652342342434614
Lawson Leong5682423223333516
Paco Silva Martínez5661342422334616
Rob Reid5653333323333814
Christopher Griger5572241232334616
Claudio Escudero5552334233414516
Derek Drago5564323322323616
Francis Lane5552443212334616
Mitch Cowan5562333433423514
Dan Mullooly5472232324233714
Lee West5472434132324514
Alex Giardini5351234224434514
Allen Vick Jr5361144123324616
Gabriel Perez5342333222334616
Jared Welch5352314223334714
Joseph Remy537344333243458
Kenny Ortiz5363332132414516
Kevin Hare5352333421334416
Mark Berlowitz5353333332333316
Michael Zavala5341332423433714
Oliver Court5362233341424514
Sean Sedor5341333333423516
Tommy Livingstone5352333033423616
Andrew Bates5252341233214616
dannym99ATskyDOTcom5250331423424714
Jody Plante5251343312334416
Matt Trebby5232333423424514
Morten Hansen5252424312324614
Richard St.Hilaire5242433321333516
Theo Wilson5262333222304616
Brady Livingston5152333122323418
Danny Kuchler5152322332313814
Kent Sinkler5150332423324614
Mitch Parcells5143114334232516
thecubsfan515323342244388
Christopher Duarte506324323242478
David Mora5061324322424413
Karl Clancey5062343322324313
Niall H5062332332323414
Rich Kraetsch506133233443468
Anthony Albicocco4950333231134516
Jake Daniel496233343243268
Jake R.496234333232468
Matt Magnum4961232232324514
Matt McEwen4941332323414514
Mike Spears495244333333358
Abrasive Obelisk487134331323468
Adrian Gaskin4852333212133416
Alan Counihan4852314313313514
Andrew Rich4853334303324411
Azri Aqil4861233312124416
Bastian Sauer486234333233448
Ewen MacDonald485334331243368
Jason Sitek4861332322223514
Kyle Conzett4850343332234610
Nick Mogel4862322322323414
Richard Jaeger4842212433333414
Antonio Edwards474233332333378
Gonçalo Monteiro475234243223368
Marcus Origer4742223414232414
Matt Rolder475234332333448
Paul Cooke4753332213223414
Paul Völsch4753332322334410
Adam Gaetan4650322222333514
Case Lowe465133233342458
Dylan Harris466332332332358
Frederick Cholowski466233333321458
joel zewski466133232233468
Brian Kline453134142433278
Bryan Rose455233243413438
Chris Dalgleish455133242331378
Daniel Mackinnon456123323313378
Darrell Chess4531342343333310
Kevin Wilson453224124233478
Miles Messmer4532412323424510
Santiago Tomasi4541333202434511
Brandon Gordon4432233311433610
Greg Johnson446314232143438
Rob McCaron446233242123448
Víctor Pérez4450333123212514
Anthony Perillo436232143222358
Andy Doran424222322243448
Cal Hodges425223333222348
Mike McDonald425323124331348
T.J. Hawke426123233122278
the mosayat4241442431032410
William Young422133332332368
Aidan Daly413134233243148
Edward Mills415233232220458
Filip Pejic415232322332338
John Cunningham414333132214438
KENTA kicks heads415024332241258
Lee Thomas413122422333268
Phil Williams414222222242368
Trent Williams415132333212358
David Naismith405442322232245
Joe Gagne404134322132447
Brendan Creecy395043232301268
corvax382124331323158
dominic sweeney386233231242343
Keith Campbell385123313222248
Sarah385242133331236
Alexander Panos3731331421021511
Berry Meijer374023222241258
Caitlin Lipinski376212242130176
Joseph Roche374213243033273
Lawrence OBrien374234122320248
William Housell Jr.374232331402463
Dakota Schmidt365233222431360
David Woodley365322111233148
Garrett Kidney3651223130231310
Alan Maggle353223223222453
Allan Blackstock355232322331450
David Neil Rapp345134323212350
Gabe Throne345223431333230
Amal Ahmadzai335212243313250
Mike Langford306022422230160
Matt Zierer294132133130143
Kyle Blevins273222203041143
Chris Harrington264113201142430
Sean Flynn264012111211228
Robert O.232332132120130