NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS 25
MAY 26, 2018
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Nagoya Congress Center

Watch: NJPW World 

Best Of The Super Junior 2018 Block A
Flip Gordon (6) def. Tiger Mask (6)

The Tiger Mask Cinderella story comes to an end as Flip picks up the win in an okay match. I was really hoping that we’d get a fired up, grumpy Tiger Mask, but he was more like a kindly old man here. This match really lacked any real fire, feeling more like an exhibition match as opposed to a tournament match between two of the Block leaders. Everything about this match was perfectly fine, but I wanted better than fine and I honestly put all of the blame on Tiger Mask. Flip was good here and the crowd reacted really well to him. He did what he could with the limitations of his opponent, who showed little to no fire in the match, despite being the current Block leader who should want to extend his lead. This was a lazy house show match in a spot that should have mattered more than that. **½ 

Best Of The Super Junior 2018 Block A Match
ACH (4) def. YOH (2)

I am absolutely loving the ACH that we’ve gotten in this tournament. He’s going out there and killing dudes with chops and it is the best! Anytime that YOH dropped to his knees, clutching his chest while the women in the crowd yelled his name with everything they had, I had a smile on my face. I have no problem with YOH, I actually like his quite a bit, I just enjoy watching chops more. Between the two, YOH definitely had the flashier, faster looking offense and ACH’s game plan was to slow him down and beat him down. This was an all around solid match that you shouldn’t skip as you’re skimming through these middle of the tournament shows. New Japan has something here with ACH, hopefully they don’t miss out on it. ***¼ 

Best Of The Super Junior 2018 Block A Match
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (4) def. Taiji Ishimori (4)

What’s up with that move where Ishimori springboards off the top rope and just rams his dick and balls into his opponent’s face? You’d think that would hurt him too. So anyways, this match was pretty much Kanemaru teaching Ishimori how to be a big boy bad guy. Then Ishimori says “dude, I’m too pretty to wrestle like you” or something like that probably and continues to wrestle his own way. Kanemaru pulled out every dirty trick in the book in an attempt to win, but it was finally a small package that let him pick up the win. Flying crotch attacks aside, Ishimori was absolutely wrestling like a babyface here and it cost him. Kanemaru has been doing this grimy heel stuff for a long time and that experience edge won him the match. The story these two told was shockingly great and is a story that we don’t see very often. Kanemaru took advantage of Ishimori being new to his role and that’s way more meta than I would ever have expected the story of a mid tournament match to be. Well done boys. ***½ 

Best Of The Super Junior 2018 Block A Match
BUSHI (2) def. Will Ospreay (4)

After this match, I may finally be joining the camp that believes that BUSHI isn’t very good. Man, he really wasn’t any good here. Will managed to keep things interesting, but whoa boy, did BUSHI ever mail it in. He never even popped that shirt off. It felt like BUSHI was doing everything at half speed. I understand that BUSHI needed a win in the tournament, but this wasn’t the place. Having him beat Will sets up a title match that I have no interest in seeing after this super lackluster encounter. I’m having a hard time rating this match because for as little effort BUSHI put in, Ospreay still worked his ass off. It’s almost as if these two were in totally separate matches. Outside of the OsCutter into the inverted MX spot, BUSHI never seemed on the same page as Ospreay. This was an odd and ultimately disappointing main event. ***