New Japan Pro Wrestling
Best of the Super Juniors – Night 10
May 30, 2018

Watch: NJPW World

We’re back for another show of single cam no commentary Best of the Super Juniors. I am joined this morning by a cup of coffee and my four month old daughter. If either she or the coffee have anything worth contributing, I’ll be sure to let you know. Now on to the matches.

Marty Scurll (6) def. Dragon Lee (6)

This was very much a Marty Scurll match. High on joint manipulation, light on lucha flippy-do’s. It also wasn’t particularly good. Marty controlled much of the match, and Lee’s fast-paced offense was short lived and infrequent. I was hoping this match would be more of a clash of styles, but it really wasn’t. Scurll eventually won with a reverse superplex and the chicken wing in a match that was too long and not very entertaining. Rating: **1/4

Ryusuke Taguchi (4) defeats Sho (4)

The one up side to these matches being put on New Japan World so late is the sub-titled post match promos are put up along side them, so we get the joys of Taguchi complaining about running out of high speed data because he wants to learn some American moves by watching videos online. The match started out focused on Taguchi’s ass, which is my least favorite type of match short of garbage deathmatches. I like how Sho and Yoh are separating themselves in this tournament. Yoh is more high flying and clever, while Sho relies on his strength and submission holds. Sho shows off both at once when he lands a German Suplex and smoothly transitions into an armbar. There’s an awkward bit where Sho goes for his package piledriver finisher, furthering my belief that it’s not a good finisher for him. Taguchi lands the dodan but Sho kicks out, so Taguchi uses a half-nelson suplex to finish the kid off. Rating: ***1/4

Hiromu Takahashi (6) def. Chris Sabin (4)

This was a good match for this level of show. These guys aren’t going to do a whole lot in front of a small crowd, but every they did do they did well. A few dives to pop the crowd, a few signature spots, a few stiff strikes, and Hiromu makes Sabin tap to a triangle choke, which he has been using a lot this tournament. An enjoyable, if unremarkable match. Rating: ***1/4

KUSHIDA (6) def. El Desperado (4)

Despy’s attitude might be the MVP of the tournament so far. He’s the highlight of every B Block show, supporting his great character with some great matches. Him and KUSHIDA open with fire, throwing each other into chairs, into the crowd, only slowing down to try and rip each other’s limbs off. There’s a cool spot where KUSHIDA has Desperado in the Hoverboard Lock while Despy puts Kush in the Stretch Muffler, with Desperado eventually getting the better of that exchange. KUSHIDA eventually wins with the Back to the Future in a really good match. Easily the best match on the show. Rating: ***3/4

Final Thoughts: 

Nothing must-see on Night 10, but I enjoy watching the progress of Sho and El Desperado. Skip the Scurll match, and the rest is a real easy watch. Scurll, KUSHIDA, and Hiromu are all tied for first with three wins.