The fastest tournament in wrestling hits the one-week mark as we check in on Best of the Super Juniors 30!
The 30th Best of the Super Juniors has flown by, with seven shows coming in an eight-day span. It’s been a battle to keep pace with the tournament as a fan, so you can only imagine how tough it has been for the wrestlers to work at such a rapid pace. The schedule lightens up this next week, with only four shows until the semi-finals next Friday. With the lion’s share of the tournament in the rear-view mirror, and with two block matches remaining for everyone, here’s how things look in the standings.
A BLOCK
1st – Lio Rush (5-2, 10 points)
2nd – Speedball Mike Bailey (5-2, 10 points)
3rd – Taiji Ishimori (5-2, 10 points)
4th – Hiromu Takahashi (5-2, 10 points)
5th – Titán (4-3, 8 points)
6th – TJP (4-3, 8 points)
7th – DOUKI (3-4, 6 points)
8th – SHO (3-4, 6 points)
9th – KUSHIDA (1-6, 2 points)
10th – Ryusuke Taguchi (0-7, 0 points)
The top of A Block comes down to the top four names. TJP and Titán are still mathematically alive but realistically not winning, while everyone else is officially out of the running. The men at 10 points have all taken lumps out of each other.
- Lio Rush finds himself in the driver’s seat, after getting wins over Hiromu and Ishimori.
- Mike Bailey also finds himself in a plus position after opening the tournament with a win over Jr. Champion Hiromu Takahashi.
- Taiji Ishimori put himself in the mix after scoring a win over Bailey on Night 7.
- After losses to both Bailey and Rush, defending tournament champion Hiromu finds himself on the outside looking in, needing to win out to make the top two.
That brings us to what look to be the final meaningful matches in the A Block.
On the 21st in Korakuen Hall:
- Ishimori vs. Hiromu
- Rush vs. TJP
- Bailey vs. Taguchi
Then, on the final A Block night in Osaka on the 23rd:
- Bailey vs. Rush
- Ishimori vs. TJP
- Titán vs. Hiromu
There’s a lot of possibilities with both the winner and runner-up advancing to the semi-finals. But I’m not here to leave it at that. You come to VoicesOfWrestling Dot Com for capital-T Takes! So here is how I see everything shaking out.
- In Korakuen, Hiromu (12) beats Ishimori (10) to effectively eliminate him. Bailey (12) takes care of business against Taguchi (0), while Rush (12) beats TJP (8).
- Then in Osaka, Hiromu (14) will beat Titán (10) and Rush (14) will knock out Bailey (12) in the win-or-go-home main event.
- Lio Rush wins A Block, with Hiromu getting the wild card spot.
Other thoughts on A Block: KUSHIDA, a reigning champion, not only being eliminated but being at the bottom of the block with scoreless Taguchi is a stunner. Meanwhile, Taguchi has honored his pre-tournament promise of taking his matches seriously, only to find himself winless through seven. This looks to be Taguchi’s swan song, which makes me fearful that he’ll go out with all the comedy against KUSHIDA on the final night. I expected a better result from DOUKI, but this just may not have been his year. SHO has shown frustration towards EVIL for his usually ineffective interference over the course of the tournament, so keep an eye on that down the line.
B BLOCK
1st – YOH (5-2, 10 points)
2nd – Robbie Eagles (5-2, 10 points)
3rd – El Desperado (5-2, 10 points)
4th – Master Wato (5-2, 10 points)
5th – Francesco Akira (4-3, 8 points)
6th – Clark Connors (3-4, 6 points)
7th – Kevin Knight (3-4, 6 points)
8th – Yoshinobu Kanemaru (2-5, 4 points)
9th – Dan Moloney (2-5, 4 points)
10th – BUSHI (1-6, 2 points)
The scenarios in B Block mirror that of A Block, with four relevant names in the mix. Francesco Akira is the only name left lingering, as everyone under 8 points is officially out.
- YOH finds himself in the lead in B Block, with wins over Desperado and Wato.
- Robbie Eagles beat YOH but lost to Master Wato.
- El Desperado beat Wato but took the loss against YOH.
- Master Wato lost to both Desperado and YOH but scored a win over Eagles.
Where does that leave us?
On the 21st in Korakuen Hall:
- Desperado vs. Akira
- YOH vs. Kevin Knight
- Wato vs. BUSHI
- Eagles vs. Moloney
Then, on the final B Block night in Osaka on the 24th:
- Wato vs. Kevin Knight
- YOH vs. Kanemaru
- Desperado vs. Eagles
This one is a bit harder to predict, but here is what I think will go down.
- In Korakuen, all four men will win their matches and get to 12 points.
- In Osaka, Wato (14) will beat Knight, YOH (14) will beat Kanemaru, and Desperado (14) will beat Eagles (12).
- YOH will win B Block. El Desperado will earn the wild card spot due to the head-to-head win over Master Wato.
Other thoughts on B Block: Clark Connors and Dan Moloney have both been working through their new spots with mixed results. While I enjoy Moloney’s work in Rev Pro, he’s yet to have a real standout performance so far. Despite the attack from Clark Connors on Night One, Kevin Knight has had a respectable performance in his first Super Juniors. Kanemaru has done some smart work, as to be expected. BUSHI has also been there.
Standout Matches & Star Ratings
Night Two
- A BLOCK: Hiromu Takahashi def. DOUKI: 4.25
- B BLOCK: YOH def. Master Wato: 4
Night Three
- A BLOCK: SHO def. Ryusuke Taguchi: 3.5
- B BLOCK: Taiji Ishimori def. DOUKI: 3.75
- B BLOCK: Francesco Akira def. Robbie Eagles: 4
- A BLOCK: Speedball Mike Bailey def. TJP: 4.25
- B BLOCK: El Desperado def. Master Wato: 3.75
- A BLOCK: Lio Rush def. Hiromu Takahashi: 4.25
Night Four
- A BLOCK: KUSHIDA def. Speedball Mike Bailey: 3.75
Night Five
- A BLOCK: DOUKI def. Lio Rush: 3.75
- A BLOCK: Speedball Mike Bailey def. Titán: 4
- A BLOCK: Taiji Ishimori def. KUSHIDA: 4
- B BLOCK: YOH def. El Desperado: 4.25
Night Six
- A BLOCK: Speedball Mike Bailey def. DOUKI: 3.75
- A BLOCK: TJP def. Ryusuke Taguchi: 4
- A BLOCK: SHO def. Taiji Ishimori: 3.5
- A BLOCK: Hiromu Takahashi def. KUSHIDA: 4
- B BLOCK: Master Wato def. Robbie Eagles: 3.75
Night Seven
- A BLOCK: Lio Rush def. KUSHIDA: 4
- A BLOCK: Taiji Ishimori def. Speedball Mike Bailey: 4.25
- A BLOCK: Hiromu Takahashi def. TJP: 4
