NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS 30 NIGHT 8
MAY 21, 2023
KORAKUEN HALL
TOKYO, JAPAN

Watch: NJPW World

Korakuen Hall sees the final dual-block night, as Best of the Super Juniors 30 nears its conclusion. With two matches left, almost every match has big-time stakes going into it. Let’s dive in.

BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK A MATCH
TITÁN (10 POINTS) DEF. DOUKI (6 POINTS)

With this win, Titán remains in the mix for the block. This jam-packed Korakuen crowd was receptive to this one, as these two used a mix of flying and grappling to get this show off to a hot start. Titán got the win with the Llave Inmortal. Titán is…fine. He’s solid. A good hand. He never leaves a strong mark on me in any regard, which is why his match reviews are a lot shorter than others.

Meanwhile, the Korakuen crowd has taken to DOUKI strongly, his work over the course of the pandemic earning both booking and fan respect. This wasn’t his year, and it’s possible his year never comes. But he’s earned his spot as a fan favorite, and guys like that usually get their due in some form or fashion. ***

BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK B MATCH
CLARK CONNORS (8 POINTS) DEF. YOSHINOBU KANEMARU (4 POINTS)

The booking of Connors in Korakuen Hall is what to look out for here. He got a win over Kevin Knight on the opening day before beating him down with a chair. Here, he got an emphatic win over Kanemaru in a smartly worked match. Kanemaru never factored into matters, but he’s done rock solid work throughout the whole tournament. Connors fought through the knee work to hit the Spear and No Chaser for the win. ***1/4

BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK A MATCH
KUSHIDA (4 POINTS) DEF. SHO (6 POINTS)

The old guard in New Japan have been bluntly moved down the pecking order, with KUSHIDA’s drop being the most surprising. This is KUSHIDA’s first Super Juniors back in New Japan, having returned to the promotion shortly after the tournament’s end last year. He’s a reigning champion, yet not only was he out of the mix quickly, but he’s also only had one win at all coming into this one. Names like KUSHIDA, Taguchi, and BUSHI were guys who were players in the Junior Division only a few years ago. But with a generation shift comes these guys shifting their way down the card, and in KUSHIDA’s case, it’s a bit of a shame.

These two wrestled this straight up for a few minutes, which featured some great grappling. Then the House of Torture shenanigans began, which continues to be tolerable as the fans can jeer them now. There was a hunk of metal in SHO’s boot that he used to hurt KUSHIDA with kicks. Kevin Knight got involved in warding off EVIL’s interference, and eventually locked EVIL in a Hoverboard Lock of his own. KUSHIDA got the Hoverboard Lock in on SHO, and the bumped referee recovered in time to call for the submission. ***

BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK B MATCH
MASTER WATO (12 POINTS) DEF. BUSHI (2 POINTS)

With this win, both Clark Connors and Kevin Knight were officially eliminated from block contention.

It was a BUSHI match, brother. They top out at three stars, and the only question is if he’ll break out the mist in an upset special. It didn’t happen here. Wato dropkicked BUSHI on an MX attempt, then hit the Tsutenkaku German for the win. ***

BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK A MATCH
SPEEDBALL MIKE BAILEY (12 POINTS) DEF. RYUSUKE TAGUCHI (0 POINTS)

Taguchi has been working clean and serious this tour, and while it hasn’t worked in a points sense, it has been far more entertaining than the comedy schlock I came into this tour dreading. This match was a key example of how much better this version of Taguchi is compared to Jokester Taguchi in his underpants. This was Taguchi fighting with pride, fighting with veteran smarts, and just coming up short in the end.

He went after Bailey’s exposed feet early on to set up Oh My & Garankle. He feigned going into the ring post, baiting Bailey into kicking the post. Taguchi avoided the Ultima Weapon and hooked Oh My & Garankle on, and I was sold on him getting the upset here. After a few roll-throughs, Bailey got the win on a stuffed La Magistral cradle. This was great stuff, and I highly recommend watching it. ****1/4

BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK B MATCH
DAN MOLONEY (6 POINTS) DEF. ROBBIE EAGLES (10 POINTS)

This was a good showing for Moloney, who came into this match with a separated shoulder according to the announcers. He played off one fan in particular, who kept starting the “Robbie Robbie Robbie” chant for Eagles. Eagles worked on the knee, while Moloney kept using his brute strength for chops and power moves.

The finish here was awesome, as Moloney caught Eagles on an Asai DDT attempt and popped him up into the Drilla Killa for the upset special. This result really puts Eagles on the back foot in his block, as a win would’ve kept him in a prime position. Now, while he isn’t eliminated, he may not be in the mix for the top two come Wednesday in Osaka. ***1/2

BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK A MATCH
LIO RUSH (12 POINTS) DEF. TJP (8 POINTS)

This loss officially eliminated TJP from block contention.

This was a battle of timing. TJP worked on Rush’s bad shoulder early on, and when Rush tried to hit the Rush Hour in a transition, TJP stopped short and got on the arm again. Rush got his back, as he stopped short on a kick that TJP was ready to block before hitting it. Rush fought out of the Pinoy Stretch and survived a standing Mamba Splash before hitting the Final Hour splash to win. Rush is almost assured of a spot in the top two with this win, but a win over Mike Bailey on Tuesday in Osaka will make it official. ***3/4

BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK B MATCH
YOH (12 POINTS) DEF. KEVIN KNIGHT (6 POINTS)

With this win and the Robbie Eagles loss, YOH is firmly in the driver’s seat in B Block. A win on Wednesday against Yoshinobu Kanemaru will win the block outright. Kevin Knight was impressive here, showing off his leaping ability with a base jump onto the side stage of Korakuen before launching off the stage with a dive. YOH ended up scoring the win with Direct Drive. ***1/4

BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK A MATCH
HIROMU TAKAHASHI (12 POINTS) DEF. TAIJI ISHIMORI (10 POINTS) BY REFEREE STOPPAGE

These two were in the final of the 2018 Super Juniors, a match that also happened in Korakuen Hall. They almost immediately referenced that match, with Ishimori hitting a running dropkick in the aisles of Korakuen. Ishimori worked on Hiromu’s shoulder and working on the exposed buckle, as has been his motif over the course of the tournament.

Unfortunately, as the match was heating up, Ishimori took a rough bump on a poisonrana he gave to Hiromu. He immediately started holding his shoulder, and after a rough minute of trying to get to some type of a finish, the referee called for the bell and stopped the match. While this was probably the intended finish, you never want to see a match end in injury stoppage. With this loss, Ishimori is eliminated from block contention. N/R

BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK B MATCH
EL DESPERADO (12 POINTS) DEF. FRANCESCO AKIRA (8 POINTS)

The story of this match goes back to February 2022, when then-Jr. Champion El Desperado called out Akira for a singles match. The problem then was that Akira worked for All Japan. Akira would enter New Japan only a few months later, but the singles match never took place until here in Korakuen.

After Akira pissed off Desperado early on, Despy went off on him. He hit a dive to the floor before crushing Akira’s leg with two chairs. Akira played total babyface in this one, fighting back with his fast offense and a moonsault off the stage. After Akira got out of Numero Dos, TJP came to ringside to root for Akira. Akira hit the Speedfire before locking on the Pinoy Stretch. Desperado got the ropes, so Akira hit the Fire Suplex for a nearfall at the 20-minute call.

This is where the match kicked into another gear. Desperado ducked the Fireball and locked on a deep Numero Dos. He wrenched and wrenched on Akira’s leg, tying him up where Akira literally couldn’t move. Akira refused to quit. After what felt like minutes, TJP went to throw in the towel. Desperado caught the towel, refusing to win by stoppage. Akira then grabbed the towel and threw it away, refusing to lose that way. He got in a short flurry of offense that riled up Korakuen, but Desperado got the Numero Dos back on. After a shorter fight, Akira submitted. This loss eliminated Akira from block contention.

This match went from good to great, emotionally stirring a crowd that had cooled off after the Ishimori injury. One day, we’re gonna look back at this match as the beginning of Francesco Akira’s true journey in New Japan. ****1/4

SCENARIOS

One match remains for all competitors. I tried working on advancement scenarios, but after a while, my nose started to bleed. So, I tagged in VOW contributor J. Michael to figure this out. Here’s what he concluded:

A Block:

Speedball Mike Bailey: 12 points

  • To win block: Beat Lio Rush
  • To advance w/out winning block: lose and have Hiromu lose to stay at 12 and Ishimori lose or draw to stay under 12

Lio Rush: 12 Points

  • To win block: Beat Mike Bailey
  • To advance w/out winning block: lose and have Hiromu lose to stay at 12 and Titán lose or draw to stay under 12

Hiromu Takahashi: 12 points

  • To win block: Beat Titán and have Rush/Bailey draw to 13
  • To advance w/out winning block: beat Titán and have a clear winner of Rush/Bailey

Titán: 10 points

  • To win block: Can’t win block; lost to Mike Bailey and trails him by 2 points
  • To advance w/out winning block: beat Hiromu, have Rush lose to stay at 12 and Ishimori lose or draw to stay under 12

B Block

YOH: 12 points

  • To win block: Beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • To advance w/out winning block: draw w/ Kanemaru and have either Wato or Desperado lose to stay at 12 (YOH could also advance with a loss if Wato also loses to stay at 12 and Desperado draws to go to 13)

El Desperado: 12 points

  • To win block: Beat Robbie Eagles and have YOH lose or draw to stay under 14 (or draw Eagles and have YOH lose to stay at 12 and Wato lose/draw to stay under 13)
  • To advance w/out winning block: Beat Robbie Eagles

Master Wato: 12 points

  • To win block: Beat Kevin Knight and have both YOH and Despy lose or draw to stay under 14
  • To advance w/out winning block: Beat Kevin Knight and have Despy lose/draw to stay at 14

Robbie Eagles: 10 points

  • To win block: Can’t win block. Lost to Wato and trails him by 2 points
  • To advance w/out winning block: Beat Despy and have YOH lose