NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS 30 BLOCK FINALS
MAY 23 & MAY 24, 2023
EDION ARENA OSAKA #2
OSAKA, JAPAN
Osaka saw the final two block nights of Best of the Super Juniors 30! Unlike the rest of the tour, the last block nights were split in traditional New Japan tournament style with separate block shows. Instead of going back-to-back with reviews, I decided to cover them all in one shot. With that said, let’s see how everything shook out.
- TJP (10) def. Taiji Ishimori (10) by forfeit; Ishimori was not medically cleared & both men were mathematically eliminated
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK A MATCH
RYUSUKE TAGUCHI (2) DEF. KUSHIDA (4)
I’m a huge fan of comedy. Old-school slapstick, insult humor, and simple wordplay all get a laugh out of me, but my favorite kind of comedy is the kind where a punchline comes at the end of a long winding road. The final two seasons of Key and Peele are a great example of this.
Instead of taping interstitials in front of an audience like they had in the first three seasons, the two men spent the entire last two years driving to an unknown destination. In the series finale, they finally got to their destination: a place far enough away where their wives wouldn’t hear them talking shit about them. A two-year build for a reference to their first popular sketch that aired four years beforehand.
I say that all to say that after spending the whole tournament wrestling seriously, Taguchi finally getting his first win after getting his ass exposed by KUSHIDA made me laugh. ***1/2
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK A MATCH
SHO (8) (W/EVIL) DEF. DOUKI (6)
I am a full-on House of Torture fan now. They’re a bunch of clowns in the lower end of the card, getting booed and usually ending up with egg on their faces. It’s a perfect spot for these screwball Scooby Doo villains to live. This wasn’t a block-deciding match. Neither of these guys are challenging Hiromu anytime soon. So, what’s a little bit of nonsense to get the crowd into this one? Although, “a little bit of nonsense” is a generous recap of this match.
Between them dressing young lion Oiwa up like DOUKI to trick the referee, SHO trying to win by countout by literally throwing DOUKI in the trash, and EVIL counting a pin after yanking the referee out of the ring, there was more bullshit here than a cow farm. But the crowd was into it, and they were rooting for DOUKI to win and beat his career-best in this tournament, so it was fine. SHO won after EVIL hit EVIL on DOUKI. ***
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK A MATCH
MIKE BAILEY (14) DEF. LIO RUSH (12)
This was junior heavyweight wrestling at its finest. The speed and fluidity of this match was absolutely breathtaking, which was to be expected with two of the best juniors in wrestling today. Combine that with the stakes of a semi-final berth in the tournament on the line, and that made this not only the match of the tournament, but one of the best matches you’ll see this year.
This match was all go from the bell, with these two evading each other’s offense until Bailey caught Rush with a kick to the midsection. Bailey spent the first half of this match hammering Rush with his mid-kicks, relentlessly beating the hell out of him. Rush used his speed to come back. He hit a flurry of offense that sent Bailey to the floor before following with a Spanish Fly on the outside and a top-rope Spanish Fly back in the ring.
The closing stretch here was sensational, with Rush fighting out of the Flamingo Driver and avoiding the Ultima Weapon. But he could never land the Final Hour splash, and after moving out of the way of it, Bailey backed Rush into the corner and drilled him with the hurricane kick. The Flamingo Driver got the win and secured first place in the block for Bailey. The result surprised me, as I figured Rush would go through over Bailey due to Rush’s more prominent position in New Japan. But Bailey has had a presence in Japan for years, is fluent in the language, and works for a partner promotion for New Japan. His advancement should not have come as a surprise, but it is a welcome one. He’s on the shortlist for MVP of the tournament, and with this win, he’s earned another shot to add to his resume. ****1/2
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK A MATCH
TITÁN (12) DEF. HIROMU TAKAHASHI (12)
This was Gedo’s lightbulb booking at its finest. Since the tournament was announced, I have been considering all the possibilities of people to score the big scalp that was four-time Super Junior winner Hiromu Takahashi. Could Desperado finally get his Super Juniors win over him? Could YOH knock him out in the semi-final? Could Master Wato score the big win that was teased at Wrestle Kingdom? I did all this consideration and predicting, yet the most obvious answer was hiding in plain sight.
Of course, the answer was Titán. He is the newest member of Los Ingobernables De Japon. LIJ did just lose a heavyweight member of the unit when SANADA left for Just Five Guys. While remaining a junior, Hiromu has had his flirtations with the heavyweight division, including a semi-final run in the 2020 New Japan Cup and multiple Heavyweight Title matches. This was a fantastic way to elevate a new marquee name in the junior division while not necessarily having to pay it off in a rematch for the title at Dominion.
The match itself left a little something to be desired, especially following Bailey vs. Rush. While Titán’s elevation was the more important part of this scenario, the match didn’t feel like the toppling of the giant that Hiromu has become in this division. It felt more like a middle-of-the-tour upset rather than the end of Hiromu’s reign over this tournament. But the result was what mattered here, and the crowd popped huge at the finish, which saw Hiromu cleanly submit to Llave Inmortal. ***1/2
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK B MATCH
BUSHI (4) DEF. FRANCESCO AKIRA (8)
After his standout performance against El Desperado in the Korakuen Hall main event on Night 8, Francesco Akira’s leg was still in a bad way. BUSHI took full advantage of it, tapping him out with a kneebar. Akira had his big moment against Despy, so this was just finishing out proceedings here. ***
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK B MATCH
DAN MOLONEY (8) DEF. CLARK CONNORS (8) BY COUNTOUT
This was the best kind of walk-and-brawl you could ask for. These two went around this building battering each other before the bell rang. The intensity and menace these two fought with made it feel like a street fight as opposed to killing time. Instead of trading punches while slowly tumbling around the building, these two were chopping each other’s chests red, flinging chairs and chucking benches at each other.
Moloney thrived here on the energy and the intensity in this one, as he closed his Super Juniors tournament on both a booking and performance upswing. He’s gotten comfortable, the nerves are gone, and he’s not afraid to lay it in or play to the crowd anymore. This was a great match to end his tournament on, as he scored the countout win after hitting the Gore on the outside. ****
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK B MATCH
MASTER WATO (14) DEF. KEVIN KNIGHT (6)
Master Wato had to score a win here to have a chance at moving onto the semi-finals, and he got the job done in his home prefecture. This was a solid performance from both men. Knight had himself a good tournament, finishing with more points than his partner KUSHIDA while getting some useful reps. Wato got the win after countering Knight’s leaping DDT with the Tsutenkaku German, handling his end of business in Osaka. ***1/2
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK B MATCH
YOSHINOBU KANEMARU (6) DEF. YOH (12)
YOH would have punched his ticket to the semis with a win here. Unfortunately, he ran into the Heel Master and spoiler supreme Yoshinobu Kanemaru here. With a figure four cradle pin, Kanemaru eliminated YOH from block contention. YOH had found an entirely new gear and new charisma during this tour, and I thought he would end up in the quarterfinals as a result of it. But Kanemaru’s knee work over the course of the match paid off in the end, leaving YOH out of luck this time around. ***1/2
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 30 BLOCK B MATCH
EL DESPERADO (14) DEF. ROBBIE EAGLES (12)
These two have had a running rivalry in New Japan over the pandemic, with matches against each other in Super Juniors over the past two years. In 2021, Desperado beat Eagles to earn a spot in the finals. Eagles got his win back last year, but Desperado still made it to the finals. Not only was this a rubber match for these two in this tournament, but after the results from earlier in the night, it was win-or-go-home for the both of them.
Both men having leg submissions led to heavy leg work all throughout the match. They escaped each other’s submission finishes multiple times, but the work never stopped. His second time in the hold, Eagles powered up out of the Numero Dos and transitioned it into a Destroyer. Eagles got him in the Ron Miller Special, but Despy fought his way to the ropes. After a sick dragon screw reversal of a running kick, Desperado landed Guitarra De Angel for a nearfall. Eagles tried to counter the Numero Dos again, but Desperado countered the counter with a Bastard Driver for a nearfall. Desperado then locked on the Numero Dos, scoring the submission win and first place in B Block. Great limb work in front of a great crowd. ****1/4
With that, the block portion of Best of the Super Juniors 30 is complete! The final standings look like this:
A BLOCK
1st – Speedball Mike Bailey (7-2, 14 points)
2nd – Titán (6-3, 12 points) [2-0 in tiebreaker]
3rd – Lio Rush (6-3, 12 points) [1-1 in tiebreaker]
4th – Hiromu Takahashi (6-3, 12 points) [0-2 in tiebreaker]
5th – TJP (5-4, 10 points)
6th – Taiji Ishimori (5-4, 10 points)
7th – SHO (4-5, 8 points)
8th – DOUKI (3-6, 6 points)
9th – KUSHIDA (2-7, 4 points)
10th – Ryusuke Taguchi (1-8, 2 points)
B BLOCK
1st – El Desperado (7-2, 14 points)
2nd – Master Wato (7-2, 14 points)
3rd – YOH (6-3, 12 points)
4th – Robbie Eagles (5-4, 10 points)
T-5th – Francesco Akira (4-5, 8 points)
T-5th – Dan Moloney (4-5, 8 points)
T-5th – Clark Connors (4-5, 8 points)
8th – Kevin Knight (3-6, 6 points)
9th – Yoshinobu Kanemaru (3-6, 6 points)
10th – BUSHI (2-7, 4 points)
- Akira, Moloney, & Connors are in an unbreakable three-way tie for 5th. I know this will keep someone up late in the night.
On May 26 in Yoyogi, the semifinals will take place. It will be:
- “Speedball” Mike Bailey (A1) vs. Master Wato (B2)
- El Desperado (B1) vs. Titán (A2)
Powered by RedCircle
