Chris Sabin vs. Marty Scurll – Best of the Super Juniors (Block B)
Pretty fun match between two guys who have been working hard during this tournament to make me change my mind about them. The Osaka crowd loves Marty to bits so everything he did got a huge reaction: the opening British chain wrestling comedy, randomly telling the fans to shut up, the grating ‘’Just kidding’’ spots. I actually liked a bunch of stuff beyond the pops, namely Marty’s awesome-looking European uppercuts and some tricked out rollup exchanges that looked like actual struggles rather than well-rehearsed choreographies. Snappy stuff. ***
KUSHIDA vs. Ryusuke Taguchi – Best of the Super Juniors (Block B)
Holy shit! Spoiler alert: this ends in 3 minutes with Taguchi catching KUSHI in a flash rollup for the win. I was actually super down for a proper match between these two, but long-form tournaments like the G1 and the BOSJ need these types of shock finishes to make the booking appear more unpredictable, so no harm done. The post-match reactions from both guys are excellent.
SHO vs. El Desperado – Best of the Super Juniors (Block B)
I love both of these fellers and they sure didn’t disappoint. Despy was in monster heel mode and decided to wear his best mask for the occasion (the creepy-as-fuck open mouth mask). Absolutely ruthless leg work from Despy, just trashing SHO’s leg with a chair shot as the crowd SCREAMED IN HORROR, then relentlessly picking it apart to set up the Numero Dos. Meanwhile, SHO is the young guy with the best selling in New Japan. He’s basically doing a realistic version of what Ospreay is going for with his screaming. His attention to detail in this match was top notch, still showing leg pain during his explosive comeback. He’s also shaping up to be one of the more well-rounded guys on the roster: he’s got the killer power moves, but he’s also super agile and can take it to the mat with shoot style submissions. Great near-falls near the end with SHO surviving the Guitarra de la Muerta (love that name) and unleashing the Shock Arrow for the win. Crystal clear story-telling and huge babyface heat for SHO. I dug all of this wrestling. ***1/2
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee – Best of the Super Juniors (Block B)
This was the standard crazy-ass match between Hiromu and Dragon Lee. Much like the previous matches in their series: a lot of stuff that I enjoyed and a lot of stuff that got on my nerves. The positive first: I love that despite the fact that these two work complete spot-fests, you get a sense that they hate each other’s guts. Dragon Lee coming out with a half-Kamaitachi mask just to be a prick, Hiromu retaliating by trying to rip off his own mask, the brutal chop wars = all great. They even added some new dick moves to their repertoire, namely Dragon Lee stealing the Naito slingshot dropkick and Tranquilo pose and Hiromu shutting down a Red Shoes countout just to crush his nemesis with one more dive.
Then there’s the whole selling issue. I’m okay with no-selling when wrestlers make it seem like a fighting spirit surge or a last resort desperation move, but Hiromu and Lee just trade freaking release German suplexes like they’re armdrags. They did about 3 different sequences where the selling just completely went out of the window and it just makes me very numb to the Epic Wrestling Match they’re trying to sell me. Loads of cool spots and ridiculous displays of athleticism, but in the end I’ll take a more story-driven match like Hiromu/Despy over this any day of the week. ***1/2
