Tiger Mask vs. Taiji Ishimori – Best of the Super Juniors (Block A)
Taiji cranked up his heel mannerisms to 11 for this one and it led to a mostly watchable Tiger Mask match where Tiger’s comebacks had some real viciousness to them. Taiji might’ve been hamming it up a bit too much with the maniacal cackling as I felt like the fans weren’t sure if they were meant to be taking him seriously or not. Dude also needs to work on his heel beatdown because at this point it is Yujiro-level exciting. On a more positive note, the crowd did get into the near-falls by the end and Tiger slapping the taste out of Taiji’s mouth was a good time. **3/4
ACH vs. BUSHI – Best of the Super Juniors (Block A)
This is was about as efficient as it gets when it comes to BUSHI house show singles matches. Nothing you’ll remember 15 minutes later, but it got the job done. ACH brought the monster chops and sold his injured shoulder like a pro, BUSHI’s heeling didn’t drag things down too much and the dude even pulled off a freaking slingshot frankensteiner to the outside (complete with ACH bumping to his own certain death). A couple of nifty counters before the MX finish from BUSHI and we are rolling to the next match, baby. ***
Flip Gordon vs. YOH – Best of the Super Juniors (Block A)
Gotta give props to Flip for sidestepping the usual Indie Wrestling Standoff cliché and just letting YOH dropkick the air in the opening. Other than that, this one didn’t really grab me. Two fairly-green babyfaces just running through their spots, sometimes not with the most spectacular execution. The Epic Forearm exchange felt unearned for such a short, throw-away match. I did like YOH bridging out of a cover Joshi pro-wrestling style to setup his superkick. An okay match. **1/2
Will Ospreay vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru – Best of the Super Juniors (Block A)
All of you Yoshinobu Kanemaru haterz need to watch this match. The guy was such a pro in this one: cutting down Ospreay, ripping his neck apart, working the shit out of a camel clutch. It’s all basic pro-wrestling 101 but sometimes that’s all you need. The guy not only kept up with Ospreay’s unreal speed without breaking a sweat, but he also made some of his sillier offense look great. Case in point: Kanemaru spinning around on himself before eating the backspring enzuigiri instead of waiting around like an idiot. The little things add up and grumpy drunk vet Kanemaru is a guy that does all the little things well.
They really worked the hell out of Kanemaru’s ref bump/sneaky whisky gimmick and the big payoff of Ospreay blocking the WHISKY SPRAY before superkicking the drink right out of Nobu’s mouth got a real monster pop. Other awesome stuff: Kanemaru countering the Oscutter with an Okada-level perfect dropkick like it was the easiest thing ever and Ospreay taking the Deep Impact right on his god damn head. Shoutout to the single fan chanting ‘’OLE-OLE-OLE-OSPREAY’’ in the most out of tune fashion ever. I liked ALL OF THIS! ***1/2
