The magic! The spirit! The BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS! It feels like only yesterday that Liger, Samurai, Kanemoto, and Otani were battling it out for junior heavyweight supremacy with cameos from Benoit, Eddie, Malenko, and Doc Wagner Junior while Sasuke and Delfin had their own shops going but stopped by from time to time.
Tiger Mask 4, Minoru Tanaka, Masahito Kakihara, and Masayuki Naruse confused everybody for a bit as my interest in puroresu fizzled out. I watched from afar as Omega, Devitt, PAC, and Ibushi made their names, as Taguchi and KUSHIDA held the fort down. I returned to a world ran by Will Ospreay and Hiromu Takahashi, and it is the one we still exist in now.
Shingo Takagi’s here too.
1. Dragon Lee, Titan & Shota Umino vs. Bandido, Jonathan Gresham & Ren Narita
This had some fun bursts of rope-running from the usual suspects and good old-fashioned young lion fire from the other guys. Narita holding Gresham for the stupid Bandido rope-assisted 450 spot instead of Gresham just holding the ropes himself like a dummy was quality stuff, as was Gresham’s face when he got knocked down by prospective heavyweight Umino so early. A fine opening contest. ***
2. Ryusuke Taguchi & Roppongi 3K vs. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Robbie Eagles
ELP punts Taguchi’s rugby ball into the crowd and I hate him even more. That’s DANGEROUS. This match felt like it was laid out around showcasing him and nothing else, and while he’s got hops he is running around like he owns the place and it’s not endearing. They did a thumb-in-the-ass spot here too that got paid off by guys passing out from smelling the thumb, which sure is bad but then you have to remember that wrestling is stupid and it was a dumb moment that will pass. What won’t pass is that ELP pinned SHO and that’s even stupider. For a second I thought ELP and Eagles were being set up as some Euro Bucks team but ELP and Taiji seems to be the play. Eh. **1/4
3. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Douki
Shed a tear for Liger’s last BOSJ finals show ever. This is all about the Liger/Suzuki showdowns and to a lesser extent the Ishii/Taichi ones, which were highlighted by Ishii throwing one of the stiffest shoulderblocks I’ve ever seen. Douki gets to get all his shit in too, and it’s good unique shit that adds some flavor to what was mostly a same ol 10-man tag. And I saw Tiger Mask IV for the first time in forever! I also don’t think Toru Yano did one physical thing in this match. That’s amazing. **
4. Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI
Ibushi vs. Naito was as wild and crazy as always, and everyone got a little thing in. It was kind of the usual stuff but a fun little match that ended with EVIL staring into the camera licking his lips as he pinned Toa Henare. **3/4
5. Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero vs. Marty Scurll & Brody King
Brody King has got a look, and that hood for the entrance was properly scary. I’m not a big fan of thigh tattoos in wrestling though, they just throw me off, especially with his big white boots. Brody appears to have a big man springboard double armdrag spot he does and I swear to you, Okada is the only Ace in this world that cannot look like a complete dumbass getting roped into that.
This wasn’t a bad match, but Villain Enterpises just doesn’t feel like a real thing to me. Rocky has really developed into the most solid of all hands though, hasn’t he? Okada was man enough to take a piledriver from new guy Brody towards the end and his timing on the kickout was incredible… for the tiniest millisecond I thought it was over, and I wasn’t sure that fragment of a millisecond even still existed. Dug Okada eventually putting big guy in his place with the Rainmaker too. **3/4
Tremendous dumb Jericho video bit afterwards, with his gimmick transitioning into some kind of dad wearing a Clockwork Orange Halloween costume. This guy – God bless. Even with the Bray Wyatt effects, this was a tremendous straightforward wrestling promo: I”m gonna knock your teeth down your throat. I’m gonna break your back, Okada. I’m gonna beat you and become the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion.”
6. Hiroshi Tanahashi Return Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White
Their first match was a turd and their second was something I reflect on as “solid,” so the bar was low – but they smashed through it here. This was fun. Jay attacking Tanahashi during his entrance the ONLY way this match should’ve ever started, though it deprived us the experience of Tanahashi disrobing of his fabulous feathered jacket. And while Jay wasn’t quite Stan The Man Hansen, he brought a little chaos and did fine putting the boots to our returning hero. That beard he’s got going now is such an oddly necessary tweak, and made everything he did that much more shitty. Offense in wrestling is hard – Jay’s return at the Tokyo Dome vs. Tanahashi himself proved that. But he’s getting there. He worked an arm and that can go a million different ways, but here he kept it focused and interesting, and baby sometimes that’s all you really need. Tanahashi getting in a REVENGE LOW BLOW and subsequent hot cradle near fall, followed by a Texas Cloverleaf setup countered with Jay’s cheating ass grabbing his arm to win was great. ***3/4
7. IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title: Juice Robinson [c] vs. Jon Moxley (debut)
Here he is, TV wrestling star Dean Ambrose debuting and semi-main eventing at Sumo motherfucking Hall. I love that he is just immediately MOX, like he had been going by his government name for years. And I’ve got to say, after occasional visions over the years of Seth Rollins countering finishes or Roman Reigns trading shots in a G1 Climax, here comes Dean Ambrose to be the New Japan superstar I never knew I needed.
I could be reading way too into it but this really did feel like some kind of statement on being recharged and reborn as a wrestler in 2019, from Mox trying new weird stuff like biker shots and a high-angle Dirty Deeds, to Juice Robinson CUTTING THOSE DREADLOCKS. This match had brawling and planchas off the entrance setup and table spots and stiff lariats and leg work and it was very fun. Moxley in a new world was great – his “WHAT” after the table didn’t break was amazing. And it was fun to see this GUY, who has gone through stages of apathy but has felt like untapped talent for seven years, feel like he wasn’t adhering to any kind of formula anymore – he was just being a Wrestler, whatever that means.
Juice stood out more than anything though, completely prepared to give Moxley the weird fun match he needed, based around not much more than Juice bleeding and selling the shit out of everything. The guy who got his main event wrestling name from Dusty Rhodes leaves main event wrestling and the first things he does are sign with Dusty’s kid’s company and work his first match against guy who sometimes comes across as closest thing to a modern day Dusty Rhodes. I’m into it. ****
8. Best of the Super Jr. – Final: Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay
The key to wrestling is just great ring jackets, honestly.
Bill’s random sword and death stare opposite Shingo’s imposing presence backed up by arrogance was a nice start too. I guess that’s the key to wrestling – setting a tone. And these guys did that. And it was the finals of a tournament in New Japan, which is a cheat code that provides a special atmosphere that makes every wild thing they do that much more fun to watch.
The counter-for-counter these two did in the first few minutes kind of made all other wrestling feel irrelevant. It’s a style that doesn’t work when done by any other guy, but these two are wizards. Everything here early on, even Will’s flying stuff, was about proving themselves. Shingo refused a guardrail whip cause he’s STRONG. Will did a Sasuke Special and landed on his feet because he has GOOD BALANCE. It was always a little cute when Will tried to go strike-for-strike with the big guy too.
Once they dropped that and started trying to win it went next level. There were so many highlights, among them:
- Will trying top rope Stormbreaker, which led to a slap-off as Shingo tried to fight out and ended in Shingo just elbowing Will’s ass off the top rope
- Shingo getting back into the ring right before the 20-count after an OsCutter on the apron, only to immediately get drilled with a springboard dropkick
- The wide shot after Will reacted to the OsCutter kickout, as the crowd chanted their chants, as both men tried to regain their composure
- Shingo busting out the Made in Japan
- They really reeled in this feeling 20 minutes in – my GOD, does the undefeated SHINGO really have no answer to an OSPREAY in his element!?
- Will kicking out after two Pumping Bombers, then trying to crawl away, and Shingo grabbing his arm like a parent who’s unruly child is trying to run off and cause ruckus
…and many more!
Frantic -really-really-trying-to-win wrestling is always great. They kind of lost me for a few minutes early where it felt like they were stretching for time, but otherwise F yeah. It had the expected power guy vs. flyer chemistry brilliance, but way more than that, all topped off by that special tone and atmosphere. ****3/4
Also Shingo is so hilariously a heavyweight – I’m glad he got the BOSJ run, but let’s goooo.
The top 3 are keepers, the rest had some OK stuff but take it or leave it. Good top-heavy show as per usual. 8/10
