The following are thoughts on the final show of the Best of the Super Jr./World Tag League Frankenstein tour from someone who did not see any other match from that particular tour.
1. Toru Yano, SHO & Robbie Eagles vs. Bad Luck Fale, Taiji Ishimori & Chase Owens
Taiji Ishimori is the champion of the junior heavyweight division headlining this show and probably wrestling the winner at the Tokyo Dome, but tonight he is participating in a 5-minute 6-man tag and mugging for the camera when Slim Fale breaks a trophy. I don’t know. Robbie Eagles pieced together a scattered list of references into a Cameo birthday wish with the nimble efficiency of some kind of Sniper during this very tour, so he’s the MVP here. Sometimes it’s not about the wrestling. *3/4
2. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare vs. Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb
I haven’t seen The Empire since the addition of Jeff Cobb and that addition aside they should probably figure out some kind of aesthetic. O-Khan is Killer Khan turned Dick the Bruiser, Cobb is just Cobb, and heel Ospreay is doing – uh – Kingsman agent dating Grimes?
This had some OK exchanges from good wrestlers, but it was the usual New Japan undercard match that isn’t really here to grab you for some reason. **1/2
3. SANADA & Shingo Takagi vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi
Not much to this 5 minutes of wrestling either. SANADA going at his traitor friend EVIL with all the intensity of a bubble bath was more funny than an exciting setup for a match at Wrestle Kingdom. *3/4
4. Kota Ibushi & Master Wato vs. Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI
Ibushi and Naito is the match at the Dome and their ability is established enough though part of me thought they’d do maybe a tiny extra thing here to hype it up more. Master Wato running the ropes with Naito made me think some things, if not ever “hey – this is really good!” **1/2
5. World Tag League – Final: Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. The Guerillas of Destiny
It’s winter Tag League, where everybody gets play time and everything makes sense even if it’s ultimately disappointing. I haven’t seen anybody here wrestle but Juice since before the whole THING and I can’t say I came away thinking any different of them in-ring though if you squint Dave looks like Jay White now and I think I am sexually attracted to Tama Tonga?
It physically hurt my mind to make the connections that the last match these teams had actually happened at the start of this year at Wrestle Kingdom, a simpler time before Kobe and COVID-19. That match rocked, but this had a lot working against it: quiet COVID audience, meandering wrestling, and KENTA interference to rob the match of the FinJuice comeback and win which would’ve at least been fun. **1/2
6. Best of the Super Jr. – Final: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado
Never knew much about El Desperado. He entered the New Japan system just as I winded down the Japanese wrestling obsessions of my youth, and by the time I found my way back it took a while to even see him wrestle: either he was in NOAH, or I didn’t always watch full shows and he wasn’t getting features.
When I did see him, it was usually as a tag team guy. That was fine. He read to me as a solid and capable wrestler with a fun gimmick. Like his partner Yoshinobu Kanemaru, he has a spot not because he’s some wrestling superstar but because when it’s time to show up every few months for a big triple threat junior tag title match or whatever he will deliver.
Over the last couple years Despy showed brief flashes of something else though – maybe it was evident to people following more closely, but his singles matches with Hiromu in particular showed a guy with a lot more to say than cost-effective El Samurai.
How are you even supposed to succeed as a wrestler? What do you do? Sometimes you do what you’re asked. Sometimes you do what you’re told. Kyosuke Mikami survived the craziest drills in sports, lived in Mexico to learn more, put on a mask and returned home playing a Mexican, and when called upon to show up in the Final Match of the 2020 Best of the Super Juniors Tournament at the legendary Nippon Budokan Hall he delivered.
The Tag League final may have lacked it, but this had no short supply of big match feel before the bell. Desperado’s thing is that in between the leg work and chinlocks, he will beat a motherfucker around when tested. It’s in the name! He’s crazy! Desperate! A DESPERADO! Hiromu KNOWS THIS, man.
Haven’t mentioned Hiromu. Hiromu IS the New Japan junior heavyweight division. Cast aside how fascinating a being he is, the mission statement behind all his madness has been that he will take the junior heavyweight weight class to a place where it is THE thing in the traditionally heavyweight-obsessed New Japan. This match felt like that thing, not just for how good a main event it was but for how it (hopefully) established Desperado as a big part of that thing.
Despy is full of a bravado early as these guys do what they do; he fires a warning by catching a flying headscissors and locking on the stretch muffler a minute in. Hiromu claws quickly to the ropes to escape… desperate. Later on Hiromu successfully hits the headscissors, but when Despy gets the stretch muffler again the struggle for Hiromu is even more desperate.
Hiromu’s selling, whether scrambling to recover from a mistake caused by his hurt leg or just wailing in pain on the mat, secured the drama while Desperado brought the bulk of the offense in the form of a leg work that, even in a world filled with leg work, stands out as great leg work: less holds, more shit-kicking.
There is still the framework of the epic main event here almost expected these days, which means it feels maybe a few minutes too long but ends up organically taking both guys to a limit. As their options seem out, Hiromu rips off half of Despy’s mask — prompting him to stand up and actually just rip his entire mask off and wrestle the rest of the match as a Kyosuke Mikami/El Desperado hybrid.
It’s responded to brilliantly by everyone – wrestlers, commentary, even the crowd that cannot contain themselves. It leads to a great finish where, even in a world filled with dramatic counters and near falls, Despy getting caught with a Death Valley Driver to the turnbuckle and his kickout of the TIME BOMB stood out as special. What was the G1 Climax final again? Incredible match. ****3/4
Happy Thoughts: A one-match show, but a must-see match. 6/10
