NJPW “BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR 32 – DAY 4”, 5/15/2025
Korakuen Hall – Tokyo, Japan
Block B: Ryusuke Taguchi [2] vs. SHO [2]
Taguchi chases SHO around the ring and begins encountering House of Torture members one by one as he goes through the crowd. Comedy ensues and when the match finally starts back in the ring, Taguchi gets a quick 5 second roll up victory.
Block A: Clark Connors [2] vs. Dragon Dia [2]
The second best thing of the tournament so far, Connors getting wrecked by his own tire after throwing it against the ring post and it comes back and blasts him straight in the face. This tournament is going viral one way or another. Dia was moving here, though the match was only about 5 minutes long. **
Block B: YOH [0] vs. Kevin Knight [0]
Kevin Knight road incoming. We are just jobbing him out I guess. YOH does his one comedy spot and then we get into it. I thought YOH/Eagles from night two had some of the best action of the tournament so far once it got going and YOH can turn it on when he’s against a decent opponent. This ended up being fairly standard though and somewhat annoying to see Knight telegraphing every single thing he does. **
Block A: KUSHIDA [0] vs. Ninja Mack [2]
Mack does some fun stuff and KUSHIDA does some serious stuff and the serious stuff wins. *1/2
Block B: Robbie Eagles [4] vs. Nick Wayne [4]
Wayne is still selling that knee from the Desperado match and Robbie then makes that the focus of his offense. It’s varied enough that it remains interesting, and they have a nice little sprint here. Wayne’s selling at times takes away from the match and what it could be, because he is almost prioritizing selling over doing anything else and I want to be sold that this is a fight. I already know your knee hurts. But for the most part it is done tastefully and makes sense. Aside from that, I have been impressed with Wayne so far and hoping this tournament does great things for his career. **3/4
Block A: Yoshinobu Kanemaru [2] vs. Robbie X [2]
Kanemaru is normally just in these tournaments to be a nuisance but we get a pretty clean match here until he takes his boot off and hits Robbie with it while the referee is down. Not sure why that’s better than just kicking him in the head but okay. Robbie showcases his no hands handspring again (still selling shoulder damage from his last match) and gets the victory in under 5 minutes.
Block B: Titan [2] vs. MAO [4]
YES. They packed everything into the 8 minutes they had and the result was the match of the tournament up to this point. This is the type of junior heavyweight sprint that you want to see. Fast paced action and great chemistry between the two. They compliment each other well with fluid movements and not waiting around for the other guy to do something or hit their spot. There was urgency present, and even MAO’s few comedy spots worked really well in the confines of the match. For me this is very much a baseline for what a good match should feel like – I just wish it got more time. ***
Block A: Master Wato [2] vs. Kosei Fujita [4]
Good performance from Fujita here. Wato has been coasting so far and is pretty boring. Short, back and forth action until Fujita hulks up and hits Wato with the Abandon Hope. Fujita’s worst match so far this tournament and Wato’s best. **
Block B: Taiji Ishimori [0] vs. El Desperado [2]
Rematch of last year’s finals. This started hot but slowed down considerably with Ishimori in control for much of the match. This felt more like a boring mid-card heavyweight match than a BOSJ match between two high profile juniors. Despy worked from underneath for most of the match and there was no real payoff. I’m hardly compelled to really write anything about it. Their BOSJ final last year was really good, and their title match from 1/11 this year is also good. Go watch those instead. **
Block A: Hiromu Takahashi [2] vs. Francesco Akira [2]
Akira takes a beating on the outside, getting thrown around amongst the chairs and taking some stiff strikes. He has to throw everything he has at Hiromu here and he does. It kicks into second gear around the 10 minute mark where they really put in the work. A really fun final stretch with a ton of near falls and big moments. I love the way this built to an exciting finish with Hiromu trying to catch Akira off guard with his own moves, and Akira ultimately catching Hiromu off guard with his new Tarantula hold finisher. Hiromu lacks urgency at times to not press the advantage but there was a lot of good here. ***1/4
Final Thoughts: Good stuff here overall with two standout matches in Titan/MAO and Hiromu/Akira. The best of the 4 shows so far and the two best matches of the tournament to this point.
X: @ligersama
