New Japan Pro Wrestling
BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS 26
Day 14 – B Block
BUSHI defeated Ren Narita @ 9:10
Bandido defeated Rocky Romero @ 11:30
Yoh defeated Robbie Eagles @ 11:50
El Phantasmo defeated DOUKI @ 14:10
Will Ospreay defeated Ryusuke Taguchi @ 22:20
And we now have the BOSJ Finals set, with Ospreay defeating Taguchi in a GREAT main event (surprising very few) to claim the finals spot against Shingo Takagi. That is one of the most exciting BOSJ Finals I can think of in recent memory, and many are looking at it to be a bit of a showstopper, myself included. Will has been a great storyteller this tournament, but with his toying with the heavyweight division as of late and leaning toward a full switch, this feels a bit like a chance to pass the baton. I’m not saying Ospreay won’t pull out the win… but Shingo has had an undefeated tournament so far, and he’s been delivering in basically every match (singles or otherwise) he has been involved in. And given Ospreay’s history and dominance already established during his full-on juniors run, this feels like Shingo’s moment to me. The rest of the day was solid as well with Rocky putting in another strong performance against Bandido, though he finished the tournament on loss. I really want Rocky to get a real singles push, even if it means heading back to ROH for a minute (which I dont know that he would do at this stage). This tournament alone showed how well he can still hang and then some – he’s fucking earned it. BUSHI making 12 points surprised me, but I have to say his latter half of the tournament has been pretty good, and Narita even in loss continues to show huge potential. ELP going over DOUKI after blowing his early momentum is the right call to keep him relevant to the division, especially as a new Bullet Club Junior addition. So is Yoh notching another win and continuing to show growth, even though I am walking away from this whole tournament with a firm eye on Robbie Eagles. All in all, a really good closing day for a pretty great tournament year. Will Ospreay vs SHINGO MF’N TAKAGI is gonna blow the roof off. I have a feeling.
And so, the final rankings of both A and B Block are:
A BLOCK
Shingo Takagi: 18pts (9-0)
Taiji Ishimori: 14pts (7-2)
Dragon Lee: 14pts (7-2)
Marty Scurll: 10pts (5-4)
Sho: 10pts (5-4)
Jonathan Gresham: 8pts (4-5)
Titan: 6pts (3-6)
Yoshinobu Kanemaru: 6pts (3-6)
Tiger Mask: 4pts (2-7)
TAKA Michinoku: 0pts (0-9)
B BLOCK
Will Ospreay: 14pts (7-2)
Ryusuke Taguchi: 12pts (6-3)
Yoh: 12pts (6-3)
El Phantasmo: 12pts (6-3)
BUSHI: 12pts (6-3)
Bandido: 10pts (5-4)
Robbie Eagles: 10pts (5-4)
Rocky Romero: 6pts (3-6)
DOUKI: 2pts (1-8)
Ren Narita: 0pts (0-9)