NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 23 Results

[Big Red Machine]

By Matthew Macklin on 2016-06-06 09:05:00

Best of the Super Juniors Day 13, Sendai, June 6th with the final block matches:

Block B: Beretta defeated Jushin Thunder Liger

A pretty good opener here. Liger hit a big dive from the top to the floor and a Liger Bomb early on. Beretta looked great and came back with a nice tornado DDT and a nice suicide dive. The finish came when Beretta countered a Liger Bomb into a Dudebuster. There wasn't much at stake in this one, but a big win for Beretta over the legend Liger.

Bobby Fish defeated Tiger Mask IV

This was a surprisingly good match. These guys went at it hard. Fish tried to choke out Tiger early. They exchanged kicks with both guys going down. Tiger hit a Tiger Driver and Butterfly suplex from the top. Tiger used an armbar, but Fish got to the ropes. The finish came when Tiger kicked out of a Falcon Arrow, but Fish transitioned into a Fish Hook to get the submission win.

Chase Owens defeated Ricochet

Owens played the spoiler here to eliminate Ricochet. This might have been the best match Owens has ever had. Ricochet was spectacular here. Yujiro Takahashi was at ringside and caused trouble until he was taken out by a Ricochet dive that almost gave Kevin Kelly a heart attack. There were some great false finishes here. Ricochet hit a springboard 450. Owens caught Ricochet with a loaded knucks shot for a huge near fall. Ricochet got some more big near falls before Yujiro got involved again here and held the hand of Owens behind the refs back while he rolled up Ricochet. This means that Ricochet is out of the tournament.

Will Ospreay defeated Volador Jr

The elimination of Ricochet meant that the winner of this made it to the final. This match was a spectacular display of high flying. There were big dives from both guys and lots of big moves. Ospreay almost outclassed the veteran Volador, who is one of the most spectacular flyers in the world. The finish of this was spectacular. Ospreay landed on his feet when Volador attempted a Spanish Fly from the top. Ospreay then hit a diving cutter to pull off the biggest win of his career and advance to the final of the Best of the Super Juniors as the winner of Block B. This was a great match, but it was all about the moment at the end where Ospreay did the impossible and made it to the final.

SANADA, Tetsuya Naito & EVIL defeated YOSHI-HASHI, Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto

It's become redundant at this point, but this was another outstanding match featuring these teams. In fact this might have been the best yet. This was an all out war with incredible intensity. We had previews of three singles matches set for Dominion. Evil & Goto went to war. SANADA looked amazing when he took to the air. His athleticism is unreal. Naito tried to get Steve Corino to join LIJ, which was pretty funny. There was an amazing false finish at the end when Goto broke up Cold Skull just when it looked to be over. A brawl broke out with LIJ once again getting the upper hand. SANADA finished YOSHI off with a moonsault. Go out of your way to see this one.

Block A: Rocky Romero defeated Kyle O'Reilly

This win for Romero means that O'Reilly is out of the running for the BOSJ. This was one hell of a match. They went back and forth until Kyle went after the injured shoulder of Romero. Romero hit a great rolling armbar off the top rope. Kyle hit a Brainbuster for a great near fall and transitioned into an armbar, but Romero got to the ropes. They went back and forth with hard strikes. Romero hit a combo of knees, a hard lariat and the nomisugi knee strike to score a huge win. After this win and his win over KUSHIDA earlier in the tournament, Romero has to be in line for a Jr heavyweight title shot.

Matt Sydal defeated David Finlay

This was another really solid match. Finlay looked great here. There was a great near fall when Finlay used the same roll up he beat Gedo with. He also hit a great deadlift German suplex. Sydal gave Finlay a lot before finishing him off with a kick to the head and a Shooting Star Press. Finlay had a great tournament and it's obvious how much he's improved since his debut in last years event. Sydal is still alive and can win the block if Taguchi & KUSHIDA both lose.

Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Gedo

From the start Gedo attacked Taguchi with the ring bell and worked him over with all sorts of dirty tricks, by exposing the turnbuckles. Taguchi got back into the match with a series of hip attacks. Gedo locked on a crossface, but Taguchi countered into an ankle lock. The finish saw them play off a finish from last year where Gedo stole a win over Taguchi. This time Taguchi was able to counter the Gedo Clutch into a pin. With this win, Taguchi eliminated Sydal. If KUSHIDA cannot beat BUSHI, Taguchi goes to the final. This was a really fun match.

BUSHI defeated KUSHIDA

This was a really good match. Not as good as their match at The New Beginning, but still great. BUSHI was out to play spoiler here and ruin KUSHIDA's dream of winning two in a row, and he did just that. BUSHI got a big near fall with a Codebreaker. KUSHIDA went for the arm and when he finally locked on an armbar BUSHI misted him. BUSHI then hit a diving Codebreaker for the near fall of the match. He followed it up with another to put the Jr champion away. After the match BUSHI said he intended to take the title from KUSHIDA. He misted the IWGP Jr title belt and challenged KUSHIDA to a title match. KUSHIDA now has challenges from BUSHI, O’Reilly, Romero and whoever the tournament winner is.

With this, it means Ryusuke Taguchi wins Block A and goes to the final, something that pretty much no one called. It should be a hell of a match. Taguchi shows how good he is when he's not goofing around.

Will Ospreay vs. Ryusuke Taguchi in the 2016 Best of the Super Juniors Final is live tomorrow morning at 18.30JST (5.30AM EST/10.30AM UK) again with English commentary.

Final block standings:

Block A

Ryusuke Taguchi 10

Matt Sydal 10

BUSHI 8

KUSHIDA 8

Rocky Romero 8

Kyle O’Reilly 8

David Finlay 2

Gedo 2

Block B

Will Ospreay 8

Volador 8

Ricochet 8

Bobby Fish 8

Beretta 6

Chase Owens 6

Jushin Thunder Liger 6

Tiger Mask 6

[Big Red Machine]

The final match was pretty awesome.