Cero Reviews NJPW Best of the Super Jr. 26, 5.23
Posted: May 23rd, '19, 13:20
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 26
May 23, 2019
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
El Phantasmo (8) vs Ren Narita (0) - 4/10
Oh man, this is gonna be an easy one for Phantasmo to reach 10 points. This was the usual stuff with Narita getting beat up for a while until his comeback, which came with an over-the-head suplex counter to Phantasmo's rope walk spot. Narita got a couple of two counts and near submission, but Phantasmo landed the Spinning Neckbreaker and a huge splash for the win. They just made Narita look completely underneath Phantasmo, I should even rate this a squash.
Post-match - Phantasmo tea bagged Narita and hit CR II.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Titan (2) vs TAKA Michinoku (0) - 5.5/10
TAKA just went submission crazy over Titan, aside from a couple of explosive moves, TAKA was countering everything and going for Titan's neck, but at the end, Titan kinda just hit a Falcon Arrow and a crappy looking pin that TAKA twisted himself out of for the win. Pin looked so bad commentary thought it was a kick out.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
BUSHI (2) vs Robbie Eagles (6) - 7.5/10
BUSHI surprised Eagles by jumping him while he was getting undressed and proceeded to beat him up for a bit. It's kinda weird how they've been making Eagles a bit of a babyface after the news got out that NJPWWorld subscriptions had gone up on his side of the world.
BUSHI worked the head, while Robbie went after the legs. They actually hit each other with everything they had, the crowd got super hot. BUSHI kicked out of the Turbo Backpack and dodged the Warp 4.5, and instead, it was BUSHI who landed a Draping Codebreaker and the MX for the win. This ended up being a great match, I wasn't expecting much from it to be honest.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Tiger Mask (4) vs Jonathan Gresham (4) - 7/10
This was a full submission's match. As fast paced as Gresham is, I have to believe that a lot of guys really appreciate a good submission's match that don't require big bumps. They were having a complete back and forward match until Gresham and Tiger started trading quick rolls and Gresham got the one with the pin. Gresham reacted like it was a huge upset and he had won the cup already. Match was good but I did kinda feel like they went for the finish before I was ready for it.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
YOH (4) vs Douki (2) - 6/10
The match started ok with Douki jumping YOH, who made a comeback and was going after Douki's leg, but then for a while Douki just started landing some bad looking moves, and then they traded some counters until YOH landed the Dragon Suplex for the win. I can't exactly explain it, I just felt a disconnect in and with this match, like they went with the motions and kept trying to remember what was next, and thus did the moves slowly to not skip anything.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
"The Villain" Marty Scurll (4) w/Brody King vs SHO (2) - 7.5/10
Scurll came out with his head all taped up and limping, using the umbrella as a walking cane. It was all him playing possum, who hit SHO with the umbrella before the bell. They mainly focused on each other's heads, but they also did some arm work since both of them have side finishers that target the arms.
Climax came when SHO got out of the Crossface Chickenwing, hit a Shock Arrow, only for Marty to kick out. SHO would end up winning with a second Shock Arrow a couple of minutes later. This was like a great match played in fast forward, they were going fast.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
Rocky Romero (2) vs Ryusuke Taguchi (6) - 5/10
To counter Rugby Taguchi, Basket Ball Rocky Romero made his debut tonight. I've never seen Taguchi pissed as he was tonight when he saw another ball in the ring. They played a little ball, Rocky did some terrible dribbles, and then Ryusuke pretended to be a hoop and so Romero had a chance for an open shot to the face.
At this point, no one should be surprised that this was going to be a comedy match, likely the only one of the whole tournament really. Taguchi did butt stuff, Romero did a lot of his hooligan stuff. Towards the end, it seemed like the action was getting better with Romero starting to work the arm, but then they got into a roll up exchange and Taguchi picked up the win. We just saw that with Gresham and Tiger Mask, so I don't think they should have done it again. Can't really say this was good, it was funny for a bit, but that was it.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
"Bone Soldier" Taiji Ishimori (8) vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru (2) - DUD
Kanemaru straight up went for the same technique that gave him the win yesterday, except Ishimori was able to dodge that one last shot and make it in the ring in time. As soon as they made it back, Ishimori kinda went crazy, but now that Kanemaru's plan had failed, he went straight for the usual cheat, shoved the ref, hit the Whisky Mist, and got the roll up upset win. Another DUD for Kanemaru, and here I was hyped after his fight with Shingo to see more of him and now I've been robbed from it twice.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
Will Ospreay (6) vs Bandido (4) - 9/10
Awesome match. They did the quintessential high flyers match that Ospreay hasn't been doing for a while. They worked each other's heads with just everything they had in their arsenal. We saw Shooting Star Dives, Os Cutters, Spanish Flies, Cattle Mutilations, and Canadian Destroyers, Poisonranas, and Ospreay escaping a 24PLEX twice. Just an awesome action packed match that ended with Ospreay landing the Stormbreaker for the win.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Shingo Takagi (8) vs Dragon Lee (6) - 9.5
And here I thought Ospreay vs Bandido would be the match of the night. This was a full on battle between two powerhouses. It was like a combination of both of these men's matches with SHO, but now between each other. Shingo and Lee just beat the shit out of each other, both targeting the neck by nature of their style. Both men's chase for the Desnucadora and Last Dragon was great, the countered on several ocassions with great near falls in between, ending with Shingo reversing La Desnucadora into the Last Dragon and finally pinning the champ.
Dragon Lee's final flurry of offense before the finish was fucking explosive and awesome, crowd was going crazy. Just a fucking awesome match.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Awesome show. It was the same formula as yesterday with both blocks doing their thing. It felt like it had better time management this time around tho. Some of the matches tonight were really weak, but the top two matches were just great
POINT CARDS
May 23, 2019
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
El Phantasmo (8) vs Ren Narita (0) - 4/10
Oh man, this is gonna be an easy one for Phantasmo to reach 10 points. This was the usual stuff with Narita getting beat up for a while until his comeback, which came with an over-the-head suplex counter to Phantasmo's rope walk spot. Narita got a couple of two counts and near submission, but Phantasmo landed the Spinning Neckbreaker and a huge splash for the win. They just made Narita look completely underneath Phantasmo, I should even rate this a squash.
Post-match - Phantasmo tea bagged Narita and hit CR II.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Titan (2) vs TAKA Michinoku (0) - 5.5/10
TAKA just went submission crazy over Titan, aside from a couple of explosive moves, TAKA was countering everything and going for Titan's neck, but at the end, Titan kinda just hit a Falcon Arrow and a crappy looking pin that TAKA twisted himself out of for the win. Pin looked so bad commentary thought it was a kick out.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
BUSHI (2) vs Robbie Eagles (6) - 7.5/10
BUSHI surprised Eagles by jumping him while he was getting undressed and proceeded to beat him up for a bit. It's kinda weird how they've been making Eagles a bit of a babyface after the news got out that NJPWWorld subscriptions had gone up on his side of the world.
BUSHI worked the head, while Robbie went after the legs. They actually hit each other with everything they had, the crowd got super hot. BUSHI kicked out of the Turbo Backpack and dodged the Warp 4.5, and instead, it was BUSHI who landed a Draping Codebreaker and the MX for the win. This ended up being a great match, I wasn't expecting much from it to be honest.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Tiger Mask (4) vs Jonathan Gresham (4) - 7/10
This was a full submission's match. As fast paced as Gresham is, I have to believe that a lot of guys really appreciate a good submission's match that don't require big bumps. They were having a complete back and forward match until Gresham and Tiger started trading quick rolls and Gresham got the one with the pin. Gresham reacted like it was a huge upset and he had won the cup already. Match was good but I did kinda feel like they went for the finish before I was ready for it.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
YOH (4) vs Douki (2) - 6/10
The match started ok with Douki jumping YOH, who made a comeback and was going after Douki's leg, but then for a while Douki just started landing some bad looking moves, and then they traded some counters until YOH landed the Dragon Suplex for the win. I can't exactly explain it, I just felt a disconnect in and with this match, like they went with the motions and kept trying to remember what was next, and thus did the moves slowly to not skip anything.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
"The Villain" Marty Scurll (4) w/Brody King vs SHO (2) - 7.5/10
Scurll came out with his head all taped up and limping, using the umbrella as a walking cane. It was all him playing possum, who hit SHO with the umbrella before the bell. They mainly focused on each other's heads, but they also did some arm work since both of them have side finishers that target the arms.
Climax came when SHO got out of the Crossface Chickenwing, hit a Shock Arrow, only for Marty to kick out. SHO would end up winning with a second Shock Arrow a couple of minutes later. This was like a great match played in fast forward, they were going fast.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
Rocky Romero (2) vs Ryusuke Taguchi (6) - 5/10
To counter Rugby Taguchi, Basket Ball Rocky Romero made his debut tonight. I've never seen Taguchi pissed as he was tonight when he saw another ball in the ring. They played a little ball, Rocky did some terrible dribbles, and then Ryusuke pretended to be a hoop and so Romero had a chance for an open shot to the face.
At this point, no one should be surprised that this was going to be a comedy match, likely the only one of the whole tournament really. Taguchi did butt stuff, Romero did a lot of his hooligan stuff. Towards the end, it seemed like the action was getting better with Romero starting to work the arm, but then they got into a roll up exchange and Taguchi picked up the win. We just saw that with Gresham and Tiger Mask, so I don't think they should have done it again. Can't really say this was good, it was funny for a bit, but that was it.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
"Bone Soldier" Taiji Ishimori (8) vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru (2) - DUD
Kanemaru straight up went for the same technique that gave him the win yesterday, except Ishimori was able to dodge that one last shot and make it in the ring in time. As soon as they made it back, Ishimori kinda went crazy, but now that Kanemaru's plan had failed, he went straight for the usual cheat, shoved the ref, hit the Whisky Mist, and got the roll up upset win. Another DUD for Kanemaru, and here I was hyped after his fight with Shingo to see more of him and now I've been robbed from it twice.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
Will Ospreay (6) vs Bandido (4) - 9/10
Awesome match. They did the quintessential high flyers match that Ospreay hasn't been doing for a while. They worked each other's heads with just everything they had in their arsenal. We saw Shooting Star Dives, Os Cutters, Spanish Flies, Cattle Mutilations, and Canadian Destroyers, Poisonranas, and Ospreay escaping a 24PLEX twice. Just an awesome action packed match that ended with Ospreay landing the Stormbreaker for the win.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Shingo Takagi (8) vs Dragon Lee (6) - 9.5
And here I thought Ospreay vs Bandido would be the match of the night. This was a full on battle between two powerhouses. It was like a combination of both of these men's matches with SHO, but now between each other. Shingo and Lee just beat the shit out of each other, both targeting the neck by nature of their style. Both men's chase for the Desnucadora and Last Dragon was great, the countered on several ocassions with great near falls in between, ending with Shingo reversing La Desnucadora into the Last Dragon and finally pinning the champ.
Dragon Lee's final flurry of offense before the finish was fucking explosive and awesome, crowd was going crazy. Just a fucking awesome match.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Awesome show. It was the same formula as yesterday with both blocks doing their thing. It felt like it had better time management this time around tho. Some of the matches tonight were really weak, but the top two matches were just great
POINT CARDS
Block A Block B |
Marty Scurll [4] Bandido [4] |
Shingo Takagi [10] BUSHI [4] |
Taiji Ishimori [8] Douki [2] |
Tiger Mask [4] El Phantasmo [10] |
Titán [4] Ren Narita [0] |
Dragon Lee [6] Robbie Eagles [6] |
Jonathan Gresham [6] Rocky Romero [2] |
SHO [4] Ryusuke Taguchi [8] |
TAKA Michinoku [0] Will Ospreay [8] |
Yoshinobu Kanemaru [4] YOH [6] |