May 29, 2019
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
TAKA Michinoku has been removed from the tournament due to injury, and thus he will forfeit all his remaining matches. Tonight, Marty Scurll gets a pass and 2 free points.
Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji vs CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & YOH) - 6/10
Ishii is back! I was just thinking last show how weird it felt watching a whole NJPW without guys like Ishii or Okada at all. Match was the usual opener, Tsuji actually got a lot of time in there with Ishii. The stuff between Narita and YOH was clean and basic, it should be a good short match up. Ishii submitted Tsuji with a Boston Crab.
Side note: I always feel sexually harrassed when YOH grabs the camera for the close up on his pecs.
Bullet Club (El Phantasmo, Robbie Eagles, Jado, & Gedo) vs Ryusuke Taguchi, Bandido, Juice Robinson, & Yuya Uemura - 5.5/10
Robbie Eagles was still reluctant to TwoSweet Phantasmo, but at the end they did. Eagles and Bandido mixed it up first, they did a sequence of counters and reversals ending in Mexican Stand off. Uemura got cut off from his team until Taguchi came in with the hot tag against Phantasmo, which didn't last long. Finish saw Juice take out both Jado and Gedo, who he pinned with the Pulp Friction. Too many guys to really build either of the BOSJ matches, but the match was ok regardless.
Taichi & Douki vs Juice Robinson & Shota Umino - 5/10
Taichi and Douki jumped Ospreay and Shota to start the match and that I believe was the only reason why they had a small amount of upper hand. Ospreay outclassed Douki in their preview, but I do believe that he'll do everything possible to get a good match out of him. Taichi and Shota did the usual closer with Taichi winning after a superkick.
Post-match - Douki attacked Shota, prompting Ospreay to come for the save, only to end up taken out with Douki's steel pipe. Taichi joined commentary in his trunks. Milano told him to fuck off.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI) vs Rocky Romero & Toa Henare - 5.5/10
Ok match, not much to it. Naito made Henare look good. Rocky vs BUSHI was good, but pretty basic what we got to see. Naito pinned Henare after Destino.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Titan (4) vs SHO (6) - 6.5/10
Ok match. It was back and forward, and it was a mix of high flying and strong style striking, but the action was good at most, there wasn't much of a story, and they had a short time to do it all. SHO worked over Titan's head, as he chased the Shock Arrow, which he hit two in order to win.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
"Bone Soldier" Taiji Ishimori (12) vs Tiger Mask (4) - 5/10
Ishimori tried jumping Tiger Mask, but the old timer was ready for the most part. Tiger Mask worked over Ishimori's arm and actually got a lot of offense in at first. Ishimori went after Tiger's head with strikes and crossfaces, which actually submitted Tiger Mask at the first attempt. I was really surprised by the finish, it felt early and I just didn't see it coming this way.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Shingo Takagi (14) vs Jonathan Gresham (8) - 8/10
This was awesome, as awesome as 11 minutes will get you. It was all action from the get go with Shingo using his power to take over Gresham and his injured ribs. Meanwhile, Gresham used his speed to go after Shingo's arm and straight up become an octopus around that arm. The finishing sequence was awesome with Gresham managing to lock the Octopus Stretch, but Shingo using all his strength to reverse the lock into the Last Dragon for the win.
With this match, Shingo reached 16 points. The last time someone went undefeated and reached 16 points was Prince Devitt in 2013.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6) vs Dragon Lee (10) - 7.5/10
Yoshinobu once again put on his working boots! Story was that Kanemaru worked over Lee's back, but after Lee made a comeback and Kanemaru realized he wouldn't be able to defeat him, he decided to cheat. Taichi took out Red Shoes, giving Kanemaru the opening to rip Dragon Lee's mask off and go for the Whisky Mist, but covering his face with only one hand, he superkicked Kanemaru's face on the Whisky, earning enough time to recover his mask. Kanemaru went for Deep Impact, but Lee blocked it, hit two Desnucadoras for the win. They went about 14 minutes and also managed to get as much in as they could.
Post-match - Dragon Lee cut a promo thanking the fans and said he was here to win, so I take it he hasn't done the match yet, because Lee is eliminated.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
This was I believe the weakest show of the tournament. The show was half an hour shorter than the previous, it went by fast since most of the matches aside from the final two got a really short time. For that same reason, the matches were good, but too short to be great or noteworthy.
After tonight's show, everyone except Ishimori and Shingo are the only ones left alive.
POINT CARDS
Block A Block B |
Marty Scurll [10] Bandido [6] |
Shingo Takagi [16] BUSHI [8] |
Taiji Ishimori [14] Douki [2] |
Tiger Mask [4] El Phantasmo [10] |
Titán [4] Ren Narita [0] |
Dragon Lee [12] Robbie Eagles [10] |
Jonathan Gresham [8] Rocky Romero [6] |
SHO [8] Ryusuke Taguchi [10] |
TAKA Michinoku [0] Will Ospreay [10] |
Yoshinobu Kanemaru [4] YOH [8] |
