Cero Reviews NJPW Best of the Super Jr. 26, 5.24
Posted: May 25th, '19, 11:52
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 26
May 24, 2019
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
SHO (4) vs Tiger Mask (4) - 6.5/10
A kinda stiffer match for Tiger, but he finally had a slower pace match, and for SHO, he can't ask for an easier night than going against Tiger Mask. This was just a basic wrestling match, SHO worked the arm for a bit and won with the Shock Arrow. Tiger Mask used kicks and his Tiger Arsenal. SHO won after two Shock Arrows.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
Will Ospreay (8) vs Ren Narita (0) - 7/10
God bless Ospreay for selling for Narita, but he just went in there and killed the kid. Narita had some cool spots like doing his suplex on the outside for a count out tease, or Narita countering the Os Cutter in the most logical way; however, overall, it was always Ospreay on top, cutting off Narita at every chance the kid had. Ospreay won with the Os Cutter. I liked this match.
Post-match - It's the little things. When Ospreay was heading to the back, he signaled to the camera that he has reached 10 pts, and said "Rocky, I need you!". Romero is facing Phantasmo tonight, and someone needs to defeat Phantasmo so Ospreay can catch up again.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Kanemaru Yoshinobu (4) vs "The Villain" Marty Scurll (4) w/Brody King - 5/10
Marty tried to attack Kanemaru with the umbrella, pushing Kanemaru to grab the bottle and get as close as we'll ever be to a Mexican Standoff. The immediately went to the same Kanemaru spot from the last two shows, but now it was Scurll that took him there. Change here was that Brody King tried to block Kanemaru's path, but the both managed to make it back at 19.
Kanemaru went for the whisky mist and Scurll blocked it with the umbrella. They were going to trade Mist and Umbrella, but the ref finally got annoyed and took both objects away, but Marty was still loaded with whisky in his mouth, he blinded Kanemaru, hit Black Plague and took the win. Honestly, if they're going to do shenanigans like this, I do like that it's all a sprint and I don't sit down through a 20 minute match for a finish like that, so I'm not even mad. At this point, I don't even see it as a dud anymore. I enjoyed it.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
Robbie Eagles (6) vs Douki (2) - 7/10
The match itself lacked a compelling story, it was basic Douki working the head match, except that in a botched DDT on to a chair, Eagles got busted open bad on top of his head, and it really changed the feeling of the match. The match continued liked scheduled, but Robbie's face started getting redder by the minute. It helped that he had his bandanna on, but when it came off, it just started running down. Eagles actually taking a second DDT got a 'Yikes' out of me.
Finish saw Douki kick out of the Turbo Backpack, but Robbie followed with the Warp 4.5 on Douki's leg, and proceeded to submit Douki with the Miller Special. I hate to say it, but blood saved this match..
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
TAKA Michinoku (0) vs Shingo Takagi (10) - 7.5/10
In yesterday's closing promo, Shingo said his jaw was hurting from the match with Dragon Lee. In this match, early on, Shingo clotheslined the ring post accidentally. And we all know that his knee has been hurting since the Kanemaru match. TAKA took advantage of ALL of that in the most Sabre way possible. Can the bottom of the block beat the undefeated top of the block? hint -- no, he can't.
TAKA was all over the place. He attacked with submissions, he got strikes in, he went for the count out, but he just couldn't put Shingo down, so sooner rather than later, Shingo got the opening to make a comeback, hit Last Dragon, and win. Shingo reaches 12 pts, meaning that everyone except Ishimori, Dragon Lee, and Gresham are out of contendership as of this match. Gresham would need to win all his matches and Shingo to lose all what's left.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
Bandido (4) vs Ryusuke Taguchi (8) - 7/10
Ok match, they did some comedy and then they got a bit more serious. Taguchi did a couple of flips here, but ended up falling to Bandido's 24PLEX.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Jonathan Gresham (6) vs Taiji Ishimori (8) - 8/10
These two ended up being a great pairing. Even in the Junior division, they're usually in the smaller side of things, but together, they're the perfect size, giving Gresham an opportunity to work his submissions better, and Ishimori to look like a powerhouse.
Match saw Ishimori go after Gresham's neck, while Gresham mostly went after submissions that built towards the Octopus Stretch, which he locked in a great one towards the end, right before Ishimori finished him off with the Bloody Cross. This was great for the time it got. With this loss, Gresham is now eliminated from winning the block.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
BUSHI (4) vs YOH (6) - 7/10
Mostly a back and forward match that saw BUSHI work the head, and YOH work the leg. The match was really action packed, but there wasn't much drama to the match. The match kinda took too much time to try and reach second gear, and right when it felt like they had, BUSHI delivered two codebreakers and MX for the win. YOH at one point had a good Star Chaser locked in for a good submission struggle, but that was about it.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Dragon Lee (6) vs Titan (4) - 8.5/10
This is one of the matches I had been waiting most for since they announced the blocks, and while it didn't disappoint, I would had loved for a more Friday Night CMLL match than a NJPW match.
The match was back and forward from the get go, they tried to make Titan look strong and at the level of Dragon Lee, at least until the end when Lee started spamming the jumping knee button and finished him off with La Desnucadora. Great action from both men.
Post-match - Lee and Titan embraced to the chants of 'Mexico' and I was proud.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
El Phantasmo (10) vs Rocky Romero (2) - 9/10
Great match. Story here was that Phantasmo was far superior, but he got cocky (I mean, he IS/WAS undefeated), he got playfull, and eventually, he gave the opening for Rocky to retaliate and work on Phantasmo's arm. On Rocky's side, he sustains an injury going knee first into the ring post, which Phantasmo capitalized on and it seemed like the end for Rocky, except he valiantly fought through the pain, and making a solid for his teammate Ospreay, he managed to give Phantasmo his first loss of the tournament. Romero looked legit during his time with the upper hand.
Only detriment that I saw was that even after the whole knee to the post spot, Phantasmo didn't exactly destroy the knee, he kinda kept up with his usual arsenal with only a couple of leg spot additions. Granted the CR II targets the head, but I thought it could had been better mixed. Rocky did do good work on the arm, which led to the finish.
They early on brawled into the crowd and Phantasmo hinted doing another balcony dive, but Rocky hid, tricked him, and got the cheap shot. Rocky tried it too, but thought it out before making a big mistake. I liked this spot.
A couple of shows left, to think that Rocky Romero would become the unsung hero of the tournament and my favorite performer of R3K, was crazy, but he's really stepped up this year, be it comedy, serious, babyface, or heel, Rocky Romero has been amazing all tournament.
There were also a couple of ref bumps and an Eddie Guerrero spot towards the end that got Romero a couple of good near falls. Phantasmo tapped out to the armbar at the end.
I loved that they hinted the Time Limit Draw and Rocky picked up the win about a minute left to go.
Post-match - SHO and YOH came out to celebrate with Rocky Romero. He had some technical problems with the mic. He thanked the crowd for selling out Korakuen Hall three days in a row.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
These double block shows have to be taking a toll on some of the top talent of the tournament, but as a fan, it's making the tournament shorter for me. They're packing up a lot of matches per show and as I've mentioned, I'm sure a couple have suffered for the short amount of time, but they keep delivering with their main events.
Another thing about doing this shows is that we have quickly reached that point in the tournament where most of the guys are now getting eliminated. Block A especially, only has Shingo, Ishimori, and Dragon Lee alive. Block B does have more people in contendership, but Narita and Douki are surely out of contendership.
POINT CARDS
May 24, 2019
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
SHO (4) vs Tiger Mask (4) - 6.5/10
A kinda stiffer match for Tiger, but he finally had a slower pace match, and for SHO, he can't ask for an easier night than going against Tiger Mask. This was just a basic wrestling match, SHO worked the arm for a bit and won with the Shock Arrow. Tiger Mask used kicks and his Tiger Arsenal. SHO won after two Shock Arrows.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
Will Ospreay (8) vs Ren Narita (0) - 7/10
God bless Ospreay for selling for Narita, but he just went in there and killed the kid. Narita had some cool spots like doing his suplex on the outside for a count out tease, or Narita countering the Os Cutter in the most logical way; however, overall, it was always Ospreay on top, cutting off Narita at every chance the kid had. Ospreay won with the Os Cutter. I liked this match.
Post-match - It's the little things. When Ospreay was heading to the back, he signaled to the camera that he has reached 10 pts, and said "Rocky, I need you!". Romero is facing Phantasmo tonight, and someone needs to defeat Phantasmo so Ospreay can catch up again.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Kanemaru Yoshinobu (4) vs "The Villain" Marty Scurll (4) w/Brody King - 5/10
Marty tried to attack Kanemaru with the umbrella, pushing Kanemaru to grab the bottle and get as close as we'll ever be to a Mexican Standoff. The immediately went to the same Kanemaru spot from the last two shows, but now it was Scurll that took him there. Change here was that Brody King tried to block Kanemaru's path, but the both managed to make it back at 19.
Kanemaru went for the whisky mist and Scurll blocked it with the umbrella. They were going to trade Mist and Umbrella, but the ref finally got annoyed and took both objects away, but Marty was still loaded with whisky in his mouth, he blinded Kanemaru, hit Black Plague and took the win. Honestly, if they're going to do shenanigans like this, I do like that it's all a sprint and I don't sit down through a 20 minute match for a finish like that, so I'm not even mad. At this point, I don't even see it as a dud anymore. I enjoyed it.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
Robbie Eagles (6) vs Douki (2) - 7/10
The match itself lacked a compelling story, it was basic Douki working the head match, except that in a botched DDT on to a chair, Eagles got busted open bad on top of his head, and it really changed the feeling of the match. The match continued liked scheduled, but Robbie's face started getting redder by the minute. It helped that he had his bandanna on, but when it came off, it just started running down. Eagles actually taking a second DDT got a 'Yikes' out of me.
Finish saw Douki kick out of the Turbo Backpack, but Robbie followed with the Warp 4.5 on Douki's leg, and proceeded to submit Douki with the Miller Special. I hate to say it, but blood saved this match..
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
TAKA Michinoku (0) vs Shingo Takagi (10) - 7.5/10
In yesterday's closing promo, Shingo said his jaw was hurting from the match with Dragon Lee. In this match, early on, Shingo clotheslined the ring post accidentally. And we all know that his knee has been hurting since the Kanemaru match. TAKA took advantage of ALL of that in the most Sabre way possible. Can the bottom of the block beat the undefeated top of the block? hint -- no, he can't.
TAKA was all over the place. He attacked with submissions, he got strikes in, he went for the count out, but he just couldn't put Shingo down, so sooner rather than later, Shingo got the opening to make a comeback, hit Last Dragon, and win. Shingo reaches 12 pts, meaning that everyone except Ishimori, Dragon Lee, and Gresham are out of contendership as of this match. Gresham would need to win all his matches and Shingo to lose all what's left.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
Bandido (4) vs Ryusuke Taguchi (8) - 7/10
Ok match, they did some comedy and then they got a bit more serious. Taguchi did a couple of flips here, but ended up falling to Bandido's 24PLEX.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Jonathan Gresham (6) vs Taiji Ishimori (8) - 8/10
These two ended up being a great pairing. Even in the Junior division, they're usually in the smaller side of things, but together, they're the perfect size, giving Gresham an opportunity to work his submissions better, and Ishimori to look like a powerhouse.
Match saw Ishimori go after Gresham's neck, while Gresham mostly went after submissions that built towards the Octopus Stretch, which he locked in a great one towards the end, right before Ishimori finished him off with the Bloody Cross. This was great for the time it got. With this loss, Gresham is now eliminated from winning the block.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
BUSHI (4) vs YOH (6) - 7/10
Mostly a back and forward match that saw BUSHI work the head, and YOH work the leg. The match was really action packed, but there wasn't much drama to the match. The match kinda took too much time to try and reach second gear, and right when it felt like they had, BUSHI delivered two codebreakers and MX for the win. YOH at one point had a good Star Chaser locked in for a good submission struggle, but that was about it.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block A
Dragon Lee (6) vs Titan (4) - 8.5/10
This is one of the matches I had been waiting most for since they announced the blocks, and while it didn't disappoint, I would had loved for a more Friday Night CMLL match than a NJPW match.
The match was back and forward from the get go, they tried to make Titan look strong and at the level of Dragon Lee, at least until the end when Lee started spamming the jumping knee button and finished him off with La Desnucadora. Great action from both men.
Post-match - Lee and Titan embraced to the chants of 'Mexico' and I was proud.
Best of the Super Jr 26 Block B
El Phantasmo (10) vs Rocky Romero (2) - 9/10
Great match. Story here was that Phantasmo was far superior, but he got cocky (I mean, he IS/WAS undefeated), he got playfull, and eventually, he gave the opening for Rocky to retaliate and work on Phantasmo's arm. On Rocky's side, he sustains an injury going knee first into the ring post, which Phantasmo capitalized on and it seemed like the end for Rocky, except he valiantly fought through the pain, and making a solid for his teammate Ospreay, he managed to give Phantasmo his first loss of the tournament. Romero looked legit during his time with the upper hand.
Only detriment that I saw was that even after the whole knee to the post spot, Phantasmo didn't exactly destroy the knee, he kinda kept up with his usual arsenal with only a couple of leg spot additions. Granted the CR II targets the head, but I thought it could had been better mixed. Rocky did do good work on the arm, which led to the finish.
They early on brawled into the crowd and Phantasmo hinted doing another balcony dive, but Rocky hid, tricked him, and got the cheap shot. Rocky tried it too, but thought it out before making a big mistake. I liked this spot.
A couple of shows left, to think that Rocky Romero would become the unsung hero of the tournament and my favorite performer of R3K, was crazy, but he's really stepped up this year, be it comedy, serious, babyface, or heel, Rocky Romero has been amazing all tournament.
There were also a couple of ref bumps and an Eddie Guerrero spot towards the end that got Romero a couple of good near falls. Phantasmo tapped out to the armbar at the end.
I loved that they hinted the Time Limit Draw and Rocky picked up the win about a minute left to go.
Post-match - SHO and YOH came out to celebrate with Rocky Romero. He had some technical problems with the mic. He thanked the crowd for selling out Korakuen Hall three days in a row.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
These double block shows have to be taking a toll on some of the top talent of the tournament, but as a fan, it's making the tournament shorter for me. They're packing up a lot of matches per show and as I've mentioned, I'm sure a couple have suffered for the short amount of time, but they keep delivering with their main events.
Another thing about doing this shows is that we have quickly reached that point in the tournament where most of the guys are now getting eliminated. Block A especially, only has Shingo, Ishimori, and Dragon Lee alive. Block B does have more people in contendership, but Narita and Douki are surely out of contendership.
POINT CARDS
Block A Block B |
Marty Scurll [6] Bandido [6] |
Shingo Takagi [12] BUSHI [6] |
Taiji Ishimori [10] Douki [2] |
Tiger Mask [4] El Phantasmo [10] |
Titán [4] Ren Narita [0] |
Dragon Lee [8] Robbie Eagles [8] |
Jonathan Gresham [6] Rocky Romero [4] |
SHO [6] Ryusuke Taguchi [8] |
TAKA Michinoku [0] Will Ospreay [10] |
Yoshinobu Kanemaru [4] YOH [6] |