Csonka’s Top 10 2016 BOTSJ Matches

Welcome back to this week’s top 10 column! Due to my hospital stay, and last week being MITB, this column got pushed back a week. Still, I wanted to look back at the 2016 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, and list my top 10 matches from that series of shows. If you didn’t have time to follow, and may be interested in checking out the best matches from the tournament, please consider this a guide to help you out. Thanks for stopping by and supporting the column and the site.

10. From Night 13 – Rocky Romero defeated Kyle O’Reilly [****]: Considering that these two work so much in tags, I felt that this was a very smart place on the card for them. There was a lot of quality before this (the six-man that was pretty excellent), so you need guys that can work together well and work a crowd into a match that they may not otherwise care about. With all of that being said, these two had an excellent outing. They worked the usual array of strikes and submissions that you work expect, and did it in a way that they were able to get the crowd interested and then picked things up pacing wise and that is when they really started to care. They worked into an intense home stretch, with some great near finishes; I was digging this big time. Romero finally scored with the running knee strike, and picked up the huge win. This is one not to skip, even if you think you’ve seen too much of these guys (which I felt I had) they delivered here, working the style you’d expect, but getting to have some extra fun in the singles setting.

Huge somersault off the top-rope from KUSHIDA! #NJPW #njbosj pic.twitter.com/WTVK9hAvcD

— LARIATOOOOO!!! (@SenorLARIATO) June 3, 2016

9. From Night 11 – KUSHIDA vs. Matt Sydal [****]: We had KUSHIDA a lot of work on the mat early, with KUSHIDA looking to target the leg, likely to slow down and stop his highflying stuff. Some really nice exchanges, including both men going for RANAs, but both countering out to frustrate the other. Sydal finally cut KUSHIDA off and targeted his legs, connecting with leg kicks. KUSHIDA got the hover board lock after countering a sunset flip, but Sydal got the ropes. KUSHIDA was very content to get this grounded, and even busted out a cattle mutilation. This is where KUSHIDA started to focus on the arm. Sydal tried to get something going, but when he went for a RANA, he failed as KUSHIDA locked in the walls of Jericho and tried to bend Sydal in half. Dude is flexible, but that looked like it sucked. Sydal finally got a big fire up spot, which ended with a meteora. They then worked some really god back and forth counter spots, with Sydal hitting the standing moonsault for a near fall. KUSHIDA then sent Sydal to the floor, and went up top and hit a big senton to the floor. Back in the ring, Sydal continued to fight as KUSHIDA wanted to keep attacking the arm. They called each other on, and broke into an exchange where they deliverer leg kicks, forearms and jumping knees. Sydal countered the back handspring into a reverse RANA. KUSHIDA was able to avoid the shooting star press. This led to the hover board lock, and even though Sydal fought with all he had and got out at one point, but KUSHIDA pulled him back, locked it in again center ring and forced Sydal to tap. This was very good, with the work being what you would expect but on top of that it felt like an important match with these men both doing everything they could to get those coveted points.

8. From Night 10 – Will Ospreay defeated Bobby Fish [****]: Young Will Ospreay, trying to win Vader’s love and approval, actually grappled with Fish to begin. Ospreay got a bit too cute for Fish’s liking, so Fish smashed him with a forearm and had stern words for him. Fish is in grumpy old man mode, laying in some leg kicks, but Ospreay came back with fast paced offense, hitting a RANA and dropkick, but was also favoring the knee. Ospreay worked a mix of grappling and quick moves, and while Fish scored with a Samoan drop, Ospreay sent him to the floor and hit a dive, but again favored the knee. This slowed Ospreay, allowing Fish to hit a suplex on the floor and take control of things. Fish slowly pummeled Ospreay with various strikes, and then hit a slingshot senton for the near fall. More suplexes by Fish, and Ospreay keeps selling the leg, but Fish isn’t putting any work in on it, which feels off because he likes to use a heel hook and or knee bar. Ospreay started to fight back, hitting the big springboard forearm for a near fall. This led to Ospreay hitting the Sasuke special to Fish on the floor. Back in the ring, Ospreay headed up top and Fish cut him off. They fought up top, Ospreay then trapped his head and missed the superkick as Fish finally attacked the leg, there we go. This led to them going to the apron, and Ospreay hitting a shooting star press onto Fish… ok, seemed odd. They again battled on the apron, traded forearms and kicks and Fish again went to the knee. Fish then bull rushed Ospreay to the corner, laid in knees and then hit the XPLODER in the corner for a near fall. Ospreay kept fighting back to keep Fish away from working the leg, did the Rainmaker pose but Fish lit him up with forearms. Fish continually went for the knee, Ospreay fought it off, and then Fish hit a falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL) for a near fall. They did some really god things down the stretch, great counters and then Ospreay hit the springboard cutter (he only used the good leg to spring back) on Fish for the victory. It’s funny, at first I was getting frustrated that Fish was not working the knee/leg, but as things went on, it was the story that he kept trying as they got deeper into the match, but young William fought as much as he could to keep the veteran away from the “injury.” They both put in a great performance and told an overall strong story, I really enjoyed this.

7. From Night Seven: Matt Sydal vs. Kyle O’Reilly [****]: They worked a really well paced opening stretch, with Sydal using his speed, but O’Reilly constantly getting the advantage with the grappling side of things. Really good and clean work from both guys, trying to stick to their advantage over the other and playing well to the receptive crowd. O’Reilly had some great control segments using his striking game, but Sydal would pop in with a jumping kick or something else that relied on the speed advantage to cut O’Reilly off. They mixed in nice counters, with O’Reilly starting to go after the arm, and Sydal looking to score with variations on roll ups to end it quickly before O’Reilly could do too much damage. O’Reilly was working Sydal over with kick as they went to the floor, and O’Reilly kicked the post as Sydal moved. He managed the big dropkick spot off the apron, but was down and holding the knee. They did the double count out tease, and then lit into each other, going back and forth with strikes; O’Reilly kept attacking the arm, but Sydal kept countering out and scoring with near falls. Sydal scored with the meteora, and then the shooting star press to pick up the win and end O’Reilly’s undefeated streak. This was excellent, as these two plated very well off one another; delivering a well paced, clean and overall smartly worked match.

6. From Night Seven: KUSHIDA vs. Ryusuke Taguchi [****]: Lots of mat work early, with KUSHIDA staying one step ahead of Taguchi. The exchanges were good, and got a little faster and more intense as they went along; Taguchi’s frustration constantly grew as well, because KUSHIDA was still a step ahead and controlling. After nearly five-minutes of frustration, Taguchi was able to roll through a sunset flip and hit the basement dropkick. He then did a series of running ass attacks for a near fall. Taguchi took the heat, keeping things on the mat and slowly starting to get some work in on the leg of KUSHIDA, setting for the ankle lock. Taguchi had done well reversing the roles and staying ahead of KUSHIDA, but KUSHIDA worked the arm and hit a divorce court from the apron to the floor, not fun kids. They went back and forth, KUSHIDA hit a big dive after Taguchi tried for and couldn’t hold the ankle lock. KUSHIDA hit a moonsault for a near fall, and then rolled into the hover board lock, but Taguchi was right by the ropes and got the break. He then worked a hanging kimura, but Taguchi powered out into the three amigos, and then the ankle lock. I am really bothered that all of the arm work is not really affecting him when trying for the hold, not even a little bit. Anyway, KUSHIDA escaped and they traded rollups, a series of counters and more pin attempts as the action and intensity was building nicely. Taguchi then got a near fall, and finally decided to sell the arm, which was odd timing. This led to the back and forth striking battle, Taguchi hit a series of enziguris and then did his Nakamura poses, but KUSHIDA avoided the ass attack and hit an emerald frosion for a near fall. KUSHIDA then just fucking punted his arm, and that led to a brief miscommunication. KUSHIDA got the hover board lock, and after Taguchi tried to escape, he transitioned to an arm bar for the submission victory. Taguchi is hit and miss for me, early on he was good in the tournament, but I hated his last match as it was all “LOL ASS ATTACKS,” but he kept that to a minimum here, and was rally strong overall, outside of the odd delay in selling the arm. They worked in some great submissions and near falls, and the match never felt long. KUSHIDA was KUSHIDA, and Taguchi stepped it up and in my opinion, worked his strongest singles effort in… well along time in my opinion.

5. From Night Nine – KUSHIDA defeated Gedo [****]: Gedo has such a great presence; he looks like he is constantly thinking of ways to fuck with you. Gedo looked as if he was going to play by the rules early, but eye poked KUSHIDA on a rope break because he could. KUSHIDA fought back and took the action to the mat, and started to work on the arm to set up the hover board lock. KUSHIDA was working an aggressive, but methodical pace here when he had control; looking to inflict maximum damage but also being careful due to Gedo’s veteran tricks. Gedo got a break as he had the doctor check on him, which led to him cutting off KUSHIDA as he went for the back handspring. He then dropped KUSHIDA with the hangman’s DDT on the floor to take the heat. As the ref counted on KUSHIDA, Gedo removed a turnbuckle pad. He immediately sent KUSHIDA into the exposed buckle as the lions ratted him out. This allowed Gedo to sent him to the exposed buckle again. I love the dirty veteran emptying his bag of tricks to try and overcome the younger champion story, especially with Gedo; it just works. Gedo grounded KUSHIDA, working the crossface. KUSHIDA barely made the ropes, frustrating Gedo. KUSHIDA managed to reverse an Irish whip, which sent Gedo into the exposed buckle. KUSHIDA then ht the springboard dropkick, sending Gedo to the floor, and followed with a plancha. KUSHIDA looked exhausted as they did the countout tease on Gedo. KUSHIDA then decided not to wait for Gedo, and as he struggled to get into the ring, KUSHIDA hit the dropkick. Gedo managed to counter with an atomic drop and superkick, which got a near fall. Gedo worked his Jerry Lawler punches, and then hit the STO. KUSHIDA countered the Gedo clutch into the hover board lock, but then Gedo got a small package for a near fall. They did a double down spot off of the striking exchange, and the crowd loved this. They worked to their feet, traded strikes again, but Gedo got an eye poke and they then did a ref bump, which if you didn’t know any better looked like an accidental spot, leading to Gedo hitting the low blow on KUSHIDA. It was actually well done and came out of nowhere, and also played into the Gedo character perfectly. This led to a near fall. GEDO DID THE RAINMAKER POSE AND THE CAMERA PANNED OUT! LONG LIVE MEMPHIS GEDO! KUSHIDA then countered the rainmaker, and rolled into the hover board lock, Gedo fought for his life, but KUSHIDA kept him center ring and Gedo had to tap! I loved this, the story, the work from both, Gedo using every trick to try and stay alive and also overcome the younger champion; this was very well done. Long live Memphis Gedo, the man is a treasure. Everyone will talk about O’Reilly, KUSHIDA, Ricochet and Ospreay for very good reasons, but Gedo and Liger are still bringing it as the veterans this year. What they lack in speed and youth they more than make up for in other ways. Liger was great last year, and is good again this year, but Gedo has done some spectacular work.

4. From Night 10 – Ricochet defeated Barreta [****¼]: Barreta has been very strong this year, just like he had last year; Ricochet is Ricochet, so this should be good. Ricochet used his speed to out grapple and frustrate Barreta, it also did not help that he was being a smart ass about it either. He did a kip up spot and Barreta slapped the piss out of him to get some payback. Ricochet again picked up the speed, which was too much for Barreta. He made the mistake of doing the back handspring into the Superhero pose, and ate a lariat from Barreta. Barreta send Ricochet to the floor and teased a dive, but instead stole Ricochet’s spot and pose. Barreta took the heat from there, and tried to ground Ricochet. Ricochet then made a comeback, using his speed again. He avoided the knee strike and then came back with a high cross for a near fall. Every time Barreta looked to really get something going, it was the speed difference that bit him in the ass. Ricochet then used the power game, countering a tornado DDT into a dead lift suplex and then rolling into another for a near fall. he then looked to put things away, but crashed and burned on the shooting star press; this led to Barreta finally hitting the running knee strike (great bump by Ricochet) for a near fall. Ricochet failed on a backslide, and then hit what is best described as a back slide driver. Both men were showing exhaustion at this point, trading slow and measure strikes. Barreta hen got pissed and spit at Ricochet, so he ate some knees and a neck breaker for a near fall. Ricochet went up top, but got crotched; Barreta followed him up and they battled for position, with Ricochet sending him to the mat. Barreta then ran up for a German, but Ricochet landed on his feet, hit a spin kick and but Barreta countered and scored with the Jig’N Tonic for a near fall. They have done such a great job of constantly building the drama and intensity here. Both men rolled to the apron, and Barreta destroyed Ricochet with a suplex (on his damn head) and he demanded the ref count. We got the countout tease, and Ricochet barely made it back in, only to eat the running knee. But when Barreta went for the pin, Ricochet turned it into a crucifix to pick up the win, leaving Barreta stunned. Excellent match here, both guys worked so well together and I loved the constant build through out, Ricochet being over confident and Barreta having no part of it, but in the end Barreta was a bit too lax, and that allowed Ricochet to escape with the win.

KUSHIDA catches O'Reilly in an armbar!! #njbosj pic.twitter.com/LNL2FMq9fA

— LARIATOOOOO!!! (@SenorLARIATO) May 21, 2016

3. From Night One: KUSHIDA vs. Kyle O’Reilly [****½]: This is a rematch from last year’s awesome BOTSJ finals. These two have faced 4-5 times over the last year, and are the standard as far as the top tier juniors matches go these days. Both guys looked to take it to the mat on several occasions, playing off of their MMA love and also playing off of their previous matches. O’Reilly worked to soften the legs of KUSHIDA up, not as a focus of the work, but to get him to the ground repeatedly so that he could work for the arm bar. They battle dup top as O’Reilly kept control, but KUSHIDA finally locked in a kimura and then basically turned it into the single arm DDT off the ropes. KUSHIDA then turned his attention to the arm of O’Reilly, looking to soften his opponent p for the hover board lock. The work as been slowly escalating, with the action getting more intense and more call backs to their previous matches, showing that they have learned and that they know each other very well. They worked to the floor, O’Reilly placed KUSHIDA into a chair and then we got that crazy spot seen above. I love the jump off of shit and get captured into a hold gimmick, and that one was original and really cool. Not only was it cool, but it also plays into KUSHIDA’s end game, the hover board lock. They both kept attacking the arm down the stretch, both focused on the possible submission finish. They got a great near fall off of KUSHIDA reversing a bally to balk off the top into a high cross. O’Reilly then scored a good near fall off of the brain buster, got pissed and stomped the ever living shit out of KUSHIDA; O’Reilly finally gets the arm bar, and after struggling, KUSHIDA has to tap. Awesome. O’Reilly sent the message last year that he was here to stay with an overall awesome performance in the tournament and finals, and has continued to be great. The win here not only serves notice of how seriously NJPW takes him, but it’s huge for his career. Beating the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion, clean, in the first round is huge for him. The match is amazing, top tier for the year so far and about on par with last year’s epic encounter. These two men have a great chemistry, they work to each other’s strengths, and also know how to work the hybrid MMA stuff into the matches without overdoing it or making it boring.

2. Best of the Super Juniors XXIII Final: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Will Ospreay [****½]: For a long time I have made it clear that I am not a big fan of Taguchi. In this tournament I have praised him when he worked his best, but also criticized when he relied on his comedy ass antics. I am glad to say that he was on his game here, Ospreay was on his game, and they delivered an excellent BOTSJ finals match. They worked the slower beginning, because they were going to go long, but it didn’t feel slow or as if it was dragging at all. I really felt that Ospreay did a tremendous job in this match, showing that he is constantly growing and learning as a performer. He keeps adding in the little things to go along what he already has at such a young age. Taguchi’s goal here, besides doing his obvious ass based antics (which came across reserved here as the intensity grew) was to destroy the leg and ankle of Osprey, not only to ground him but also to set him up for the ankle lock. Taguchi worked the veteran role here, not heel but dominating and dismissive at times as he looked to get the big win here after missing out on last year’s finals. Down the stretch I felt that Ospreay’s selling was largely good, but that the end had a but too much flash for the work that was being done, which took away from it a little bit for me. Ospreay connecting with the rainmaker spot came across cool, like he was doing it to please his big brother in CHAOS (Okada) and also prove himself. After a great homestretch, Ospreay would hit the inverted 450 and the springboard cutter to win the tournament. While it was not my first choice for a final, they exceeded my expectations and completed the ascension of Ospreay as a player in NJPW.

FUCKING HELL, LADS!! This is crazy #NJPW #njbosj @WillOspreay @KingRicochet pic.twitter.com/Yrj7NZ3WIt

— LARIATOOOOO!!! (@SenorLARIATO) May 27, 2016

1. From Night Six – Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay [****½]: So many thoughts heading into this match, concern due to Ospreay’s injury issues, could they deliver like they did in Evolve, just a lot of thoughts rolling through the old noodle. They worked in and out of the ring, and very quickly I knew this wasn’t going to be a regular “wrestling” match. This was an athletic exhibition with pro wrestling mixed in; it felt like watching Dragon Gate in the mid-2000s when it felt new and state of the art or like watching Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid. I love good selling, if you take the time to work a body part and then abandon it later, that’s stupid. Here, they weren’t working that sort of match, and it wasn’t like they didn’t sell, but this was a match that did not call for traditional selling. They weren’t working holds or breaking the other man down, this was the King of Flight (Ricochet) looking to keep up and prove that he’s still king as he battles the crowned Prince (Ospreay) who wants the crown. They worked at a wild pace, and not only were the moves they did wild, they were clean and actually were able to keep amping up the energy as the match went on. And the crowd responded, the crowd loved this and were even doing America style chants for these guys. This was the exact match that it needed to be, and I loved it from start to finish. This was close to and almost on par with their Evolve 59 outing, which was also out standing. There have been a lot of good matches in the tournament so far, but this is one of the best with ease and really brought that element of flight and reckless abandon I had been searching for. I absolutely loved this match, and when all is said and done, it will be one of the top matches of the whole thing. Will Ospreay is only 23, he still has parts of his game he needs to improve (who doesn’t), but for 23 he is outstanding. Ricochet may have lost here, but dude is still the fucking king. Part of what sets this apart for me is the fact that the match got so much press that it led to the biggest exposure of their careers, which means so much for Ospreay right now.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”