Kevin’s Best of the Super Juniors 2016 Preview

Beginning this Saturday, May 21st, New Japan Pro Wrestling will begin their annual Best of the Super Juniors Tournament, which started way back in 1988. Two blocks of eight wrestlers compete in a series of singles matches. The top two competitors from each block advance to the Semi-Finals and face off, before the winners of those matches meet in the finals. The winner of the entire thing earns himself a shot at the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. This year’s tournament runs from 5/21 until 6/7.

A Block

BUSHI

BUSHI has quickly become my second favorite Japense junior heavyweight, behind only KUSHIDA. His recent role with Los Ingobernables de Japon has led to him being involved in some very high profile matches, with the highlight being a great Jr. Heavyweight Title match against KUSHIDA back at the New Beginning in Osaka. This will be his fourth BOSJ as he missed last year’s with an injury. He ranked towards the bottom in previous years, but I’m picking him to make a marked improvement. Like his profile itself, BUSHI will make a leap in points and I believe he’ll be one of the two semi-finalists to come out of this block.

Prediction: 10 points

David Finlay

A late addition to the tournament is the young lion, David Finlay. He replaces Matt Jackson since both Young Bucks are out with injuries. I don’t think this injury will change that much. The Young Bucks don’t usually rack up many singles wins and Finlay himself won’t get many, if any. The young lions always lose and Finlay is the young lion that always loses to other young lions. That doesn’t equal a recipe for success. It will be his second BOSJ run and he went 0-7 last year. Unfortunately, I sense more of the same this time around.

Prediction: 0 points

Gedo

NJPW’s resident booker man and CHAOS member, Gedo, enters his tenth BOSJ. While he has been a runner up in the past, his more recent years have seen him as more of a jobber. He’s never really a threat to any titles, which is fine at this point of his career. However, he can still be entertaining at times, especially when he yells obscenities at his opponents, making for some fun TV. I can see him putting on some solid matches, especially against the top guys of the block, but not really amass many wins. Expect him at the bottom of the standings.

Prediction: 4 points

KUSHIDA

The crown jewel of the New Japan juniors division. I’ve made note of my disappointment in most of the division, but none of that applies to KUSHIDA. On my “Top 100 Matches of 2015” list, KUSHIDA appeared in every Jr. Heavyweight match. He is undoubtedly the best they’ve had for a while. He enters his sixth BOSJ and does so as not only the defending tournament winner, but also as the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. Despite these accolades, I don’t see him in the final four. I have him tied for second place, but losing the tiebreaker with BUSHI and not making it. He’ll watch on the sidelines as some new challengers rise.

Prediction: 10 points

Kyle O’Reilly

Last year, Kyle O’Reilly made his BOSJ debut. He promptly impressed, reeling off a hot streak and making it to the finals. While he lost to KUSHIDA, it was a fantastic match that I rated at ****1/2. It was a solo coming out party for one half of reDRagon and solidified him as a threat to the title. While he spent the rest of 2015 competing for the Jr. Heavyweight Tag straps, I’d like to see him focus on the singles belt this year. He, along with KUSHIDA, Will Ospreay, BUSHI and a few others, could lead a resurgence for the division. I’m picking Kyle to finish first in the standings and then to go on and win the entire block. Picking a winner of the whole thing is tough, but if he beats KUSHIDA on day one (which I’m predicting), he could win it all and give us the rubber match (not counting their RPW outing) at Dominion.

Prediction: 12 points

Matt Sydal

Matt Sydal enters his first BOSJ as one half of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Unfortunately, the atrocious booking of that division renders that relatively meaningless. He’s really only worked tag matches since coming to NJPW, losing in his only singles performance against Kenny Omega last year. Despite that, he’s been booked rather strongly in tag matches and I get the sense that he does rather well in the tournament. I could see him just finishing above .500. He might have done better if he didn’t share a block with O’Reilly and KUSHIDA.

Prediction: 8 points

Rocky Romero

Another member of Chaos appears here. Rocky Romero, one half of Roppongi Vice, steps into his seventh BOSJ. He had two appearances in the mid-2000s before making each one since 2012. He has a career record of 22-23-1 in the tournament and mostly finishes around the middle of the standings. I suspect more of the same. He’s pretty much a fixture in the tag ranks and hasn’t been a threat to the singles title. I don’t expect that to change after all these years. Get ready for some fun matches, but not many wins from Rocky.

Prediction: 6 points

Ryusuke Taguchi

I do not like Ryusuke Taguchi. He is only ahead of the Young Bucks and Yujiro Takahashi when it comes to acts in wrestling that I dislike. Last year, he nearly made the finals and now enters his eleventh tournament. More impressively, it’s his tenth in a row! Taguchi should fill a similar role to Gedo this year. He’ll work some undercards and do his usual stuff, but not pick up many wins. That’s fine as he’s past the point of his career where he should be a viable contender. He fills his role as a comedy act and that’s fine for him.

Prediction: 4 points

B Block

Beretta

The other half of Roppongi Vice, and another Chaos member, the former Trent Baretta gets a shot at some singles work. He’s most known for the tandem with Rocky Romero and is entering his second BOSJ. Last year, he managed eight points and, like Romero, I suspect he finishes around the middle of the pack. That’s actually where I have most of the tag guys and where I would have put the Young Bucks had they been able to compete. I’ve always liked Beretta and it should be fun to see him work singles matches, especially against some of the top guys in the block.

Prediction: 6 points

Bobby Fish

Bobby Fish is probably happy to know that he’s not the oldest guy in his block (thanks Liger). It’ll be interesting to see how he gets handled in this tournament. Earlier this month, he cleanly defeated Tomohiro Ishii, a NJPW heavyweight, to become the ROH Television Champion. Juniors don’t beat heavyweights often. NJPW could either ignore it or use it to book Fish a bit stronger. Either way, I don’t see him coming out of the block, but I’d predict that he lands in third place, finishing with the same amount of points that he had last year.

Prediction: 10 points

Chase Owens

It’s as if New Japan went out of their way to try and find the most boring possible replacement for Nick Jackson. Chase Owens is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Bullet Club members. We’re talking lower than Yujiro Takahashi and probably Cody Hall. He participated last year, earning eight points, but I don’t him reaching that total here. He is in a tough block and, as a replacement, it’s clear there weren’t many plans for him. Hopefully, he can actually impress this time around but if he’s anything like he’s been in recent memory, it’s not likely.

Prediction: 4 points

Jushin Thunder Liger

You all know Jushin Thunder Liger. He’s the ultimate veteran of the junior heavyweight division and has been seen in ROH, WCW and even NXT last year. Liger will be competing in his twenty-fifth BOSJ and is a three time winner (’92, ’94 and ’01). Even though he got some recent shine in a Jr. Heavyweight Title match against KUSHDIA at Wrestling Dontaku, don’t expect a big showing from Liger this time around. He’ll have good matches, be super over and nab a few wins, but he most likely won’t threaten to win. Like a lot of veterans, he knows that his job is to help put over the other guys in the field.

Prediction: 6 points

Ricochet

For a guy that isn’t consistently around, Ricochet has had a lot of success in the division. He is one of the current (and two time) IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, has had shots at the Jr. Heavyweight Title itself and even won the BOSJ back in 2014. He took part in 2013 and also did pretty well then. Ricochet is one of my picks to finish in the top two of B Block. He’s always booked strong and look for him to have some of the top matches in the block. Make sure to especially watch out for his bout against Will Ospreay, as their match in Evolve earlier in the year was great.

Prediction: 12 points

Tiger Mask IV

Like Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask has found past success in the tournament, winning it in 2004 and 2005. This time around, he also finds himself in a position like Liger. He’s there to be a veteran, have some decent matches and put guys over. Last year, two of his eight points came at the expense of a forfeit and another came due to a young lion that lost every single match. Don’t expect Tiger Mask to pick up many points.

Prediction: 4 points

Volador Jr.

Since I am unable to follow CMLL on a regular basis, I haven’t seen much of Volador Jr. He has gotten some relatively rave reviews from some fans and I’m looking forward to seeing him. I’ve heard a lot of people are especially stoked for his match with Ospreay. Anyway, CMLL tends to have a representative in this tournament often and they usually finish around the middle of the pack. I think we get more of the same here, but he’ll end up on the higher end of the middle. It’s his first BOSJ and I think he’ll make a bit of an impact.

Prediction: 8 points

Will Ospreay

It’s quite scary to think about how good Will Ospreay is at the ripe age of 22. He’s been one of the best wrestlers so far in 2016, with multiple excellent matches. I’ve seen him tear it up against Ricochet, Marty Scurll, Zack Sabre Jr. and KUSHIDA in his NJPW debut, just to name a few. He’s a heavy favorite in this and I damn near picked him to win out his block completely. I decided against that, but still see him winning the block. He’s pretty much a lock to finish in the top two here and I have him in the finals. Ospreay should have great matches and a lot of victories.

Prediction: 12 poins

Semi-Final Predictions (if they happen: Will Ospreay over BUSHI, Kyle O’Reilly over Ricochet

Finals Prediction: Kyle O’Reilly over Will Ospreay