wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 30 Night 3 Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 30 Night 3
May 14th, 2023 | Nagoya Conference Center in Nagoya, Aichi | Attendance: 1,599
We had a major dip in quality for night two and hopefully that was an exception and not what the rest of the tournament will be like.
B Block: Kevin Knight [0] vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru [4]
As noted yesterday, Kanemaru hadn’t fared well against newcomers to the tourney until beating Moloney. Meanwhile, Knight hasn’t won a singles match in over 600 days. Given his 2-0 start, it makes sense that Kanemaru didn’t change his plan. He went after the leg and continued to do perfectly acceptable leg work. It’s not all that gripping but it’s effective enough. Knight survived a Figure Four and hit a good looking cross body off the top. Still, Knight’s leg prevented him from capitalizing too much. When he was able to, it worked as he hit a leaping rana and added a spike DDT to get his first two points in 7:19. A solid little opener here. [**¾]
A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi [0] vs. SHO [0]
Their past includes the 2018 BOSJ (***½), 2020 BOSJ (***¼), 2021 BOSJ (***¼), and 2022 BOSJ (*). It should come as no surprise that SHO went from really good to watch to an absolute chore these days. SHO promised to wrestle cleanly here, even goading the fans into believing it for a few minutes as he handed over his wrench and such. They traded stuff and kept it clean for a few minutes with SHO reminding everyone of his talent. So much for that as we eventually got a ref bump, the lights going out, and EVIL interfering. They still teased it being a case where SHO didn’t want him to attack but it was all a ruse. Low blows, wrench use, and then Shock Arrow ended this in 6:29. It was at least slightly different from the usual. [**]
B Block: BUSHI [0] vs. Clark Connors [2]
I don’t have much to say about this match because it was kind of basic. BUSHI did typical BUSHI things and Connors overwhelmed him with his power advantage whenever he could. Connors was a bit more aggressive than usual because he was apparently upset at the loss yesterday. So even when BUSHI got something going, it was never a truly sustained rally and you never bought him as the winner. Connors ultimately won with an implant DDT at the 6:04 mark. Fine. [**¾]
A Block: DOUKI [2] vs. Taiji Ishimori [4]
They met in the 2020 and 2021 BOSJ (both ***). This was the kick up in energy that the show needed as DOUKI brought fire to try and topple Ishimori. From a swinging Northern Lights Suplex to a DOUKI CHOUKI attempt, he was kind of all over the former champion. He even nearly got a ref stoppage with a submission as Ishimori found himself in serious trouble. Ishimori wouldn’t stay down for long but DOUKI was never far from regaining control thanks to just the sheer amount of energy he brought. Alas, DOUKI got caught in the Bone Lock and tapped after 9:31, capping the best match on the show to this point. DOUKI continues to be a highlight of this tournament. [***½]
B Block: Francesco Akira [2] vs. Robbie Eagles [4]
One of the more anticipated matches for me as the styles of these guys makes for something interesting. Indeed, this was high quality from the start in terms of mat work but they also added some athletic stuff like a monkey flip and the fun fake dive spot. Eagles applied the Ron Miller Special and I’m reminded of how many submission guys are in the tournament this year. Taiji, Robbie, TJP, KUSHIDA, Kanemaru, DOUKI, etc. Akira survived that and we got some kicks and strikes that helped bump this up a notch and shift gears again. That set up a stretch of close calls and near falls though it never went overboard in that direction. Akira found a way to connect on Fireball and get the one big upper hand to win in 12:02. A hell of a match and one of the better of the tourney so far. [***¾]
A Block: KUSHIDA [0] vs. Titán [2]
I totally forgot Titán is an LIJ member. After some grappling exchanges, the match went outside for a goofy case of Titán chasing KUSHIDA all around the arena. Seriously, KUSHIDA did a ton of running just to get a kick on the left arm. That’s way too much effort. That did give him the advantage though not a significant enough one for what he did to get there. Titán got going, hit a dive, and then won with a springboard stomp in a quick 6:01. That was an odd match. It set something up but kind of just quickly died out. That said, it was entertaining. [**½]
B Block: Dan Moloney [2] vs. YOH [2]
YOH has never won a match in Aichi before. I popped for YOH going all Hiroyoshi Tenzan with the Mongolian chops in the early goings here. As these guy traded offense, commentary went off on a tangent about NXT UK and the WWE system as a whole. This felt like a match from yesterday’s show in that the work they did was fine but it felt kind of hollow and like they were just going through the motions. The crowd has been better tonight but they were kind of dead here. YOH also busted out some signature Satoshi Kojima spots but Moloney cut him off. Moloney hit the Gore soon after and own with the Drilla in 9:01. A solid pro wrestling match here. [***]
A Block: Mike Bailey [4] vs. TJP [2]
No meetings here since the days of EVOLVE. Lots of potential here given the styles, especially since Bailey’s foot was damaged in yesterday’s match and TJP loves picking something like that apart. I liked that when TJP slapped at Bailey’s head like a jerk while holding him in a head scissors, Bailey responded with a swift kick. It’s a small thing that played into their styles well. They kept up with things like that throughout, often trying to one up each other. It helped that the stuff they did was crisp, like an especially tough sequence that culminated in a Bailey springboard moonsault to the outside. TJP caught one of his kicks into an STF and the way he trapped him as he reached for the ropes was really well done. Things were tense late as you really couldn’t tell who would pull out the win. In the end, Bailey won by avoiding the Mamba Splash, hitting a spinning kick, and delivering the Flamingo Driver for the first time in the tournament after 13:02. A hell of a match that is also in the conversation for the best in the tournament. Bailey has had two bangers so far and the SHO match. [***¾]
B Block: El Desperado [2] vs. Master Wato [2]
I’ve seen them face off at the Lion’s Gate Project in 2018 (**½), the 2020 BOSJ (***¼), 2021 BOSJ (***), 2022 BOSJ (***½), and New Year’s Golden Series last year (***¼). You have to feel like they’re both favorites to possibly come out of B Block along with YOH and Robbie Eagles. Maybe a minute or two in, Desperado hit the ropes and started limping. That became the story as the leg work from night one is rearing its ugly head. Wato was able to gain the upper hand because of it. He oddly didn’t totally go after it, instead focusing on submissions that didn’t work the leg, allowing Desperado to reach the ropes. Commentary also harped on how Desperado doesn’t like a lot of Wato’s antics and sure enough, instead of going for a pin when he had it, he went up top for a flashier move and missed. Though Desperado didn’t win right there, he did hit a huge kick and win with Pinche Loco soon after at the 14:10 mark. I thought this had the idea for a great match though the execution missed the mark a bit and it just capped at being good. [***¼]
A Block: Hiromu Takahashi [2] vs. Lio Rush [4]
Their title match earlier this year ruled (****¼). They opened this at the same wild pace as that encounter which makes sense given who these two are. They’re not going to have a slow paced match. I dug it being a mirror match of sorts at first with both men having the same gameplan to start. The fight spilled outside, they teased an announce table spot, and Lio got put through a chair with a belly to belly suplex. Despite this being pretty wild, the crowd was kind of subdued for it. They weren’t like yesterday’s awful crowd but I expected more from what they were seeing. The guys traded stuff as this went on with nobody really becoming the one with the big upper hand. Lio escaped Time Bomb a few times and used it to set up his closing stretch of offense. That included a reverse rana, Rush Hour, and then a Final Hour where Hiromu nearly rolled to safety but took the Frog Splash to the back. The fight went up top and Lio avoided an avalanche Time Bomb before hitting Final Hour again to win in 18:11. A great main event and probably the second best match of the tournament, though a notch below their title bout. [****]
