Csonka’s NJPW BOSJ 26 (Night 7) Review

Csonka’s NJPW BOSJ 26 (Night 7) Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Taiji Ishimori defeated Taka Michinoku @ 4:51 via pin [**½]
– Bandido defeated Ren Narita @ 6:20 via pin [***]
– Jonathan Gresham defeated Titan @ 11:02 via submission [***¼]
– Yoh defeated Rocky Romero @ 13:35 via submission [***½]
– Dragon Lee defeated Tiger Mask @ 9:00 via pin [***]
– BUSHI defeated DOUKI @ 7:20 via pin [**½]
– Kanemaru defeated Sho @ 4:25 via countout [**]
– Robbie Eagles defeated Ryusuke Taguchi @ 11:30 via pin [***½]
– Shingo defeated Marty Scurll @ 14:05 via pin [***¼]
– El Phantasmo defeated Will Ospreay @ 26:49 via pin [****¼]

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Taiji Ishimori vs. Taka Michinoku: They lock up, Taka rakes the eyes and looks for just facelock. Ishimori counters out, but Taka takes him back down. The knee strike follows and Taka covers for 2. It’s all Taka early, grounding Ishimori and working the previously injured neck. The spin kick follows and Taka covers for 2. Just facelock follows, and then transitions to a head scissors/leg lock combo. Ishimori makes the ropes, and follows with the back handspring kick. The DDT & bloody cross finishes it. Taiji Ishimori defeated Taka Michinoku @ 4:51 via pin [**½] This was solid, Taka had a good gameplan but Ishimori overcame to win.

Bandido vs. Ren Narita: They shake hands and work into counters. Narita hits a dropkick, and then lays the boots to Narita. The flapjack follows for 2. Bandido then hits a basement dropkick, covering for 2. Narita cuts him off with a slam, shoulder tackles, and then an overhead toss for 2. Bandido cuts him off with kicks, but Narita looks for his bridging suplex, Bandido pulls him to the apron and they trade and Narita hits the overhead suplex on the apron. Bandido catches the plancha and hits an apron bomb. Bandido rolls back in and Narita follows. Bandido hits a flurry of strikes and kicks, but Narita cradles him for 2. Bandido follows with a clothesline for 2. The GTS & 21-plex finish it. Bandido defeated Ren Narita @ 6:20 via pin [***] This was a good little sprint with great energy from Narita.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Titan: They shake hands and here we go. They lock up and work into counters, and then a stalemate. Titan grounds things, but Gresham counters but Titan covers for 2. Gresham bridges out, and follows with arm drags. Titan then follows with kicks, and the cradle follows for 2. He lays in chops, and Gresham fires back. They light each other up, but Titan grounds things. He then lays in kicks, but Gresham fires back and Titan counters with an enziguri. The Romero special follows, but Gresham counters out and he starts attacking the arm. Titan fires back, they trade and Titan cradles him for 2. The enziguri follows, but Gresham cuts him off, attacking the arm they work up top. Rights by Titan connect, slams Gresham on to the buckles and covers for 2. Gresham goes back to the arm and cradles him for 2. Titan hit la mistica into immortal, but Gresham gets the octopus hold and rolls into a cradle for 2. He ties up Titan and Titan taps/ Jonathan Gresham defeated Titan @ 11:02 via submission [***¼] This was a good and smooth counter wrestling match, with Gresham simply outwrestling Titan to pick up the big win. Both guys looked really good here.

Yoh vs. Rocky Romero: They lock up, working into counters, and to the ropes. They break clean and then work into a stalemate. They pick up the pace; working into counters, and Yoh attacks the knee, grounding things. Yoh follows with uppercuts, and then goes back to the knee. They trade strikes and chops, but Romero pulls an arm bar; Yoh makes the ropes. Romero starts focusing on the arm, taking control back. He follows with chops, and then drives the shoulder into the mat. Forever clotheslines follow, hits divorce court, and follows with kicks and the draping knee drop misses, allowing Yoh to fire back and hit a dragon screw. Yoh up top and Yoh missile dropkicks the knee. Romero manages to cradle him for 2. Yoh then dragon screws him off the ropes and rolls into a calf crusher. Romero fights, and counters into an arm bar but Yoh makes the ropes. They trade strikes now, Romero mixes in kicks, and hits the rewind kick and knee strike. Sliced bread follows for 2. Yoh fights it off the second time and follows with a German for 2. Romero counters the dragon suplex into a cradle for 2. He locks on the arm bar but Yoh cradles him for 2. Romero follows with strikes, firing up but Yoh pulls the calf crusher again and Romero taps. Yoh defeated Rocky Romero @ 13:35 via submission [***½] This was a very good student vs. teacher match, with Yoh showing off a good gameplan and picking up the big win. Rocky delivers again.

– Time for the knife pervert II video; Juice is not amused.

Dragon Lee vs. Tiger Mask: They shake hands and here we go. They lock up and work to the ropes. Lee takes him down, Tiger counters out and they break. They lock up, Tiger hits shoulder tackles, and follows with kicks. Tiger then counters the RANA and follows with a high cross to the floor. Back in and Tiger hits the high cross but Lee rolls through and covers for 2. The back breaker follows, he takes Lee up top and Lee knocks him into the tree of WHOA, and then misses the double stomp but follows with a dropkick. He hits another, and follows with a shoulder breaker, covering for 2. Tiger fights off denucadora and hits the tombstone and tiger driver for 2. Lee counters the Tiger suplex, but Tiger locks on a sleeper. He transitions to an arm bar, but Lee makes the ropes. Lee fires back with a superkick and locks on an STF. Tiger makes the ropes, but Lee follows with the knee strike for 2. He drops the kneepad and hits another. Desnucadora finishes it. Dragon Lee defeated Tiger Mask @ 9:00 via pin [***] This was a good babyface match, with Tiger Mask playing the resilient veteran, coming close, but falling to the young champion.

BUSHI vs. DOUKI: “I don’t care about this; I don’t give a rat’s ass about BUSHI and don’t know Dookie from a ham sandwich.”- Juice Robinson They brawl at the bell and BUSHI hits a RANA to the floor. BUSHI chokes him out with his shirt, and then gets sent to the floor. DOUKI posts him, and they brawl into the crowd. Back to the ring and DOUKI lays the boots to him. The slam and running double stomp follows for 2. BUSHI fights back and hits a RANA. DOUKI cuts him off and counters into the necktie choke. They trade strikes, enziguri by BUSHI, but DOUKI levels him with a lariat for 2. BUSHI counters into a cradle for 2. He hits a dropkick and follows with the apron DDT. The fisherman’s neck breaker follows for 2. BUSHI to the ropes, and MX finishes it. BUSHI defeated DOUKI @ 7:20 via pin [**½] This was solid, with BUSHI finally getting on the board.

Sho vs. Kanemaru: Kanemaru attacks before the bell, taking early control. Sho battles back and cuts him off with a dropkick. He then dropkicks Kanemaru to the floor. The apron PK connects, and Sho then follows with strikes. They brawl up and into the crowd, Sho teases a powerbomb, but lays in kicks. Kanemaru slams him into the wall and follows with a suplex. Kanemaru then trips up Sho, and beats the count back in and steals a win. Kanemaru defeated Sho @ 4:25 via countout [**]
Not a fan of this really, it was ok. The only good here was that the countout now feels more viable in future matches.

Robbie Eagles vs. Ryusuke Taguchi: They lock up, working into counters, and Taguchi grounds things. Eagles counters out, but Taguchi avoids the dropkick and follows with ass attacks and chops. Eagles cuts him off and dropkicks out the knee, covering for 2. Eagles now focuses on the knee, grounding the action. Nice, smart work here from Eagles. Taguchi fires back, dumps Eagles and follows with a plancha. Back in and the ass attack follows for 2. He follows with rolling suplexes, and covers for 2. The gourd buster follows and Taguchi sets for bum a ye, but Eagles cuts him off with a dropkick to the ass and hits sliced bread for 2. Taguchi counters back, but Eagles counters dodon into the Ron Miller special. Taguchi fights and makes the ropes. Eagles hits double knees, smashing Taguchi and covering for 2. Eagles up top and the 450 MISSES, Ankle lock by Taguchi, Eagles fights out and hits turbo backpack and that gets 2. Eagles follow with a flurry of kicks, but Taguchi hits the dropkick and dodon for 2. Taguchi looks for another dodon but Eagles cradles him for the win. Robbie Eagles defeated Ryusuke Taguchi @ 11:30 via pin [***½] This was really good and a lot of fun, with both guys showing good focus, keeping a good pace, and creating good drama with some nice near falls down the stretch.

Shingo vs. Marty Scurll: Brody King is at ringside. They lock up, working to the ropes and break. Scurll attack with kicks, but Shingo powers up and they work into counters. Shingo runs him over with a shoulder tackle, and follows with clotheslines. Scurll cut him off and follows with the apron superkick. He starts isolating the arm, and rolls Shingo back in. The dropkick follows, and Scurll then grounds things, attacking the arm. Scurll then follows with chops, strikes, and pummels Shingo in the corner. Shingo gets pisses and just unloads with a furious flurry on Scurll until Scurll cuts him off with a tornado DDT. Shingo counters black plague, and decapitates Scurll with a lariat. The suplex and sliding lariat follows for 2. Scurll fights back with a half and half suplex, takes him up top and follows him up and hits the superplex for 2.Shingo fights off the powerbomb, they trade clotheslines, and Scurll cuts him off with the superkick, but Shingo hits a lariat and they work into a double down. Thy trade strikes, but King trips up Shingo, hits him with the umbrella and the clothesline follows for 2. King in on the ref bump and hits the black hole slam. Scurll hits the powerbomb and Shingo kicks out at 2.Another ref bump, King in and Shingo fights him off. Scurll then cradles him for 2. Scurll counters noshigami, but Shingo hits the pumping bomber and that gets 2. Last of the dragon finishes Scurll. Shingo defeated Marty Scurll @ 14:05 via pin [***¼] Shingo is such a dominant performer that the key here was to work a layout where Scurll was believably competitive/could control things and they successfully did that, even before the shenanigans. That shit wasn’t needed as things were going extremely well before it, and it took away from the match for me.

Will Ospreay vs. El Phantasmo: Osprey his John Wooooooooooo at the bell and they brawl to the floor. Ospreay is fired the fuck up and just kicking Phantasmo’s ass on the floor. Ospreay then follows with a suicide dive, and then follows with rights. Phantasmo blocks the PK and slams Ospreay on the apron. Phantasmo plays with the ice pack, but Ospreay cuts him off and follows with a 450 attack off the apron. They brawl up and into the crowd, Phantasmo begs off and kicks Ospreay into the wall and then follows with a moonsault. Phantasmo follows with a superkick as they work back ringside. Phantasmo flies out of the crowd with a flying forearm onto Ospreay. Back in and Phantasmo follow with grounded strikes. Ospreay fires back with chops, Phantasmo answers with a flurry of strikes, chops and then the ropewalk into a RANA for 2. He grounds the action, working a neck crank and elbow strikes. Ospreay fights to his feet, but Phantasmo hits the dropkick for 2. He rakes the eyes, but Ospreay battles back with the back handspring kick. The enziguri and 619 follow, and then the hesitation dropkick follows. The running shooting star press follows for 2. Phantasmo picks up the pace, hits a high cross and moonsault press for 2. Ospreay fights off the Argentine cutter, looks for storm breaker, but Phantasmo counters out with a superkick. Ospreay hits the enziguri and heads up top and hits the tornillo to the floor. Back in and the springboard forearm follows for 2. He hits the Robinson special, and the oscutter is countered and Phantasmo gets the backslide for 2. They work into counters, hook kick by Ospreay but Phantasmo counters storm breaker into a cradle for 2. Phantasmo hits the BME and covers for 2. Phantasmo looks for CR2, but Ospreay fights him off and hits a head kick. Ospreay now hits Cheeky nandos, and follows with the Essex destroyer. He takes Phantasmo up top, Cheeky nandos follows, and then they work up top, and Phantasmo counters but Ospreay hits a super iconoclasm for 2. Hook kick by Ospreay, looks for hidden blade, but Phantasmo counters, Ospreay blocks the low blow and lays in kicks. Phantasmo fires up, Kawada kicks by Ospreay, head kicks follow and oscutter is countered by Phantasmo. They work to the apron, trading strikes, Phantasmo fights off storm breaker, Ospreay teases a Spanish fly to the floor, but Phantasmo levels him with a right and piledrives Ospreay onto the apron. Phantasmo rolls back in and Ospreay rolls in but Phantasmo hits the top rope splash and covers for 2. Phantasmo looks for rainmaker, countered by Ospreay into a Liger bomb for 2. Phantasmo counters oscutter into the Argentine cutter for 2. Phantasmo argues with the ref, and red shoes shoves him into a Spanish fly. Ospreay hits the shooting star press for 2. Storm breaker is countered and Phantasmo hits the low blow and cradles Ospreay for 2. The Argentine cutter gets 2 again. CR2 connects and Ospreay is done. El Phantasmo defeated Will Ospreay @ 26:49 via pin [****¼] This was a great main event with tremendous energy and an overall well laid out gameplan from Phantasmo, who put in his best performance of the tournament so far. To the surprise o no one, Ospreay delivers yet again, working to overcome Phantasmo ‘s assault on his neck, leading to a very well done home stretch filled with great counters and near falls. Phantasmo takes control of the block with a huge win over Ospreay, who lost nothing here due to his great performance. He’s essentially bulletproof at this stage.

A BLOCK
Taiji Ishimori: (4-0) 8pts.
Shingo Takagi: (4-0) 8pts.
Dragon Lee: (3-1) 6pts.
Marty Scurll: (2-2) 4pts.
Tiger Mask: (2-2) 4pts.
Jonathan Gresham: (2-2) 4pts
Titan: (1-3) 2pts.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru: (1-3) 2pts.
Sho: (1-3) 2pts.
TAKA Michinoku: (0-4) 0pts.

B BLOCK
El Phantasmo: (4-0) 8pts.
Will Ospreay: (3-1) 6pts.
Robbie Eagles: (3-1) 6pts.
Ryusuke Taguchi: (3-1) 6pts.
Yoh: (2-2) 4pts.
Bandido: (2-2) 4pts.
BUSHI: (1-3) 2pts.
DOUKI: (1-3) 2pts.
Rocky Romero: (1-3) 2pts.
Ren Narita: (0-4) 0pts.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 21. On the show, the good brother, Jeremy Lambert, joins 411’s Larry Csonka; the guys will break down the WWE Money in the Bank PPV, and then a full preview of the AEW Double or Nothing PPV, discussing the loss of Page vs. PAC, possible surprises, and possible VISA issues looming. The show is approximately 125–minutes long.

* Intro
* WWE MITB Review: 3:30
* AEW Double or Nothing Preview: 44:00

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7.1

The final score: review Good

The 411

NJPW returned to Korakuen Hall for a full slate of tournament matches. Night seven of the NJPW BOSJ 26 was the first night with a full slate of tournament matches, and it was an overall good and consistent show, with the matches felling different enough not to all run together, a great main event, and Shingo, Ishimori, & Phantasmo in control of things.