Csonka’s NJPW BOTSJ (Night 8) Review 5.26.17

Csonka’s NJPW BOTSJ (Night 8) Review 5.26.17

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Taichi defeated Marty Scurll @ 9:25 via pin [*]
– Ricochet defeated Jushin Liger @ 9:04 via pin [***]
– Hiromu Takahashi defeated TAKA Michinoku @ 9:25 via pin [***]
– Will Ospreay defeated Dragon Lee @ 10:05 via pin [***½]

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* Csonka’s Top 5 Omissions From The 2017 BOTSJ.
* Csonka’s Top 5 Potential BOTSJ Winners.
* Csonka’s NJPW BOTSJ (Night 1) Review 5.17.17.
* Csonka’s NJPW BOTSJ (Night 2) Review 5.18.17.
* Csonka’s NJPW BOTSJ (Night 3) Review 5.20.17.
* Csonka’s NJPW BOTSJ (Night 4)Review 5.21.17.
* Csonka’s NJPW BOTSJ (Night 5) Review 5.22.17.
* Csonka’s NJPW BOTSJ (Night 6) Review 5.23.17.
* Csonka’s NJPW BOTSJ (Night 7) Review 5.25.17.

– These are block A matches today, no commentary, single camera shoot.

Marty Scurll vs. Taichi: Desperado is out with Taichi. Taichi attacks Scurll during the intros, tries to use his mic stand to attack but Scurll blocks it with his umbrella, sending Taichi to the floor. Scurll follows with the apron superkick, and then they brawl at ringside. Back in v teased going up top, but Taichi bailed to the floor. He tried to hide in the crowd, Scurll followed and Taichi attacked him with a chair. Kanemaru is also here and he helped Taichi work over Scurll. Taichi then posted Scurll to keep control and then rolled him back into he ring, covering for 2. He quickly tossed Scurll back to the floor so that Kanemaru and Desperado could beat him down. Desperado then took the ref so that Taichi could attack with the bell hammer. Desperado got involved again, choking out Scurll in the ropes. Scurll hit a desperation superkick, followed with chops and ran Taichi into Desperado and got a roll up for 2. Taichi then hit an enziguri and superkick for 2. Scurll goes for the chicken wing, but Taichi escapes and rakes the eyes. Scurll fights back, hitting the last shot for 2. Scurll looks for the chicken wing again, but Taichi rakes the eyes, only for Scurll to do the finger break spot. Scurll locks in the chicken wing and takes Taichi to the mat, we get a ref bump and phantom tap. Taichi gets the mic stand, misses and Scurll grabs it but the ref takes it away. Low blow and superkick by Taichi, and he gets the Gedo clutch for the win. Taichi defeated Marty Scurll @ 9:25 via pin [*] The fact that Taichi is winning matches and Liger is shut out is a fucking disgrace. This was another Taichi match, filled with Suzuki-gun bullshit that completely negated any of the fun portions. Fuck Taichi. The Suzuki-gun bullshit continues to cripple potentially fun tournament matches.

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Ricochet: Despite being shut out so far, the crowd is into Liger big time. They work a basic back and forth, with Liger looking to ground the king of flight. Liger goes to his submission game here, stretching Ricochet out with a chinlock. Ricochet escapes, and then takes Liger down, working the knee. Ricochet then works a reverse STF, but Liger makes the ropes. Liger then takes things back to the mat, working the Romero special. Ricochet escapes, and banters with Liger a bit. He follows with kicks and strikes and then hits a 619. The springboard misses, and Liger then cradles him for 2. The tilt a whirl back breaker and shotei follow, and then the Liger bomb gets a close 2. Liger looks for the brainbuster, but Ricochet floats over but Liger gets a Thesz press for 2. Enziguri by Ricochet follows and then a head kick gets 2. More kicks by Ricochet follow, and then Ricochet hits the king’s landing to put Liger away and keep him shut out. Ricochet defeated Jushin Liger @ 9:04 via pin [***] Good back and forth match here, with an invested crowd. I am still completely puzzled by the booking of Liger in this tournament.

TAKA Michinoku vs. Hiromu Takahashi: TAKA teases a test of strength and ten attacks Takahashi. Takahashi picks up the pace, and TAKA fakes a knee injury and that backs off Takahashi for a bit. They brawl to the apron, with TAKA fighting off the sunset flip bomb to the floor and then we get some floor brawling. Back in the ring, TAKA keeps things on the ground, and tosses Takahashi to the floor. TAKA then posts him and slams the knee of Takahashi off the post. TAKA locks in the ring post figure four, and then pulls him to the floor and locks in another figure four. This leads to a countout tease, but Takahashi makes it back in. TAKA follows with a knee strike and the crossface, but Takahashi makes the ropes. Takahashi fights back with chops and a popup powerbomb, but couldn’t follow up. He then hits the corner clothesline, a running kick and a falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL) for a near fall. Forearms by Takahashi follow, but TAKA locks in the crossface again. Takahashi fights, and makes the ropes just barely. Takahashi lays in forearms again, but TAKA cuts him off and cradles him for two; the running knee strike follows for 2. TAKA misses the superkick, and gets rolled up for 2. Another rollup gets 2 again. Takahashi kills him with a lariat, hits the time bomb and puts TAKA away. Hiromu Takahashi defeated TAKA Michinoku @ 9:25 via pin [***] Good match, with TAKA playing the grizzled, will do anything to win veteran, juxtaposed against the younger, faster star of the division. It worked well, and TAKA’s shenanigans played extremely well here without any extra Suzuki-gun bullshit. You don’t need a bunch of extra bodies, just some basic and well time heel work.

Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay: As expected, they worked a really fun and fast aced opening stretch with all kinds of fun and athletic counters. Lee then slowed things, working in some strikes and hitting a dropkick. Ospreay then fired back, sending him to the floor and hitting a shooting star press from the apron. Back in the ring, and Ospreay worked over Lee with strikes and elbows. The tequila sunrise followed, but Lee made the ropes. Lee the picked up the pace, hitting a dropkick and then the corner dropkick for 2. Lee continued to control, but Ospreay countered the RANA to the floor and tripped up Lee on the apron. Lee then hit a knee strike and jumped to the floor, hitting the RANA on Ospreay. Back in and Lee hit a bridging German suplex for 2. Ospreay battled back, hitting the back handspring kick. Uppercuts and the corner dropkick followed for Ospreay; the running shooting star press connected and he covered for 2. They then traded strikes from their knees and then worked to their feet. Snap German by Lee, but Ospreay fired up and tossed Lee to the floor. He then followed with a suicide dive. Lee back in, hits he enziguri but Ospreay Germans him to the buckles. Lee fights to his feet, hitting an XPLODER into the corner. They then battled up top, and Ospreay drops down and hits the cartwheel kick. But when he went back up top, Lee sent him into the tree of WHAO and hit the double stomp. The Desnucadora followed for a great near fall. Ospreay fights off the dragon driver, and hits the reverse RANA, tornado kick and OsCutter to put Lee away. Will Ospreay defeated Dragon Lee @ 10:05 via pin [***½] This was a very good main event, worked with a strong sense of urgency, and the feeling that both were giving their all to win. It was also just a blast to watch them work a really fun and well paced athletic match that felt different than anything else on the show.

BLOCK A STANDINGS
– Will Ospreay: (4-1) 8pts.
– Taichi: (3-2) 6pts.
– Marty Scurll: (3-2) 6pts.
– Dragon Lee: (3-2) 6pts.
– Ricochet: (3-2) 6pts.
– Hiromu Takahashi: (3-2) 6pts.
– TAKA Michinoku: (1-4) 2pts.
– Jushin Liger: (0-5) 0pts.

BLOCK B STANDINGS
– Desperado: (3-1) 6pts.
– Yoshinobu Kanemaru: (3-1) 6pts.
– Ryusuke Taguchi: (2-2) 4pts.
– Tiger Mask: (2-2) 4pts.
– Volador Jr: (2-2) 2pts.
– ACH: (2-2) 4pts.
– KUSHIDA: (1-3) 2pts.
– BUSHI: (1-3) 2pts.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Skip the opener if you’re interested in the show, after that it’s all fun and good wrestling with a very good main event. Ospreay takes the lead in Block A, while we have a logjam with five competitors at 6-points.