Kevin’s NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 26 Night Ten Review

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 26 Night Ten
May 26th, 2019 | Makuhari Messe Industrial Conference Hall in Mihama, Chiba | Attendance: 1,515

The tournament is officially winding down. We’ve got another full day of action, with everyone in action except for two people. Dragon Lee was given a forfeit win over TAKA Michinoku due to injury.

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B Block: Ren Narita [0] vs. Ryusuke Taguchi [8]
Narita continued to decline fist bumps and handshakes from his veteran opponents. He brought a ton of fire as usual. Taguchi gave him a lot, making this a more evenly matched battle than you’d expect. They kept things to the ground. Narita is banged up, so he knew this was a smart way to work. It helps that it’s a place where Taguchi does well. He worked the leg and looked to set up the Ankle Lock. We never got the kind of tease or close call that made the Narita/Ospreay match so much fun, but this was competitive. Taguchi won with that Ankle Lock in 7:10. Good, solid pro wrestling with no nonsense. I like it. [***]

A Block: Jonathan Gresham [6] vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru [4]
Gresham came out selling the ribs. Juice Robinson pointed out how that basically gave Kanemaru an obvious target. However, I never really got the sense that Kanemaru went after it. Instead, they worked another ground based match. For Kanemaru, that’s stupid because Gresham thrives there. When Kanemaru found himself in trouble, he threw the referee into Gresham. He tried using the whiskey bottle as a weapon but got trapped in the Octopus. The referee took the bottle from him and Kanemaru submitted at 7:45. I like watching Gresham work the mat. I just wish Kanemaru’s plan made more sense. [**¾]

B Block: DOUKI [2] vs. Rocky Romero [4]
Rocky is fresh off a main event win over the previous undefeated El Phantasmo. DOUKI attacked Romero instantly. Given that he’s one of the oldest guys in the tournament and he just came off a near 30 minute match, that was a smart strategy. Rocky had to fight from behind but his confidence has grown after beating Phantasmo. DOUKI went after the legs and took Rocky to the mat. That was different from what we’ve seen from him in this tournament. A good idea to change things up when your only win came against Narita. Rocky came back and won with an armbar in 10:16. A solid little match, but nothing more. [**½]

A Block: Marty Scurll [6] vs. Titan [4]
This was a very interesting case of styles clashing. Titan was all about taking to the air, while Scurll is content with a slower pace or taking any shortcuts that he can. That included the imposing presence of Brody King at ringside. Logically, whenever Titan got going it was because of his aerial stuff and when Scurll got the advantage, it came on the mat or because of King. Simple, yet effective. It led to Titan taking King out with a springboard dive to the outside. That came at a cool moment because we expected him to hit Scurll, so it was a surprise. The closing stretch had more drama than expected, but did feel like it dragged a bit. Marty won with the Black Plague to move to 8 points after 10:29. The best match of the night so far. Their styles meshed better than expected and we had some solid late drama. [***¼]

B Block: Bandido [6] vs. BUSHI [6]
Bandido had his best NJPW match a few nights ago, while BUSHI went 3-0 during the Korakuen shows. Sneaky BUSHI offered a handshake only to attack. That guy is untrustworthy. He used the upper hand to really keep Bandido off balance. It allowed BUSHI to be in control for the vast majority of this contest. Bandido fought back and evened the playing field as we got to the closing stretch. That’s where this picked up and moved into something that was worth checking out. Lots of good counters and crisp exchanges. BUSHI nailed a Destroyer and then won with the MX in 8:36. This was short and sweet. More like this from the tournament, please. Four straight wins for BUSHI. He’ll probably finish .500. [***¼]

A Block: Shingo Takagi [12] vs. Tiger Mask IV [4]
Another Shingo match that feels like a clear mismatch. TAKA Michinoku showed that there is hope even if you’re severely outmatched. Tiger Mask tried to hit the legs and cut Shingo down to size. When he got hit, he played possum and pulled Shingo into a submission. If you can’t physically beat your opponent, outsmart him. Pretty much any of Tiger Mask’s offensive moves were stymied by Shingo simply being better and stronger. It was an uphill battle for the veteran from the start. His only hope was a variety of submissions. He did kick out of a Pumping Bomber at one, but it was still a foregone conclusion. Last of the Dragon finished him in 9:22. A well laid out match that played off Tiger Mask giving his all and coming up short. [***]

B Block: El Phantasmo [10] vs. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion YOH [6]
Interestingly, YOH is the only Roppongi 3K member (Rocky included) who is still alive in the tournament .SHO’s 3 losses keep him from catching the undefeated Shingo. ELP losing to Rocky kept YOH alive. A pissed Phantasmo attacked YOH during his entrance. He wanted some revenge for YOH’s mentor beating him. They fought outside before the bell rang, so ELP was allowed to use his shoe as a weapon. He used this advantage to try and win by countout. Once the match officially got started, it lacked some of that intensity that it had beforehand. When Phantasmo couldn’t put YOH away, he went to use the title as a weapon. The referee caught him and YOH used the Five Star Clutch to roll him up and get the three count after 12:03. I was highly disappointed by this. It lacked any kind of fire and felt flat. [**½]

B Block: Robbie Eagles [8] vs. Will Ospreay [10]
These guys have some history. Eagles refused the pre-match handshake. He came in with a plan. A lot of his offense is predicated on the leg and against a guy like Ospreay, that’s perfect. He uses so much aerial offense and he has a power advantage. Taking out the leg gets rid of both and sets up Eagles’ own finisher. Juice made a point that Will should alter his strategy when his leg is damaged. It’s something Will doesn’t do and leads to selling issues. Eagles knew what to expect from Ospreay often and had ways to counter or avoid it. They ultimately told a good story, but you could tell this was going long after a few minutes. El Phantasmo came out and distracted the referee. After a ref bump, he nailed Ospreay with a chair. Eagles was clearly upset about that, but took advantage to hit the 450 splash onto the leg and win with the Ron Miller Special in 28:01. I sound like a broken record, but this had NO BUSINESS going nearly 30 minutes. Gedo does it too often. It worked for stuff like ELP/Romero but here it just felt like it was going long to give the sense of drama, yet it had none. I do like Eagles having a smart strategy and how he didn’t like the help. Also, Will’s selling still needs to be more consistent. [***¼]

More from our new Knife Pervert. Juice Robinson cut a promo to the camera saying that he thinks he knows who this is. He isn’t the same guy he used to be and called him a bitch before leaving commentary.

A Block: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion SHO [6] vs. Taiji Ishimori [10]
Ishimori must win to stay alive thanks to the absurd pace Shingo has set. However, we all know how Gedo books his tournaments. Not many surprises. Since Shingo vs. Ishimori is on the final A Block show, that’s what it’ll come down to. Ishimori has to keep pace and knowing that kind of took some of the drama out of this. Still, they went out and had a quality main event. Lots of great action, some cool spots, and some very good back and forth. There were a handful of moments that didn’t come off cleanly. For example, Ishimori totally whiffed on a double stomp attempt at one point. Near the end, they went into pulling out plenty of counters. You know, your typical NJPW closing stretch. Ishimori avoided Shock Arrow a few times and won with Bloody Cross in 20:27. A very good main event that lacked some of the drama to make it great. A good way to close things out, though. [***½]

A BLOCK	POINTS	B BLOCK	POINTS
Shingo Takagi	14 (7-0)	Robbie Eagles	10 (5-2)
Taiji Ishimori	12 (6-1)	El Phantasmo	10 (5-2)
Dragon Lee	10 (5-2)	Will Ospreay	10 (5-2)
Marty Scurll	8 (4-3)	Ryusuke Taguchi	10 (5-2)
Jonathan Gresham	8 (4-3)	BUSHI	8 (4-3)
SHO	6 (3-4)	YOH	8 (4-3)
Tiger Mask IV	4 (2-5)	Rocky Romero	6 (3-4)
Titan	4 (2-5)	Bandido	6 (3-4)
Yoshinobu Kanemaru	4 (2-5)	DOUKI	2 (1-6)
TAKA Michinoku	0 (0-7)	Ren Narita	0 (0-7)

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

A pretty good show. Three matches came in under three stars, which hurt. Plus, while it was good, that Ospreay match going so long made the show drag. Everything else ranged from solid to really good with nothing being great