Kevin’s NJPW Best of the Super Juniors XXIV Night Eight Review

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors XXIV Night Eight Review
May 26th, 2017 | Nagano Athletic Park Gymnasium in Nagano, Japan | Attendance: 913

The A Block is back today with a few interesting matchups. Jushin Thunder Liger looks for his first win as he takes on Ricochet, Hiromu Takahashi goes against another Suzuki-Gun guy and Will Ospreay and Dragon Lee rematch their ROH outing.

A Block: Marty Scurll [6] vs. Taichi [4]
Considering their point totals, I can predict this outcome. As always, Taichi attacked before the bell, but his microphone stand was outdueled by Marty’s umbrella. Marty could show Taichi how to be a proper villain and not one who sucks the life out of everything he’s involved in. Since NJPW heels tend to be carbon copies of each other, whether Suzuki-Gun or Bullet Club, this had the standard brawling around the arena. Marty made Taichi tap to the chicken wing, but the referee was down, so it was missed. Taichi used a low blow and roll up to steal two points at 9:25. About what I expected. Scurll tried, but couldn’t drag Taichi to something better. [**]

A Block: Jushin Thunder Liger [0] vs. Ricochet [6]
I gave their match in the tournament last year ***½. Ricochet pumping his fist at the “LIGER” part of Liger’s theme was cool. There was a respect based back and forth sequence in the early goings. Liger would gain control, but Ricochet used his quickness to slip free. Once they got into their stuff, everything flowed smoothly. They’re just so good. I also liked how it showcased something different for Ricochet. Against guys like Lee and Ospreay, he flies all over the place. Here, we saw other facets of his game and man, Ricochet is damn good. He picked up the win with King’s Landing at 9:04. Liger continues to have a strong final tournament, despite his 0-5 record. Ricochet has another very good match and remains consistent. I’d like to see him get a Jr. Title run at some point. [***¼]

A Block: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi [4] vs. TAKA Michinoku [2]
Hiromu got a good match out of Taichi, so this should be just as good, if not better. And it was. TAKA looked to do the Suzuki-Gun style of underhanded tactics, while Hiromu was out to pretty much just punch him in the mouth and bring the big offense. Unlike Taichi and Kanemaru, TAKA’s shenanigans were entertaining. They didn’t feel like he was doing them for the sake of it, but to overcome the juggernaut that is Hiromu. TAKA showed his desperation by feigning a knee injury, using eye pokes and trying several rollups down the stretch. Hiromu survived it all and won with the Time Bomb in 9:24. Hiromu Takahashi can do no wrong. Another fun match for him, while TAKA has another solid outing. TAKA knew he was overmatched and tried everything, but it wasn’t enough. [***¼]

A Block: Dragon Lee [6] vs. Will Ospreay [6]
At ROH’s Manhattan Mayhem VI, these two had a ***¾ showcase. Like that match, this was the two athletic showmen trying to outdo each other and take the lead in their block. However, Dragon Lee showed how he’s more well-rounded than Will. His strikes were better and he didn’t have an odd section early on where he tried some odd submission work. As fliers, they’re about even, and when they focused on that, the match was at their best. Ospreay kicked out of some of Lee’s best shots, including the tree of woe stomp. He fought off the Dragon Driver and went into his finishing stretch, capping it off with the Oscutter to win at 10:06. I preferred their ROH match. This was a fine showcase too, but I wasn’t a fan of some of the early stuff and the finish felt anti-climactic. Ospreay leads the A Block, which is disappointing to me since I’ve been over him for about a year now. [***]

A Block	Points	B Block	Points
Will Ospreay	8 (4-1)	El Desperado	6 (3-1)
Dragon Lee	6 (3-2)	Yoshinobu Kanemaru	6 (3-1)
Ricochet	6 (3-2)	Volador Jr.	4 (2-2)
Hiromu Takahashi	6 (3-2)	Tiger Mask IV	4 (2-2)
Taichi	6 (3-2)	ACH	4 (2-2)
Marty Scurll	6 (3-2)	Ryusuke Taguchi	4 (2-2)
TAKA Michinoku	2 (1-4)	KUSHIDA	2 (1-3)
Jushin Thunder Liger	0 (0-5)	BUSHI	2 (1-3)

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

The story with the A Block is the same each time out. Taichi drags the show down all by himself. To be fair, the rest of the card wasn’t that strong either. I thought Liger/Ricochet and Hiromu/TAKA were both highly enjoyable, but found Lee/Ospreay to be a disappointment. Nothing here is must see, but everything is fine.