wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 30 Finals Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 30 Finals
May 28th, 2023 | Ota City Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 3,312
You could’ve given me dozens of guesses for the finals of this tournament and I wouldn’t have picked Titán vs. Master Wato with any of them. We’re here, though, looking to cap what has been a very good and pretty interesting tournament.
With this being such a packed weekend, the undercard stuff won’t get too much shine here.
Boltin Oleg and Togi Makabe vs. Oskar Leube and Yuto Nakashima
There wasn’t much to write home about with this one. It was your typical Young Lions match with them doing all of the work and Togi Makabe just existing. However, I was FLOORED by the sight of Togi taking a bump. Like, he took a hip toss and I haven’t seen him leave his feet in years. Oskar had a highlight when slammed Oleg in relatively impressive fashion. Makabe also went up top for a King Kong Knee Drop on Yuto that ended this in 6:37. Fine enough opener. [**¼]
Clark Connors vs. Ryohei Oiwa
Connors was a bright spot in the 2022 tourney but as usual, the Bullet Club has sucked the interest out of him this year. This was another pretty basic match with the idea being that Oiwa is a Young Lion who always puts up a fight but Connors is a vicious and strong junior heavyweight heel. He had some fun giving out a beating but Oiwa made him regret that a couple of times. Connors stopped his momentum with a Spear and added a terrible looking No Chaser to win in 5:18. That happened and that’s the most I can say here. [**]
Connors continued the assault with a chair after the bell.
Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles vs. Lio Rush and YOH
A regular tandem against Robbie Eagles and the TMDK Young Boy. I would’ve put through YOH through to the finals or have him win it all. At least give him and Lio the Tag Titles. This had the expected fast-paced action you’d expect from these four. I got the Lio/Eagles meeting that I wish we had in the tournament because that would’ve ruled. Despite his lack of experience, Fujita more than held his own with these guys and the match really never slowed down. He nearly won with a pinning combination on Lio that I think everyone bit on. Alas, he fell to Final Hour in the end after 9:12. A really good undercard tag. I wonder if Robbie will get a stronger partner if he goes after the Tag Titles given his win over Knight in the BOSJ. [***¼]
Aaron Henare, Catch-22, Dan Moloney and The Great-O-Khan vs. Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA, TenKoji and Yuji Nagata
Ah, could this be a way of setting up a Catch-22/Jet Setters rematch? I also love seeing my Dads out there again. The Nagata/O-Khan exchange was the best part of this match. They were just being shitty to each other and it was great. The juniors did their thing too, bringing the speed and energy to this. Knight got isolated for a bit before TenKoji played the hits and the crowd ate it up, as you’d expect. The focus late was on the juniors leading up to a Henare/Tenzan clash of the BIG MEATY MEN. In the end, Henare put him down with Streets of Rage in 12:50. I had a good time here. [***]
EVIL, SHO and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI
Commentary has just given up talking about House of Torture matches and honestly, I relate. I’m not even going to put effort into this because the stable certainly doesn’t. This match was a bunch of nothing until the House of Torture brought O-Khan and Henare into the ring (they were sitting at ringside) to force a no contest as this all broke down. It went 9:07 and was a whole two pack of ass. [DUD]
Bishamon and the United Empire team got into a shoving match as the House of Torture guys left.
El Desperado, Mike Bailey, Ren Narita & Shota Umino vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tomohiro Ishii
Our NEVER Six Man Champions and Taguchi against two former champions, Bailey, and Shooter. At the bell, the fans really wanted Taguchi to start but Shooter only wanted Okada, who brushed him off as an annoying dude he didn’t want to deal with. Eventually Taguchi got to start and was kicked into Ishii, who got to have some action against Bailey and Desperado. I love that when Ren and Shota came back in, Tanahashi and Okada were ready to kick their asses. We also had fun with Tanahashi and Okada taking them down and posing only for Taguchi to join as if he helped and for Ishii to no sell the whole thing. This is easily the most I think I’ve ever enjoyed Okada. I’ve always felt that he came across as unlikable, so him being a total jerk to young guys with the same cocky attitude he had when he returned to new Japan is such a perfect role for him. I also liked Ren and Shooter not really getting along either. Umino threw a table at Okada outside before Ren made Taguchi submit to the Cobra Twist in 12:47. That was so much fun. [***½]
Post-match, we got Desperado and Bailey getting into it out of respect and wanting to see what it was like. They fist bumped at the end. Shooter then got on the microphone to talk more shit to Okada. He issued a challenge for Dominion for the titles and said he’s bringing Jon Moxley and CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI. Oh, fuck. Claudio in New Japan is kind of what people have wanted forever. Shooter also guaranteed to be the one to beat Okada.
BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito vs. DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
These tags are interesting as they do continue the SANADA/LIJ thread but they’re not doing anything for the already lackluster sounding SANADA/Tsuji match. Not much new from this one as we got the old Shingo/Taichi exchanges and nothing particularly fresh from anyone involved. In the end, I got proof that DOUKI isn’t going anywhere because he jobbed to one Destino and I didn’t believe that was possible anymore. This was an average 11:52. [**½]
Best of the Super Juniors Finals: Master Wato vs. Titán
The finals nobody picked. They met last year (***¼) but there are legit stakes now. Wato had Tenzan in his corner while LIJ was with Titán. The crowd was split for this early and the guys played into the evenly matched idea with neither gaining a clear upper hand and them having a few standoffs. They quickly moved into bigger spots with dives outside before Titán took over for a bit. Wato’s comeback included a neckbreaker, Recientemente, and Vendeval for close calls. Titán kept going to the Trailer Hitch and by the time he applied it after the 20 minute mark, the crowd was RABID. I swear they were more into this than I’ve seen for a BOSJ Finals in a long time. Just further proof to try new things in this company. The closing stretch was electric with German suplex near falls and Titán hitting Mistica followed by a series of strikes and kicks. The double stomp connected but he couldn’t cover in time and Wato managed to get a shoulder up. Another Trailer Hitch saw a roll up counter for two. Wato added a kick to the head and hit the Tsutenkaku German but rolled it into Recientemente V2 to become BOSJ winner in an epic 24:48. An incredible match that was way better than expected. A star-making performance on both sides and even if I’m not a big Wato fan, he showed out when he had to. A great story too and the hot crowd only made it better. [****½]
Of the five shows this weekend, three have culminated with ****½ matches. Your move, Double or Nothing and Battleground.
Post-match, Wato confirmed that he’ll take his shot next weekend at Dominion in his hometown.
