Pantoja’s NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 30 Night 4 Review

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 30 Night 4

May 16^th, 2023 | Akita Prefectural Budokan in Arayamachi, Akita | Attendance: 762

After a night off, the tournament is back and it has been mostly good so far. Only night two felt like a weak effort so I’m hoping things are strong again here.

B Block: Clark Connors [4] vs. YOH [2]

Awkward to have Kevin Kelly talk about how big the venue is when they have less than 1,000 in attendance. Anyway, these two faced off last year (***). I liked YOH trying some Toru Yano tactics here. It’s worth trying new things to find success and he did it earlier in the tournament with TenKoji moves. It also played into his new more free style. Connors turned the exposed turnbuckle against him but I wish his used his power more as that would’ve made for a better match I think. YOH still found himself in trouble late but then caught Connors with the Five Star Clutch to snatch a win in 6:44. A solid enough short match. [**¾]

Post-match, Connors attacked YOH and hit the No Chaser on the turnbuckle pad. Doesn’t that, like, not hurt all that much? He then added a conchairto with the turnbuckle pad included. Lio Rush is apparently a bad friend.

A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi [0] vs. Titán [4]

No prior singles matches that I could find but they were part of the Super Jr. Tag Tournament together once. This had some solid back and forth and though Taguchi is trying to be serious, they had fun again with him running the ropes and getting tired. Commentary noted that a loss here would mark the first time Taguchi lost four straight BOSJ matches since his first appearance 20 years ago. Titán was basically too fast for Taguchi at several points and that was kind of the story here. Again, Taguchi hit Dodon only for a near fall, further proving that he isn’t as effective as he used to be. Titán hurt his leg but still won with the Muta Lock in 9:21. Nothing special but I liked the story they told here and the action was good. [***]

B Block: BUSHI [0] vs. Robbie Eagles [4]

Robbie’s fifth straight BOSJ and fifth straight year facing BUSHI, who he is 1-3 against. The bouts are usually good (2019 – ***, 2020 – ***¼, 2021 & 2022 – ***½). Looking to change his fortunes, Eagles started hot with a tope but within minutes, was on the ground trapped in a submission. Robbie put the focus on the knee, looking to set up the Ron Miller Special. He applied it after countering MX but BUSHI survived for the time being. Surprisingly though, the Ron Miller Special was part of the finish. After trading some offense down the stretch, Eagles managed to escape Code Red and win with the Trigger Knee in 9:20. Not a mark on their stuff but still a good wrestling match. [***]

A Block: DOUKI [2] vs. TJP [2]

Their match last year was very good (***½) and DOUKI is among the MVPs of the tournament this year so far. TJP opened by attacking during DOUKI’s entrance and hit the Mamba Splash to try and win in just a few seconds. His second attempt at the move saw him get caught in the DOUKI CHOUKI for another close call. That pace was fun but when they fought up through the aisle and outside, I lost a bit of interest. I was back into it when they hit the ring and started trading mat work like the DOUKI CHOUKI and Pinoy Stretch. TJP got a near fall on the Final Cut after DOUKI found more problems in trying for Suplex de la Luna too often. TJP followed with another Mamba Splash to win in 8:22. I’m liking these sub-10 minute times. Best match of the night so far and would’ve ranked higher without that outside stuff. [***¼]

B Block: Dan Moloney [2] vs. Francesco Akira [4]

Moloney hasn’t had the chance to really do anything that stands out so far. He did beat Akira earlier this year in a match that earned him an offer for a spot in the United Empire. They showcased strong chemistry from the start with good, crisp action that only got better as the match progressed. The poison rana spot looked especially great and it got Moloney close to a victory. Akira did like TJP and kept escaping his opponent’s big move, avoiding the Drilla Killa a few times. Akira kicked out of a fisherman buster and again countered the Drilla Killa before winning with the Fireball in 8:27. Kind of odd to have this follow a similar story to the last match but both were very good. [***¼]

A Block: KUSHIDA [0] vs. Mike Bailey [6]

Surprised this isn’t higher on the card just based on who is involved. KUSHIDA went back to the shorts he wore in NXT for this one. We got some mat work to start this before things spilled outside for a strike battle. KUSHIDA goaded Bailey into a kick that he missed and hit the post. They telegraphed the spot but it still worked. The tournament keeps reiterating that Bailey has bare feet and if it’s me, I’d just wear some damn shoes. Bailey gained some momentum but KUSHIDA was always able to stop him by catching him in a submission or something along those lines. However, Bailey ROCKED him with a knee. That evened things out again and they just kept up a great pace of action. KUSHIDA applied the Hoverboard Lock but wisely transitioned to a heel hook of sorts that forced Bailey to submit after 9:26. That was a blast and felt so different from the majority of what we’ve seen in this tournament. [***¾]

After the match, KUSHIDA bothered Kevin Kelly to try and get Scott D’Amore’s phone number. Shouldn’t he have this since he worked Impact recently?

B Block: El Desperado [4] vs. Kevin Knight [2]

Both guys enter this match with some bad legs, though Desperado had considerably more damage done to his. Of course, they decided to immediately start this with quick moves, dives, and the kind of things you shouldn’t really do with a bad wheel. Ah, well. It is good to see Knight flying around there as he’s very impressive in the air. Desperado was the first to work the leg though Knight responded with a wild springboard cross body. Down the stretch, Knight survived Numero Dos and Guitarra de Angel but fell to Pinche Loco in 8:42. A pretty good match that would’ve been better with more consistent selling. [***]

A Block: Hiromu Takahashi [2] vs. SHO [2]

I used to love this pairing. They met in the 2018 BOSJ (****), 2020 BOSJ (****), 2021 BOSJ (***¼), 2022 New Japan Cup (**), 2022 BOSJ (***), and the New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021 (****). Here, EVIL and SHO came out in non-wrestling gear to read a “note from Hiromu” saying that he wouldn’t wrestle and that SHO should win via forfeit. Of course, it was a ruse as Hiromu showed up with his arms tied up and he fought off the House of Torture despite it. Once he got free, our match started and it was classic House of Torture nonsense with ref shoving, chairs, EVIL interference, and the works. Hiromu used Time Bomb II to overcome it all and win in 7:38. Moving on. [**]

B Block: Master Wato [2] vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru [4]

They’ve had meetings at Summer Struggle in Jingu 2020 (**) and the 2021 BOSJ (**¾) that I’ve seen. Traditional Kanemaru stuff here as he went after the knee to slow down his younger, quicker opponent. Wato struggled to start up any comeback because Kanemaru is a vet who did things like holding the Figure Four for a while after Wato reached the ropes. It wasn’t until Kanemaru made a mistake with a moonsault attempt that Wato got rolling. He capitalized with some offense and got a near fall with Recientemente. I thought that would be the finish but I actually liked the ending so much more. It saw Wato hit a pretty German Suplex at the 9:38 mark. It wasn’t an overly fancy ending or anything like that but his German is phenomenal so I love seeing it. [***]

A Block: Lio Rush [6] vs. Taiji Ishimori [6]

After this, one man will sit atop the A Block with a perfect record. Though Ishimori no longer works at the speed he did in NOAH, he can still go as evidenced by the opening exchanges here. When he realized Lio had his number there though, he slowed the pace with some arm work. We’ve had a lot of leg focus in this tourney so this was appreciated. Lio found himself in trouble so he threw his body into a tope suicida. An exposed turnbuckle helped put Ishimori back on top and allowed work on the arm/shoulder to continue. I don’t know what it is but a shoulderbreaker always looks vicious to me. Lio was able to survive the Bone Lock and forth back before both men were laid out via double clothesline. Lio took over with a TKO only to eat knees on the Final Hour attempt. That led to our close call of both guys going for their biggest moves and countering each other. Lio hit a Sega Mega Driver, springboard stunner, and the Final Hour to remain unbeaten in 16:56. Just one hell of a back and forth match where both guys played to their strengths and mostly delivered. [***¾]

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

It looks like the even numbered nights of the tournament are going to be the lesser ones. This wasn’t bad at all though, with only one or two things standing out as being stuff I didn’t care for. Nothing is must see but it moves along nicely and pretty much everything is at least ***.