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DETAILED NJPW BEST OF SUPER JUNIOR DAY ONE REPORT FROM TOKYO, JAPAN

By Matthew Macklin on 2017-05-17 16:00:00

Best of the Super Juniors, Day 1, Korakuen Hall:

Block A

TAKA Michinoku defeated Jushin Thunder Liger.  This was a hell of a fun sprint between these two veterans. Even with their age and limitations, they have so much experience that they can work around it all and put on a really exciting match.  Liger's cannonball off the apron got a big pop. It's very clear that he is going to be the sentimental favourite in this tournament. TAKA put on a crossface and the crowd really bought into Liger almost tapping out. The finish saw TAKA rake the eyes and roll up Liger.  Liger's first tournament win could make for a really cool moment. 

Block B

Volador Jr defeated Tiger Mask IV.  This was very sloppy and disjointed. Tiger worked over the arm and Volador took to the air a couple of times, which was fairly spectacular. Other than that there was a sloppy arm drag off the top and the finish saw Volador win after a really dangerous Spanish Fly that almost went very badly.  Tiger wasn't the best guy to show off what Volador can do.

Block A

Ricochet vs Taichi.  This started with a lot of stalling from Taichi, and a distraction from his girl allowed him to take control after an attack with his cane.  The story of the match with Taichi putting heat on Ricochet, with Ricochet squeezing out some near falls. Taichi got some good near falls with some kicks, before Ricochet won with a shooting star press. It was fine for what it was, but very unmemorable. 

Block B

ACH defeated BUSHI.  This was a huge win for ACH in his BOSJ debut.  He was having too much fun with his entrance, and it cost him because BUSHI was not messing around and was able to control the first part of the match. It's easy to forget how good BUSHI is when we only see him in multi man tags. ACH slowly battled back, with the story being that once ACH fired up and got serious, he exploded and took it to BUSHI. ACH hit a couple of really stiff lariats and won after a Driver, which is a new finisher for him. Very good match. 

Block B

El Desperado defeated KUSHIDA.  KUSHIDA came into this in a slump after being killed twice by Hiromu Takahashi, so even though he was against a lower level guy like Desperado, he still felt like the underdog. Lots of really good wrestling in this and it was good to see Desperado have a chance to show what he can do in NJPW again, after spending so much time hidden away in NOAH.  KUSHIDA fought his way into the match by going after the arm, including a rolling armbar from the top. KUSHIDA locked in the Hoverboard Lock and made Desperado tap, but the ref had been knocked down.  Desperado hit an Angels Wings onto the ROH TV title for the near fall of the match and then hit Guitarra De Angel to finish off the junior ace.  This was really well booked, with KUSHIDA having some bad luck, costing him the victory.

Block A

Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay.  These two men have met so many times and have had so many classic matches that they can have a great match without even trying at this point. This was outstanding. It was a pleasure seeing Scurll walk into Korakuen Hall and get a great reaction, with the crowd very clearly knowing who he was. Scurll is one of the most complete acts in wrestling right now, and is very deserving of this spot. This match saw Scurll get to introduce all of his trademark spots to a new audience while still having a killer match full of amazing counters and spectacular sequences.  These guys now have counters to counter each other's counters and always add a new twist to what they do.  The finish saw Scurll catch an OsCutter and lock on the Chickenwing to get the submission win in what was a perfect start to his NJPW career. Obviously, go out of your way to see this one. 

Block B

Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru.  This was a really good match. Plenty of comedy and ass attacks from Taguchi, including being made to run the ropes until he wore himself out. Kanemaru is such a good solid wrestler and could have a nice run in this tournament. He hit a combo of a satellite DDT, an inverted DDT and a diving DDT to score a big near fall. Taguchi finally got the ankle lock, but some interference from TAKA backfired allowing Taguchi to low blow and small package Kanemaru.  

Block A

Dragon Lee defeated Hiromu Takahashi.  If you've ever seen a match between these two, you know what to expect. It was more of the same, insane, high risk, crazy offence and it was spectacular to watch. It started with a full on chop exchange and it never slowed down. We saw Lee steal some moves from Hiromu, for example he hit him with a sunset bomb off the apron, a great call back to their previous matches. At one point they continuously German suplxed each other so much that I lost count. They took turns hitting Death Valley drivers into the corner.  Hiromu hit an amazing looking Canadian destroyer. There was so much, that it's impossible to list. The finish saw Lee finish Hiromu with a Phoenix Plex, which is one of the craziest looking moves in pro wrestling.  This was a huge win for Lee over the IWGP Jr Heavyweight champion. 

This show is available now for FREE at this link: http://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00440_1_1

Day two takes place tomorrow morning again from Korakuen Hall and will focus on Block A. The full card for the show:

Tiger Mask IV, Tomoyuki Oka & Hirai Kawato vs Tetsuhiro Yagi, Shota Umino & Katsuyori Kitamura 

ACH & Volador Jr vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado 

Hanson, Ray Rowe & David Finlay vs Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi 

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA vs Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI

Block A

TAKA Michinoku vs Taichi

Marty Scurll vs Dragon Lee

Hiromu Takahashi vs Jushin Thunder Liger 

Will Ospreay vs Ricochet 

 

 

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