NJPW Best of Super Juniors Night 1 Review 5/17/17

Hi, I’m Darrian and I will be doing coverage of NJPW’s annual Best of Super Junior’s tournament and I will start it off with the first day of the tournament.

TAKA Michinoku vs Jushin Thunder Liger

This was a very good opener between two legends and innovators of the Junior Heavyweight style. Liger has stated that this years BOSJ will be his last so he is bound to be desperate to win and he shows this in this match by attacking Michinoku with a chair. It is all for not as TAKA takes this one is a solid match.

Match Rating: ***

Volador Jr. vs Tiger Mask

Another solid match here between two good wrestlers. Volador was a surprise in this tournament but he really showed out here in this match. Nothing much to say here just some solid wrestling. Also acted as a mini showcase for Volador for fans who might not be familiar with his work. Volador picks up the win in impressive fashion

Match Rating: **1/4

Ricochet vs Taichi

I was not a fan of this match at all. Ricochet is one of the best wrestlers in the world today but on the other side of the spectrum you have Taichi who is an absolute struggle to watch wrestle. The best thing about him is his beautiful manager that accompanies him to the ring. With that being said Ricochet easily disposes of him with and picks up the win.

Match Rating: *

ACH vs BUSHI

This was a really good match and continued a string of them to follow. If anyone knows or has watched ACH before they know of his aerial escapades. He is a top talent and has made his way to NJPW for this tournament. BUSHI of the LIJ stable is also a great talent and gets to show off in some singles competition. It is no surprise this match was good. ACH is the winner here, cementing his status as someone to look out for in the tournament.

Match Rating: ***1/2

El Desperado vs KUSHIDA

Going into this match I knew KUSHIDA and how talented he was but wasn’t as aware of Desperado. That changed quickly with this match as this showed that Desperado can hang with the best in the division as he beat the former head of the division in KUSHIDA. Desperado can be the underdog in this tournament and make it far.

Match Rating: ****

Marty Scurll vs Will Ospreay

This was another banger in series of matches between these two. Every time you have Ospreay and Scurll in the ring together you are bound to have magic and this was no different. Not only was it great but Marty was also surprisingly over with the crowd. All around really good as it played off their past encounters but also help acquaint people who maybe haven’t seen their previous encounters. The Villain picks up the win here in another solid installment of their rivalry.

Match Rating: ****

Rysuke Taguchi vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru

This was a match I originally planned on skipping until I decided to do this review but it actually ended up being pretty good. It wasn’t the worst match on the card as I was expecting but that it’s hard to be worse then a Taichi match. I liked Taguchi trying to do his antics with his ass (yes I know, Taguchi is a weird dude) and Kanemaru stopping him at all costs until the end where Taguchi catches Kanemaru off guard and wins with a roll-up.

Match Rating: ***1/4

Dragon Lee vs Hiromu Takahashi

These men are no strangers to each other. They have put on phenomenal matches across the world in places like CMLL, ROH, and NJPW. Now here they meet in the main event of the evening. I think it is impossible for these men to have a bad match. Everything they did here was phenomenal. My favorite thing about these two is no matter how many times they face off (They have faced off roughly 16 times) they always make the match seem fresh and new. The opening minute or so of chops and suplex battle toward the final stretch were both dope and something new. Dragon Lee takes the win here in an amazing match.

Match Rating: ****1/2

I definitely recommend this show as it was really good, only one bad match (Taichi you are garbage). If you wish to view it, it is free on NJPW’s streaming service; NJPW World. My Match of the night is a toss up between Desperado/KUSHIDA or Lee/Takahashi.