NJPW Best of the Super Jr. 25 - 5.30
njpwworld didn't upload the prelim bouts:
YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay defeated Tiger Mask & Shota Umino.
Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori defeated ACH & Tomoyuki Oka.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki defeated YOH & Gedo.
Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI defeated Flip Gordon & Toa Henare.
Best of the Super Jr 25 Block B Match
Good match with a LOT of near falls throughout the match. Scurll went for the fingers most of the match until he got them later before the finish, he worked Dragon Lee's arm for a while too. Lee on the other hand, was going for his bigger impact spots like the Spanish Fly or the Tree of Woe Footstomp, but he actually kept the dives to a minimum this match. Scurll won via submission with the Chickenwing after landing a reverse suplex. I really do feel like Dragon Lee has been the MVP of the tournament so far.
Best of the Super Jr 25 Block B Match
Match started with some Taguchi comedy, that SHO was trying to avoid and keep focus, but everyone always gets dragged to Taguchi comedy whether they like it or not. SHO worked a submission based match, targeting the arm and back. Taguchi made a comeback doing his butt moveset, but he did have some good spots here and there and he did at one point start working SHO's leg. SHO actually had some good butt counters to keep working Taguchi's back up until the last minutes where Taguchi is desperately chasing the submission or pinfall by any means, ending with a Korriyama and a bridge pinfall. Good match, I liked everything SHO did, and that's why I think he should had won, his dominance was just better. Fans did pop for everything Taguchi did.
Best of the Super Jr 25 Block B Match
Great match. Hiromu worked over Sabin's head and neck for a while. Sabin for the most part was all about strikes up until the latter parts of the match when he started hitting bigger moves looking for the finish. At the end, Sabin tapped out to the D after Hiromu countered an second All Hail Sabin.
Best of the Super Jr 25 Block B Match
Desperado as usual jumped KUSHIDA, but this time the babyface actually just kicked Desperado's ass. Desperado did ward off KUSHIDA's momentum and attack his leg with chairs and in a great visual, drive him down through the crowd in a cart. Back in the ring, Desperado worked a lot over KUSHIDA's leg. After some dives, KUSHDA finally made a comeback and started working over Despy's arm, but at most, they started going back and forward, as Desperado would still counter KUSHIDA's stuff into the Stretch Muffler.
Midway through the match, Desperado tried to Superplex KUSHIDA into the outside exposed floor. This is a bad idea. Inside the ring, KUSHIDA had a visual submission over Desperado, but the ref had been knocked out, but differently from Scurll yesterday that just let go of the submission, KUSHIDA kept it locked in until he realized the Young Lions couldn't get the ref up. The distraction was enough for Desperado to get some chair shots in and hit an Angle Slam for a near fall.
Finish saw Desperado go for the Guitarra de Angel, but KUSHIDA got out of it and landed Desperado face first into an exposed turnbuckle, the KUSHIDA went for a Dragonrana and almost broke his own neck for a near fall, and finally landed the Back to the Future for the win. Another great match for both guys. Desperado is officially eliminated at this point.
It's interesting how as the tournament gets closer to the end, we're seeing more and more guys go for submission wins. Desperado with the Stretch Muffler or Hiromu with the D.
Post-match - KUSHIDA cut his promo about winning and saying that before, Juniors were always seen as second hand wrestlers, but now thanks to the fans, they're getting more main events and bigger spotlights.
Not the awesomeness we've been seeing from Block B, but great nonetheless. All tournament matches maintained a great level of wrestling.
YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay defeated Tiger Mask & Shota Umino.
Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori defeated ACH & Tomoyuki Oka.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki defeated YOH & Gedo.
Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI defeated Flip Gordon & Toa Henare.
Best of the Super Jr 25 Block B Match
"The Villain" Marty Scurll (4) vs Dragon Lee (6) - 8/10
Good match with a LOT of near falls throughout the match. Scurll went for the fingers most of the match until he got them later before the finish, he worked Dragon Lee's arm for a while too. Lee on the other hand, was going for his bigger impact spots like the Spanish Fly or the Tree of Woe Footstomp, but he actually kept the dives to a minimum this match. Scurll won via submission with the Chickenwing after landing a reverse suplex. I really do feel like Dragon Lee has been the MVP of the tournament so far.
Best of the Super Jr 25 Block B Match
Ryusuke Taguchi (4) vs SHO (4) - 7.5/10
Match started with some Taguchi comedy, that SHO was trying to avoid and keep focus, but everyone always gets dragged to Taguchi comedy whether they like it or not. SHO worked a submission based match, targeting the arm and back. Taguchi made a comeback doing his butt moveset, but he did have some good spots here and there and he did at one point start working SHO's leg. SHO actually had some good butt counters to keep working Taguchi's back up until the last minutes where Taguchi is desperately chasing the submission or pinfall by any means, ending with a Korriyama and a bridge pinfall. Good match, I liked everything SHO did, and that's why I think he should had won, his dominance was just better. Fans did pop for everything Taguchi did.
Best of the Super Jr 25 Block B Match
Chris Sabin (4) vs Hiromu Takahashi (4) - 8.5/10
Great match. Hiromu worked over Sabin's head and neck for a while. Sabin for the most part was all about strikes up until the latter parts of the match when he started hitting bigger moves looking for the finish. At the end, Sabin tapped out to the D after Hiromu countered an second All Hail Sabin.
Best of the Super Jr 25 Block B Match
"Aerial Assassin" Will Ospreay (4) vs El Desperado (2) - 8.5/10
Desperado as usual jumped KUSHIDA, but this time the babyface actually just kicked Desperado's ass. Desperado did ward off KUSHIDA's momentum and attack his leg with chairs and in a great visual, drive him down through the crowd in a cart. Back in the ring, Desperado worked a lot over KUSHIDA's leg. After some dives, KUSHDA finally made a comeback and started working over Despy's arm, but at most, they started going back and forward, as Desperado would still counter KUSHIDA's stuff into the Stretch Muffler.
Midway through the match, Desperado tried to Superplex KUSHIDA into the outside exposed floor. This is a bad idea. Inside the ring, KUSHIDA had a visual submission over Desperado, but the ref had been knocked out, but differently from Scurll yesterday that just let go of the submission, KUSHIDA kept it locked in until he realized the Young Lions couldn't get the ref up. The distraction was enough for Desperado to get some chair shots in and hit an Angle Slam for a near fall.
Finish saw Desperado go for the Guitarra de Angel, but KUSHIDA got out of it and landed Desperado face first into an exposed turnbuckle, the KUSHIDA went for a Dragonrana and almost broke his own neck for a near fall, and finally landed the Back to the Future for the win. Another great match for both guys. Desperado is officially eliminated at this point.
It's interesting how as the tournament gets closer to the end, we're seeing more and more guys go for submission wins. Desperado with the Stretch Muffler or Hiromu with the D.
Post-match - KUSHIDA cut his promo about winning and saying that before, Juniors were always seen as second hand wrestlers, but now thanks to the fans, they're getting more main events and bigger spotlights.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Not the awesomeness we've been seeing from Block B, but great nonetheless. All tournament matches maintained a great level of wrestling.