NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING

NEWS

MAY.22.2023

#INFO

Best of the Super Jr. 30 night 9 (May 23) Preview

Last A Block Matches in Osaka

After an intense run through the league phase of Best of the Super Jr. 30, Osaka sees the final block matches Tuesday and Wednesday. Starting with A Block, who makes it to the final four?

Watch Best of the Super Jr. 30 live in English on NJPW World!

Main event: Hiromu Takahashi (6-2) vs Titan (5-3)

Singles record 2-1 Hiromu

Hiromu advances with a win.

Titan needs to win and for Bailey to win.

Titan and Hiromu Takahashi’s three past singles encounters came at interesting times for the Time Bomb. They met in ring in the 2013 Best of the Super Jr just before Hiromu went on excursion to Mexico. There they encountered one another again in a 2015 Mexico City bout, before their final singles meeting, and Hiromu’s only win over Titan on his first Fantasticamania back from excursion. As a result, El Inmortal and the Time Bomb haven’t faced one another one on one since Hiromu’s meteroic rise in the junior heavyweight ranks, let alone since titan joined Los Ingobernables De Japon. This LIJ derby comes at a critical juncture, but who comes out on top this time?

7th Match Lio Rush (6-2) vs Mike Bailey (6-2)

Singles record: 1-0 Bailey

Both advance with a win.

If Bailey loses, he still advances with a Titan win

Having lost his only singles encounter, in the US last year, with the Speedball, Lio Rush has to get his win back if he’s to make the final four in a go big or go home bout. Both men have made a huge mark over the course of their first ever Best of the Super Jr. campaigns, with both being able to defeat Hiromu Takahashi over the course of their league bouts before being well in the mix in this final night. Meanwhile Mike Bailey’s victory over Titan gives him an added safety net should Lio Rush come out on top. Who can move ahead? 

DOUKI (3-5) vs SHO (3-5)

Singles record: 2-0 SHO

Before three bouts will decide the A Block at the top of the card, there will be a pair of battles fought over pride, of which DOUKI has a lot and SHO has none. Japones Del Mal badly wants to record his career best BOSJ record with one more win, and the whole world would like nothing better than for it to come at the expense of the Murder Machine. Not one of SHO’s   wins have been deserved- will DOUKI grant him a well deserved final loss tonight?

KUSHIDA (3-5) vs Ryusuke Taguchi (0-8)

Singles record: 5-2 Taguchi

It’s been a decidedly disappointing BOSJ30 campaign for both KUSHIDA and Ryusuke Taguchi. Despite seemingly having the tools, and putting in strong performances every night, the results have not come for either man. With one more match to go, both will look to show that they can still get it done, and that they belong in BOSJ 31.  

  4th Match: Kevin Knight, Master Wato & YOH vs Just 5 Guys (Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

 

TAKA Michinoku and Taichi join the tour in fourth match six man action tonight. With YOH’s bout against Kanemaru potentially determining the whole block, he’ll likely be cagey in the ring tonight- as will Master Wato, who faces the other partner in this equation Kevin Knight. Can these three competitive elements form a cohesive enough team to be victorious, or might Kanemaru set to early work on YOH tonight?

3rd Match: United Empire (Dan Moloney & Francesco Akira) vs BULLET CLUB (Gedo & Clark Connors) 

 

Dan Moloney, Francesco Akira and Clark Connors are all mathematically eliminated from B Block, but will be fighting for pride Wednesday night at the B Block final. Events have shown that all three are prideful men indeed, with Akira’s gutsy performance against El Desperado at the weekend being the biggest proof. Connors and Moloney have distinct pride in being the best power juniors on the roster, and we’ll get a taste of a high impact clash here tonight.

2nd Match: Ryohei Oiwa & El Desperado vs TMDK (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita)

 

With Wednesday night’s B Block matches likely headlined with a decisive battle between El Desperado an Robbie Eagles, the two rivals will collide in tag team action tonight. who can set the strongest pace going into the B Block finals?

1st Match: Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima vs United Empire (TJP & Great-O-Khan)

 

With TJP’s planned match with Taiji Ishimori unfortunately out of the question with Ishimori’s injury, the Public Enemy teams with Great-O-Khan to take on Oskar Leube and Yuto Nakashima, as the Young Lions get a chance to show their worth.  

 

 

BACK TO NEWS TOP