◆ Best of The Super Junior 2019 : Tour schedule, Full lineup & Ticket sales info https://www.njpw1972.com/schedule/
◆ The event will be live-streamed on https://njpwworld.com/
The Best of the Super Juniors gets underway at Korakuen Hall on May 18. Headlining is IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay against Taiji Ishimori. After Ospreay retained his title against KUSHIDA at Dontaku, Ishimori revealed himself as the new Bone Soldier and laid the champion out. It seems that under the watch of Tama Tonga, Ishimori has revealed his true evil colours, and could potentially clinch a huge win over the junior heavyweight champion.
It’s Roppongi 3K versus Los Ingobernables De Japon in the semi main as YOH faces BUSHI. This is YOH’s first singles match since returning to New Japan last October, and he’ll look to prove his worth as a singles wrestler against BUSHI. RPG 3K and LIJ are definitely familiar with each other in tag environments, and now YOH will be looking to blaze a singles trail for the first time.
Flip Gordon has his first BOSJ match on the 18th as he faces ACH. On February 23, on Gordon’s first appearance in Korakuen, he scored a pinfall on Hiromu Takahashi in a three way. ACH has a slight experience edge on Gordon, having participated in last year’s BOSJ as well. Could he come out on top of what’s sure to be an awesome aerial display?
Rounding out day one of Block A action, it’s Tiger Mask and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. This is a clash of two veterans with well established resumes, but with vastly different styles and ethics. Will IWGP Junior Tag Team Champion Kanemaru defeat the first ever back to back BOSJ winner Tiger Mask?
On May 19, day two of the tournament sees B Block get underway. On top of the card is Hiromu Takahashi and Marty Scurll. These two have faced each other several times in ROH, but they’ve kept some measure of distance in NJPW. Both were part of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship four way at Wrestle Kingdom 12, but they’ve only met once in Japan one on one. That was at last year’s BOSJ, a match that saw Takahashi triumph with the Time Bomb. Could Hiromu repeat in 2018? Or will the momentum garnered from his recent NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship win see the Villain prevail?
Underneath Takahashi and Scurll is KUSHIDA taking on Chris Sabin. Very few degrees of separation exist between KUSHIDA and Sabin, as both have formed successful tag teams with Alex Shelley; KUSHIDA as the Time Splitters and Sabin as Motor City Machineguns. In fact, KUSHIDA, Sabin and Shelley have teamed up to form an effective trio in America before, but in BOSJ, there are no allies. This is an unpredictable affair.
We’ll also see Ryusuke Taguchi face El Desperado. During last year’s BOSJ, Desperado defeated the Taguchi Japan leader with a Pinche Loco. Now, he’s one half of the IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions. But Taguchi isn’t just about fun loving and sportsmanship; the Funky Weapon can get serious, and dangerous.
Then there’s Dragon Lee in his second BOSJ opposite SHO in his first. SHO is having his first singles match since returning to NJPW with YOH as Roppongi 3K, but with his MMA experience, powerful strikes and formidable suplexes, he’s sure to be quite the match for the aggressive Lee.
