On Monday May 13, the Best of the Super Juniors 26 tournament finally kicks off in Sendai. You’ll be able to catch all the action live and in English on NJPW World but before the BoSJ gets underway, here’s an at a glance guide to the five tournament matches you can expect to see.
Dragon Lee (0-0) vs Taiji Ishimori (0-0)
Just over a week after Lee and Ishimori tangled over the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in Fukuoka at Dontaku, they meet again in the first main event of BoSJ 26.
A little mutual respect was perhaps earned by both parties following their war in Dontaku. During the match, Ishimori came tantalisingly close to submitting Lee, using La Mistica (a move preferred by Lee’s elder brother Mistico) into the Yes Lock. Lee would eventually prevail with Desnucadora, but a lot of damage had been done, damage exacerbated in a tag match the net night.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Lee is coming into a tournament that statistically doesn’t favour champions; in fact the last IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion to win BoSJ was way back in 2013.
That champion was Prince Devitt as he spearheaded Bullet Club, a club that Ishimori debuted in during last year’s BoSJ. In the first main event of the tournament last year in fact, Ishimori won by pinning then junior heavyweight champion Will Ospreay. History repeats? Or history reborn?
SHO (0-0) vs Shingo Takagi (0-0)
It’s fair to say that this one has been brewing for a while. Despite a losing record in BoSJ last year, it was quite a coming out party for the gold half of Roppongi 3K. With a fearsome deadlift German suplex and the terrifying Shock Arrow variant of the package piledriver, SHO managed to establish himself as a powerhouse among the junior division.
Enter Shingo Takagi October 8. The Dragon came into NJPW right on the border of junior and heavyweight, so much so that he himself would state he was an ‘openweight’ content with fighting anybody and everybody. Shingo’s power and the impact he delivered on every move made himself an instant contender for junior heavyweight alpha male, something that angered SHO no end.
Cue months of SHO obssessing over Shingo, and ever more violent clashes during muti man tag matches between CHAOS and LIJ. When Roppongi 3K were attempting to defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships in April, the biggest enemy to RPG3K appeared to be SHO’s obssession: ‘after all,’ Shingo would taunt ‘you can’t focus on two things at once. And you can’t beat me.’
Night one of Best of the Super Juniors marks match 83 and day 218 since Takagi’s NJPW debut. During that time, The Dragon has not been pinned or submitted once. Could SHO do it? It would be quite the shock.
Jonathan Gresham (0-0) vs Marty Scurll (0-0)
Jonathan Gresham and Marty Scurll seem to have similar career paths, albeit from different origins. Scurll originated on the British independent scene before growing his name in America, while conversely Gresham has enjoyed considerable success as an American import to the UK. Both are known for their technical mastery (though Scurll may break more rules here and there) and both ply their trade in Ring of Honor when in the US.
All that said, this will only be the fourth singles meeting between Villain and Octopus. Two matches in Europe in 2011 seem a long time ago for both men, but Gresham’s 2016 ROH TV win over Scurll may stick more freshly in the Villain’s craw. At New Beginning in the USA in February, Scurll got some measure of revenge when he and Brody King teamed to defeat Gresham and Jeff Cobb. What will happen in their first singles contest in Japan, and Gresham’s first NJPW singles match on Japanese soil?
Titan (0-0) vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru (0-0)
This is a battle of two men with established careers that belie a lack of experience in the BoSJ itself. For Kanemaru, this is only the third Best of the Super Juniors in a career that spans over 20 years, while Titan is only entering his second BoSJ, with his debut coming back in 2013.
Titan is riding some momentum heading into Best of the Super Juniors 26. Much changed from his last appearance in the tournament, Titan has gained muscle mass, participating in CMLL’s body building contests, and impressed during Fantasticamania this year. Recently, he won CMLL’s Parejas Increibles tournament, teaming with another Mexican favourite in Barbaro Cavernario.
The only question will be whether Titan can string together consistent results. That may be a challenge against the veteran Kanemaru. While ‘nobu’ has managed to affect some indifference to the tournament (‘I fight for money, and booze,’ was his pre-tournament attitude), Kanemaru can bring the fight, and if his canny in-ring style can’t get it done against Titan, a bottle of whisky isn’t far away.
Tiger Mask (0-0) vs TAKA Michinoku (0-0)
The first match of the Best of the Super Juniors this year is a battle between two men with a lot of BoSJ history. Michinoku is the only member of the field to have competed in the first Best of the Super Juniors in 1994, while Tiger Mask is the veteran of most BoSJ tournaments at 18 appearances in succession.
Tiger is also the only man to have won back to back BoSJ tournaments in 2004 and 2005. His glory days may appear to be behind him, but Tiger Mask is using the finals in Ryogoku Sumo Hall as special motivation this year.
Tiger and TAKA have a history together as well. Both started their careers in the Michinoku Pro promotion, and clashed several times in the late 1990s, with Michinoku emerging on top of their feud then. In NJPW, their singles record stands at one win apiece; both these veterans will be looking to put one over on their fellow M-Pro alum on night one of the tournament.
