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NOV.25.2020

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Best of the Super Jr. 27 night 6 preview

BoSJ returns to Korakuen Hall

A busy and competitive Best of the Super Jr. 27 field heads back to Korakuen Hall on November 29 as the tournament enters into the final week of league action. 

Watch Best of the Super Jr. 27 and World tag League 2020 live and in English on demand with NJPW World! LIVE English commentary on December 6 & 11!

Main event: Robbie Eagles (2-3) vs Hiromu Takahashi (4-1)

It’s telling how quickly things can change in a tightly competitive tournament like Best of the Super Jr. when looking at the main event. Robbie Eagles started BoSJ 27 hot and even in his three defeats has remained in solid contention, but now finds himself on the bubble of contention. A loss to Hiromu tonight in Korakuen would keep him on 4 points and put Hiromu on ten with three matches to go, mathematically putting him behind the eight ball, and where his best hope may be for a position in the final as league runner-up. 

Working to Eagles favour? Perhaps, the time of year and the venue. It was almost one year ago in the very same spot of Korakuen Hall that Hiromu Takahashi made his long awaited return from a catastrophic neck injury, only for Eagles to catch the overzealous former champion with a roll-up, pinning him on his return. The pride in that victory for Eagles was tempered by Hiromu returning the favour months later, but still the two men have not had a decisive, emphatic decision in the ring; nor, indeed, have they ever faced off one on one. 

That may change tonight. Eagles has been vocal about wanting a decisive finish pone way or the other tonight, but with his back against the wall when it comes to Budokan final hopes, might he instead take any win that comes his way? 

5th Match: BUSHI (3-2) vs Taiji Ishimori (4-1) 

BoSJ record: 1-0 Ishimori

On a night of first time singles matchups, this is the only encounter with some history to it; unfortunately for BUSHI, it’s a losing record to the then BULLET CLUB debuting Ishimori two years ago in this tournament. Should Ishimori pull of a second victory over the jet black deathmask tonight, he’ll put himself in the driver’s seat at ten points with three matches to go, but as Ryusuke Taguchi, Robbie Eagles and Yuya Uemura have found out, that’s no easy task. 

4th Match: Master Wato (4-1) vs SHO (3-2)

There weren’t many who had Master Wato in their picks for Best of the Super Jr. final contention when the tournament got underway on November 15, but two weeks deep into the three week league, and it might be time to have serious conversations. Four wins and just one loss is the scoreline for a tournament that has seen Wato mature and frustrate the greats in the junior heavyweight division; a win in Korakuen and he’ll be in seriosu ten point contention. For SHO, a loss to El Desperado in Niigata slowed his momentum, but there is no way that the powerhouse of this year’s tournament is close to throwing in the towel. 

3rd Match: El Desperado (3-2) vs DOUKI (0-5)

*DOUKI is mathematically eliminated

A fifth loss to Master Wato in Niigata cemented DOUKI’s mathematical exit from BoSJ 27, with no possible route to the top two. Tonight in Korakuen, he stands opposite the man he replaced in last year’s tournament, and a teammate in Desperado who is still very much in with a chance of winning the whole thing. So will DOUKI do the right thing for Suzuki-Gun’s best interests? Something makes us suspect not; while the DOUKI of 2019 was out to cause damage in a bid to right perceived wrongs, his 2020 has been more about proving DOUKI’s worth on DOUKI’s own merits, and that will be his goal here. Long time friend Desperado will expect nothing less.   

2nd Match: Ryusuke Taguchi (2-3) vs Yuya Uemura (0-5)

*Uemura is mathematically eliminated 

Dropping hi stenth point to Hiromu Takahashi in Niigata, Yuya Uemura is also out of the hunt as he moves to face Ryusuke Taguchi one on one for the first time. Uemura has been improving steadily with every match, and finally connected his Overhook Suplex in Niigata Wednesday; can he pull something out his playbook tonight that not even the Coach himself has seen?

1st Match: Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma vs Yuji Nagata & Gabriel Kidd

The night will get started with familiar tag team action. As Gabriel Kidd, much like Yota tsuji, continues to bounce off the wall that is Satoshi Kojima, will he have an answer tonight at last?

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