Closing stages of league, special six man tag highlight Kagoshima card
Best of the Super Jr. 27 is heading to ward the joint BOSJ and World Tag League conclusion Sunday in Fukuoka, where finalists will be decided for our Nippon Budokan spectacular on December 11. The final league matches will be joined by the return of a certain Kagoshima native and his January 4 Tokyo Dome opponent!
Main event: Ryusuke Taguchi (3-4) vs Hiromu Takahashi (5-2)
BOSJ record 1-1
Taguchi is mathematically eliminated
Hiromu Takahashi takes on Ryusuke Taguchi in our main event. Several years ago, it was Taguchi that saw something in a young Hiromu during his Dojo tryout, and advocated for him to join the Noge Dojo. After Takahashi’s long and troubled road to his professional debut, Taguchi faced the future Time Bomb in two singles contests as a Young Lion, including the 2012 BOSJ; since his return as the explosive Time Bomb however, Hiromu is 3-0 against the Coach.
Tonight, even the most convoluted of ties won’t help Taguchi crack the top two by Sunday’s league closer in Fukuoka. Used to being in the conversation until the very bitter end, Taguchi’s early exit will be a point of injured pride for him, and The Coach will look to rebuild that pride with a win over the man still viewed by many as the tournament favourite. For Hiromu, a win brings him within touching distance of the Nippon Budokan, but Taguchi will not grant him victory easily.
5th Match: Master Wato (4-3) vs Taiji Ishimori (5-2)
A Wato loss and Desperado or Hiromu win eliminates him.
Taiji Ishimori was left kicking himself at an avoidable loss in Osaka Wednesday. With match firmly in hand against El Desperado, the desire to make a statement took precedent over hitting a guaranteed Bloody Cross, and his attempt to win with a belt shot to the masked man’s skull ended in a fist to the face, another to the nuts, and a Pinche Loco. With Wato himself suffering a biting loss to BUSHI both need to get back to their winning ways.
Having already established himself with a strong record early in his campaign, can the young Master Wato instantly propel himself to the top of the heap by handing IWGP Jr. Champion Ishimori only his third loss? If he can he will put himself a significant step closer to headline matches in both the Nippon Budokan and the Tokyo Dome. If not, his chances of a final place are slim at best.
4th Match: Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Satoshi Kojima vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi)
Kota Ibushi was not going to let an event happen in his home town of Kagoshima and not wrestle, and that’s exactly what’s happening tonight in our fourth bout, as he teams with Tomoaki Honma and Satoshi Kojima. Opposite him stands his opponent in the main event of the Tokyo Dome on january 4, Tetsuya Naito, teaming with Los Ingobernables De Japon’s World Tag League representatives Shingo Takagi and SANADA.
Now just one month away from the two night spectacular that is Wrestle Kingdom 15, how will Ibushi and Naito interact, as they prepare to write a new chapter in one of wrestling’s most volatile and dangerous rivalries?
3rd Match: Robbie Eagles (3-4) vs El Desperado (5-2)
Robbie Eagles is mathematically eliminated
A first time singles meeting, Robbie Eagles meets El Desperado one on one in the third match of the evening. Already out of the running mathematically, Eagles is in it for the thrill of the fight, and in his own pre-tournament words, to ‘test his jaw’ against the hard hitting Desperado, who will gladly oblige the Australian Sniper.
In contrast to his opponent, Desperado is very much alive when it comes to Budokan hopes, having beaten IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Taiji Ishimori in Osaka. Desperado is confident indeed, but that’s a confidence Eagles could well exploit. With both men well versed in leg based submissions and offense, will that be the key tonight? Or will versatility be the name of the game?
2nd Match: BUSHI (4-3) vs DOUKI (1-6)
BOSJ record: 1-0 BUSHI
DOUKI is mathematically eliminated
After a win against tough competition in Master Wato in Osaka Wednesday night, BUSHI’s hopes of a Nippon Budokan final are still alive, but he will need a win over DOUKI, and a lot of help elsewhere in the evening. On the other side of the ring, DOUKI, having gotten his first two points over Yuya Uemura in Osaka, is intent on showing that he is able to gain victory over a more established class of competition. DOUKI has undergone considerable growth since both met in last year’s tournament, but will that be enough?
1st Match: Yuya Uemura (0-7) vs SHO (5-2)
Uemura is mathematically eliminated
In the first match of the evening, a battle for two more points for SHO, and the first two for Uemura, who was dealt another loss by DOUKI Wednesday in Osaka. More than that though, personal ties between the two men that bring them together in a match that seems long fated. Both from Aichi prefecture in Japan, they share enough of a Greco Roman background and attitude that they formed a friendship and an unofficial team on social media, the #NEXTBOYZ.
Both have looked forward to facing the other, and in a unique coincidence, find themselves doing so in Kagoshima’s Sendai Sun Arena, a building that readers of SHO’s forthcoming interview here on njpw1972.com will know has special significance to the two. Emotions and stakes will be high from the outset this Saturday.
