The Best of the Super Juniors is officially done.
The annual tournament had 20 competitors (10 in the A Block and 10 in the B Block) fight for an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. The usual suspects were mostly here; KUSHIDA, Robbie Eagles, El Desperado, Taiji Ishimori, Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH, and Hiromu Takahashi. This year saw plenty of stand outs such as Nick Wayne and Francesco Akira, but the finals boiled down to Yoh and Kosei Fujita.
These men battled for nearly 30 minutes; this match had plenty of drama and incredible nearfalls such as Fujita hitting an O’Connor Roll. The match had plenty of different styles; striking, highflying, technical, and submissions, but once it came around the 26-minute mark, Yoh and Kosei relied on their special movesets. Kosei countered Yoh, stopping a direct drive attempt and surviving a jumping knee that also knocked him until next Tuesday.
In the end, it was a one/two combination with Kosei hitting Abandon Hope. That didn’t didn’t get a three count, but nailing Thrill Ride surely did.
That officially means Kosei Fujita will get an IWGP Junior Heavyweight title shot in the future. Usually, that title shot led into Dominion, but not this year as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado is scheduled for a Death Pain Invitational on June 24th. Dominion will take place on June 15th.
It hasn’t been confirmed when Kosei will get the title shot; it is also possible that El Desperado doesn’t end up facing the 2025 Best of Super Juniors tournament winner. Congratulations to Kosei! He’s the youngest New Japan star to win the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Will he become the youngest IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion? We’ll find out soon!