The Best of the Super Juniors is officially underway!
This year has 20 competitors fighting for the opportunity to challenge the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion at Dominion on June 15th. The annual tournament features several former champions (KUSHIDA, Hiromu Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori, and BUSHI), the current champion, El Desperado, and standouts who have the potential to be a future champion like Kevin Knight, Clark Connors, and Nick Wayne.
Five tournament matches kicked off round one.
The first match to start off the tournament was Nick Wayne vs. Sho. The ROH World Television Champion used his speed and kicks to keep his opponent guessing, but Sho’s speciality in submissions kept Wayne grounded for a good period of time. A German Suplex and clothesline combination from Sho almost put Wayne in the losing column, but the 19-year-old came back strong with a roundhouse kick and fisherman buster (named the Prodigy Plex) for three count within eleven minutes.
Multi-time Best of the Super Juniors winner Hiromu Takahashi was also in action tonight and he fought a fellow tournament winner - KUSHIDA. In the early goings, it was a chess match between the two veterans as Takahashi and KUSHIDA knew each other very well. But once the match spilled out of the ring then Hiromu was able to get in control. KUSHIDA nailed a handspring-back-elbow that started off his comeback. A huracanrana and DDT got KUSHIDA a strong nearfall, but the story of the match was Hiromu’s extensive work on the veteran’s leg. That was ultimately the deciding factor when Hiromu caught KUSHIDA with a dragon screw and turned it into a figure four. KUSHIDA didn’t tap, but the quick switch into a Texas Cloverleaf gave Hiromu the submission win.
The main event saw IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado vs. Titan square up and it was rematch from years past where Titan pulled out the upset victory. Like Hiromu and Takahashi, the beginning of the match saw plenty of reversals from both men. However, a springboard crossbody and a snap suplex saw Titan firmly take control of this match. Desperado briefly regained control and tried to take off Titan’s mask, but Titan was able to counter with a pair of dives on the floor. The beginning of the end saw Desperado hit a piledriver near the 12-minute mark for an excellent nearfall. Titan made a fiery comeback and hit a top rope double stomp that also resulted in another nailing biting near fall. Ultimately, Desperado was able to put an end to the match thanks to a Stretch Muffler submission finish.
Check out the full results below for Night One of Best of the Super Juniors Tournament:
- BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori) def. Katsuya Murashima & Ninja Mack
- Six Or Nine (Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi) & Kevin Knight def. MAO, Shoma Kato & Tiger Mask
- Toru Yano & YOH def. TMDK (Hartley Jackson & Robbie Eagles)
- Best Of The Super Junior 32 Block B Match: Nick Wayne [2] def. SHO [0]
- Best Of The Super Junior 32 Block A Match: Dragon Dia [2] def. Yoshinobu Kanemaru [0]
- Best Of The Super Junior 32 Block A Match: Kosei Fujita [2] def. Francesco Akira [0]
- Best Of The Super Junior 32 Block A Match: Hiromu Takahashi [2] def. KUSHIDA [0]
- Best Of The Super Junior 32 Block B Match: El Desperado [2] def. Titan [0]