Best of the Super Juniors Day 14, June 3rd:

B Block

BUSHI defeated Ren Narita. BUSHI dominated this for several minutes until Narita hit a belly to belly and got into it. They traded slaps, with BUSHI nailing one that looked like it KO’d Narita. He then used a Boston Crab and the crowd rallied Narita to get to the ropes. BUSHI hit a lung blower followed by MX for another strong win.

Bandido defeated Rocky Romero. This was good, but nothing hugely memorable. Nothing was at stake, so they weren’t going to kill each other in their last block match. There was some fun fast paced back and forth. Rocky used some armbar attempts, but Bandido was able to power out of them. Bandido dived at the knee of Romero, and that was a difference maker. Bandido blocked a DDT and turned it into a shin breaker. Bandido won after hitting the GTS and the 21-Plex.

YOH defeated Robbie Eagles. Another solid match. The knee was the target for Eagles. Eagles put together some quick sequences and used lots of quick kicks. YOH went for the Calf Crusher, but Eagles had answers for it. YOH got a good near fall with a bridging German suplex. The finish saw some reversals that weren’t the smoothest. YOH got knocked out of the ring, but pulled himself back in and hit a superkick. He then finished the match with a Dragon Suplex.

El Phantasmo defeated DOUKI. Really good match here and one that really showed the improvements made by ELP throughout this tournament. He looks a lot more confident in is heel role now. This started with a chair shot from ELP went for a dive. DOUKI got back into the match with a suicide dive and a senton from the top rope to the floor, which looked crazy. There was a very scary moment as ELP went for a top rope rana, DOUKI slipped and the both landed baldy. DOUKI looked good here too, he hit the sit down widows peak again and got a good near fall with a hurricanrana pin. He used his neck tie submission, but ELP battled out. ELP hit the spinning torture rack neck breaker for a near fall. He pulled down the mask of DOUKI before finishing him with CR2. After the match ELP got in the face of Jushin Thunder Liger, who was on commentary.

Will Ospreay defeated Ryusuke Taguchi. This was the B Block decider and what a match it was. Ospreay has been sensational in this tournament, and this is one of the best matches Taguchi has had in years. There was no messing around from Taguchi. Ospreay tried to play, but Taguchi shut him down with a hip attack. They traded chops, with Ospreays power advantage winning that one. Ospreay hit a beautiful corkscrew moonsault to the floor and dislocated his finger on the landing, but popped it right back in. Taguchi began targeting the ankle. He countered an OsCutter into an ankle lock. There were some incredible reversals out of each other’s big moves. Taguchi couldn’t get Dodon, so he turned it into a Tiger Suplex. Taguchi blocked a second OsCutter and almost won with a backslide. Ospreay hit a shooting star press for a great near fall and had a Stormbreaker turned into another ankle lock. The finish saw Ospreay hit a series of quick kicks before hitting the OsCutter and secure his place in the final.

After the match Ospreay & Shingo faced off and Ospreay cut the best promo of his career. Is there anything he isn’t great at? Ospreay said he wasn’t afraid of Shingo and his unbeaten streak, but he was scared of failure. He talked about how much he loves NJPW and his own personal battles this year. He said he has more heart than brains and promised to slay The Dragon. If that didn’t get you hyped for this incredible dream match, I don’t know what will.

So the final on June 5th will see Will Ospreay meet Shingo Takagi. These two are arguably the two best performers in the world right now and my expectations are extremely high for it.

Wednesday’s Final show at Ryogoku Sumo Hall will also feature Juice Robinson defending the IWGP US Championship against the debuting Jon Moxley and the returning Hiroshi Tanahashi will battle Jay White.

Final B Block Standings:

Will Ospreay: 14
Ryusuke Taguchi: 12
El Phantasmo: 12
BUSHI: 12
YOH: 12
Robbie Eagles: 10
Bandido: 10
Rocky Romero: 6
DOUKI: 2
Ren Narita: 0