Night 6 of the Best of the Super Juniors was B Blocks third night of tournament matches before a long break. Night 6’s matches were Rocky Romero vs Ren Narita, Bandido vs Douki, El Phantasmo vs Robbie Eagles, Will Ospreay vs YOH, and Ryusuke Taguchi vs Bushi.
Ren Narita vs Rocky Romero
First tournament match of the night pitted the young lion Ren Narita against the crafty veteran Rocky Romero. Romero went for a variety of submission holds in this match, including surfboard, cobra clutch, arm bars, etc. Narita had some good offense, hitting a couple of overheads. Narita almost tapped Romero out by using a Boston crab into a sharpshooter.
Some good striking was included in this match, both men laying into the other. Romero eventually submitted Narita with his armbar. Overall this match was a pretty good opener. Narita looked really good here, and both men were able to shine. Romero is three for three with good matches this tournament. While not as good as his previous two, this was still good. Romero and Narita both continue to impress.
Bandido vs DOUKI
Bandido vs Douki was next on the cardi. In Suzuki-gun fashion, Douki attacks immediately. Bandido was able to counter and hit a suicide dive. Halfway through Bandido went for the 21 plex, but Douki blocked it and hit a dropkick.
Douki later hit a vicious clothesline for 2, and then into a necktie chokehold. Bandido won the short bout after hitting a GTS followed by a 21 plex for the win. This match was pretty short but sweet. This is probably my favorite Douki match of three this tournament. This match finally allowed Bandido to get some points on the board.
Robbie Eagles vs El Phantasmo
Up next we had a Bullet club squabble: Robbie Eagles vs El Phantasmo. Eagles and Phantasmo shook hand before the match. They locked up and then went for another too sweet, but ELP attacked Eagles. ELP left the ring after Eagles gained control. Eagles went out to bring him back in but ELP attacked him from the back. ELP played the heal throughout the match, whereas Robbie Eagles surprisingly looked like a babyface.
Near the end, Eagles hit a 450 splash for a 2 count. He went for the turbo backpack but ELP countered, and then hit CR2 for the win. While ELP looked great, Eagles looked absolutely fantastic. It’ll be interesting to see if this bullet club feud plays into effect later on, especially since ELP used such heel tactics against his bullet club brethren. The only downside was while ELP looked like an absolute piece of shit, Robbie Eagles looked too much like a face. He’ll most probably go back to playing heel in the next night, which is why they could have done a little less to make us feel so bad for him.
YOH vs Will Ospreay
Fourth tournament match of the night was a Chaos showdown between YOH and Will Ospreay. They shake hands before the match and then lock up. The beginning of the match contained spots in which both men landed a flurry of strikes into one another. YOH targeted Ospreay knee with a couple of calf killers throughout the match. At one point Ospreay went for Oscutter but YOH countered into a Dragon Sleeper and followed with a draping neck breaker.
YOH later took Ospreay up top, but Ospreay slipped out and hit a flurry of Cheeky Nandos. Ospreay hit the Robinson special. Ospreay went for Oscutter but it was countered into a German. Ospreay eventually won after a Spanish fly for a near fall, followed by a Storm Breaker for the win. Great fast paced match that the Japanese crowd loved. While Ospreay was probably gonna always win, YOH looked really strong and the Japanese crowd was really buying into near falls. Probably YOH’s best match of the tournament, both these men delivered in this Match of the night candidate.
Ryusuke Taguchi vs BUSHI
The last match of the night was Ryusuke Taguchi vs Bushi, with Taguchi in the main event for the third night. Taguchi attacked with kicks, but Bushi tries to run the ropes. Bushi went for a shirt joke, followed by a neck breaker for 2. Taguchi comedically cut of MX with an Ass attack.
Taguchi had an ankle lock locked in for a long time that Bushi eventually got out of. Bushi hit misses and hits the rewind kick. MX misses, and Taguchi gets another ankle lock. Dodon for 2, and then Bushi taps out to the ankle lock. Short match considering it was the main event. Probably should have been sent down the card in favor of Ospreay vs YOH. Overall was an okay match. 7
Tonight’s match times were much shorter than previous nights. 6/10 is what I’m giving it. Ospreay vs YOH carried, ELP vs Eagles was good, everything else was about average.
