We\u2019re starting to get eliminations as the Best of the Super Junior hits its sixth round of matches, featuring Robbie Eagles and Master Wato in the main event.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Quick Results<\/strong> Three years on, and we\u2019ll always miss you Larry.<\/p>\n Coming from the Iwate Prefectural Gymnasium\u2026 we\u2019ve got English commentary from Kevin Kelly, with Mike Bailey joining later. Apparently yesterday\u2019s show, or at least parts thereof, were pretty good, so I\u2019ll be going back after the fact to review those.<\/p>\n Best of the Super Junior 30, Block A: DOUKI vs. Mike Bailey<\/strong> Bailey had the better of the early going, taking down DOUKI with a kick as he came off the ropes, while the scissor kicks took DOUKI outside, where he blocked a couple of dives, countering with a neckbreaker coming back into the ring. Bailey\u2019s able to get back into it with a diving kick, as DOUKI threatened to cause the upset as he turned a standing shooting star press into the DOUKI CHOKEY.<\/p>\n That ended in the ropes, as Bailey looked to hit back with an Ultima Weapon\u2026 instead landing the standing moonsault knees before DOUKI went back to the DOUKI CHOKEY, forcing Bailey to roll through and kick him away to break the hold. On the side of the apron, DOUKI teases a Suplex de la Luna, but it doesn\u2019t come off\u2026 nor does Bailey\u2019s second set of moonsault knees.<\/p>\n Daybreak follows from DOUKI, but Bailey\u2019s able to kick out at two, before Bailey tried his luck on a Magistral cradle. From there, the corkscrew kick into the corner, then the Ultima Weapon lays out DOUKI, and that\u2019s all! ***\u00bd<\/p>\n Taguchi\u2019s officially eliminated with that result, while SHO and KUSHIDA inch closer to a similar fate\u2026<\/p>\n Best of the Super Junior 30, Block B: BUSHI vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru<\/strong> BUSHI enjoyed the early going, but we get a ref bump when Kanemaru nudged BUSHI into the official. Cue Kanemaru going for the whiskey, but it\u2019s BUSHI who intercepts and hits the whiskey mist\u2026 before the MX got the closest thing to a squash we\u2019ve had this year. Blink and miss it!<\/p>\n Best of the Super Junior 30, Block A: TJP vs. Ryusuke Taguchi<\/strong> The early going has TJP looking comfortable, but Taguchi head-stands out of some headscissors before Taguchi took him outside for a plancha. Back inside, TJP hit an armbreaker for a two-count, then some face-washing boots as Taguchi was left on his rear in the corner. Taguchi\u2019s able to take TJP outside with hip attacks, while a diving Bummer-Ye nearly gave Taguchi his first points.<\/p>\n A tornado DDT from TJP manages to turn things around though, before a Mamba splash off the top drew a near-fall\u2026 while a follow-up Pinoy Stretch ended in the ropes. Another hip attack looked to stop TJP, as the back-and-forth led to TJP\u2019s roll-up getting turned into Oh My & Garankle, before a Dodon almost got the win. It\u2019s back to the ankle lock from the kick-out as TJP almost taps\u2026 but ends up finagling his way back into the Pinoy Stretch for the submission. Taguchi so close to breaking his duck, but it\u2019s TJP who keeps his faint chances alive. ***\u00bd<\/p>\n Best of the Super Junior 30, Block B: Dan Moloney vs. Kevin Knight<\/strong> Moloney charges out of the blocks here, but he\u2019s quickly taken down as Knight\u2019s standing frog splash drew a one-count. In response, Knight\u2019s lifted up and dumped to the floor, but he beats the count-out, only to be met with a suplex after returning. Moloney grounds Knight with bodyscissors, but those end in the ropes as the pair proceeded to trade chops.<\/p>\n Knight crashes and burns on a springboard crossbody, but has more luck with a dropkick, then with a Stinger splash as a diving shoulder tackle crashes into Dan for a two-count. Moloney\u2019s caught up top, but manages to return with a short spear for a near-fall, before a deadlift Fisherman buster almost picked up the win for the new United Empire man.<\/p>\n A second spear\u2019s countered as Knight leaps over for a roll-up, before he countered out of a Drilla Killa to hit a Sky High powerbomb. Knight doesn\u2019t go for the cover, instead opting to leap in for a DDT\u2026 and that\u2019s the win! Nice and even stuff, but in the end Knight avoids another loss – and another potential challenger for the junior tag titles. ***\u00bc<\/p>\n Best of the Super Junior 30, Block A: SHO vs. Taiji Ishimori<\/strong> SHO takes the mic after the bell, but a combination of an echoey room and me not knowing Japanese (mostly the latter!) meant I didn\u2019t get what was being said. Where\u2019s Chris Charlton when you need him?! It seems the pair agreed to just walk out and take a double count-out\u2026 but of course it\u2019s a ruse as EVIL restrains Ishimori as SHO sprinted back to the ring.<\/p>\n Luckily, Ishimori broke free and beat the count, as SHO then remonstrated with EVIL for another fine mess he\u2019d gotten him into. Ishimori capitalises by going after SHO\u2019s arm\u2026 before EVIL switched corners and offered his services to Ishimori. What is this, SummerSlam 92? And just HOW SHORT IS YOUR MEMORY, ISHIMORI?<\/p>\n Anyway, a Mistica and a Bone Lock has SHO in trouble, but SHO\u2019s able to work his way into the Snakebite. Except EVIL threw in the towel for Ishimori\u2026 which caused confusion, so SHO just rolls up Ishimori for the win. Serves you right for trusting EVIL, I guess. Not horrific, but you can definitely skip past this one. **\u00bc<\/p>\n Best of the Super Junior 30, Block B: Clark Connors vs. El Desperado<\/strong> The pair go toe-to-toe at the bell, with Connors hitting a pounce early on before things spilled outside, where Connors Irish whipped Desperado into rows of chairs. Back inside, Connors looked to tee up for a Trophy Kill spear, but it\u2019s countered into a spinebuster, before Desperado threw Connors outside to get some revenge for earlier.<\/p>\n The Young Lions clear the crowd as Connors is chopped into the front row as you got to spy Mike and his GoPro for a future vlog. Desperado has more fans scatter as they brawled around the building, eventually opting to hurl Connors through three rows of folding chairs. Connors heads back though, but gets suplexed on the floor as the count-out rolled on..<\/p>\n Connors beat the 20-count, but couldn\u2019t avoid an Angle Slam-like back suplex\u2026 nor a pair of Guittara de Angels. Connors kicks out at one from those, and gets thrown outside again. This time, Clark\u2019s been given a chair, but Desperado is wise to it as they duelled with them on the outside. It ends with Connors laying waste to Desperado with a series of chair shots, none of which yielded a DQ, nor was a chair-assisted stretch on the floor.<\/p>\n Desperado\u2019s posted by Connors as we passed the ten-minute mark, as a pile of chairs were laid out for Desperado to get suplexed into. That led to another count-out tease, but Desperado returns into the path of a powerslam and a Trophy Kill spear, only for a No Chaser to get countered into El Es Claro\u2026 and once again Clark\u2019s wasteful ways cost him big time! This didn\u2019t do it for me, with the match being a little too slow\u2026 and Connors\u2019 post-match attacks are a little hollow given how often he\u2019s losing due to his own errors. **\u00be<\/p>\n Post-match, Connors hits a German suplex to Oskar Leube\u2026 then tried to spear Desperado out of a chair, only to get tripped into it as Despy hit his take on a Conchairto.<\/p>\n Best of the Super Junior 30, Block A: Titan vs. Lio Rush<\/strong> A pacey start\u2019s thwarted when Titan and Rush went for armdrags at the same time, before an enziguiri from Rush took Titan down. Rush stays ahead with a low-pe that clipped Titan, before Titan took over with a Trailer Hitch back inside\u2026 Rush manages to find a way through after escaping the hold, pushing away a swinging DDT before scoring a Rush Hour springboard stunner.<\/p>\n A one-man standing Spanish Fly gets Rush a near-fall from there, before Titan avoided a Final Hour splash, returning with a superkick. Titan misses a double stomp from there, then scored with a flurry of kicks, following through with a through-the-corner clothesline. That left Rush laying as the double stomp off the top finds its mark\u2026 and that\u2019s enough to put Lio away. Rush has gone from a share of the lead to having to fight for second place as we\u2019ve got a real pile-up\u2026 ***\u00be<\/p>\n Best of the Super Junior 30, Block B: Francesco Akira vs. YOH<\/strong> Akira manages a switcheroo and sends himself into YOH – and the crowd – with a tope\u2026 my feed drops out, and recovers just in time for YOH to grab the win with a Five Star Clutch. Two quick matches in one card, eh?<\/p>\n Best of the Super Junior 30, Block A: KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi<\/strong> We\u2019ve a slow start here as KUSHIDA powdered outside in a bid to control the tempo. An early hiptoss and cartwheel dropkick takes Hiromu outside, where he\u2019s forced to fight off KUSHIDA some more, as KUSHIDA was focusing on Hiromu\u2019s left arm in the early going. Hiromu\u2019s tied up in a Delfin clutch for a two-count (thanks for the name, Speedball!), then targeted with an overhead wristlock before a bid to break free ended with him eating a handspring kick by the ropes.<\/p>\n Hiromu heads outside, but couldn\u2019t avoid a flip senton off the top rope, nor another kick to the arm before finally finding an opening with a tijeras. A Falcon arrow got Hiromu a two-count,but KUSHIDA\u2019s able to lock in a standing version of the Hoverboard lock\u2026 only for Hiromu to fight it off.<\/p>\n Back-and-forth strikes lead to the match spilling outside, as KUSHIDA ripped apart the few crowd barriers they had as the crowd came into play once more\u2026 before the pair fight outside the venue and by the ring truck. Bloody hell lads, this isn\u2019t falls count anywhere! They\u2019re fighting in the grass, where KUSHIDA\u2019s Hoverboard lock\u2019s broken up as Hiromu threw him into the side of the tour bus.<\/p>\n The ref\u2019s had enough of this and heads back to the ring to start a count-out, but the pair make it back in time\u2026 where we get more of the same as we\u2019re back to the pair trading blows. A Sunset Bomb from Hiromu punched away as KUSHIDA instead scores with a slip \u2018n\u2019 slide sunset bomb of his own. Hiromu tries a cannonball senton off the apron, but lands in a cross armbar from KUSHIDA\u2026 only to break it with a powerbomb as another count-out tease finally paid off, with Hiromu barely beating the count as KUSHIDA ended up not making it back in in time. Nice they switched up the style as we get our first count-out of the tournament\u2026 and a match that\u2019ll live on in B-roll footage at the very least! ***\u00be<\/p>\n Best of the Super Junior 30, Block B: Robbie Eagles vs. Master Wato<\/strong> Eagles goes for a Ron Miller Special early on, before the pair exchanged armdrags and dropkicks en-route to a stand-off. Heading outside, Eagles pulls ahead, chopping Wato around ringside, before an exchange of shots back inside led to Eagles catching Wato in a leg lock\u2026 forcing him into the ropes for a break.<\/p>\n Eagles punts Wato\u2019s leg in the ropes, as it becomes clear he\u2019s working the leg\u2026 but a Dragon screw from Wato looked to buy him some time. The springboard uppercut finds a way through for Wato, who followed through with a tope con giro to Eagles on the outside. A missile dropkick back inside\u2019s good for a near-fall, before Wato moved through to Recientemente for a near-fall.<\/p>\n Vendeval\u2019s next from Wato as he looked to force a submission, before he rolled Eagles away from the ropes and back into the hold as we crossed the ten-minute marker. Eagles tries again to cradle his way free, but instead he\u2019s able to make it to the ropes as he began to make a comeback with the running knees to Wato in the corner. Going back to the knees, Eagles hits a missile dropkick to Wato, then rolled him back into a Ron Miller Special\u2026 only for Wato to crawl to the ropes to keep the match alive.<\/p>\n The pair are back to exchanging strikes before duelling head kicks affected Wato more\u2026 an Asai DDT quickly follows for a near-fall, but Wato counters a Turbo Backpack neatly into a Tenzan Tombstone Driver as the two-counts kept racking up. Wato looks to follow up with RPP – a decision that had Kevin Kelly cringing – and he\u2019s cut-off as Eagles instead brings him down with a top rope \u2018rana.<\/p>\n Eagles looked to be on the home stretch, but his 450 splash lands in Wato\u2019s knees\u2026 Eagles flips out of a German suplex as he then missed a Trigger Knee\u2026 only to get caught with Wato\u2019s O\u2019Connor roll German suplex for the win! This loss perhaps not as embarrassing as last year, but still just as painful as Eagles\u2019 loss now created a four-way tie at the top. ***\u00bd<\/p>\n We\u2019re now six matches deep, and with everyone only having nine matches, we\u2019re starting to get eliminations. I\u2019m only listing mathematical eliminations, even if KUSHIDA\u2019s realistically not coming back from his spot to sneak into 2nd place (which would require a bunch of injury drop-outs!) Don\u2019t forget, it\u2019s the top two from each block going through to the semis – first place in block A facing runner up in block B, in May 26 in Yoyogi, and vice versa.<\/p>\n Block A<\/strong> Block B<\/strong> The tournament moves to Aomori on Friday, with TJP and Hiromu Takahashi main eventing the final \u201call block matches card\u201d before we\u2019ve a day off\u2026 and return to Korakuen Hall on Sunday for five block A matches.<\/p>\n With two matches here going under two minutes, you could easily surmise that this tour is taking its toll on folks – with off-days at a premium. We\u2019re two-thirds of the way through, and firmly about to hit the business end of things as everyone prepares for their final two block matches\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We\u2019re starting to get eliminations as the Best of the Super Junior hits its sixth round of matches, featuring Robbie Eagles and Master Wato in the main event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":26912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"NJPW Best of the Super Junior 30 - Night Six (May 18, 2023)","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[688,6],"tags":[6680,6681,6682,77,4199,1104,4439,1306,6108,1071,5515,237,245,5302,1062,292,3685,633,2546,3328,1900,2019,2547,1310],"class_list":["post-26939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-japan","category-reviews","tag-best-of-the-super-junior","tag-best-of-the-super-junior-30","tag-bosj30","tag-bushi","tag-clark-connors","tag-dan-moloney","tag-douki","tag-el-desperado","tag-francesco-akira","tag-hiromu-takahashi","tag-kevin-knight","tag-kushida","tag-lio-rush","tag-master-wato","tag-mike-bailey","tag-new-japan","tag-robbie-eagles","tag-ryusuke-taguchi","tag-sho","tag-taiji-ishimori","tag-titan","tag-tjp","tag-yoh","tag-yoshinobu-kanemaru"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73vbt-70v","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/njpw-bosj30-logo.jpg?fit=1200%2C672","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26939"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26941,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26939\/revisions\/26941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBest of the Super Junior 30, Block A: Mike Bailey pinned DOUKI in 9:46 (***\u00bd)
\nBest of the Super Junior 30, Block B: BUSHI pinned Yoshinobu Kanemaru in 1:46 (NR)
\nBest of the Super Junior 30, Block A: TJP submitted Ryusuke Taguchi in 10:44 (***\u00bd)
\nBest of the Super Junior 30, Block B: Kevin Knight pinned Dan Moloney in 8:15 (***\u00bc)
\nBest of the Super Junior 30, Block A: SHO pinned Taiji Ishimori in 5:48 (**\u00bc)
\nBest of the Super Junior 30, Block B: El Desperado pinned Clark Connors in 11:21 (**\u00be)
\nBest of the Super Junior 30, Block A: Titan pinned Lio Rush in 10:23 (***\u00be)
\nBest of the Super Junior 30, Block B: YOH pinned Francesco Akira in 1:34 (NR)
\nBest of the Super Junior 30, Block A: Hiromu Takahashi defeated KUSHIDA via count-out in 16:06 (***\u00be)
\nBest of the Super Junior 30, Block B: Master Wato pinned Robbie Eagles in 19:37 (***\u00bd)<\/p>\n
\nDOUKI\u2019s coming from a shock win over Lio Rush yesterday\u2026 can he get two scalps in as many days?<\/p>\n
\nBUSHI\u2019s on the bubble, having not won a match yet in the tournament\u2026<\/p>\n
\nTaguchi\u2019s tournament is already over, but TJP\u2019s going to need a good run to claim a spot in the semis given how the likes of Mike Bailey and Lio Rush are going.<\/p>\n
\nSomewhere in this entrance, Andy Quildan was cursing Kevin Kelly for plugging the old Rev Pro VOD service\u2026<\/p>\n
\nAh, a match that even Speedball might struggle to be upbeat for, as we have a Bullet Club Derby. Of course, SHO\u2019s out with Evil and his trusty wrench, Bobo\u2026<\/p>\n
\nConnors\u2019 record hasn\u2019t been that great, thanks to self-inflicted errors, but he\u2019s still got a shout of making the semi-finals in a tight block.<\/p>\n
\nRush\u2019s loss to DOUKI yesterday was undoubtedly an upset – but another loss here would make him part of a logjam for second place in the block\u2026<\/p>\n
\nYOH scores with a jump start as I guess we play \u201cwhich wrestler is he going to spoof today?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nJust over six years ago, Hiromu shocked us – and KUSHIDA – by beating him in under two minutes at Sakura Genesis\u2026 and given KUSHIDA\u2019s iffy run this year, that may not be too far-fetched today.<\/p>\n
\nEagles lost to Wato almost a year ago in this tournament – a loss that the Aussie took rather personally\u2026<\/p>\n
\nMike Bailey (5-1 \/ 10pts)
\nLio Rush, Taiji Ishimori, Hiromu Takahashi, Titan, TJP (4-2 \/ 8pts)
\nDOUKI, SHO (2-4 \/ 6pts)
\nKUSHIDA (1-5 \/ 2pts)
\nRyusuke Taguchi (0-6 \/ 0pts) * eliminated<\/p>\n
\nEl Desperado, Robbie Eagles, Master Wato, YOH (4-2 \/ 8pts)
\nFrancesco Akira, Clark Connors, Kevin Knight (3-3 \/ 6pts)
\nYoshinobu Kanemaru, Dan Moloney (2-4 \/ 4pts)
\nBUSHI (1-5 \/ 2pts)<\/p>\n