NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 30.

[The Natural]

Rooting for Despy to take it all.

[lostinube]

Your final four are Despy (B Block 1st) versus Titan (A Block 2nd) and Mike Bailey (A Block 1st) versus Wato (Eventual Winner).

Despy and Titan met in last year's BOSJ. That's their only singles match ever yet they've had tags with and against each other all the way back when Despy was in CMLL.

This will be the first meeting between Bailey and eventual winner Master Wato. I'm sure kicks will be done.

[blitzkrieg]

I was fully invested and bought into Yoh making it to the finals, so going take a couple days to recover. Should have known better with Uncle Nobu being the final day opponent.

[Horangi]

Convinced myself that, as he hadn't had a main event win and opportunity to close a show, Robbie was gonna go over. Hell of a match though, the counter of the Trigger into a Dragon Leg Screw was nuts. 

Despite it only being 4 minutes, loved the chaos of Dan Moloney vs Clark Connors

Out of the final 4, I want either Bailey or Desperado to win but think it'll be Wato which is fine, as I think the winner is just going to be another number in Hiromu's attempt to break Minoru Tanaka's defense record so why not use it as a catalyst to push someone new (and I think the inevitable Desperado match would be better saved for when Hiromu is closer to that mark). 

[lostinube]

So far so good.

[lostinube]

The finals are set as Titan taps Despy. Crowd (and the Japanese announcers) were solidly behind Titan so I wonder how things will play out on Sunday.

 

[Evil Otto]

Spoiler

Well, that was some pretty sweet wrestling.  

For my money, Strong Lucha was superior to Mortal Kombat on this night.  

That being said, Mike Bailey is truly astounding.  Every match he's in feels important.  Even though he's got the goofy gear, I still love it because like Rob Van Dam and his ridiculous airbrushed gear, Bailey completely owns it.  He also knows how to get the crowd into it with his overall energy, and his timing is tremendous.  I can't say I was happy with the match outcome, though.  Here's my take on Wato.  I fully acknowledge that he has significantly improved ever since his return from Mexico, and I would consider him, at this stage, a really good wrestler who can be assisted by a masterful opponent to a great match.  He sells beatings really well, too.  Maybe he'll even win this whole thing, I just wouldn't have booked it that way.  Not trying to be overly negative, I just feel there's still clearly quite a gap between him and the other three competitors this evening. 

Speaking of the other two competitors, holy fuckballs, that was somewhere in the stratosphere. Insanity.  I am truly happy for Titan, as I knew seeing him work his way up in CMLL that he had the skills to be elevated to higher and higher stages, and now he feels like he's there.  To me, he is what the CMLL version of lucha should be in 2023.  Desperado deserved to win this whole tournament.  I am starting to come around to the idea that he may in fact be more of a heavyweight contender than Hiromu. I feel like they could actually go all the way with him someday, I really do.  He's on the cusp of 40, but he is undeniably one of the best in the world right now.  The way he uses his eyes is terrifying and wonderful, he might have even surpassed his mentor Suzuki at this point.  It'll be interesting to see what happens next with him.  New Japan has to see it, at least I would hope so.  

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Evil Otto

[The Natural]

Despy losing makes me sad.

[The Natural]

This. See also:

What a dick. Kazuchika Okada has one vicious tongue.

[Niners Fan in CT]

I'm pretty surprised by this final.  Both semis matches were really good.  Should be a good final.  I have no idea who wins now. 

[Salads]

On 5/26/2023 at 1:35 PM, Evil Otto said:

  Hide contents

Well, that was some pretty sweet wrestling.  

For my money, Strong Lucha was superior to Mortal Kombat on this night.  

That being said, Mike Bailey is truly astounding.  Every match he's in feels important.  Even though he's got the goofy gear, I still love it because like Rob Van Dam and his ridiculous airbrushed gear, Bailey completely owns it.  He also knows how to get the crowd into it with his overall energy, and his timing is tremendous.  I can't say I was happy with the match outcome, though.  Here's my take on Wato.  I fully acknowledge that he has significantly improved ever since his return from Mexico, and I would consider him, at this stage, a really good wrestler who can be assisted by a masterful opponent to a great match.  He sells beatings really well, too.  Maybe he'll even win this whole thing, I just wouldn't have booked it that way.  Not trying to be overly negative, I just feel there's still clearly quite a gap between him and the other three competitors this evening. 

Speaking of the other two competitors, holy fuckballs, that was somewhere in the stratosphere. Insanity.  I am truly happy for Titan, as I knew seeing him work his way up in CMLL that he had the skills to be elevated to higher and higher stages, and now he feels like he's there.  To me, he is what the CMLL version of lucha should be in 2023.  Desperado deserved to win this whole tournament.  I am starting to come around to the idea that he may in fact be more of a heavyweight contender than Hiromu. I feel like they could actually go all the way with him someday, I really do.  He's on the cusp of 40, but he is undeniably one of the best in the world right now.  The way he uses his eyes is terrifying and wonderful, he might have even surpassed his mentor Suzuki at this point.  It'll be interesting to see what happens next with him.  New Japan has to see it, at least I would hope so.  

 

 

Agreed that Wato is coming along nicely but for a tournament which was spoilt for riches it doesn't seem like was necessarily one of them. He's still young so I don't see the rush to put him up there just yet, but tis the year for new faces it seems.

Mike Bailey should be billed as coming from Angel Grove.

[The Natural]

Spoiler

Master Wato wins BOTSJ 30 and a shot at the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Hiromu Takahashi confronted Wato afterwards. NJPW Dominion is probably the destination of Takahashi/Wato.

Kazuchika Okada/Hiroshi Tanahashi/Tomohiro Ishii will defend the NEVER Openweight Championship vs. Jon Moxley/Claudio Castagnoli/Shota Umino. Hell of a match there. Claudio's NJPW debut. Mox's first match in Japan since 2020.

 

[Lawful Metal]

Lawful Jr and I watched the finals and holy shit Titan is fucking amazing. Loved the story being that he was one step ahead until he just wasn’t. Wato’s finisher is pretty great and so is his high vertical German, so I wasn’t disappointed. They earned it. 

Wato has so desperately improved so much over such a short time. Looks like he slimmed down a bit (at least in the face) and the hair is less atrocious. The difference between his render for the match announcement and what he looks like now in the ring is pretty staggering. I’m happy for him and show me more Titan matches because that guy has a awesome. 

Titan was at the one  Arena Mexico show I went to many moons ago and it’s amazing to see him now. Happy for him too!

[John E. Dynamite]

On 6/4/2023 at 1:32 AM, Lawful Metal said:

’m happy for him and show me more Titan matches because that guy has a awesome. 

Titan was at the one  Arena Mexico show I went to many moons ago and it’s amazing to see him now. Happy for him too!

There's a big Titan vs. Mistico main event from Arena Mexico slated to be uploaded to CMLL's YouTube soon. Not tomorrow, but the Sunday after it should be on their Viernes Espectacular upload. Good reviews from those who have seen it.