NJPW Best of the Super Jr 31.

[Teflon Turtle]

I’ve taken my time in getting caught up, but I’m caught up. 
 

The finishing sequence to DOUKI/Robbie Eagles is probably the coolest one we’ll see all year. A big part of the fun of these tournaments the last few years has been seeing who’s going to wrestle like they’ve got something to prove. In storyline and out, it seems like Eagles and DOUKI were two of those wrestlers this year. 
 

Spoiler

So the semi-finals are interesting. To me, the battles are between two wrestlers who are emotional fighters despite their masks, and two technical masters who maybe (up until now in TJP’s case) haven’t had the emotional connection and resonance in their matches. 
 

Whether this leads to a balanced final and crowd response, I don’t know.

I think Despe is a lock for the final even though DOUKI is on the rise. Despe/Ishimori for your final is probably the bigger match at this point if they want to have it be the Dominion main event.
 

But here’s the thing. I feel like the semi-main and main event from the 5/26/24 show (Eagles/Hiromu and Despe/TJP) were both just maybe a half-step down from being finals-quality matches. Knowing that Despe and TJP have that in them - combined with the increase in TJP’s crowd support of late - I wouldn’t be mad to see them have a quick rematch on a big stage. Desperado should take it this year. New Japan is prepping me for a heart attack here.

 

Edited June 2 by Teflon Turtle

[The Natural]

Spoiler

I wanted career rivals Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado to main event NJPW Dominion. Feels like that was the biggest match NJPW could put on.

 

[lostinube]

Finals are set:

Spoiler

Ishimori and Despy.

Moxley's lumberjacks will seemingly be Shota, Tenzan, Makabe, Nagata and TM IV.

They might be setting up for Fujita and Eagles vs the War Dogs and LIJ vs Tanahashi/Yano/Oleg for the Never belts.

 

[Curt McGirt]

I don't know who Oleg is and it just made me think of Oleg Taktarov. Guess he went into acting, after even coming to the US initially to act. 

[lostinube]

Oleg Boltin is a young lion from Kazakhstan. He's a big boy, especially in New Japan.

 

[Curt McGirt]

I greatly enjoyed that, maybe even more than the ZSJ match with Daniel Makabe that got posted a couple days ago. Really fun style clash. Oleg is a big, good looking kid with a lot of raw power and amateur skills ("Amateur tekkers!" - ZSJ). Zack of course can both pick you apart and convincingly get beaten to a pulp. The return to the strike challenge at the end was the only real fault in the match, and it kinda worked anyway because it proved that Oleg can seriously paste someone. He's got a bright future.

[Evil Otto]

Yeah, I agree, Oleg has a huge amount of potential.  I probably dislike strike challenges more than anything in wrestling, but they're ubiquitous at this point.  What's great about Zack is that he willingly takes a nasty shot and sells like death, which is actually getting the most out of that type of spot.  

Eagles and Fujita should definitely be a team going forward, and a rivalry with War Dogs will produce some intense match-ups.  

TJP-Ishimori was amazing.  Highly recommended.  

Edited June 4 by Evil Otto

[The Natural]

Spoiler

Happy El Desperado won Best of the Super Juniors for the first time, wish he best Hiromu Takahashi than Taiji Ishimori. Just get the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship of SHO ASAP.