April 5, 20251 yr C&P f4wonline.com: Participants: El Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH, Master Wato, KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight, Ninja Mack, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hiroshi Takahashi, BUSHI, Francesco Akira, Taiji Ishimori, Clark Connors, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, an unnamed CMLL wrestler, Dragongate’s Dragon Dia, DDT Pro Wrestling‘s Mao, AEW‘s Nick Wayne. -- Kosei Fujita or Robbie Eagles is my early prediction.
May 16, 20251 yr I've been super busy lately, but still trying to fit in a match here and there as this tourney starts to move forward. Early thoughts: -MAO likely won't be the victor in this tournament, but he's already won it, in a sense. Undeniably a star. -The fans also took quickly to Nick Wayne, despite his corny theme song. This is where being on AEW tv tied to Christian Cage really pays off for Nick, as most of the the crowds already seem to know him and see him as someone they need to watch. This tournament will do wonders for him, I think. -If you haven't seen the most notable highlight from the Ninja Mack v. Robbie X match, you really should. The whole match is surprisingly great as well. Very sporty, very entertaining. -Desperado really carries himself and performs at a level that few can match in all of wrestling at this point. He's amazing and brings everyone else up. -The fans are crazy for Fujita. He does seem like a plausible candidate to take the whole thing, or at least a finalist. MAO v. Ishimori, MAO v. Titan. Nick Wayne v. Desperado, Hiromu's last two main events against Fujita and Akira. There's plenty more, but those I can certainly recommend.
May 18, 20251 yr Ahhh, once again, Best of the Super Juniors + Yoyogi Gymnasium #2 = pro wrestling magic. Things just tend to get wild here. The 5/17 all-BOSJ show kicked off with a fun Ninja Mack v. Wato match, went on cruise control for next three matches, picked up significantly with Clark Connors (and his inexplicable tire-based offense) v. Robbie X, then the last five matches were one hell of a final stretch, from really good to excellent. If you have to only watch two, make it Kushida v. Fujita and MAO v. Desperado. The former gives you Bloodsport and the grappling arts, the latter gives you DDT (or PWG) crossed with New Japan junior style. Kushida has seemingly not aged one bit in the last 20 years. Uncanny. Fujita comes to the match hoping to be taught a lesson by the older master...and well, that's kinda what happens. It was tremendous. MAO v. Desperado firmly occupies the modern / abstract / surrealist wing of pro wrestling as an art form. Whoever gave these two the main event slot knew exactly what this could turn out it be, and well, whatever it was, it surely was that! I know that sounds vague, but this was not a match that words do justice. Two lunatics, equal parts hilarious and violent, just going insane together. I absolutely loved it.
May 18, 20251 yr Hiromu vs the next generation matches have been from really good to excellent too. The matches with Akira, Fujita, Connors and Dragon Dia are all worth a look, the Akira match being the best of the bunch. Agree with Evil Otto, KUSHIDA vs Fujita was great - my favourite match of the tournament so far.
May 28, 20251 yr Spoiler Kosei Fujita has won the A Block. Really good call, I think. Fujita defeated Connors (worth watching), while Robbie X played spoiler and defeated Hiromu in the main event. Interestingly enough, Robbie X was the replacement for Bushi in the tournament, so who knows if that's how it was originally booked or not. B Block finals tomorrow. The main event is YOH vs. Ishimori, make of that what you will. MAO, Despy, and YOH are leading with 10. Despy and Eagles are the semi-main, and MAO vs. SHO is on the card, which reads like spoiler duty for SHO to me. YOH vs. Fujita would be fun, MAO or Despy vs. Fujita could both be amazing. I'd go with MAO vs. Fujita, but my expectations are low for that coming to pass. Edited May 28, 20251 yr by Evil Otto
May 29, 20251 yr Finals are set. Spoiler YOH vs Fujita YOH, MAO and Despy all finished with 12 points but YOH beat both MAO and Despy so he takes it with his win over Ishimori.
May 29, 20251 yr Spoiler It seems like the crowd in Niigata felt the same way I do about YOH. I mean, we all like YOH, but do we love him? Fujita, however, is a completely different story. I think they could have a great match, and I hope they do. Desperado vs. Eagles was tremendous, certainly one of the best match-ups from the tail end of the tournament. MAO vs. SHO was great because MAO proved he was more ridiculous and creative than HoT could ever hope to be. MAO is hands down the story of this tournament to me. I only caught the final three matches to see how everything would unfold, but I may go back and check out Titan vs. Nick Wayne out of curiosity.
June 1, 20251 yr Author The winner is... Spoiler Kosei Fujita beating YOH. Youngest ever winner. Right man won.
June 1, 20251 yr This was the first year I've been able to have enough time to watch the entire tournament and I think it was really solid. It had a good amount of shockers but in the end I agree that the right man one and the future of the juniors looks bright.
June 2, 20251 yr Author 22 hours ago, Troubles said: This was the first year I've been able to have enough time to watch the entire tournament and I think it was really solid. It had a good amount of shockers but in the end I agree that the right man one and the future of the juniors looks bright. In full agreement.
June 2, 20251 yr Apparently it took some work getting MAO in for this tournament but it's been a raging success, both in terms of what he has added to the tour and the interest he has spiked in DDT from reactions I've seen. The tournament guest spot that all should aspire to. OPEN SPOILERS Recent BOSJs have been guaranteed entertainment thanks to how healthy the division is at the moment, but I tend to agree with criticisms that no one really stood out this year and that is partly because of the booking. For that reason the Kushida / Fujita match was so valuable. Super memorable, helps to put Kushida over with new fans, but mainly reminded people why they already thought Fujita was awesome. Both Jr tournaments and the Jr tag bells by 22 and no one is complaining. Only question is whether he goes heavy down the line.
June 2, 20251 yr 2 hours ago, Salads said: Apparently it took some work getting MAO in for this tournament but it's been a raging success, both in terms of what he has added to the tour and the interest he has spiked in DDT from reactions I've seen. The tournament guest spot that all should aspire to. OPEN SPOILERS Recent BOSJs have been guaranteed entertainment thanks to how healthy the division is at the moment, but I tend to agree with criticisms that no one really stood out this year and that is partly because of the booking. For that reason the Kushida / Fujita match was so valuable. Super memorable, helps to put Kushida over with new fans, but mainly reminded people why they already thought Fujita was awesome. Both Jr tournaments and the Jr tag bells by 22 and no one is complaining. Only question is whether he goes heavy down the line. I think he has the frame to do it eventually perhaps like Ospreay did where he sort of "conquers" the junior division before bulking up.
June 3, 20251 yr On 6/2/2025 at 8:36 PM, Troubles said: I think he has the frame to do it eventually perhaps like Ospreay did where he sort of "conquers" the junior division before bulking up. Hard to avoid parallels being drawn when Will is in the pre-final video package as the 'defending' youngest winner, isn't it? Don't think they're going to give him all that now expecting him to have another two decades in the division. Despy only just got his first BOSJ!
Create an account or sign in to comment