Best of the Super Jr. night 1 (May 11) Preview
Tournament gets underway in Chiba
May 11 sees the start of Best of the Super Jr. 31. 20 of the world’s best junior heavyweights will do battle over the coming weeks as they fight toward the finals June 9 in Osaka Jo Hall, making for a huge ten match supercard to get us started.
Watch live in English on NJPW World!
Main event: A Block- El Desperado vs Titan
Singles record: 1–1
Our main event sees El Desperado start his campaign opposite 2023 finalist Titan. Few expected last year’s Titan versus Master Wato final, but that’s exactly the final fans in Ota saw, on the back of a shocking win for El Inmortal Titan over El Desperado. That wild affair was one of the best bouts of the entire tournament, and set the LIJ member on course for his biggest ever NJPW match.
It was a match that Titan ended up losing, and in 2024, he seeks to go one step further to claim the BOSJ trophy for the very first time. For Desperado though, the pain of losing in a tournament final is something he’s well familiar with as well; the potential to make this the year he finally lays claim to the premier tournament trophy in junior heavyweight wrestling is tantalizing to say the least.
9th Match: B Block- Hiromu Takahashi vs KUSHIDA
Singles record: 4–1 Hiromu
When Hiromu Takahashi first came back to NJPW from excursion, his initial target was then face of the junior division KUSHIDA. From his first singles match in the Tokyo Dome onward, Hiromu became a fearsome opponent for KUSHIDA to overcome, and in due time, soon became the very icon of the division that KUSHIDA had been; if anything more so with four Best of the Super Jr. trophy wins.
Yet in 2024, and without the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, Hiromu has struggled to produce. With no singles win to his name this year in NJPW, his BOSJ 31 campaign gets started with a full circle return to the Timesplitter. Will this fortunes this year change?
8th Match: A Block- Kevin Knight vs TJP
Singles record: 1–0 TJP
Two opponents very familiar with one another in the tag team ranks, Kevin Knight and TJP wrestle their first singles match opposite one another in three years to kick off their BOSJ campaigns. TJP would get the win in the old empty arena setting of NJPW STRONG, but Knight has come on leaps and bounds since from his Young Lion days, and has shown TJ directly just how far he’s come. Now that TJP carries the distinction of being the ‘captain’ of United Empire, can he lead by example against the Jet?
7th Match: B Block- DOUKI vs Taiji Ishimori
Singles record: 3–0 Ishimori
DOUKI and Taiji Ishimori face off to kick off their respective B Block campaigns. DOUKI has lost all of his three prior singles encounters with the Bone Soldier, but having overcome a similar losing deficit to Hiromu Takahashi earlier this year, is ready to claim more big results, including against the veteran former champion Ishimori.
6th Match: A Block- Blake Christian vs Clark Connors
A first time singles match in A Block sees Clark Connors against tournament debutant Blake Christian. Christian and Connors aren’t complete strangers, having wrestled a pair of tag bouts in the early days of NJPW STRONG. Yet that was a long time pre- 100 Proof War Dog Connors, and a long time pre ‘All Heat’ Blake Christian. This should be quite the reunion in Chiba.
5th Match: B Block- Drilla Moloney vs SHO
While HOUSE OF TORTURE and War Dogs sit under the same BULLET CLUB umbrella at large, there is very little common ground between the sides. Drilla Moloney, arguably the strongest and hardest hitting in this competition, gets his tournament started against IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO, and will not be wrestling with the greater good of BULLET CLUB in mind.
4th Match: A Block-Kosei Fujita vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Singles record: 1–0 Kanemaru
Kosei Fujita’s first Best of the Super Jr. campaign gets underway against Yoshinobu Kanemaru. TMDK have long been a thorn in the side of HOUSE OF TORTURE, a tradition that stemmed from Fujita helping Zack Sabre Jr. defeat EVIL in the G1 Climax a couple of years ago. Now he seeks to get the job done on his own, against a Kanemaru in his first tournament as a member of H.O.T and more than willing to play the Heel Master role to the hilt.
3rd Match: B Block- Robbie Eagles vs Ninja Mack
A diverse line up with plenty of fresh faces and plenty of fresh matchups defines this year’s BOSJ, and this match is emblematic of exactly that. Ninja Mack can bring high flying spectacle, but with a solid amateur background, is more than capable on the mat and will look to prove that point against the Sniper of the Skies, but Eagles is hungry to break through into the final four after years of ‘close but not quite,’ and wants to work his way back to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title after three years away from the gold.
2nd Match: A Block- BUSHI vs HAYATA
The first match of A Block will see BUSHI taking on NOAH’s controversial GHC National Champion HAYATA. A battle of two master technicians, who will get the first points on the board in A Block?
1st Match: B Block-Francesco Akira vs Dragon Dia
The tournament gets underway with Francesco Akira and Dragon Dia doing B Block battle. There is no doubt that a fast paced bout will set an impressive mood for the whole tournament to come, as Akira seeks to make major strides, and Dia looks to make a major first impression!
