May 31st, 2016 | Hiroshima Green Arena in Hiroshima, Japan
We’re getting down to the nitty gritty in this tournament as people are close to getting mathematically eliminated at this point. The A Block is up again and they’ve been very consistent so far. I’d say the two guys performing the worst so far in the tournament are over in the B Block (Tiger Mask IV and Chase Owens), so I’ve been enjoying A Blocks slightly more.
A Block: BUSHI [4] def. David Finlay [2] in 7:18
Fresh off of his big first win on night seven, Finlay came out firing and went right after BUSHI. It quickly backfired when things spilled outside though. Finlay looks like he’s slowly morphing into Trevor Lee. He withstood a BUSHI onslaught for a bit. Finlay slapped on the stretch muffler and looked to make it two in a row only for BUSHI to make it to the ropes. Finlay had BUSHI’s middle rope Codebreaker scouted, dodged it and it led to some close near falls. Knowing he had just come off of the big first win, they did well on the false finishes. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be because the second Codebreaker attempt worked and BUSHI got the win. Like most of the tournament, this was very solid. Both guys worked hard as Finlay continues to be a breath of fresh air. Nice to see BUSHI string together two in a row as well. ***¼
A Block: Matt Sydal [8] def. Rocky Romero [4] in 13:37
After starting 2-0, Rocky Romero dropped two straight coming into this show, while Sydal lost his first match before reeling off three wins in a row. They know each other well considering their respective teams traded the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles for the past two months. They had a pretty good feeling out process and when Rocky couldn’t gain the upper hand, he resorted to mind games. He faked out Sydal on a dive before making him chase him around the ring. Sydal, ever the dumb babyface, ran right into a dropkick inside. Sydal’s comeback of course included him taking to the air. They fought outside where Romero hit a sliced bread, leading to the typical countout tease. There was a really strong exchange of strikes and Romero took Sydal up top. Sydal fought him off and hit a big rana before scoring on the Shooting Sydal Press and winning his fourth in a row. Better than I expected. Hell, I liked it more than their tag matches this year. Really good back and forth stuff.***½
A Block: KUSHIDA [6] def. Gedo [2] in 13:34
Gedo got his only win on night one, while KUSHIDA racked up two in a row after a surprising 0-2 start. KUSHIDA was easily the most popular person on the night and for good reason. I loved that KUSHIDA changed up his offense to go after the arm specifically. Instead of his usual cartwheel dropkick, he delivered a kick to the arm, which Gedo sold by yelling incredibly loudly. Gedo continued to use every old school heel tactic in the book. Everything from feigning an injury to using the exposed turnbuckle. If there was a way for the filthy veteran to steal the upper hand, he was not afraid to use it. The crowd ate all of this up and was red hot throughout. Despite him heeling it up, the crowd seemed to get more into Gedo as the match progressed and popped hard for his Rainmaker pose. KUSHIDA was able to counter the actual Rainmaker into the Hoverboard Lock and win. Really good stuff here that had the added benefit of a great crowd. Gedo doing everything he could to try and win was awesome as well. Not many have talked about it, but Gedo has been really enjoyable thus far. ***¾
A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi [8] def. Kyle O’Reilly [6] in 11:46
Both guys game into this show tied for first with six points. O’Reilly has been consistently really good so far, while Taguchi has been hit or miss. Right from the start, O’Reilly went after the arm, while Taguchi targeted the leg and I appreciated the efforts to try and set up their submissions early on. It would make sense for some guys to try and win as quickly as possible. O’Reilly had control but Taguchi resorted to his ass based offense to get him back into this. O’Reilly busted out the Sharpshooter, instantly making me like him even more. Unfortunately, Taguchi made it to the ropes. I liked the finish as O’Reilly did the whole “turn a kick out into my finisher” thing, only for Taguchi to turn that into a rollup and then take that kick out into his ankle lock. O’Reilly fought hard and nearly broke the hold, but eventually had to tap. A bit too much ass offense for me to really like it, but I thought it was fine. The cool finish added to it for me for sure. ***
Overall: 7/10. I feel like I’ve given this score out to the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament on most nights, but it’s fitting. The tournament continues to be really consistent with lots of good, solid matches. There were four good matches on this night. None are bad, though only Gedo/KUSHIDA is one you should see if pressed for time. Still, while the booking is a bit confusing (Taguchi and Sydal with 8 points, BUSHI eliminated with four) things are moving smoothly. By the way, Romero, BUSHI, Finlay and Gedo are all eliminated at this point.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Ryusuke Taguchi | 8 (4-1) | Ricochet | 6 (3-1) |
| Matt Sydal | 8 (4-1) | Beretta | 4 (2-2) |
| Kyle O'Reilly | 6 (3-2) | Jushin Thunder Liger | 4 (2-2) |
| KUSHIDA | 6 (3-2) | Volador Jr. | 4 (2-1) |
| Rocky Romero | 4 (2-3) | Bobby Fish | 4 (2-2) |
| BUSHI | 4 (2-3) | Chase Owens | 4 (2-2) |
| David Finlay | 2 (1-4) | Tiger Mask IV | 4 (2-2) |
| Gedo | 2 (1-4) | Will Ospreay | 2 (1-3) |
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