May 22nd, 2016 | Kiramesse Numzazu in Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan
Night two of this year’s Best of the Super Juniors Tournament didn’t air live on NJPW World. Instead, just the tournament matches were uploaded later in the day. They are all shot in single camera format, similar to some of the G1 shows last year.
B Block: Ricochet [2] def. Tiger Mask IV [0] in 9:53
Ricochet is one half of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. They worked some back and forth early before Ricochet’s athleticism and quickness gave him the upper hand. The height he gets on his springboard stuff is absurd at times. Tiger Mask was smart, trying to ground the high flier. He went for a few submissions, including an armbar and then he countered the Benadryller into an ankle lock. Ricochet rolled through into a version of the Manjigatame to make Tiger submit. I thought this was fine but nothing special. I appreciated them going with a submission finish as it was unexpected. **½
B Block: Jushin Thunder Liger [2] def. ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish [0] in 11:30
While I like the NJPW dub theme for reDRagon, I really liked that they’ve got their official theme so far in the tournament. There was some early trash talk, which made things fun. Fish worked the leg and was really good at playing the heel here. I didn’t expect it but he pulled out some underhanded tactics and mixed it in with the trash talk, making for a good heat segment. He came close to winning with a knee bar only for Liger to rally behind the crowd and reach the ropes. In a great turn of events, Liger blocked the Fishhook by holding the ropes and leaning down on Bobby, using them for leverage and getting the three count. Solid work from both guys. Extra points for heel Bobby, the hot crowd, their back and forth banter and Liger turning the heel tactics around on him. ***¼
B Block: Beretta [2] def. Volador Jr. [0] in 12:04
I’m pretty sure Beretta clearly said “I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT LUCHA LIBRE” just before the bell. Volador had the early upper hand until things spilled outside. Beretta did something that the damn single camera missed and it gave us a countout tease. As Volador began a comeback in the ring, he removed his tear away pants and nailed a dive outside. Back inside, Volador removed his mask. If this went any longer, he might have been naked by the finish. There was a cool spot where Volador leapt over a Beretta spear attempt on the apron and went right into an Asai moonsault. Beretta survived a super rana before putting Volador away with the Dudebuster. Another good match as they did well with being given the most amount of time on the card. I look forward to more from both guys as the tournament progresses. ***
B Block: Chase Owens [2] def. Will Ospreay [0] in 9:58
Easily the most shocking result of the first two nights but more on that later. It was clear from the start that Ospreay was fired up. He wowed the crowd early with his athleticism, including a really nice handspring moonsault to the outside. The lack of commentary allowed us to hear just how vocal Ospreay is during his matches. Ospreay tired his Chaos buddy Okada’s Rainmaker, complete with pose, but Owens was ready and blocked it before hitting a nice spinning backbreaker. Ospreay’s high flying style cost him as he springboarded right into a superkick, followed by a gutbuster and package piledriver, giving Owens the upset. Ospreay entered as a heavy favorite to win the entire thing and a loss to Owens, probably the blandest guy in the tournament, was unexpected. Either way, this was easily the best match I’ve ever seen from Owens and Ospreay is in a zone in 2016 where he seemingly can’t have bad matches. Unfortunately, he’s now 0-2 in singles matches in NJPW. ***¼
Overall: 6/10. Clearly this set of matches lacked the must see aspect that KUSHIDA/O’Reilly had on night one. However, this is a very solid set of matches. None of them are bad and they all mostly fly by. Fish/Liger and Ospreay/Owens were the best matches, while Beretta/Volador was pretty good. The fact that the tournament has had so many early upsets makes for interesting watches as you don’t know what to expect.
