June 1st, 2017 | Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall in Nagoya, Aichi | Attendance: 1,535
It’s the final night of the tournament before the finals. Will Ospreay won the A Block, so I’m expecting a KUSHIDA win in this block. I’m not a fan of the idea and I’d rather BUSHI, ACH or El Desperado take home the win. Everyone in this block enters tied with six points and there are a ton of possibilities.
B Block: El Desperado [6] vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru [6]
Desperado has been one of the MVPs of this tournament, so naturally, he’s 0-3 after starting 3-0. I appreciated that they were untrustworthy of one another. Both guys are in Suzuki-Gun, so both are typically up to heel tricks. The story of this was each guy trying to out heel the other, which was a good way to play it. Taichi and TAKA got involved, everyone argued and there was some brawling on the outside. As they fought outside, the count neared ten. Desperado nearly got in, but Taichi rolled Kanemaru in and knocked TAKA into him, so Kanemaru won via countout in 9:39. About as good as they could’ve handled this. They worked to their strengths and had a solid match. I liked how Desperado was pissed after the match. I’d be all for him splitting from the group, but in NJPW, seemingly everyone has to be in some sort of stable, so it won’t happen. [**¾]
B Block: ACH [6] vs. Ryusuke Taguchi [6]
With both guys being babyface, they had some fun and joked around to start. We even got ACH mocking Taguchi’s ass attacks and the Shinsuke Nakamura taunt. As things progressed, they got a bit more serious and competitive. They still found ways to throw in the comedy stuff, but it felt natural. Taguchi went for the ankle lock, which helped slow ACH down at times. It certainly didn’t when he jumped straight to the top rope for a superplex. I didn’t mind it much since the ankle work wasn’t overdone to the point where he should’ve been completely unable to do things like that. ACH countered Dodon into a cradle, which got reversed a few times before Taguchi kept his shoulders down for three at 13:41. A good, fun match with lots of energy. It may have gone a bit long for what they were done, but I enjoyed it. [***]
B Block: BUSHI [6] vs. Tiger Mask IV [6]
BUSHI started 0-3, but has won three in a row. Tiger Mask came out firing and hit an early Tombstone. He was looking to get his two points and leave quickly. BUSHI turned things in his favor after tripping up Tiger Mask, leading to some fast paced back and forth. There were moments of desperation, like when Tiger Mask applied a guillotine choke. Just as Tiger Mask went for the Tiger Suplex, BUSHI fought out and we got a ref bump. BUSHI used a chair assisted Codebreaker and MX to finish things off at 12:08. I thought this was going very well until the cheap finish. I just don’t think it was needed. BUSHI is booked well enough to beat Tiger Mask without nonsense. [***]
B Block: ROH World Television Champion KUSHIDA [6] vs. Volador Jr. [6]
With wins over Kanemaru, Taguchi and BUSHI, a win for KUSHIDA gets him in the finals. They shook hands before the match, because though everything’s on the line, they’re respectable athletes. With so much at stake, they worked with a sense of urgency and had some great exchanges throughout. KUSHIDA went after the arm, even though that hasn’t quite worked for him recently. Volador continued to find ways to escape. They traded super ranas, with Volador’s being especially impressive. When KUSHIDA finally got the Hoverboard Lock on again, Volador still wouldn’t quit. Wisely, KUSHIDA took what he’s learned in the tournament and rolled it into God’s Last Gift to win the match and block at 15:44. A really fun main event that kept a great pace throughout. [***½]
I get why they did it, but I’m not a fan of the booking. It’s the same exact thing they did with Will Ospreay last year. Now the finals are a rematch of something that happened twice last year and the last two winners of this tournament. It’s typical Gedo booking. Why not take a chance? Now the Jr. Title match at Dominion will either be a rematch from the tournament or from Wrestle Kingdom and there’s already far too many of those. The last time Gedo took a big chance was with Kenny Omega and that’s worked out great. Do more surprise things like that.
Overall: 6.5/10. The typical good, but not great outing from the BOTSJ. The main event was the best match on the show and was worked like it was important. The rest of the show is solid, yet unspectacular. I’m not a fan of the booking decisions throughout, but whatever.
| A Block | Points | B Block | Points |
| Will Ospreay *Winner* | 10 (5-2) | KUSHIDA *Winner* | 8 (4-3) |
| Ricochet | 8 (4-3) | Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 8 (4-3) |
| Dragon Lee | 8 (4-3) | BUSHI | 8 (4-3) |
| Hiromu Takahashi | 8 (4-3) | Ryusuke Taguchi | 8 (4-3) |
| Taichi | 8 (4-3) | Tiger Mask IV | 6 (3-4) |
| Marty Scurll | 8 (4-3) | ACH | 6 (3-4) |
| TAKA Michinoku | 4 (2-5) | El Desperado | 6 (3-4) |
| Jushin Thunder Liger | 2 (1-6) | Volador Jr. | 6 (3-4) |
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