NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night Seven
May 29th 2016 | Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan
Following another day off, the Best of the Super Juniors returns with a rather big show for the A Block, as it gets the multi-camera treatment and the entire show is up on NJPW World. The standings are starting to shape up, with KUSHIDA finally getting a win on night five. Kyle O’Reilly and Ryusuke Taguchi lead everyone with 6 points and sparkling 3-0 records. I’m actually free today so I’ll review the entire show!
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Michael Elgin and Volador Jr. def. Chaos (Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Will Ospreay) in 8:40
Starting things off, Ishii and Tenzan went at it. It seemed like Elgin got in Ishii’s face too, and after their G1 match last year, I badly want to see a rematch. Ospreay and Volador had a fun exchange. Ospreay did a Vader Bomb, complete with shouting “IT’S VADER TIME”, which is great since Vader was very critical of Ospreay’s match with Ricochet. One thing about these multi-man tags that’s always fun is seeing juniors mix it up with heavyweights. Ishii/Volador and Elgin/Ospreay were both enjoyable pairings. In the end, Beretta made the mistake of trying a rana and getting caught with a buckle bomb. The Elgin Bomb followed to earn the win. As I stated, this was a fun opener. I liked seeing the different pairings and this never felt like the pace died down. ***¼
Jushin Thunder Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask IV and NEVER Openweight Champion Yuji Nagata def. ROH Television Champion Bobby Fish, Jay White, Juice Robinson and Katsuyori Shibata in 8:03
THE NEW JAPAN DADS! Also, Shibata and Fish together is a pretty badass combination. With no commentary, we got to hear the smack talk from guys like Juice, Liger and Fish and it was all highly entertaining. The main focus of this was the continuing hatred of Nagata and Shibata as they prepare for their title match at Dominion on June 19th. Like the previous match, this was nothing special, but moved along quickly and was fun. Nagata got the win after hitting the backdrop driver on Jay White. ***
A Block: David Finlay [2] def. Gedo [2] in 10:42
It’s tournament time! David Finlay lost all of his matches last year and the first three this year, while Gedo picked up a win on the first night of competition. We got some early fun as Gedo would leave the ring, Finlay would go throw him back in and Gedo would keep rolling out to a different side. He did this until he got to use his trusty ring bell hammer for a cheap shot. Trash talking Gedo is one of my favorite things about the tournament so far. “YOU LIKE THE TABLE RIGHT?” They played this as if Finlay, despite being a young lion, was better and Gedo needed to use all of his tricks to try and win. They struggled for position, when Finlay got him into a roll up and earned the upset. Finlay and the crowd both had a great reaction to the shock, but none were better than Gedo, who threw a temper tantrum. Good match and the finish made for a really cool moment. It felt like Gedo put him over as a thank you for Finlay being so good over the past year. ***¼
A Block: BUSHI [2] def. Rocky Romero [4] in 11:08
I had BUSHI pegged to finish in the top two or three of this block, but he entered this tied for last at 0-3. This was a bit more than just a tournament match as these guys are on opposite sides of the current Chaos vs. Los Ingobernables rivalry. After a hot start by Rocky, BUSHI was mostly in control. He had Rocky’s “get stuck on the ropes” gimmick well scouted, immediately dropkicking him to the outside and following with a suicide dive. He always had an answer for Rocky’s stuff. You got the feeling that despite his lack of care attitude, BUSHI prepared for this. He eventually spit the mist at Rocky, who still managed to kick out. It took him leaping off the second rope for a big Codebreaker to earn the win. Really good pace and I appreciated that the finish didn’t come directly from the mist spot. Also really happy to see BUSHI get on the board. Best match of the night so far. ***½
The Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi) def. Captain New Japan, Ricochet, Satoshi Kojima and Yoshitatsu in 11:23
Ugh, Yoshitatsu was still in Triple H cosplay mode. Kenny Omega’s theme music is still god tier. This began with Tatsu against Yujiro and I instantly regretted reviewing the entire show. Outside of Ricochet, Kojima and Omega, none of these guys really interest me. Fale is good for his role too, but that’s about it. The interaction between those guys were pretty good. Watching Kojima light up Omega with chops, especially since Omega had two shirts on for protection, was great. As was Omega trying to attack him with a broom. Captain New Japan had a close near fall, but because he is who he is, he ultimately failed and lost to Omega doing High Fly Flow. A few fun moments but outside of that, I wasn’t entertained. **
Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito) in 12:02
These LIDJ/Chaos matches have been so much more enjoyable than the Chaos/Bullet Club ones we used to get. Even so, we’ve seen these a lot in a short span. This was pretty standard for them. Naito was a complete jerk who disrespected Okada at every opportunity, EVIL and Goto went at it and YOSHI-HASHI took most of the beating for his guys. A chaotic finishing stretch saw Goto go into a flurry of offense to put down EVIL, gaining some revenge for losing to him at Wrestling Dontaku. We also got the typical post-match drama from the stables, as they got into a brawl. The match itself was good, but nothing we haven’t seen before. ***
A Block: Matt Sydal [6] def. Kyle O’Reilly [6] in 14:11
These two had a really good match at one of ROH’s Supercard of Honor shows during WrestleMania weekend. Sydal’s speed advantage was quickly negated as O’Reilly chose to twist and bend him in strange ways. Sydal used his, as JR would call them, educated feet, to turn the tide. We got the spot where Kyle caught a moonsault into an armbar, but Sydal reached the ropes. Kyle kept going for the armbar and had a cool moment where Sydal blocked it on one arm, so he switched over and applied it to the other. Both guys made mistakes outside as Sydal’s moonsault was blocked and Kyle missed a kick that hit the ring post. After a double countout tease, they really kicked it into next gear and delivered a great finish. O’Reilly continued to go after the arm, but Sydal kept countering. He nailed Meteora and the Shooting Sydal Press to hand O’Reilly his first loss. It was the biggest win and easily the best match Sydal has had in NJPW. A cut above their ROH match from April. ****
A Block: KUSHIDA [4] def. Ryusuke Taguchi [6] in 16:09
After stumbling out of the gate to an 0-2 start, KUSHIDA won his third match while Taguchi is unbeaten so far. Before KUSHIDA traded the title with Kenny Omega last year, the most recent IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion was Ryusuke Taguchi. They shook hands before the bell, which made sense considering their friendship. I mean, Taguchi played his Doc Brown earlier this year even. They got off to a fast paced start where Taguchi managed to stay right with KUSHIDA. Taguchi used his ass for offense, but not enough that it was very annoying. KUSHIDA attacked the arm, highlighted by a single arm DDT off of the apron. Credit to Taguchi for mostly selling the arm well and to the crowd for being fully invested in everything. Taguchi racked up several close calls, but like O’Reilly, his winning streak ended as he tapped out to an armbar. Taguchi stepped his game up here, while KUSHIDA seems incapable of having a bad match. The best Taguchi match I’ve ever seen. ***½
Overall: 7/10. Another good show from the tournament. It was the first that I decided to review everything and it may have been better if I just did the tournament matches. The multi-man tags weren’t bad, except for the Bullet Club one, but they didn’t do much for me. Every tournament match was good though. We got the cool moment of Finlay winning one, Romero and BUSHI having a good outing, a great battle between O’Reilly and Sydal and a better than expected main event.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Ryusuke Taguchi | 6 (3-1) | Berreta | 4 (2-1) |
| Matt Sydal | 6 (3-1) | Jushin Thunder Liger | 4 (2-1) |
| Kyle O'Reilly | 6 (3-1) | Ricochet | 4 (2-1) |
| Rocky Romero | 4 (2-2) | Volador Jr. | 4 (2-1) |
| KUSHIDA | 4 (2-2) | Bobby Fish | 2 (1-2) |
| David Finlay | 2 (1-3) | Will Ospreay | 2 (1-2) |
| Gedo | 2 (1-3) | Tiger Mask IV | 2 (1-2) |
| BUSHI | 2 (1-3) | Chase Owens | 2 (1-2) |
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night Six
May 27th, 2016 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
After a night off from action, the tournament returns for a full B Block show. That’s right, non-tournament matches and multiple cameras! I’ve been waiting for one of these again. Some interesting matchups here to say the least and I’m actually going to try and watch the entire show later today. For now though, it’s just the tournament matches again. It will be interesting to see if the upset booking continues as we’re now deeper into the tournament.
B Block: Tiger Mask IV [2] def. Chase Owens [2] in 6:46
Chase Owens decided to be a dick and attack Tiger Mask during his entrance, giving himself an early advantage. Yujiro Takahashi tried to take Tiger Mask to the back for the countout, but Tiger Mask returned and threw Takahashi aside, beating the count. Owens did a good job of heeling it up as he messed with the fans and talked a fair amount of smack. Just as Tiger Mask gained momentum, Takahashi got involved again. It ended up backfiring as Tiger Mask got rid of him and then countered some Owens offense with a pinning combination to earn his first victory. Like everything involving Tiger Mask so far, this was decent at best. The best part of it was surprisingly Owens and his heel tactics. **
B Block: Bobby Fish [2] def. Beretta [4] in 10:58
When asked to shake hands, Fish responded with a loud “I LOVE TO SHAKE HANDS”! He and Beretta know each other quite well from tag matches. They’ve gotten off to opposite starts in the tournament so far. They wrestled at a good pace and everything they did came off well. Things didn’t pick up until Fish hit a big suplex on the outside and you got the feeling this was going into next gear. Fish began to attack the leg, even hitting a moonsault onto it at one point. The finishing stretch was solid and saw Fish pull off a reDRagon staple. He took a kickout by Beretta and turned it into the Fish Hook. It made Beretta tap out, which the referee missed at first, but eventually got right. A good match though something was missing to take it over the top. ***¼
B Block: Volador Jr. [4] def. Jushin Thunder Liger [4] in 9:16
Lots of respect shown early on with a handshake, as well as Liger holding the ropes open for Volador. Volador found himself in a bit of trouble but blocked a super rana attempt and scored on a missile dropkick. With the crowd firmly behind him, Liger seemed extra motivated. He did his usual stuff like the Liger Bomb and surfboard, but something just seemed to be clicking for him. Since he’s worked with KUSHIDA last month, he’s been on point. Volador did his mask removal gimmick and tried a moonsault but Liger got his feet up. Liger went up, but Volador followed and hit the top rope Spanish fly to hand Liger his first loss. Liger is pretty gangster for taking moves like that at his age. Overall, this was a solid bout. There was nothing special about it, but both guys worked hard and we got a good match out of it. ***¼
B Block: Will Ospreay [2] def. Ricochet [4] in 16:48
We learned yesterday that Will Ospreay has been working through an injury and I wonder if that has something to do with the decision to have him 0-2. This is Ospreay’s first career singles match in Korakuen Hall. These two had a terrific match headlining Evolve 59 during WrestleMania weekend. Both guys wanted to strut their athletic stuff at the beginning and boy did they. The pace in which they moved, trying to outlast the other in their exchange, was incredible. I’m happy I haven’t been doing play-by-play on these matches because this would have exhausted me. They played it to show that both men are equal and it allowed for some breathtaking moments. At one point, Ricochet hit an apron DVD and went to throw Ospreay back in, but he basically did a 619 to land on Ricochet’s shoulders and snapped off a reverse rana to lead to a double countout tease. The spot didn’t come off as crisp as they’d hoped, but that was the only one of the night to feel that way. Things progressed from aerial exhibition to something more personal as Ricochet spit at Ospreay, leading to an uppercut battle. Ospreay then delivered a headbutt that would make even Ishii and Shibata cringe. Their final few minutes were again, unreal at times. Ospreay avoided the Benadryller and won with the springboard cutter. An excellent match that was easily the second best of the tournament so far. I even liked it more than their Evolve 59 outing. ****½
After the match, they started to show each other. The crowd seemed to want a rematch and both men seemed to agree on it sometime down the line before shaking hands.
Overall: 7.5/10. I found this similar to night one. The main event absolutely stole the show. Owens and Tiger Mask had the worst match of the tournament so far, but the rest of the matches made up for it. Fish/Beretta and Liger/Volador were both solid showings before Ospreay and Ricochet blew everyone’s minds. A must see MOTYC and the best showing from the B Block so far. Unlike the A Block, this side is wide open.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Kyle O'Reilly | 6 (3-0) | Berreta | 4 (2-1) |
| Ryusuke Taguchi | 6 (3-0) | Jushin Thunder Liger | 4 (2-1) |
| Rocky Romero | 4 (2-1) | Ricochet | 4 (2-1) |
| Matt Sydal | 4 (2-1) | Volador Jr. | 4 (2-1) |
| KUSHIDA | 2 (1-2) | Bobby Fish | 2 (1-2) |
| Gedo | 2 (1-2) | Will Ospreay | 2 (1-2) |
| BUSHI | 0 (0-3) | Tiger Mask IV | 2 (1-2) |
| David Finlay Jr | 0 (0-3) | Chase Owens | 2 (1-2) |
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night Five
May 25th, 2016 | Ichinoseki City Gymnasium in Ichinoseki, Iwate, Japan
The Best of the Super Juniors Tournament continues with night five and we go back to the A Block. Some shocking things so far as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA and Los Ingobernables de Japon member BUSHI are both winless so far. The order of these matches is rather weird too as the final match, the “main event” if you will, isn’t something I’d put on last here. Again, this was shot in single camera format.
A Block: Matt Sydal [4] def. Gedo [2] in 6:21
I can’t believe Sydal has never botched his in ring slide. Gedo is a dick, so he kicked Sydal in the guy during his introduction and took him to the outside. Gedo has been all about using every heel tactic possible and that was the case here again. He used his trusty ring bell hammer to his advantage. Sydal fought back once the match moved inside, until Gedo hit a sweet hangman’s DDT for a near fall. We got a few more near falls on some back and forth between the competitors. Sydal got to his signature stuff, like a big jumping rana, before finishing off Gedo with the Shooting Sydal Press. This was all in good fun and kept short, which was a plus. Gedo has quietly been one of the better A Block performers so far. ***
A Block: Kyle O’Reilly [6] def. BUSHI [0] in 10:58
Behind O’Reilly/KUSHIDA, this was the match I was most looking forward to in the tournament. BUSHI and Kyle O’Reilly are two of my favorite juniors (along with KUSHIDA and Ospreay) and I believe this was their first ever meeting. Surprisingly, as soon as the bell rang, a BUSHI chant began. BUSHI used his laid back attitude and demeanor to goad Kyle in, only for it to backfire as he ended up in an armbar. BUSHI threw his shirt at Kyle to actually gain the upper hand. He and Gedo are pretty much the best heels in the tournament. O’Reilly has been competing at a high level and you really get the sense that he’s a man on a mission. BUSHI tried for the mist at the end, but Kyle ducked and nailed a Brainbuster. He only got two, but instantly went into the armbar, making sure to also grab BUSHI’s leg and keep him from trying to move to the ropes, causing BUSHI to tap out. While this was really good, I found myself a bit disappointed, but that’s probably because I set my expectations way high for this. Motivated and determined O’Reilly has been awesome so far. I am quite upset at BUSHI being 0-3 though. ***½
A Block: KUSHIDA [2] def. David Finlay [0] in 11:31
Despite both guys being 0-2, they’ve both consistently put on good to great matches thus far. The mat work between these two early on was great. Finlay is already so very good. Like BUSHI earlier, Finlay was pretty over here and it grew as the match progressed. Someone is impressing again. KUSHIDA went after the arm, trying to set up the Hoverboard Lock. Finlay nailed a German but made a mistake as his high risk move didn’t pay off and he was caught in an armbar. He made it to the ropes and surprised when he caught KUSHIDA with the stretch muffler. Of course, the champion went on to survive. They worked a great series of rollups before KUSHIDA turned one into the Hoverboard Lock. Finlay nearly made it to the ropes, but KUSHIDA rolled him away and he had to tap out. I’d say this exceeded my expectations. Very crisp work from both guys and they did a good job of making you believe Finlay had a decent shot. I enjoyed the false submission finishes too. ***¾
A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi [6] def. Rocky Romero [4] in 12:02
What a strange choice to be the “main event” of this night. I mean, I get that both guys are 2-0, but you still can’t buy either guy as a threat to win. With the crowd in his corner, Taguchi began to slap his ass. Right there I knew that he was going to be goofy Taguchi in this. There was some crowd brawling that the solo camera actually caught and it led to a double countout tease. Once back inside, Taguchi was back to using ass attacks. It’s been so refreshing to have that version of him absent so far. He was much more tolerable. Outside of that, the work they did in the match wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t good enough to make up for the rest of it. Taguchi won with an ankle lock in what was probably my least favorite match of the tournament so far. **½
Overall: 6.5/10. Like the rest of the tournament so far, this was another solid, but unspectacular night of wrestling. I’m having fun with this since they are easy watches with mostly good wrestling. The booking has been a bit odd so far. Considering the parity in these tournaments, I found BUSHI’s loss to Kyle O’Reilly to be quite surprising. Anyway, KUSHIDA/Finlay was the one to watch here, though everything outside of the main event is worth a look.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Kyle O'Reilly | 6 (3-0) | Berreta | 4 (2-0) |
| Ryusuke Taguchi | 6 (3-0) | Jushin Thunder Liger | 4 (2-0) |
| Rocky Romero | 4 (2-1) | Ricochet | 4 (2-0) |
| Matt Sydal | 4 (2-1) | Chase Owens | 2 (1-1) |
| KUSHIDA | 2 (1-2) | Volador Jr. | 2 (1-1) |
| Gedo | 2 (1-2) | Will Ospreay | 0 (0-2) |
| BUSHI | 0 (0-3) | Bobby Fish | 0 (0-2) |
| David Finlay Jr | 0 (0-3) | Tiger Mask IV | 0 (0-2) |
The opening video shows how we have new Trios Champions in Rey Mysterio, Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. We also see Chavo Guerrero steal Cage's medallion and win the Gift of the Gods Title because of help from Cage.
We see Pentagon Jr trying to leave Vampiro, saying he's ready. Vampiro disagrees and Pentagon tells him to try and stop him. Vampiro doesn't want him to ever question him again. Pentagon slips free of him and has no fear. Vampiro tells him that he can go to the Temple, but he's not ready to face the monster yet.
Joey Ryan def. Mascarita Sagrada w/ Famous B and Brenda in 3:17
Famous B did Mascarita's ring intro again. Joey Ryan attacked during that because he's such a scumbag. Famous B hilariously offered his card to Ryan in the middle of the match, but Brenda slapped it away. Joey had some fun by acting like he wasn't strong enough to lift Mascarita and then flexing after hitting a body slam. Famous B also gave his card to the referee. Mascarita kicked Joey low, but his dick of steel allowed him to no sell it. Ryan got a dirty win. This was fine for what it was, as it was meant to be good comedy fun and it mostly was. **
Famous B helped Mascarita up after the match and gave him words of encouragement.
After a break, we see Taya looking in a mirror. She says that she doesn't see someone who needs improvements. She sees confidence and dominance when looking in the mirror.
Now we see King Cuerno, complete with badass cowboy hat, talking about Mil Muertes sitting atop the Temple like eh ran the jungle. He has Mil trapped in a glass coffin as he says this, proclaiming to be the true king of the jungle. This dude is so badass that he has Mil Muertes as a goddamn trophy.
Gift of the Gods Championship: Cage def. Chavo Guerrero (c) in 7:56
Matt Striker tried putting Chavo over as one of the best pound for pound wrestlers in the world at one time, only for Vampiro to shit all over that theory. They played into the big man/little man dynamic, which was interesting considering the smaller guy is the heel. The crowd was into all of it and popped for the right things. Chavo picked up a few near falls that most people probably didn't expect. I know I didn't. Cage came close on a sick discus lariat but the veteran Chavo got his foot on the bottom rope. Chavo got off a sunset flip bomb from the top and got a near fall on a frog splash. He channeled Eddie and tried Three Amigos, but Cage stopped him and won with the screwdriver. That was much better than I expected and easily the best thing Chavo has ever done in Lucha Underground. ***
HOLY SHIT! Cage instantly announces that he is cashing in his Gift of the Gods Title shot against Matanza next week! MONSTER VS. MACHINE!
Still to come, Fenix, PJ Black and Jack Evans get a shot at the Trios Titles.
Backstage, Taya leads PJ Black and Jack Evans towards a surprise. She reveals it to be Fenix, knocked out. Evans is upset because they have a title match tonight. Johnny Mundo shows up and says that they have a new partner as he'll be replacing Fenix. They all play air guitar before leaving.
Joey Ryan is rummaging through Dario Cueto's office, looking for evidence since Dario and "his hot ninja" aren't there. Cortez Castro shows up and doesn't want him to do this but decides to help. They find a lot of money but Mr. Cisco shows up. He's pissed they didn't invite him to rob El Jefe and goes to snitch. Coretz stops him after Joey pulls a gun and has him freeze. Cortez arrests Cisco, who looks stunned and hurt.
Trios Championships: Jack Evans, Johnny Mundo and PJ Black w/ Taya def. Dragon Azteca Jr., Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) in 11:29
Like pretty much all Trios Title matches, this was a fair amount of fun. The dynamic between the champions, Azteca, Mysterio and Puma, is always great, but this was more about the challengers. They play the dick heels so well and did so here better than ever. I don't know if I've ever seen as many low blows as we saw here. Evans and Black hit as many as possible, but Puma kicked out and gave hope that things were going to turn around. Taya also got involved and used a steel chair to help the titles change hands. This was good fun, but may have had a bit too much of extra shenanigans for me. ***1/2.
Overall: 6.5/10. I don't think there's been a bad episode this season. This one wasn't among the best, but still proved to be fun. We got two title changes in two solid matches and even teh short opener was entertaining. There was forward movement on the Cortez/Ryan angle and a great King Cuerno segment.
If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv!
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night Four
May 24th, 2016 | Yonezawa Municipal Gymnasium in Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan
Another single camera night where only the tournament matches are posted on NJPW World. At least two of the matches set, the final two, really intrigue me and this has potential to be an improvement on the first B Block showing on night two. This was also a smaller show than most as, from what I read, there were less than 1,000 in attendance.
B Block: Volador Jr. [2] def. Tiger Mask IV [0] in 9:47
Back on night two, both guys suffered losses. Volador to Beretta and Tiger Mask to Ricochet. They got off to a rather quick start here, with both men showing off their athleticism before Tiger Mask took Volador down to the mat. Volador nailed a nice front flip to the outside, being the first to go high risk. This was before removing his mask and following with an Asai moonsault. Once it returned to the ring, they had some more back and forth. Tiger Mask got in a submission but Volador made it to the ropes. Volador then got on a roll, hitting a superkick, backstabber and then winning with his Depredador Estrada submission. Entertaining start to the show as both guys worked hard and worked a crisp match. Better than the night two opener. ***
B Block: Jushin Thunder Liger [4] def. Chase Owens [2] in 7:12
This time around, Chase Owens showed up with Yujiro Takahashi, ensuring that we see the two least important Bullet Club members at the same time. Owens pulled off the upset by besting Will Ospreay on night two, while Liger beat Bobby Fish. I love Liger’s theme by the way. Liger was all about stretching Owens, almost instantly putting him in the surfboard. Owens had a small advantage in the power department it seemed and was sure to taunt and flex for the crowd. Liger tripped him up for his troubles and looked to teach him a lesson. There was a great countout tease where Takahashi held Liger’s legs but he beat the count at 19. Owens used underhanded tactics and interference to gain control. Liger blocked a package piledriver and won with a crucifix pin. After the match, Owens hit the package piledriver and Liger was stretchered out. It looked to be an angle. I thought the match was fine and glad we got some old school heeling from Owens. **¾
B Block: Ricochet [4] def. ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish [0] in 12:30
On night two, Ricochet defeated Tiger Mask IV, while Bobby Fish fell to Liger. This is the match I was most looking forward to on the first two B Block shows. The crowd was firmly behind Ricochet and he gave them what they wanted with a sweet moonsault to the outside early. Ricochet’s offense is so fluid and innovative that Bobby was overwhelmed by it at times. As the match progressed, we got some impressive looks strikes from both guys, but especially Ricochet. Fish recently went toe to toe with Tomohiro Ishii, so it was more of a surprise to see this style from Ricochet. Fish hit the falcon arrow for two and transitioned right into a heel hook. Ricochet escaped and, after a vicious knee strike, won with the Benadryller. About as solid a match as you can find as there were no dead spots, lots of good work and it was really enjoyable. I do wish Fish targeted the leg more, since that makes perfect sense against someone like Ricochet. While it was very good, it never quite crossed into great territory. ***½
B Block: Beretta [4] def. Will Ospreay [0] in 11:55
For your recap, Beretta won against Volador on night two, while Ospreay was upset by Chase Owens. Both guys are members of the Chaos stable. There were some friendly moments early on where they one upped one another and patted each other on the head after. It felt like they were really hammering home the fact that Beretta was the more experienced competitor as he seemed to have an answer for everything young Ospreay tried. Beretta was better in that role than I expected, doing little things to capitalize on every opening. It felt like Ospreay got a bit too cocky at times and it would always cost him. After some great back and forth, he fell to the Dudebuster. They shook hands after the bell since they are stablemates after all. I thought that these guys showed really good chemistry and had the best match since KUSHIDA/O’Reilly on night one. Hopefully, Ospreay starts picking up wins now. ***¾
Overall: 7/10. Another night of action and another solid outing from all eight performers. I found this to be better than the first B Block show two nights earlier. Owens/Liger was decent, Volador and Tiger Mask had a good showing and Ricochet vs. Bobby Fish was really good, albeit a slight disappointment. Beretta and Ospreay is the one to watch on this card though.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Kyle O'Reilly | 4 (2-0) | Berreta | 4 (2-0) |
| Rocky Romero | 4 (2-0) | Jushin Thunder Liger | 4 (2-0) |
| Ryusuke Taguchi | 4 (2-0) | Ricochet | 4 (2-0) |
| Gedo | 2 (1-1) | Chase Owens | 2 (1-1) |
| Matt Sydal | 2 (1-1) | Volador Jr. | 2 (1-1) |
| KUSHIDA | 0 (0-2) | Will Ospreay | 0 (0-2) |
| BUSHI | 0 (0-2) | Bobby Fish | 0 (0-2) |
| David Finlay Jr | 0 (0-2) | Tiger Mask IV | 0 (0-2) |
