There is one undefeated participant in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament following Tuesday’s event in Akita.
Lio Rush remains unbeaten after pinning Taiji Ishimori in the main event on Tuesday and giving Ishimori his first blemish of the Best of the Super Juniors.
Ishimori worked on Rush’s shoulder and struck Rush with a Reverse Blood Sunday before a Ciper UTAKI was countered and Rush followed with Rush Hour and the Final Hour to improve to 4-0 in the A Block.
Both Ishimori and Speedball Mike Bailey lost their first matches on Tuesday. Bailey was submitted by KUSHIDA using a cross-heel hook after Bailey missed with a kick and struck the post earlier in the match. Technically, this was likely the best match on the show as KUSHIDA wins his first match of the tournament.
The A Block also featured Hiromu Takahashi overcoming a kidnapping and defeating SHO. SHO came out in his regular clothes and read a note that was allegedly from Takahashi stating he had to forfeit, but Takahashi emerged from the back and was tied up. EVIL was constantly involved but Takahashi struck EVIL with the wrench behind the referee’s back and hit Everything is Evil on SHO followed by both versions of the Time Bomb to win.
TJP defeated DOUKI with the Mamba Splash to improve to 2-2 and Titan submitted Ryusuke Taguchi with the Llave Inmortal as he also gains a .500 record after four shows.
The B Block was led by Master Wato scoring a minor upset over Yoshinobu Kanemaru with Tsutenkaku German (elevated bridging German suplex) for the win and moves to 2-2 while Kanemaru has lost two in a row after winning his first two matches.
El Desperado defeated Kevin Knight with the Pinche Loco after continually threatening with Numero Dos and Knight finding ways out of the hold. Knight continues to impress in the tournament with his aerial ability and has stood out in the block.
Francesco Akira beat Dan Moloney after avoiding the Drilla Killa and landing the Fireball as he moves to six points in the block and a 3-1 record after the meeting of United Empire teammates.
Robbie Eagles pinned BUSHI after a sliding knee following a roll-through on a backslide attempt. The match-ending strike looked a bit off and the match had a semi-flat ending. Eagles joined Kevin Kelly on commentary for the second half of the show.
The show opened with YOH catching Clark Connors with the Five Star Clutch. After, Connors hit YOH with No Chaser and hit a nasty chair shot right near YOH’s head.
Here are the updated point totals:
A BLOCK: Lio Rush (8), Taiji Ishimori (6), Speedball Mike Bailey (6), Titan (6), Hiromu Takahashi (4), TJP (4), DOUKI (2), SHO (2), KUSHIDA (2), Ryusuke Taguchi (0)
B BLOCK: El Desperado (6), Francesco Akira (6), Robbie Eagles (6), Yoshinobu Kanemaru (4), Dan Moloney (4), Master Wato (4), Clark Connors (4), YOH (4) Kevin Knight (2), BUSHI (2)
The BOSJ tournament continues on Wednesday in Sendai with the following matches:
*B BLOCK: El Desperado vs. YOH
*A BLOCK: KUSHIDA vs. Taiji Ishimori
*B BLOCK: Master Wato vs. Dan Moloney
*A BLOCK: Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Titan
*B BLOCK: Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Robbie Eagles
*A BLOCK: Lio Rush vs. DOUKI
*B BLOCK: Francesco Akira vs. Clark Connors
*A BLOCK: SHO vs. TJP
*B BLOCK: Kevin Knight vs. BUSHI
*A BLOCK: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
