The fifth night of the Best of the Super Juniors saw a logjam in the A Block while Robbie Eagles tops the B Block.
Wednesday’s show at Sun Plaza Hall in Sendai in front of 1,075 fans was headlined by YOH pinning former junior heavyweight champion El Desperado with the Direct Drive with both participants at six points in the B Block.
RESULTS:
*BLOCK A: Hiromu Takahashi over Ryusuke Taguchi in 5:23
*BLOCK B: Kevin Knight over BUSHI in 5:23
*BLOCK A: TJP over SHO in 8:46
*BLOCK B: Clark Connors over Francesco Akira in 8:33
*BLOCK A: DOUKI over Lio Rush in 5:43
*BLOCK B: Robbie Eagles over Yoshinobu Kanemaru in 10:07
*BLOCK A: Speedball Mike Bailey over Titan in 9:56
*BLOCK B: Master Wato over Dan Moloney in 7:48
*BLOCK A: Taiji Ishimori over KUSHIDA in 13:30
*BLOCK B: YOH over El Desperado in 20:24
The B Block is led by Robbie Eagles, who was victorious against Yoshinobu Kanemaru after hitting the Trigger (sliding knee) while selling his left knee throughout the match and being helped to the back by TMDK’s Kosei Fujita. Eagles has eight points with a 4-1 record while Kanemaru remains at four with a 2-3 mark.
Master Wato beat Dan Moloney with the Tsutenkaku German Suplex Hold. Wato went for a Tiger Suplex, which was stopped as Moloney connected with an enzuigiri before being hit by Wato’s finisher.
Clark Connors improved to 3-2 after hitting Francesco Akjra with No Chaser (Impaler DDT) after connecting with a spear as Akira came off the ropes.
The first B Block match of the show resulted in Kevin Knight moving to four points after hitting BUSHI with the leaping ‘rana, which was a scary landing as BUSHI appeared to hit the mat on his head/neck and they went to the finish with Knight hitting a spike DDT. BUSHI did roll out of the ring, they iced his neck and walked him to the back.
After Wednesday’s show, it’s back to a three-way tie for first place between Lio Rush, Taiji Ishimori, and Speedball Mike Bailey.
The three have a 4-1 record after five shows with Rush suffering his first loss of the tournament when he was submitted by DOUKI with the DOUKI Choky.
Ishimori beat KUSHIDA with the Bloody Cross as KUSHIDA falls to 1-4 and is on the brink of elimination, and Speedball Mike Bailey had a great match with Titan and won with the Flamingo Driver in front of an engaged audience in Sendai.
Other A Blocks results included TJP over SHO with the Mamba Splash. After a ref bump, SHO grabbed the wrench but TJP had his own wrench. SHO faked an injury for the referee but TJP recovered and kicked off of EVIL on the apron to hit SHO with a Tornado DDT and landed the Mamba Splash.
Hiromu Takahashi opened the show by pinning Ryusuke Taguchi in a fun and competitive match where Taguchi showed a lot of aggression and worked for the ankle lock throughout the five-minute contest. After kicking out of a crucifix, Takahashi scored the win with the Hiromu Roll.
A BLOCK: Lio Rush (8), Taiji Ishimori (8), Speedball Mike Bailey (8), Hiromu Takahashi (6), Titan (6), TJP (6), DOUKI (4), KUSHIDA (2), SHO (2), Ryusuke Taguchi (0)
B BLOCK: Robbie Eagles (8), El Desperado (6), Master Wato (6), Francesco Akira (6), YOH (6), Clark Connors (6), Yoshinobu Kanemaru (4), Kevin Knight (4), Dan Moloney (4), BUSHI (0)
The tournament returns on Thursday in Iwate with the following matches:
*B BLOCK: Master Wato vs. Robbie Eagles
*A BLOCK: Hiromu Takahashi vs. KUSHIDA
*B BLOCK: YOH vs. Francesco Akira
*A BLOCK: Lio Rush vs. Titan
*B BLOCK: El Desperado vs. Clark Connors
*A BLOCK: Taiji Ishimori vs. SHO
*B BLOCK: Kevin Knight vs. Dan Moloney
*A BLOCK: TJP vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
*B BLOCK: Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. BUSHI
*A BLOCK: Speedball Mike Bailey vs. DOUKI
