The NJPW Best of the Super Junior semi-finals are set: TJP will take on Taiji Ishimori and El Desperado will go to battle with DOUKI.
The semis all came down to the final two matches today, in the first match DOUKI scored a big victory over Robbie Eagles and he awaited the results of the main event to see if he would be moving on. Taiji Ishimori battled Hiromu Takahashi and Ishimori was guaranteed to advance since he defeated DOUKI earlier in the tournament.
DOUKI needed Ishimori to win because Takahashi lost to DOUKI in their tournament match meaning DOUKI would win that tie-breaker. If the match ended in a draw, both Ishimori and Takahashi would advance.
The main event began slowly until Takahashi hit Ishimori with a dropkick and the match spilled to the floor where Ishimori kicked Takahashi in the knee. Ishimori then dragged Takahashi into the stands where he raked his eyes and then raced to the ring hoping for a countout, but Takahashi beat the count. Ishimori now continued his attack with a sliding dropkick and then spiked Takahashi’s injured left knee into a chair.
Takahashi’s left knee was now Ishimori’s target as he drove it into the mat and he then threw Takahashi’s left shoulder into an exposed turnbuckle. He battled to make Takahashi’s left arm and leg both useless. Ishimori landed a dragon screw before locking in an inverted figure-four leg lock, but Takahashi managed to reach the bottom rope. Takahashi then got himself back into the match with a hurricanrana and head scissors while being draped over the ropes.
With Takahashi now in control, he hit Ishimori with a sliding dropkick, but Ishimori came back by raking the eyes and hitting a handspring enzigiri. Ishimori continued by throwing Takahashi’s shoulder into the ring post and then dropping him with a shoulder breaker followed by Cipher Utaki. He was then able to lock in the Bone Lock and Takahashi was struggling to stay alive, but he managed to break the hold and drive Ishimori into the exposed turnbuckle with a Death Valley driver.
Ishimori gets his revenge. Credit: NJPW
Both men were now trading forearms and Ishimori hit Takahashi with more than a dozen forearms right in the face, but he would not go down. Instead of going down, Takahashi hit Ishimori with a superkick, a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and the Time Bomb 1.5. Takahashi then landed a big lariat and went for Time Bomb 2, but Ishimori battled out and got himself to the top rope. Takahashi followed him to the top rope where the battle continued until Ishimori dropped Takahashi with a gut buster on top of the corner. He then dove off the top with 450 splash onto Takahashi.
Despite the 450, Takahashi tried to steal the win with the Hiromu Roll, but Ishimori kicked out and then ran into another superkick from Takahashi. Takahashi locked in a triangle choke in the middle of the ring and Ishimori managed to lift him off the ground to break the hold. Once it was broken, Takahashi hit Ishimori with his own finishing move, the Bloody Cross, but Ishimori got his foot on the rope. He then hit Time Bomb and Ishimori kicked out at two!
Time Bomb 2 was the next step, but Ishimori flipped out of it dropping Takahashi right into the Bone Lock. However, the hold was broken again, so Ishimori planted Takahashi with a tilt-a-whirl facebuster followed by Time Bomb 2. They both hit each other’s finishing moves, but neither could finish the match. Ishimori then lifted Takahashi to drop him with a Bloody Cross to get the victory and send himself to the semi-finals!
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Standings
Best of the Super Juniors A Block
Best of the Super Juniors Block B
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 12 Results
House of Torture (EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Katsuya Murashima, Shoma Kato & Shota Umino
EVIL defeated Murashima with Umino and Jon Moxley’s move, the Death Rider. He did this to message Mox, who he will be challenging for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Dominion. Following the match, he announced his title match with Mox will now be a lumberjack match.
Winners: House of Torture (EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi)
Blake Christian, HAYATA & Boltin Oleg vs. El Desperado, Kevin Knight & Tomoaki Honma
Oleg hit Honma with a rolling fireman’s carry to get the victory.
Winners: Blake Christian, HAYATA & Boltin Oleg
TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors & Gedo)
Fujita forced Gedo to submit with a brutal wheelbarrow submission.
Winners: TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)
United Empire (Callum Newman, HENARE & TJP) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Titan)
HENARE drilled BUSHI with a headbutt followed by Streets of Rage to earn the win.
Winner: United Empire (Callum Newman, HENARE & TJP)
Best of the Super Junior B Block Match: Dragon Dia vs. KUSHIDA
Dia hit KUSHIDA with a dragon kick followed by a diving spike DDT to get his only win of the tournament in his final match.
Winner: Dragon Dia
Best of the Super Junior B Block Match: Drilla Moloney vs. Ninja Mack
This match spilled to the outside, leading to the brutal moment of Moloney spiking Mack into the floor with a Drilla Killa. Moloney then entered the ring and allowed the referee to count to 20 for the win.
Winner: Drilla Moloney via countout
Best of the Super Junior B Block Match: DOUKI vs. Robbie Eagles
DOUKI is heading to the semis. Credit: NJPW
These two men battled on the mat exchanging roll-ups and submissions with neither man being able to get the finish. This went on until DOUKI sneakily caught Eagles into the Suplex de La Luna.
