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NJPW BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS NIGHT 10 RESULTS
MAY 25, 2025
PORT MESSE NAGOYA EXHIBITION HALL 2
AICHI, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
The penultimate night of block action is always fascinating, as it sets up the important matches on the last night. Walker Stewart was once again on his own for commentary duties.
(1) B Block: Robbie Eagles (8 points) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi (6) by pinfall at 5:58 with the Hyperion shining wizard variant. A fun match that started with each man applying their finishing submission, moved into a light-hearted section of ass-based exchanges, and ended with a split technical exchange and a flash finish with the strike out of nowhere. Taguchi was eliminated with this loss, while Eagles will need to beat Desperado and hope for help elsewhere to have a chance.
(2) A Block: Kushida (8) defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6) by pinfall at 4:20 with a backslide after countering the whisky spray with a straight right hand. Kushida put himself in the same position as Eagles, needing to beat a favourite (in this case, Francesco Akira) and hope for help elsewhere. The match was nothing much, cheating that did not work from Kanemaru and a quick win. It almost felt like they were checking boxes here.
(3) B Block: Yoh (10) defeated Titan (6) by pinfall at 4:48 after hitting the Direct Drive for, I believe, the first time all tournament. This was a surprise all around – Yoh winning in such a hurry, Titan being eliminated this early, these two having such a short match. They did go all-out with such a short time frame to fill, and it was a lot of fun while it lasted without devolving into some of the silliness we know Yoh to be capable of. This felt like something of a demotion for Titan, who has been a title contender every time he has been on a tour to Japan. Yoh put himself in a very strong position with this win, but a match with Taiji Ishimori on the final night could go either way. Titan will try to spoil Nick Wayne’s party on the final night.
(4) A Block: Dragon Dia (8) defeated Robbie X (6) by pinfall at 8:35 with a spike Reptilian Rana. This was one of the most exciting and chaotic matches that Robbie had all tournament, and probably the same could be said for Dia. I will accept that some of that judgement is due to my general dislike of their styles, but aside from Robbie’s match with Clark Connors I can’t say I was particularly impressed with either of them. Dia will need a win over Ninja Mack, who is already eliminated, on the final night.
(5) B Block: Mao (10) defeated Nick Wayne (8) by submission at 7:41 with a modified crossface. I fully expected this match to be later in the card, given how important it was in setting up the final night. It was an energetic match that suffered from some misfires and a few moves that did not quite land. Wayne has every physical gift he could ever need to be a massive star, and if he manages to evolve his mic skills he will have the world in the palm of his hand. Mao goes into the final night with a match against Sho standing between him and pole position. Wayne will need to beat Titan and hope that Mao loses.
(6) A Block: Ninja Mack (6) defeated Kosei Fujita (8) by pinfall at 9:57 with the Ninja Bomb twisting senton. This might be the biggest upset of the tournament, with Mack being eliminated already and Fujita being on most people’s betting slips as a favourite to win the tournament. Not that this loss eliminated Fujita, it just makes his path considerably rockier. With Wato already on 10 points, Fujita needs to hope for a Wato loss either tonight or in the finale, and also hope that Clark Connors does not get ahead of him. There was nothing really remarkable in this match aside from the result, just a good contest with a surprise finish.
(7) B Block: Sho (8) defeated Taiji Ishimori (8) by pinfall after Sanada hit Ishimori with Deadfall. In a nice reversal of the norm, Ishimori jumped Sho from behind during Sho’s entrance. Sadly that did not last as House of Torture’s cheating surpassed Ishimori’s. The majority of the match was spent outside the ring, with Yujiro interfering frequently with chair shots and his cane. Just when Ishimori seemed to have that interloper taken care of, Sanada came down to finish things. A win for Ishimori would have eliminated Knight, Eagles, and Nick Wayne so they all found themselves cheering a Sho victory. Not a fun one to watch, in case you couldn’t tell.
(8) A Block: Clark Connors (10) defeated Francesco Akira (8) by disqualification at 7:15. This was a brawl from the get-go after Connors jumped Akira the night before. The referee got accidentally speared by Connors, which led to a table being propped in a corner and, naturally, the introduction of Wheel-San. Connors busted Akira open on the wheel, which caused Akira to go crazy and beat Connors down. A replacement referee came out in time to see Akira planning to use chairs, but Akira decided to do it anyway and got disqualified as a result. Akira snapped and tried to hit the Fireball knees into a chair, only to be stopped by Young Lions. Connors used that distraction to spear Akira through the aforementioned table. Akira with the loss was eliminated, as Connors has a tiebreaker over him. Connors on the other hand moves into a tie with Master Wato and into a great position for the final night, which could get better if Wato loses to Hiromu.
(9) B Block: El Desperado (10) defeated Kevin Knight (6) by pinfall at 14:26 after a Pinche Loco. Knight really upped his game here, and the match benefited from that. Desperado has repeatedly shown that he can elevate basically anyone, but it would be unfair to give him all the credit here. That said, with Wayne already having a win over Desperado and with Knight being on the larger side now for a junior heavyweight, this result was never really in doubt. Desperado put himself in a tie with Mao and Yoh at the top of B Block, but his win also made the tiebreaker situation that much trickier to decode. Clearly the three people on ten points are in the best position, but as they are not facing each other the door is technically still open for the eight-pointers.
(10) A Block: Hiromu Takahashi (10) defeated Master Wato (10) by pinfall at 13:34 after Time Bomb and Time Bomb II. As good as the match was, the result seemed obvious from the start as a Wato win would have meant only he and Connors were relevant on the final night. And although this was a good match, it felt like a lot of Hiromu matches. It feels slightly uncharitable to complain about a very enjoyable match, but as a main event it kind of felt anticlimactic.
Final thoughts: It would seem that the story of this year’s tournament is parity. Both blocks have been tight all along, and have mirrored each other several times. Going into the last night each block has three people at ten points, four on eight and three on six. The ten-pointers of course are in the best position, but tiebreakers are almost certain to come into play. For the newer fans, the tiebreaker is the head-to-head result between the two tied wrestlers.
Block A goes into its final night with Wato, Hiromu, and Connors all on ten points. Connors faces Fujita, Wato has Kanemaru, and Hiromu will take on Robbie X. If Hiromu wins he goes to the finals as he has the tiebreaker over both Wato and Connors. Connors has the tiebreaker over Wato. For Wato to make the finals, he needs both Connors and Hiromu to lose or draw. If all three of them lose, Fujita has a tiebreaker over Wato and Hiromu AND the eight-pointers, so he would be the only one who can pass them if he beats Connors. Because of that match, nobody else has a shot since a Connors win would put him out of reach for the eight-pointers.
Block B is a little less straightforward. Sho is the best positioned of the eight-pointers, so if all the ten-pointers lose he will make the finals. Strangely his old partner Yoh has the tiebreakers over Desperado and Mao. Desperado beat Mao, so he is next in the list. There are additional weird scenarios that could see Ishimori tie for the top of the block, but it would need such a magical Christmas land sequence that it’s not worth trying to explain.
A Block wraps up on May 27, with B Block on May 29 and the finals on June 1. We will have you covered for all three shows. As always, thanks for joining us!
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