SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NJPW BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS NIGHT 12 RESULTS
MAY 29, 2025
REGION PLAZA JUETSU
NIIGATA, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
Walker Stewart was alone on commentary for now; last night he was joined during the tournament matches by Robbie Eagles, who helped call the action on a night where his stablemate, Kosei Fujita, became the first of two finalists in the tournament.
(1) KUSHIDA & NINJA MACK & DRAGON DIA vs. SHOMA KATO & MASATORA YASUDA & DAIKI NAGAI
It’s rare that New Japan runs a six-man where one side is all established stars and the other is all Young Lions, but here we are. The babyfaced (in the classic sense, not in wrestling lingo) Nagai has been sporting a thin goatee in an attempt to look a little older. All six men were legal exactly once to get a bit of stuff in. The Young Lions attempted to triple-team Kushida late in the match, but he fough them off before Mack and Dia took out the trash and Kushida finished off Yasuda with the Hoverboard Lock.
WINNERS: Kushida & Mack & Dia at 6:53.
(2) MASTER WATO & TORU YANO & KATSUYA MURASHIMA vs. THE HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
This is Narita’s first appearance on the BOSJ tour. As usual, HoT attacked before the bell and took the early advantage. Wato was working through either a real or kayfabe leg injury that HoT targeted for the first couple of minutes of the match. Young Lion Murashima, looking thicker and more shaggy-headed than ever, tapped out to a Narita leg lock as Kanemaru continued to torture Wato’s leg, setting up a post-tournament feud. Yano, while involved occasionally, never actually tagged into the match.
WINNERS: House of Torture at 4:31.
(3) HIROMU TAKAHASHI & YOTA TSUJI vs. UNITED EMPIRE (Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young)
During Takahashi & Tsuji’s entrance, Akira bantered with Walker Stewart and said he wanted to join commentary again sometime. A junior is almost never billed over a heavyweight, but Hiromu was billed above Tsuji in the match listing. Akira and Young put the United Empire crowns up to Hiromu before the match, continuing the story of factions trying to scoop him up from the ashes of Los Ingobernables de Japon. Young worked much of the match as Akira has been logging plenty of minutes in the tournament, and Tsuji finished Young after a Gene Blaster spear.
WINNERS: Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji at 5:40.
Stewart promoted the rematch for the Global Heavyweight Championship between champion Tsuj and Gabe Kidd on June 15th; the previous match ended in a draw.
(4) TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson) vs. BULLET CLUB WAR DOGS (Clark Connors & Robbie X & Gedo)
Robbie X won the main event on the previous night of action, defeating Hiromu and spoiling his chance at the finals. With X being a replacement for the departing Bushi, that could’ve been a very interesting story beat for Los Ingobernables de Japon, assuming X’s surprisingly strong booking was the same as Bushi’s would’ve been.
Fujita was billed above the heavyweights in his faction, though this was less unconventional as Fujita just won Block A and is heading into the BOSJ Final. Connors and X jawed before the match, with X advocating to start the match because of his strong wins in the tournament, but Connors pulled rank on him, invoking “senpai” tradition, and forced X out of the ring so he could start the match. Connors brought in the tire he’s been using throughout the tournament and referee Kenta Sato let it go because Jackson said it was fine. Both men got their time with the tire before Gedo starting ringing the bell in the hopes of calling for a disqualification so his guys didn’t get steamrolled by the tire. Much of the match was worked outside the ring with most or all men involved. Fujita & X had a nice sequence in the waning minutes, after X shot his shot at both Fujita and Hiromu Takahashi, who he beat in BOSJ block matches. Gedo, of course, did the honors and tapped to Fujita to continue Fujita’s momentum toward the BOSJ final.
WINNERS: TMDK at 6:48.
(5) RYUSUKE TAGUCHI (6 points) vs. KEVIN KNIGHT (6) – B Block match
Both are eliminated from the tournament already. Ninja Mack sat in on commentary, which I think is a first. They posed and preened for each other for a while before contact, cementing it as a silly Taguchi match rather than a serious affair. They worked a test of strength when they finally made contact, and it devolved into a dance move with swaying arms, then hips by Taguchi. Knight backed up from a shot from Taguchi’s backside, and then there was a test with Taguchi presenting his posterior to Knight, who tried punching it a few times and sold it like concrete. On the third would-be attempt, Knight spent a long time setting up a punch and then just snapped on a headlock. They went to an endless rope run with Taguchi spinning around and just pushing Knight the other direction over and over, and then Taguchi got dizzy and fell to the mat.
Both men spilled to the floor and Knight asked for some water and got it from Young Lion Shoma Kato. Back inside, Knight hit a basement shoulder tackle. Knight then used his own backside for two hip attacks, but Taguchi got back into it by using his own as Knight came off the ropes. Taguchi laid in some backside shots against the ropes, knocking Knight to the floor. Taguchi hit a triangle plancha. Taguchi rolled Knight back in and Stewart said both guys are out but they’re “playing for pride” tonight, in contrast with the endless supply of butt shots in the match. Knight wanted a running spike DDT but Taguchi reversed and trapped Knight in a quick leg lock. Knight hit a dropkick to Taguchi’s butt, now vulnerable as it always fluctuates throughout a match. Knight hit a spike DDT and the UFO Splash to finish.
WINNER: Kevin Knight at 8:41. (**)
(Wells’s Analysis: It’s always difficult, and admittedly stupid, to try to apply star ratings to intentionally silly matches like this. The crowd was into the comedy in this ultimately meaningless block match, and Taguchi’s buffoonery and facial expressions always allow him to get away with even the dumbest of approaches to a match)
(6) TITAN (6) vs. NICK WAYNE (8)
These two are out as well. Wayne has had a very impressive tournament run and rattled off a 3-1 record early to give him a taste of being on top of the block. Former finalist Titan was relatively invisible in this tournament, and even did a couple of surprisingly quick jobs in the back half.
As expected, they went to quick reversals, evasions and flourishes early. Wayne nailed a dropkick and got a couple of early two counts. Titan laid in some chops and palm strikes, and Wayne returned fire. They then exchanged kicks. Wayne hit an Asai DDT and Titan hit a kick immediately from the mat. Titan worked a punishing leg submission and Wayne crawled to the bottom rope to break. Rope run and a headscissor takedown from Titan sent Wayne to the outside. Titan wanted a tope suicida but Wayne nailed the flying Titan with an uppercut. Wayne wanted a dragon suplex on the apron as they jockeyed there for some time. Eventually, each hit a superkick. Titan went up and hit a double stomp from the top rope to the apron, getting the crowd going.
Back inside, Titan missed from the top and sold a buckled knee that Wayne immediately dropkicked. Wayne missed from the top as Titan rolled outside, but Wayne landed on his feet, then splashed Titan outside. Back inside, Wayne hit a frog splash for a long two. Wayne fired up but got caught with an inside cradle for two. Titan fought off Wayne’s World and hit a tornado DDT, then a Matrix kick. Titan planted Wayne and hit a double stomp from the top rope. Again, he sold the bad knee before a cover got a very near fall. Titan hit his Yahweh Inmortal submission and Wayne tapped quickly, causing Mack to wonder if Titan could challenge for Wayne’s ROH TV Championship on AEW in the future.
WINNER: Titan at 8:16. (***)
(Wells’s Analysis: Really nice stuff in this relatively short runtime, and it wasn’t just a workrate spotfest as they could’ve done. Titan told a story working through a bad knee, and Wayne was game to slow down for some methodical sections as well as hit his signature high-octane offense)
(7) MAO (10) vs. SHO (8)
Both guys are still alive in the tournament; this is the only match tonight where this is the case. No matter who wins, both guys would need both Desperado and Yoh to lose their matches later on.
The dastardlySho entered first, and the bizarre, whimsical Mao ran Sho down on the ramp on a bicycle. Yujiro Takahashi was on hand and Mao’s stablemate from DDT Pro neutralized him as the pre-match further broke down and went to a door leading to the outdoors, where Mao set up three members of House of Torture and hit a rolling senton down a small flight of stairs on them, landing on blacktop. Mao got into a large Toyota van and ran into Sho, Narita and Yujiro. Wow, that is a ballsy spot for some silliness. Referee Marty Asami frantically tried to get the men inside.
Mao laid Sho on a rolling cart and rolled his carcass to the ring, where Asami amusingly immediately called for the bell as if these were normal circumstances. Sho kicked out at the last moment, shocking the announcers. Asami checked on Sho, what with him having just been hit by a freaking van, and Mao backed up to a rope so HoT could yank him outside and work him over with chairs and other shots. Sho went and got the bicycle, with silly, flashy DDT branding, and used it to slam down on a chair that was trapping Mao’s arm. Sho ripped off the “DDT” logo from the bike, eliciting boos. The House of Torture stomped a mudhole into the bike as if it was just some guy underneath them during a match. This is so much sillier than Knight-Taguchi.
Back inside, Sho worked an armbar and then wrenched Mao’s arm over the top rope. He trapped Mao’s arm in a corner pad and slammed into it, then yanked up on the pad to create more torque in a way that kind of has to be seen to be understood. Asami backed up Sho and Mao got free. Mao laid in a few rights but Sho quickly trapped the worked left arm for a submission. Mao got to a rope to break. Sho wrenched Mao’s arm over his own shoulder a couple of times. Mao worked himself free and hit a loud (leg-slapping) right hook and then fired up. He hit a running boot, then a kind of cannonball against the ropes. Mao slapped on a sleeper, and DDT’s partners in Strange Love Connection pulled Narita and Yujiro from the apron. HoT rang the ring bell to trick Mao into thinking Sho had tapped, and of course he took the bait and released.
There was some rope running, and Asami ducked down to avoid being struck and Mao hopped over him to hit a cutter on sho. Running lariat by Mao got two, and would’ve gotten three but HoT yanked Asami out of the ring to boos. As Asami was out of the ring, HoT worked over Mao until Mao’s mates got involved and battled in the ring as neither legal man was involved at all. The brawl went on for a couple of minutes and Strange Love Connection was getting the better of it until Yoshinobu Kanemaru made his first appearance and spit whiskey into Mao’s face. Sho hit the Shock Arrow and got a long two. He transitioned to the cross armbreaker on the worked arm. Mao tried to roll up Sho or roll away multiple times before he finally was able to kick a rope to break.
Sho went outside and grabbed one of the NEVER Openweight Six-Man championship belts, which he currently holds, to attack. It was a ruse for his wrench to make an appearance, but Mao put on a comically oversized fist, which he used to punch away the wrench, and then block another whiskey spit, and finally punch Kanemaru from the apron. Mao hit a big superkick for a long two as Asami finally got into position. Mao went up and hit a Cannonball 450 splash to win.
WINNER: Mao at 11:56. (**)
(Wells’s Analysis: I do star ratings on NJPW Tournament shows because they almost always work standard matches that can be rated easily, but now two out of three just defy that kind of simple approach. This was surprisingly long for a match that was pure silliness, but after all the shenanigans to try to cheat Mao, I found it immensely satisfying and fun when he put on the super fist and took the power back. This tournament has been extremely good at putting on all variations on matches, giving so many throwaway affairs something to be remembered for. For now, Mao remains in the mix to win while Sho is eliminated. Mao’s 12 points is extremely impressive for a guy who works for a different promotion, and while he’ll almost certainly be topped via tiebreaker by Desperado or Yoh, it’s a cool thing for Mao to take back home)
(8) EL DESPERADO (10) vs. ROBBIE EAGLES (8)
Champions rarely make the finals, and I’m expecting Robby to play spoiler to keep that usual rule going. They went in and split a couple of times, before a fan started the “Robbie Robbie Robbie” chant and Eagles did the response rather than the call. They finally got locked up and moved the mat almost immediately to do some grappling there. Eagles snapped on a leg submission but Desperado was right at a rope for a break. They reset, settling in for what’s likely a lengthy stay in the ring.
To the ropes and Desperado broke clean, then went in with a knee to the midsection. Desperado tried to run Eagles on the ropes, and Eagles reversed and they went to quick reversals first standing, and then on the mat for some one counts. Eagles hit a spinning heel kick to take the advantage. Eagles laid in a chop, and then another in the corner. He trapped Desperado’s leg around the bottom rope and briefly wrenched it before Desperado retreated to the floor. Eagles, likely a spoiler in this match, is leaning ever-so-slightly more heel than his usual clean persona.
On the outside, Eagles absorbed some chops and hit a single-leg takedown. He rolled Despe back inside and worked the leg again, wrenching it as he had it trapped, eliciting growls from Desperado. Eagles laid in some kicks on a standing Desperado, but Despe hit a knee breaker to get some relief. Desperado returned the favor Eagles had been giving all match long by working the left leg, slamming on it and then working a complicated butterfly leg lock kind of thing. Eagles tried to chop his way out but Despe leaned back and away, keeping the hold cinched on until Eagles reached the rope for a break. Desperado acted like he couldn’t figure out how to break the lock, kind of echoing back to his Suzuki-gun days. Referee Red Shoes Unno finally got it broken up and the two got to their feet.
After some jockeyeing, Eagles tripped Desperado, knocked him to his knees, and hit an elbow to the rear side. Desperado exited and Eagles hit a plancha immediately. Eagles rolled Desperado inside and hit a dropkick to the bad knee, then worked a Ron Miller Special. Desperado desperately crawled to, and reached, the bottom rope to break. Desperado backed up Eagles to a corner and hit a dragon screw and then he hit the stretch muffler, and it was Eagles’ turn to crawl to a rope to break.
Desperado hit a high-angle brainbuster and Ninja Mack sold the move as one that doesn’t just attack the head, but causes a shock through the body that you feel all the way to your toes. Desperado hit the Numero Dos stretch muffler and Eagles had to roll around Desperado’s body to escape it, which he finally did, then hit an arm drag and countered right into the Ron Miller Special again, this time yanking Desperado farther from the bottom rope, creating a believable match-ending sequence until Desperado fought long and hard to get to the rope again.
Eagles dropped knees on Desperado’s bad leg, got the crowd going, and went up. He went for a 450, but Despe put up the knees and Robby took the brunt of it on his legs in a spot that probably hurt them both pretty significantly. They both sold for a bit, then got to their feet and exchanged forearms. Eagles asked for a shot and got a right. Eagles was going to rip off his bandana in a badass way but it got caught up on his ears so it ended up awkward. They went to some mat exchanges and near-falls as the 15 minute call went out. Eagles hit an Asai DDT for two. Desperado hit Pinche Loco for a long two. Desperado hit a reverse Tiger Driver and Eagles hit the Turbo Backpack right afterward for a long two. Eagles struggled to his feet and hit a superkick, then crumbled as he sold the knee damage. Eagles went for Hyperion and Desperado ducked, then hit a spinebuster and then snapped on Numero Dos. Robbie tapped.
WINNER: El Desperado at 18:45. (****)
(Wells’s Analysis: Satisfying, visceral affair that showed off a bit of the flying each is capable of but spent much more time showcasing the technical ability that makes them both such strong workers. I was thinking Desperado won the tournament outright with a win here, but Yoh has the tiebreaker over him, so the match order makes sense again. Desperado, even if he doesn’t make the finals, has a very strong 6-3 run to protect him in the way champions are always protected on the way to not winning the tournament. Mao is eliminated via tiebreaker here so it’s Yoh if he wins, and Desperado if Yoh loses)
(9) YOH (10) vs. TAIJI ISHIMORI (8)
Yoh, as weird as ever, was in his fantastically ridiculous Ziploc coat and he carried a photo of Ishimori and mimicked shots at it. He went to the corner and did his pec dance. Stewart told the story that Ishimori loves to spoil the tournament even when he’s out. They did some mat grappling to open for about a minute before a reset. Ishimori put Yoh on the ropes and although he gave him a light slap on the chest, he made a clean break, but it’s still early. Rope run led to a series of quick misses by each guy until Yoh trapped a grounded Ishimori by the head and twisted it with his feet.
Yoh ended up on the apron and Ishimori hit a cutter on the top to send him out. Triangle to the outside by Ishimori. Ishimori ran Yoh shoulder-first into a post, and as Red Shoes checked on Yoh, Ishimori reentered and removed a pad from one corner. Red Shoes started the count but Yoh quickly got back in. Ishimori did the same head-twist that Yoh did a minute earlier. Snap mare and a falling forearm by Ishimori, who covered for two. Ishimori worked the left arm and twisted Yoh down to the mat with it. A quick sleeper led to a more complex submission hold on the mat by Ishimori until Yoh reached a rope. Again, Ishimori released immediately, belying his harder edge at least early in the match.
Ishimori charged Yoh into one of the padded corners, and Yoh came out of it with a neckbreaker to finally get some relief. There was some selling othe mat before they got up. Rope run and a back elbow by Yoh. Yoh dropped a couple of knees and hit a splash for two. Stewart mentioned that Yoh is a relative late bloomer and is 36 years old, and I would never have guessed he was that old. Wow. Ishimori charged Yoh into the uncovered corner, driving his shoulder into the ringpost. Ishimori slowed down and set up La Mistica into the Bone Lock, but Yoh whipped through it and trapped Ishimori in an Anaconda Vise. Ishimori reversed deftly into the Bone Lock, but Yoh got himself free quickly. O’Connor roll by Yoh, and he tried to bridge, but Ishimori powered free and hit the Bone Lock again, but Yoh kicked himself to a rope to break.
Gutbuster by Ishimori, but Yoh countered a follow-up into an ushigoroshi. Both guys sold on the mat. They went to a series of forearms, and both guys held their ground. Lariat attempts yielded the same result. Ishimori hit a knee lift and Yoh responded with a headbutt and again, they were both on the mat selling. Yoh fought his way to a double-underhook for the Direct Drive, but Ishimori fought it off until Yoh hit a knee, then got Ishimori into an Anaconda that Ishimori quickly reversed into La Mistica into a Bone Lock. Yoh transitioned right back to the Anaconda. Ishimori fought to his feet and charged Yoh into the exposed corner, and bless Red Shoes for pretending he’s seeing the exposed corner for the first time.
The fifteen minute call went out and Yoh, after some grappling, hit an ushigoroshi. Dragon suplex by Yoh got an extremely close two-count. Direct Drive finished.
WINNER: Yoh at 15:50. (****)
Kosei Fujita hit the ring and he and Yoh exchanged some quiet words and butted heads for just a moment. No mic was picked up, and Fujita just as quickly took his leave. Yoh grabbed the mic and, breathing heavily, spoke very briefly about the coming match and thanked everyone for coming.
Once the Juniors were gone, Super Sasadango Machine, a large, masked comedy wrestler from DDT, hit the announcer area to exchange some rapid fire words with Toru Yano, with whom he has a match on June 9th that will no doubt be extremely silly.
(Wells’s Analysis: Another very satisfying strong style match here. They worked some loud, mean sequences and a whole lot of clean chain wrestling sequences as well. Ishimori may be settling into the sunset of his time on top, as he went 4-5 in the tournament and I think had a losing record for the first time. Yoh has been killing it for quite some time, and now that I know he’s 36 and not more like 29 as I would’ve guessed, it’s now or never if he’s going to win the tournament. The other option is Fujita, who would be the youngest winner ever at 22. I’m going to be real torn on this, as not only are these the two guys I predicted to win the blocks, they’re my two favorite Juniors in the company)
FINAL THOUGHTS: This is the eighth straight BOSJ I’ve watched in its entirety, all as they were going on. While the roster has thinned in terms of heavyweight greats in the last couple of years, it’s as strong or stronger than usual in the Junior ranks. On top of that, there was a concerted effort to do a lot of different match styles rather than have a series of very strong matches that are limited in scope and start to run together completely. Though recency bias is real when I watch every tournament and they blend together a lot, I’d bet that this was one of my favorite all-around tournaments, with a lot of different characters and match approaches to get into. There are now two days off, after which they convene in Tokyo for the final. As always, thanks for being with us.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.