NJPW Best Of The Super Junior 30 - Day 11 - 26/05/2023
Best Of The Super Junior 30 Semi Final Match: Mike Bailey vs. Master Wato
This was an amazing encounter that I didn’t expect to shine. The BOSJ praise usually falls on my disappointed ears but there are usually a few genuinely great matches mixed in and this was one of them. It only took me a few minutes of these two throwing cool, stiff kicks to say it was a good match and then the rest followed. I thought it built to its closing stretch really well, linking in some great submission work on the arm with the great sequences. Speedball threw some nasty kicks to Wato’s jaw that could’ve easily broken a few teeth and Wato took them like a champ. Wato has turned into a nice effective babyface as well and he knows when to hit his signature moves and it made for a few great nearfalls. Wato wins to advance and this may seem like a head turning decision on paper but I get why after actually watching it transpire. ****
Best Of The Super Junior 30 Semi Final Match: Titan (w/BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. El Desperado
This was a bit of a step down from the previous match. It had elements of an Arena Mexico main event, including a nice little balcony dive by Titan, in replacement for the stage dive. Desperado, despite being a popular babyface, reverted to the heelish role to make way for Titan, who was the crowd moment in the match, so that was fun. The match had some good knee submission work but I felt that the match had dragged on a bit longer than necessary and didn’t hook me in like the previous match did. Titan gets the shock win to advance to the finals. Hopefully, Wato and Titan hit a bit more strongly than this did, despite this being a good bout. ***1/4
NJPW Best Of The Super Junior 30 - Day 12 - 28/05/2023
Best Of The Super Junior 30 Final Match: Titan (w/BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Master Wato
This was a good final. Perhaps the early part of the match could’ve been a bit more tighter and a bit more interesting but this was a solid contest. Titan was very popular and did his thing to the crowd’s delight. His leg submission is so over that as soon as he goes for it, the crowd bites hard and Wato is, out of nowhere, a great babyface, so much that it’s palpable and undeniable, that it works even greater from a drama stand-point. And from there, the match got into a real good territory with good counters and classic Jr Heavyweight sequences. Wato wins with his german suplex and the crowd shower both with praise, but especially Titan. ***1/2
DG Dead Or Alive 2023 - 05/05/2023
Open The Brave Gate Title Match: Jason Lee (c) vs. Dragon Dia
This was a good little match between two of the more consistently good wrestlers in the company. Like a lot of the matches since the pandemic, it didn’t have that bitterly hot crowd to match the tone they tried to get in the match, but it was a fun match nonetheless. ***
Open The Dream Gate Title Match: Shun Skywalker (c) vs. Madoka Kikuta
This has been around 2 years in the making, even since Kikuta injured his shoulder minutes into the first title match, which was then the record of the youngest title challenger (or something like that). An unfortunate occurrence, for sure. Fast forward two years later and you’ll see the heel and babyface roles reversed entirely and two different wrestlers stepping in the ring. And to add to things, Kikuta was taped up before the match, bringing it full circle. I haven’t been watching every show so I assume Shun attacked Kikuta and injured him on a show beforehand. Shun attacked and worked on it the whole match, even going back so far to hit a drop toe hold, which injured Kikuta’s arm. Kikuta is someone I like and he is really good for his experience level but I don’t think he necessarily works as an underdog babyface. He was awesome as HipHop Kikuta because he was a heavy hitter badass and he can do a bit of that as a face but in this role, where he’s selling, he didn’t necessarily shine. His selling were good but the rest of it didn’t come together.. The story notes of the match were good enough, because these two are good wrestlers. I like Shun catching Kikuta in the Fujiwara armbar and Kikuta trying to prove that his arm isn’t as frail as Shun claims it is and the closing stretch had some awesome sequences, which were more what I wanted to see from these two. And despite my complaints about the match, when Kikuta hit his discus lariat and got the three, the crowd cheered (after being half dead). I fully understand that DG is now settling on the future guys and it takes time for them to become fully fleshed out wrestlers, which I’m perfectly happy with. I expect guys like Kikuta, Yoshioka and Skywalker to peak in 5 years time. It’s a long term project and this is another step towards that. ***1/4
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