#bosj27

[takagishingo]

Hiromu’s Strategy Guidebook for BOSJ 27

[puroresu-musings]

Well, here we are in the final swing of a very “eventful” year, and just in the last week, we’ve had two outstanding matches in the world of puroresu that were amongst the best of 2020; the Go Shiozaki vs. Takashi Sugiura NOAH bout for the GHC Heavyweight Championship on December 6th, and today’s BOSJ 27 Final between Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado, were both easily ***** classics. Everyone check them out, I recommend both highly indeed.

NDT

[bro-restlin]

Lucky Imabari boy making his entrance (Nov. 25)

[sortofgetit]

Douki vs Hiromu was the match of the night for me. From Douki’s gear in Hiromu’s Kamaitachi colours to the fearless leaping punctuated with a healthy helping of cuddle rolling and that little mask slip it was absolutely engaging from bell to bell.

They were the perfect foils for each other and it truly felt as though the result could have gone either way right to the last minute.

[gdwessel]

Road to Power Struggle Night 2 - 10/24/2020; Rest of Tour Cards Announced: Two Title Matches in November, BOSJ27 Participants Announced 11/2/2020; NJPW Strong Episode 12 - 10/23/2020: NEVER Night 2

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 68 on PWOM

The tour continued today, however the next few shows are merely spot shows, and won’t be on NJPWWorld. Nevertheless, it happened!

- 10/24/2020, Saitama Tokorozawa Citizen Gymnasium

Gabriel Kidd d. Yota Tsuji (Double-Arm Suplex, 8:22)

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano [CHAOS] d. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG] (Yano > DOUKI, Schoolboy, 13:23)

Will Ospreay & Great O-Khan [The Empire] d. Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Yuya Uemura (O-Khan > Uemura, Eliminator, 9:59)

Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] (Takagi > Kanemaru, Made In Japan, 12:16)

Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma d. Jay White, KENTA & Gedo [Bullet Club] (Tanahashi > Gedo, Texas Cloverleaf, 11:52)

Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] d. EVIL & Dick Togo [Bullet Club] (SANADA > Togo, Skull End, 12:51)

SANADA cut a post-match promo where he says he likes Tokorozawa the most in Saitama Prefecture. Well isn’t that nice.

Meanwhile, NJPW was nice enough to finally post the cards for the rest of the tour. I won’t be listing them here now (besides tomorrow’s show at the end of the post). However, two title matches are coming at the beginning of November, during the two upcoming shows at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. First off, on 11/1/2020, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru will defend their IWGP Juniorheavyweight Tag Team titles against the challenge of, who else (no, literally, who else? There are no other junior tag teams right now!), Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI. Then, the next night, 11/2/2020, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI will challenge Dangerous Tekkers for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team belts, following YOSHI-HASHI’s challenge yesterday. That show will also see the announcement of the participants in Best of the Super Juniors 27, which of course is happening concurrent with the World Tag League this year due to reasons.

Last night, the latest episode of NJPW Strong was aired on NJPWWorld, finishing up their NEVER event.

Fred Rosser d. Clark Connors (Gutcheck, 6:00)

Karl Fredericks d. ACH [FREE] (MD, 6:22)

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] d. Flip Gordon & Brody King [ROH] (Tonga > Gordon, Gunstun, 7:39)

Jay White [Bullet Club] d. Rocky Romero [CHAOS] (Blade Runner, 14:12)

Once again, this was pre-taped, as seen with Jay White being on this show. I confess, once again, I did not watch this, because I chose to watch the first night of the tour instead. But also, it’s getting harder to watch this show when there are so many dumbfuck COVID-denying conspiracy tweakers featuring on the show now (TJP, Herb Flip Gordon, and now ROH’s PJ Black joining their ranks) that it’s almost uncomfortable. Yes, I know, there’s the separating art from artist argument, but at the moment, this isn’t the time for that. It’s good that ACH and Fred Rosser get to wrestle for NJPW on these shows, but I can’t take the likes of Gordon and TJP and Black on my screen at this point. Sorry.

The tour continues tomorrow. There won’t be much variation on the spot show cards, I am pretty sure.

- 10/25/2020, Chiba Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall #6

Yuya Uemura v. Gabriel Kidd

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG]

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Yota Tsuji v. Will Ospreay & Great O-Khan [The Empire]

Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma v. Jay White, KENTA & Gedo [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 68 on PWOM

[pebblesagainstaewswindow]

A broken man

[eldesperadont]

thats still the case and ive uploaded some more since then ,,

btw i still make art, but as of right now i dont like sharing it on tumblr, i have a bunch of NJPW stuff up on my instagram if anyone’s interested: p3rcht ✨

[biggoldbelt]

Yoshinobu Kanemaru Out Of BoSJ27 Due To Injury Due to an injury Yoshinobu Kanemaru picked up in his last match he has had to pull out of the up coming Best Of Super Juniors Tournament.

[buttdawg]

World Tag League 2020 Speculation

I’m kind of disappointed that they revealed the participants for the BoSJ tournament, but not the World Tag League that’s going to be taking place concurrently.   Maybe they’ll announce it at Power Struggle, but in the meantime I wanted to try to guess at what might happen.

From what I understand, the Best of the Super Juniors tournament normally involves 20 participants in two blocks, like the G1.    But this year it’s just going to be one block of ten, with the two top scorers meeting in the final.   So I take this to mean that NJPW’s plan is to scale down both tournaments in order to run them both on the same tour.  So presumably, the WTL will get the same treatment.    There was one block with 16 teams last year, so maybe they’ll whittle that down to eight or ten.   

In that case, it wouldn’t surprise me if they did the tag matches and junior matches on separate shows, the same way they kept the A and B blocks separate during the G1.    That works out nicely for me, since I really wanna see the World Tag League, but I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about who wins BOSJ27, so I’d only have to keep track of half as many shows.   

Also, I like the idea of a leaner, meaner World Tag League.   Last year they had a shitload of teams, most of them made up of singles guys who got paired off for the tour, as opposed to serious tag teams.   At least now, New Japan seems to have a halfway decent heavyweight tag division, at least if they can get them all in the same country.    Off the top of my head:

Dangerous Tekkers (current IWGP tag team champions)

Golden Ace (former IWGP tag team champions)

Guerillas of Destiny (the champs before that)

Finn Juice (2019 WTL winners)

Hirooki Goto/YOSHI-HASHI just lost a tag title match, and just declared their intention to enter the WTL for another crack at it.

That’s not a bad lineup right there, and if they announced a single block of five teams, I could dig it.  Then you go down the lineup from last year and you could add:

KENTA and Yujiro Takahashi

Shingo Takagi and El Terrible

Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens

TenCozy

Makabe & Honma

And that would get us up to a ten-team block.   Not sure if El Terrible would be available, but I think the other teams in last year’s WTL would be impossible, due to heel turns, retirements, signings with other companies, etc.   You could swap out El Terrible for SANADA, if you really wanted an LIJ presence.

There’s probably some other teams you could throw in there instead.   I wouldn’t be surprised if EVIL tried to enter with Dick Togo or some horseshit.   Point is they could do a ten-team block without any trouble, assuming they can get G.O.D. back in Japan.  

[yabaina]

12/12/20　BOSJ FINALS HOLY SHIT GUYS

H. Hello everyone this is BOSJ winner TAkahashi Hiromu. I’m still too high tension, I seriously came here straight from the venue (this is about 30 min after the match apparently), a company car gave me a ride.

H: Aahh… My body hurts all over. It’s okay if I say this right? Ah- but it was so gooood. I mean I have to say it right, this is the purpose of this channel, isn’t it? To communicate, this happiness in real time? What time is it right now? 10 pm? A bit over 10 pm? So I should talk right, since I came all the way. My mouth can still move, even if the rest of my body can’t.

SL: what were your thoughts when you won?

H: Well, in last year’s G1 (?) there was a show at the Nippon Budoukan, but because of my neck injury, I wasn't able to attend… I think the last time I wrestled there was nine years ago for ‘All Together’, it was for a Battle Royale type of thing …(?) And the next time was this, for NewJapan’s BOSJ.

SL: Did you meet/see LIJ?

H: Oh, that. I’m the one who is most surprised I think. When I won two years ago, in 2018, they came all the way to the ring (to congratulate me), so I thought they might come again. But they didn’t, so I thought “ah they must have decided to let me have my moment”. So then I thought “Ah they’ll be there at the backstage panel… I wonder if I’ll cry?” and then of course they weren’t there. “Ah maybe they’ll come when I’m midway through…”, so I spoke for a bit longer, but they didn’t come. “Well then,” I thought “They’re letting me have my moment, and they’ll be there in our locker room. In our room, away from the cameras, they’ll be there.” I chuckled to myself and bravely walked to the room, and there, to my surprise…! Except for my things, everything was gone. I thought “Wow. That’s Los Ingobernables de Japón.”

H: But there was just one thing… This, there was a protein shake in my suitcase. I wondered, “ Oh whose is this?” and when I looked I saw there was ‘Congratulations’ written on it. You know, I don’t know who did this, but this kind of thing, it’s Naito’s thing. “Wouldn’t it have been okay to stay then? It’s okay to say these things face to face..” is what I thought, but I was happy. I think I might keep it without drinking it.

SL: asks about the match?

H: It’s always difficult to remember what I was thinking during a match, but… Rage? . Matches are fuelled by feelings of anger, so I must’ve wanted to expose his real nature, his everything.

I think he had just attacked a vital point (a weak point?). I think that’s what angered me? “Why are you using these tactics when you’re already awesome without them?” So I punched him? I don’t really remember, but next thing I knew I was tearing away his mask, and his face was showing. From that point on… It wasn’t rage… There was nostalgia mixed in. It became super fun/enjoyable, going all out, it felt good.

SL: asks sthg

H: Ah, I haven’t seen the images yet… *starts unwrapping the straw of the protein shake*

SL: Weren’t you supposed to keep it?! *laughing*

H: AH! Ah, that was dangerous! I was really about to drink it.

SL: asks about Desperado’s mask I think

H: Hmm.. well I don’t think I should speak more about it. Like I said in the backstage comments, that guy is El Desperado. With or without a mask, in front of me there was only Desperado. *puts the straw in the protein drink* *drinks* haaah.

SL: ….? So you drank it?

H: *looks down at the drink in his hand* AAHHH! I drank it!! I was too thirsty! Aaah…. But It’s okay I can just keep this once it’s empty. *happily drinks it*. I probably took too long in the backstage comments, so they couldn’t give it in person.

SL: Did any of the LIJ members tell you sthg before the match?

H: Oh right, Naito san told me to do my best. (Ganbatte) He said it lightly. Sanada said nothing but it’s as usual, so it’s okay. I guess never talking much comes in handy in cases like this.

H: *about BOSJ in general* I wanted to win the matches by bringing out everything the opponent had to offer… in that sense, I think Taguchi showed a lot.

(...) (he said a few little things but I’m running out of time sorry)

SL: Your front tooth got chipped.

H: Yeah, I don’t know exactly when it happened but before the match against Robbie I think. I need to take an appointment at the dentist.

H: I don’t know if I’ll be answered but I issued a challenge to the winner of Super JCup.

H: I really want to hold on to this (BOSJ) trophee until BOSJ 28 next year.

SL: Is that why you’re holding on to it so firmly?

H: Hm? Ah, it’s just that my hand fits perfectly here.

SL: What will you do when you go home?

H: ? I’ll sleep? There’s nothing else to do… Ahhh but maybe it’ll be hard to fall asleep. I’m still on a high from the match, even though it’s been two hours now. Let’s go home tho! I kinda want to go home now. I got tired of speaking.

[bro-restlin]

Uemura having a match on BoSJ on his birthday 🥺 even though he lost, they should've let him win as a birthday gift *sad pouting emoji*

[bro-restlin]

SHO's entrance is everything

[bro-restlin]

I can't stop thinking how awful it must be to do those strikes on Bushi's mask with all those sequins, like yeah wrestlers take ridiculous bumps BUT that must be annoying, imagine the scratches 😫

[bro-restlin]

Finnjuice vs GoD was the match of the night for me. Really wasn't in the mood for watching it but felt like I had to since I already had started and that managed to get me on.

[bro-restlin]

Hold up, wtf, Douki lost to Eagles? Wtfff, I thought he was going to win

[gdwessel]

Road to Power Struggle Night 8 - 11/2/2020: Best of the Super Juniors 27 Participants Announced; NJoA Announces Super J-Cup 2020 on 12/12/2020

The tour continued today, with the final streamed show before Power Struggle on Saturday. Once again we had a main event title match on this show.

- 11/2/2020, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Gabriel Kidd d. Yota Tsuji (Pinfall, 7:44)

Will Ospreay & Great O-Khan [The Empire] d. Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Yuya Uemura (O-Khan > Uemura, Eliminator, 11:10)

Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] (Takagi > Kanemaru, Last Of The Dragon, 12:15)

Jay White, KENTA & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma (White > Honma, Blade Runner, 12:25)

Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] d. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club] (Naito > Yujiro, Destino, 11:23)

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] © d. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] (Taichi > YOSHI-HASHI, Zack Mephisto, 34:50) - Dangerous Tekkers succeed their 2nd defense

With this, Dangerous Tekkers will go into the World Tag League as champions. Toru Yano ran in post-main, and set the stipulation for he & ZSJ’s match for the Provisional KOPW2020 trophy on Saturday as a No Corner-Pad Match. Suzuki attacked Shingo. O-Khan hit Eliminator on Okada. It’s a build-up show to the big card.

The participants for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors 27, which will run concurrently with the World Tag League this year, have been announced. Only 10 wrestlers will be in this year, and due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, no outside talents will be coming in this year, from AEW, CMLL, ROH, or otherwise. You could make the case for DOUKI and Robbie Eagles being “outside talents” I guess. Hiromu Takahashi makes his return to the tournament, after being out of last year’s due to his neck injury. Master Wato (hey remember him?) makes his BOSJ debut in this year’s edition. 

It does not appear as if they are dividing this year’s into blocks, which would make no sense anyway due to the relatively small amount of entrants. Here they are:

Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato, SHO [CHAOS], Robbie Eagles [CHAOS], Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables], BUSHI [Los Ingobernables], El Desperado [SZKG], Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG], DOUKI [SZKG], Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Presumably, the winner challenges Ishimori for the IWGP Juniorheavyweight title at Wrestle Kingdom 15, as this was not held prior to Dominion this year because of the pandemic. The tournament starts 11/15/2020.

NJPW also sprung a surprise announcement, of another Super J-Cup taking place in America, on 12/12/2020. What’s even more surprising, is the lineup officially mentions Game Changer Wrestling and, shockingly, Impact Wrestling as far as home promotions for some of the participants. Last year’s winner El Phantasmo returns, and we also get the NJPW debuts of Rey Horus (aka Dragon Azteca Jr. from Lucha Underground), and Lio Rush. The participants are:

Clark Connors, TJP [FREE], ACH [FREE], Lio Rush [FREE], El Phantasmo [Bullet Club], Rey Horus [ROH], Blake Christian [GCW], Chris Bey [Impact]

Strictly speaking, I don’t think this is a necessary tournament, and there are no indications if there will be crowds in attendance for this. We’ll keep you posted.

The tour continues tomorrow. Please vote if you are in the USA and have not yet.

- 11/3/2020, Shizuoka Twin Messe

Yuya Uemura v. Gabriel Kidd

Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI [SZKG]

Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] & Yota Tsuji v. Will Ospreay & Great O-Khan [The Empire]

Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma v. Jay White, KENTA & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]