Time for our first true big one since Wrestle Kingdom, as tonight in our main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi challengers Shingo Takagi for the NEVER openweight title in what could end up a Match of the Year contender!
With the New Beginning show looming this weekend in Nagoya, I thought it would be fun to take a brief look at some matches from the Road to the New Beginning events.
A brief explanation – the ‘road to’ shows are a series of shows that, 99% of the time, are various tag matches of different sizes and lengths, and are meant to highlight the feuds that will eventually be paid off on the main shows. As a result, a lot of the permutations of the matches are run several times, which makes reviewing the shows a little redundant. But there was some really fun stuff on these shows, so let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?
Yeah, get the coffee ready. It’s TIME! (At least, we hope it is. Everyone is highly encouraged to keep an eye on Tokyo’s current lockdown status, as they may declare a state of emergency which, if it goes into effect right away, would delay Wrestle Kingdom for at least a bit of time.)
And with that cheery thought, on with the preview!
Well, here we are. Tonight, two men meet to settle this whole thing, as El Desperado takes on Hiromu Takahashi in the Finals of the Best of the Super Juniors 2020 tournament!
We need 2 finalists, and tonight we are going to get two finalists! 4 wrestlers are still in the running, so let’s find out who will face off to determine the winner of the BOSJ 2020!
Tonight, it’s the second-to-last night of action before we get to the Final! We’ve got a 4-way tie at the top of the leader board but only two spots available, so let’s see what happens!
Tonight, it’s arguably the most anticipated main event of the tournament since Night 1, as Hiromu Takahashi tangles with SHO, while evil battles evil as El Desperado fights Taiji Ishimori!
Tonight, Hiromu Takahashi is back in the main event facing off against Robbie Eagles! We’ve only got 4 nights left before the Final, so things are starting to get closer to the end.
Tonight for the first time in the tournament, Hiromu Takahashi will not be in the main event, as our feature bout will feature Master Wato taking on El Desperado!
If I had to pick a favorite tournament from the pro wrestling world each year, it probably wouldn’t be the G-1 Climax; it would indeed be the Best of Super Juniors. My love for this event dates back to my tape trading days, when I got addicted to Juniors puro, especially Liger, Sasuke, and Ohtani. Between the BOSJ, the Super J-Cup, Michinoku Pro comps…..a lot of cool stuff would occasionally appear in the mailbox at my college dorm in videotape form.
I had resigned myself to the fact that COVID was going to take the BOSJ this year, but lo and behold, NJPW decided to hold the tournament anyway, albeit with an abbreviated format. Instead of two Blocks and 20 wrestlers, there will be one Block, 10 wrestlers, and the two top point getters will face off for the trophy on the last night.
So with that in mind, let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?
Believe it or not, this is the last big event before Wrestle Kingdom! From here, we’ve got World Tag League and the Best of the Super Juniors tournaments, but this is our last large event before we go to the Dome in January. So tonight, our main events are Kota Ibushi vs Jay White for the title shot briefcase and (sigh) once again, EVIL vs Tetsuya Naito for the double gold!
Warning before you click – this is very long. I’ve got a bunch to recap and to say.
Tonight, we settle all family business, as Kota Ibushi takes on SANADA to determine for one and all who holds sway over the G-1 Climax! It’s Finals time, so why waste a moment?
We’re here! The last show before the Final! Who will win B Block and attempt to deny Kota Ibushi back-to-back wins in the G-1? Only one way to find out!