New Japan wrapped up the Best Of The Super Junior 29 today with an event headlined by the Finals, where either Hiromu Takahashi would 3-peat as champion or El Desperado would vault right back into a shot at reclaiming the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship.
Today’s event was held at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese and English.
The announced paid attendance was 3520. Depending on layout and capacity limits, that represents 35-45% max capacity for the venue (varies from 8500-11000 for wrestling).
There were several last-second card changes because Juice Robinson was a late removal. Acute appendicitis.
Match 1: Tomoaki Honma beat Ryohei Oiwa. This was to have been Honma vs. Robinson as match 3.
Match 2: Alex Zayne, Ace Austin, Wheeler Yuta & El Lindaman beat Clark Connors, Titan, Yoh & Robbie Eagles. Zayne pinned Connors after Cinnamon Twist.
Match 3: Francesco Akira & TJP beat Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi. TJP beat Taguchi with Pinoy Stretch.
Match 4: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Sho & EVIL. Sabre beat Sho with an armbar.
Match 5: El Phantasmo, Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale beat Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb. Phantasmo pinned Henare after CR 2. After the match, Austin joined Bullet Club, an angle likely to carry over into Impact Wrestling.
A message for the absent Robinson was delivered…SEE YOU NEXT TIME! SANADA is back! He will attempt to regain the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship when he returns on 6/12. He was forced to vacate the title due to injury (fractured orbital bone suffered during a New Japan Cup match against Will Ospreay).
Match 6: BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi beat DOUKI, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. Takagi beat TAKA with a ground cobra twist.
Jay White appeared next with a surprise…FANG REVIVES AGAIN! KENTA is back! He has been out since January due to injuries suffered in a No DQ IWGP US Heavyweight Championship match against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Tokyo Dome.
Match 7: Jado, Tama Tonga, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Doc Gallows & Jay White. Tonga pinned Gedo after Gun Stun.
Special guest Tatsumi Fujinami is introduced as a witness for the final match. (For those unaware, Fujinami is finally retiring after a 50 year career with his final match set for 12/1. It will be a torch-passing of sorts because his final opponent is Hiroshi Tanahashi)
Main Event: Best Of The Super Junior Finals: Hiromu Takahashi beat El Desperado to win the tournament. It’s the 3rd straight BOSJ title for Takahashi and 4th overall. It also earns him a shot at Ishimori for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship, we don’t know when yet.
The next event is DOMINION, the annual June Osaka blowout event, on 6/12 at Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin on 6/12 at 1 AM ET/6/11 at 10 PM PT.
