David Forrister
Welcome to the second half of our Best of The Super Jr’s preview! Last time we looked at the Block A competitors so we’ll move on to Block B without further ado.
BLOCK B
Alex Shelley
Alex Shelley debuted in 2002 and chose his ring name by combining the first name of the protagonist from “A Clockwork Orange” with the last name of the lead singer from the Buzzcocks. Shelley would suffer a major setback early on though when he would slip in a wet ring and shatter his jaw on an unpadded ring apron, requiring steel plates and putting him out for 8 months. When Shelley came back, he worked for well known independent promotions IWA Mid South and Combat Zone Wrestling before getting the call to make his debut for Ring of Honor on June 28, 2003. Although Shelley would lose his first match in ROH he would continue to be brought back by the company off and on for the rest of the year and into early 2004. After ROH underwent a major shakeup, Shelley got his big break.
On May 22, 2004 Shelley formed a stable with 3 of the other top young wrestlers (Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Jack Evans) called “Generation Next” and spent the entire show attacking the rest of the roster. Generation Next would begin feuding with roster members whom most respected tradition, such as the legendary Ricky Steamboat. With so many talented (and egotistical) men in one unit it was only a matter of time before they began to butt heads though. After Shelley and Aries both decided to go after the ROH World Title, tensions began to mount. Then at the December 2004 Final Battle show Shelley was betrayed by Generation Next after they accused him of spending too much time in TNA.
After spending some time as a face feuding with Generation Next, Shelley turned heel joining “The Embassy” and continued to feud with the now babyface Generation Next for the better part of a year before The Embassy was defeated in a Steel Cage Elimination match in December 2005. Shelley’s TNA commitments would leave him unable to work regularly for ROH much for most of 2006. Shelley and Chris Sabin would come to ROH several times to attempt to win the ROH World Tag Titles but despite having some great matches, were never able to score the big win.
Shelley’s first run with TNA started in July 2004 when he was paired with Goldy Locks, who referred to him as “baby bear” Alex Shelley. His run failed to set the world on fire for some reason and when Dusty Rhodes (who was booking at the time) stopped using him, he asked to be released. Shelley came back to TNA in June 2005 after Dusty resigned and his first major win was when he teamed with Sean Waltman in the Chris Candido Memorial Tag Team Tournament and the two men won the finals in September 2005. They received a World Tag Title shot but Waltman no-showed and though Shelley fought solo, he lost the match.
In late 2005 Shelley began bringing a camcorder to the ring to film his matches and was also paired up with his old Generation Next buddies Aries and Strong as heels taking on the established X Division faces (why not go with what worked for the other guys!) Unfortunately in early 2006, TNA suspended Aries and Strong. Shelley created the enterprise “Paparazzi Productions” and started filming some of the babyfaces and their families to intimidate them after being recruited by Jeff Jarrett. In May he took part in the World X Cup as a member of the winning Team USA. During the tournament he interviewed Kevin Nash, who announced he planned to destroy the X Division as it was mere filler. Shelley would of course do the smart thing and align himself with Nash.
In the summer of 2007 Shelley and fellow Detroit native Chris Sabin began teaming in TNA as the “Motor City Machine Guns” and were an instant hit with the fans. The Machine Guns would feud with Team 3D (The Dudleyz) over the next several months. Then the Guns were part of Team TNA in the 2008 World Cup (TNA is a nation) and Shelley would secure the victory for the team going into the finals which Team Mexico won. The Machine Guns were rarely used for much of 2008 and 2009 because we are talking about TNA. Shelley was even forced to wear a turkey suit at one point. However, in January 2009 Shelley did win his first ever X-Division Title by beating his partner Sabin and held the title until March.
In March 2010 the Machine Guns would finally win the TNA World Tag Titles and would go on to have a memorable Best of 5 series with Beer Money over the belts, which the Machine Guns would win. The Guns would hold onto the belts until January 2011. Afterwards, Shelley went down with a broken collarbone. Shelley would return and continue working for the company until May 2012 when it was announced he had left the company.
Once he left TNA, he was quickly signed by New Japan in August 2012. Shelley had actually made appearances in Japan earlier in his career for the Zero 1-Max promotion and even held both singles and tag (with Sabin) gold for the company so it wasn’t a big step for him to begin working more in Japan. Thanks to the TNA/NJPW relationship Shelley and Sabin had already worked in New Japan starting at the 2009 January Tokyo Dome show where the Machine Guns became only the second ever “gaijin” team (after American Dragon and Curry Man) to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. The Guns held the belts until July when they were defeated by Devitt and Taguchi.
Shelley’s return to New Japan actually happened on the promotion’s first ever US tour when he was being assaulted by Forever Hooligans after failing to defeat them for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship when KUSHIDA saved him. As a singles wrestler in New Japan, Shelley’s biggest moment came in last year’s BOSJ when he made it all the way to finals before being defeated by the division’s top star: Prince Devitt. His prospects this year to make it to at least the semi’s are good. Taguchi seems to be a lock for one spot in this Block (and likely the finals) so the other spot could go to a couple of guys.
El Desperado
El Desperado is actually New Japan Dojo graduate Kyosuke Mikami. Mikami debuted with the company under his real name in March 2010. Mikami followed the boilerplate path of a New Japan “Young Lion” (as the company calls its rookies), going on a long losing streak until picking up his first win over an even newer Young Lion in August 2010. At the start of 2012 Mikami was sent on a learning excursion to CMLL in Mexico.
Mikami’s first gimmick in CMLL was as the masked wrestler “Namajague” and formed a team with fellow Japanese native Okumara (the team’s name translates to “the yellow wave.”) On March 3, 2013 after feuding for several months, the duo defeated Stuka Jr and Rey Cometa for the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship. Their triumph would be short lived because on March 15, 2013 Stuka and Cometa won a “Luchas de Apuestas” against Okamura and Namajague forcing Okamura to shave his head and Namajague to unmask and reveal his true name. Still working as Namajague (sans mask) he would attempt to gain revenge on Cometa by first breaking a pane of glass over his head and then having a hair vs. hair match in April which Namajague lost. After dropping the Tag Titles in November, he left CMLL to return to New Japan.
Mikami re-debuted for New Japan at the January 2014 Tokyo Dome show as the masked “El Desperado” with the gimmick of being a Mexican with a Japanese father, thus able to speak the language. At the show he challenged the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kota Ibushi (well… at least he gave him flowers) and the two would have their match in February with Ibushi coming out on top. Since then Desperado has continued to be in the mix, even teaming with Ibushi in a failed attempt to take the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles from The Young Bucks. This will be his first BOSJ and I don’t see him picking up more than a couple wins.
Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega first became involved with wrestling in 2001 after meeting the promoter of Winnipeg’s Top Rope Championship Wrestling at a IGA Supermarket (where all great careers start) and started working for the company while only 16 years old. It was while working for Top Rope that Omega first developed his gimmick of being a Otaku Gamer and specifically using the “Hadouken” move from the Street Fighter games. In December 2001 Omega began working for another Winnipeg based company, Premier Wrestling where he started to pick up more of a buzz on the indy scene. During his several years working for Premier, Omega would win the company’s top titles several times and wrestle top talents: Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, and Amazing Red. In December 2005 he would leave after signing a development contract with WWE to go to Deep South Wrestling.
Omega’s time in DSW didn’t result in him moving up to the WWE and he wasn’t very happy either (according to an interview with Gerwick.net) so it wasn’t surprising that he parted ways with DSW and the WWE in August 2006. After leaving DSW, Omega began working for Premier again but also expanded to other indy companies like Pro Wrestling Syndicate and Jersey All Pro Wrestling with great success. He even had a run with ROH starting in 2008. Omega would start off poorly but after breaking his losing streak, would gain two pinfall victories on the ROH World Champion Austin Aries. When he received a title shot in November 2009, he was unable to beat the champ. The other major independent group was Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in 2008. Omega’s big moment in PWG would come in 2009 when he would win not only PWG’s Battle of LA Tournament but its vacant World Championship.
It only made sense for a Otaku gamer to wrestle in Japan and few companies would be a better fit than DDT (Dramatic Dream Team) which mixed wacky comedy with wrestling. He finally got the call in 2008 and it didn’t take long for him to become one of their top stars, forming a tag team with Kota Ibushi known as the Golden Lovers. In 2010 Omega would debut for New Japan as part of the BOSJ but fail to advance to the semi’s. Luckily for Omega, he secured another chance to work for New Japan after beating Taguchi at a DDT show and in September 2010 challenged Prince Devitt for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title. In October The Golden Lovers scored a major victory when they defeated Apollo 55 for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles, which they held onto until January.
In May 2011 Omega once again entered New Japan’s BOSJ but failed to advance to the semi’s despite a promising 5 match win streak at one point. Omega would also work for All Japan in their Junior League and fail to win that Tournament as well but thanks to his defeating the eventual winner, KAI, he received a shot at the AJPW Junior Heavyweight belt. He won and held onto it for an impressive 217 days. In July 2012 Omega won DDT’s King of DDT Tournament to earn a shot at Ibushi’s KO-D Openweight Championship in August at DDT’s 15th Anniversary show. Although Omega failed to beat his partner, he would receive another title shot in December when he went up against the new champion El Generico and emerged victorious. In January he would win a title vs. title match against Isami Kodaka to win the DDT Extreme Division Championship. Omega would lose the KO-D title in March 2013 but he soon became a double champ again when he won DDT’s version of a 6 man championship with Ibushi and Gota Ihashi in May.
Also in May Omega would have his most successful BOSJ to date when he would manage to advance to the semi-finals before losing to Prince Devitt. Back in DDT Omega lost both his 6 Man Titles and his Extreme Division Title but in January 2014 Golden Lovers would win the KO-D Tag Team Championships for the second time and also briefly regained the 6 Man Titles by adding Daisuke Sasaki to their combo. Omega has a good chance of making it to the semi’s this year as he’s a popular act and New Japan has shown they’re willing to put him over their own stars in the past but this block seems to have only one slot open for the semi’s and there’s a few other contenders.
Nick and Matt Jackson
The Young Bucks actually got their “start” in 2001 when they set up an actual wrestling ring and began emulating the moves they saw on TV (do not try this at home) on each other and their friends. Older brother Matt Jackson began training at Revolution Pro Wrestling’s school Rudos Dojo and Nick would eventually join him. The brothers would make their non-backyard debut in Revolution Pro in 2004.
With help from the rest of his family, Matt Jackson would open his own wrestling company in October 2004 called High Risk Wrestling allowing them to continue the Hardy Boyz parallels. The brothers would first use the Young Bucks moniker in February 2005 when appearing for Full Contact Wrestling, as the booker didn’t know the names of their characters. The Bucks’ next big moment came in 2007 when they debuted with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla which would become their home promotion.
On August 31 2008 The Bucks would win their first PWG World Tag Team Championship by beating Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black (Seth Rollins). Their next major accomplishment in PWG was to win the 2009 DDT4 tag tournament by defending their belts successfully three times in one night. The Bucks would far surpass the record for longest World Tag Team reign (passing it in June 2009) only losing the belts in the finals of the 2010 DDT4 tournament ending their reign at an incredible 616 days. The Bucks would come back strong in the next DDT4 tournament, winning and earning a title shot. The Bucks succeeded in regaining the World Tag Titles on April 9, 2011 holding the belts until December. In 2013 the Bucks would win both the PWG World Tag Team Championships and the DDT4 tournament for a third time. They continue to hold the PWG World Tag Championships as of this article.
During this time period, The Young Bucks would also work for Chikara, Dragon Gate USA and Ring Of Honor. They also toured a few times in Japan for Dragon Gate. The next big step in their career was when they were signed by TNA in December 2009. The Bucks were renamed Max and Jeremy and called “Generation Me” though they were soon given the last name of Buck. They would receive several title shots but they would never win gold in TNA and spent a great deal of time working singles matches. They had an aborted feud with each other that went nowhere. The two would ask to be released from their contracts in July 2013.
The Bucks made their New Japan debut in October 2013 to take part in the Super Jr Tag tournament and would be members of the heel Bullet Club stable. Thanks to a tremendous amount of interference from their fellow stablemates, the Bucks managed to win the tournament and receive a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles which they would win in November 2013. Since then the Bucks have managed to hold onto the belts (often due to the interference of Bullet Club) and Nick even made a failed attempt to take the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title from Kota Ibushi. This will be both Nick and Matt’s first BOSJ and despite what is likely to be copious amounts of interference in both their matches, I don’t think either are making it out of the round robin.
Rocky Romero
Romero began training to become a pro wrestler in 1997 and made his debut a little less than a year later. He was invited to train at the New Japan LA Dojo in 2002 which also netted him his first tour in Japan. Romero formed a long lasting partnership with Ricky Reyes that would be called “The Havana Pittbulls” and the two men would debut in Ring of Honor in 2004 and join Homicide’s “Rottweiler” stable. The Pittbulls would win the ROH Tag Team Championships and hold them for 196 days, which was then a record reign. Romero would would leave ROH in 2005 to focus on his other commitments.
He would return in January 2007 and shockingly walk out on his long time partner Reyes in the middle of a match. Later it was announced Romero was the newest member of the “No Remorse Corps” alongside Davey Richards and Roderick Strong. In January 2008 Romero and Richards would beat 3 other teams in an Ultimate Endurance match to win the ROH World Tag Team Championships but lost them later in the year and Romero, once again, left. His next major return was in 2013 when, with his Forever Hooligan partner Alex Koslov, he won once again became a ROH World Tag Team Champ, if only briefly as they lost it in their first defense a few days latter.
Although he had toured with New Japan previously his biggest moment to date came in 2005 when he was given the honor of becoming the fourth Black Tiger. On October 8, 2005 he defeated Tiger Mask IV for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship which he held for four months before losing it back to Tiger Mask. Although he would leave New Japan for several years after this, when he came back in 2009 he would have a Mask vs. Championship match with Tiger Mask which he lost to finally end his run as Black Tiger.
Romero would also work in Mexico for CMLL starting in 2003 where he would win the World Super Lightweight Championship 3 times and have the longest ever reign at 1,168 days. He would jump to AAA while still in the midst of that marathon reign during 2008. However, his run in AAA would end 2 years later after he was asked to take a pay cut.
Romero and Davey Richards would join “CHAOS” in New Japan and compete in the 2010 Super Jr Tag League starting in October. The two men managed to make it all the way to the finals where they were defeated by fellow CHAOS members Jado and Gedo. The next October, Romero and Richards would win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and hold them until the January 2012 Dome Show. Romero would get a chance at Prince Devitt’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in December 2011 but came up short. Romero and Richards would regain the belts in February 2012 but were stripped of the belts in May after travel problems caused Richards to miss a show.
The next move for Romero was to form a team with Alex Koslov called “Forever Hooligans” (for more details see Block A bio on Koslov) and since becoming a team in July 2012 have won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles twice. This will be Romero’s 6th BOSJ including two years as Black Tiger IV. In none of his previous entries has he managed to make it out of the round robin section of the tournament and I don’t expect him to do so this year with such a loaded block.
Ryusuke Taguchi
Taguchi enrolled in the New Japan dojo in March 2002 after graduating university, where he had competed in Amateur Wrestling in the 76 kg class. He would make his debut in November 2002 and get his first major moment in the 2003 BOSJ when he was entered in the tournament as the last moment replacement for HEAT. Taguchi would lose all of his matches in the BOSJ and finish last but gain valuable experience. In November he would team with Hirooki Goto to win a 4-team tournament to pick the number #1 contenders for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship but the two would fail in their bid to win the titles.
In April 2004 Taguchi would get his biggest wins to date when he emerged as the winner of the Young Lion Cup Tournament. The next month he would compete in his second BOSJ and slightly improve on his previous performance by going to 2 time limit draws and winning one match. In October, Taguchi was part of a 7-man Young Lion Toukon Tournament, a sequel to the one earlier in the year. Taguchi received a bye to the semi’s due to winning the first Young Lion tournament, and was able to win both of his matches to to emerge victorious once again.
Taguchi would spend nearly all of 2005 in CMLL in order to gain more experience and wouldn’t return to New Japan until October. In February 2006 Taguchi would win his first ever title when he teamed with El Samurai to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, which they would hold until September. Taguchi once again improved his BOSJ record in 2006 but still failed to advance out of the round robin portion of the tournament. Taguchi’s 2007 would start with some problems as he was sidelined with an eye injury for 2 months but when he returned and entered the BOSJ. He finally made it out of the round robin section before losing in the semi’s. In July 2007 Taguchi defeated Minoru to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title for the first time. After losing the title in December, Taguchi’s next big feud would be an inter-promotional war with Zero1 where he teamed up with fellow New Japan wrestlers to take on many of Zero1’s top stars. Taguchi would once again make it to the semi’s in the 2008 BOSJ, but was eliminated by Koji Kanemoto.
A new phase of Taguchi’s career would begin in 2009 when he started teaming with Prince Devitt as “Apollo 55.” The two wouldn’t take long to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Titles, defeating the Motor City Machine Guns in July. They would hold the belts until April 21, 2010 when they were stripped of the titles due to an injury to Devitt. Apollo 55 would regain the belts in July and hold onto them until October 2010. Taguchi’s next championship win would be as a singles wrestler on January 22, 2011 at a CMLL/NJPW co-sponsored event, where he defeated Mascara Dorada for the CMLL World Welterweight Championship. The very next night Apollo 55 regained the Tag Team Titles as well. Taguchi would make it to the finals of the 2011 BOSJ, finally breaking his streak of losses in the semi-finals by defeating his partner Devitt before losing to Kota Ibushi.
Apollo 55 would set a new record for most successful defenses for the Tag Team Titles in September 2011 (7) before losing the belts in October to the No Remorse Corps. They would briefly regain the belts in January 2013 but lost them only a month later in their very first defense. Taguchi would finally emerge as the winner of the BOSJ in 2012 and earned a shot at the Junior Heavyweight Title which he failed to win. In October, Apollo 55 entered the Super Jr Tag Tournament but lost in the finals. They would make several attempts to regain the belts, but failed in every effort. Their last attempt came on April 7, 2013. Prince Devitt would turn on Taguchi after the match, ending their partnership.
Taguchi and Devitt were all set for a big feud but Taguchi was put out with a hip injury during the early stages of the 2013 BOSJ and wouldn’t return until January 2014. He was back to settle things with Devitt, who had been on a reign of terror with Bullet Club during his absence and was now (unknown to many) finishing up with New Japan. On April 6, 2014, one year after Devitt had turned on him, Taguchi defeated him in a grudge match. The two former best friends and partners shook hands after the match putting an end to their feud. In my opinion Taguchi is the most likely winner of the entire BOSJ, much less his block. Taguchi is the Ace of the division now that Devitt is gone and they’re basically in a rebuilding phase for the next few years.
Taichi
Taichi Ishikari knew he wanted to be a pro wrestler while he was still in High School so he got involved in amateur wrestling and was skilled enough to be ranked second in the 63 kg class in 1997 Hokkaido High School Championship Conference. After leaving school, Ishikari debuted with All Japan in December of 2002. His first big moment would come in 2004 when he appeared in the Super J Cup but was eliminated in the first round. Next, he would team with Toshiaki Kawada, who was positioned as his mentor, to win the Autumn Festival Tag Team Tournament. He would receive his first shot at the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title in early 2005, but came up short. When Kawada decided to go freelance and leave All Japan, Ishikari would follow him. Unlike Kawada, he wasn’t exactly a major name and had far less success. He would bounce around but worked more and more with New Japan until becoming an official member of the roster in 2009.
At first Taichi was partnered with Milano Collection A.T. but after a career ending injury to Milano in 2010, Taichi was sent to CMLL as part of the working agreement. In May 2010 Taichi, Okumura, and Tanahashi won the CMLL World Trios Championships but only held onto them for 2 weeks before dropping them. Taichi got into a feud with Maximo and the two men put up their hair in a 2 out of 3 falls match which Taichi would lose 2 falls to 1 in June 2010. He would return to New Japan with less hair but more experience.
When he returned to New Japan, Taichi (now known as just Taichi) aligned himself with Satoshi Kojima’s heel stable and quickly became one of the most notable pests in New Japan. Taichi would be part of the coup against Kojima that saw him kicked out of his own stable in favor of Minoru Suzuki in May 2011. Also in May, Taichi competed in the BOSJ but turned in a less than stellar performance, ranking 8th out of the 9 men in his block. After that, he began to regularly team with Suzukigun stablemate TAKA Michinoku and the two would make several unsuccessful attempts to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles. Taichi would also unmask Jushin Liger during a tag match which would lead to Liger unleashing his “Kishin Liger” form on Taichi and TAKA for one of the very few times in his career. While it is a sign you’ve gotten to him, it really isn’t worth it. At all.
Taichi suffered a knee injury in January 2013 in a traffic accident that took him out until April. When he came back, he had to wear a heavy knee brace that he incorporated into his act as a weapon. His performance in the 2013 BOSJ went much better thanks to interference from Suzukigun, winning his first 4 matches but he still ended up just missing advancing to the semis. Taichi and TAKA received another shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight titles on October 14 when Alex Shelley was sidelined and this time they managed to win, which marked Taichi’s first New Japan title. They would hold the belts for 26 days before being defeated by The Young Bucks. Taichi’s chances are basically zero in the BOSJ. He’s there to cheat and ruin the chances of someone else.
Tiger Mask IV
Tiger Mask IV’s real name is Yoshihiro Yamazaki and he was actually trained and endorsed by the original Tiger Mask (and also trained by The Great Sasuke) unlike the second and third incarnations of Tiger Mask. He made his debut in 1995 for Mickinoku Pro as Tiger Mask IV succeeding the previous Tiger Mask, Koji Kanemoto. It would take just over a year for him to win his first singles belt when he won the UWA World Middleweight Championship, which he held until he was injured 3 months later. His next singles reign would come when he won a tournament in London to crown a British Commonwealth Jr Heavyweight Champion in April 1999, but would once again suffer an injury forcing him to vacate a title. When he came back he would regain the title and hold it for exactly 1 year before losing it to Masaaki Mochizuki on March 10, 2001. Tiger Mask IV would leave the company not long after.
Tiger Mask would make the move to New Japan in January 2002 although he wouldn’t be officially signed to a New Japan contract until December. He quickly rose through the ranks of the Junior division until he defeated his predecessor, Koji Kanemoto for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title in April 2003. Tiger Mask would, for the third time, be forced to vacate a title due to an injury in December. After he returned, he won the 2004 BOSJ and then the next year’s BOSJ as well, making him the only wrestler to win in back to back years. He would also regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title in 2005 defeating HEAT (better known as Minoru Tanaka) and holding onto the belt until being defeated by the new Black Tiger IV.
In February 2006 Tiger Mask IV would not only regain his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title but also become the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, defeating Black Tiger IV for both belts. After he lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title in May, his fourth reign wouldn’t come until July 2008 when he defeated Prince Devitt, although he would lose the title later in 2008 to Low-Ki. Tiger Mask would become only the third man in NJPW history to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title 5 times at the January 2009 Dome show. During this title reign he would defeat and unmask Black Tiger IV, and a new Black Tiger V before losing the belt in August. He would regain the belt in November making him a 6 time champion and the only man besides Jushin Liger to have held the belt so many times (Liger has 11). After losing the belt at the January 2010 Dome show, Tiger Mask began showing signs of a heel turn and vowed to win his third BOSJ but after his first match he was forced to drop out due to a neck injury and forfeited the rest of the tournament.
Tiger Mask would return in April (as a face) and get himself involved with an inter-promotional war with Pro Wrestling NOAH. He and Koji Kanemoto would actually win NOAH’s GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Championships in August 2010 and hold them until December. In June 2012 Tiger Mask would team up with Liger to win his first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag title but the duo only held the belts for a month. He and Liger would team up again in Pro Wrestling NOAH to win the NTV G+ Junior Heavyweight Tag League and the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles in 2013. Tiger Mask is very unlikely to make it to the semi’s since he’s used lower down the card these days, as he should be. His best days are behind him and he’s best used as a respected vet that can be brought up the card every once and awhile.
The BOSJ will be running from May 30th until June 8th and you can order the 5/30, 6/3, and 6/8 cards to watch live on their ustream channel.
Here’s the BOSJ matches for those 3 cards
5/30
Block B: El Desperado vs. Taichi
Block B: Alex Shelley vs. Nick Jackson
Block B: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega
Block B: Tiger Mask vs. Rocky Romero
Block A: Mascara Dorada vs. TAKA Michinoku
Block A: KUSHIDA vs. Matt Jackson
Block A: Ricochet vs. Alex Koslov
Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. BUSHI
6/3
Block B: Rocky Romero vs. Taichi
Block B: El Desperado vs. Kenny Omega [Dramatic Dream Team]
Block B: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Alex Shelley
Block B: Tiger Mask vs. Nick Jackson
Block A: TAKA Michinoku [Kaientai Dojo] vs. Matt Jackson
Block A: Alex Koslov vs. Mascara Dorada
Block A: KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI
Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Ricochet
6/8
1. Best of the Super Jr. – Semi Final:
2. Best of the Super Jr. – Semi Final:
3. Best of the Super Jr. – Final:
That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed the article! See ya next time!
