AEW’s Nick Wayne scored a victory in his first NJPW match on Japanese soil on Saturday, as the Best of the Super Juniors tournament began.
Wayne, 19, defeated SHO in the opening B Block match at the YohaS Arena in Chiba.
Wayne has previously competed in Japan for DDT and GCW. He also wrestled under the New Japan banner at its All-Star Junior Festival 2023 in Philadelphia. However, Saturday marked his debut in Japan for the country’s largest promotion.
He overcame SHO’s House of Torture tactics to secure two points in the B Block.
The opening day of the junior heavyweight tournament saw five block matches.
In the tournament opener, SHO of House of Torture immediately targeted Wayne’s left arm, including a chair shot while the referee was distracted. SHO went for a low blow, but Wayne countered into his Prodigy Plex finisher for the pinfall victory.
Following Wayne’s B Block encounter, A Block action commenced with Dragon Dia vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Dia countered Kanemaru’s whiskey mist attempt, and scored the win with the Reptilian Rana.
Next in the A Block, Kosei Fujita earned two points by defeating Francesco Akira. Fujita secured the pinfall with the Thrill Ride.
The fourth tournament match saw former multi-time champion Hiromu Takahashi defeat KUSHIDA in an A Block contest. Takahashi eventually forced a submission.
The final tournament match of the evening was a B Block encounter featuring El Desperado vs. Titan. Titan controlled significant portions of the match with his aerial offence, including a top-rope double stomp that nearly secured him the win. Desperado, however, managed to counter Titan’s El Inmortal finisher into his Numero Dos submission.
The tournament continues on Sunday at the Iwanuma City General Gymnasium in Miyagi.
Best of the Super Juniors 32 Full Results – May 10th, 2025:
- Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori def. Ninja Mack & Katsuya Murashima
- Kevin Knight, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato def. MAO, Tiger Mask & Shoma Kato
- Toru Yano & YOH def. Robbie Eagles & Hartley Jackson
- Best of the Super Juniors Block B: Nick Wayne [2] def. SHO [0]
- Best of the Super Juniors Block A: Dragon Dia [2] def. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Best of the Super Juniors Block A: Kosei Fujita [2] def. Francesco Akira [0]
- Best of the Super Juniors Block A: Hiromu Takahashi [2] def. KUSHIDA [0]
- Best of the Super Juniors Block B: El Desperado [2] def. Titan [0]
Best of the Super Juniors 32 Standings:
Block A:
- Hiromu Takahashi [2]
- Dragon Dia [2]
- Kosei Fujita [2]
- Ninja Mack [0]
- Clark Connors [0]
- Robbie X [0]
- Master Wato [0]
- KUSHIDA [0]
- Francesco Akira [0]
- Yoshinobu Kanemaru [0]
Block B:
- El Desperado [2]
- Nick Wayne [2]
- Ryusuke Taguchi [0]
- Kevin Knight [0]
- Robbie Eagles [0]
- YOH [0]
- Taiji Ishimori [0]
- MAO [0]
- Titan [0]
- SHO [0]
