The full lineup for this year’s NJPW Best of the Super Juniors tournament has been confirmed.
BOSJ, NJPW’s top junior heavyweight tournament of the year, is scheduled to begin on May 14 with two 10-man brackets battling it out in round robin action. The lineups for those rosters have been rolled out by NJPW over the past few weeks, with the final two entrants getting revealed during Saturday’s Sakura Genesis show.
The 20-man roster is a mix of NJPW regulars along with numerous cross-promotional collaborations.
Arguably, the biggest reveal came today, when NJPW announced that deathmatch legend Jun Kasai will be participating in the tournament. 51-year-old Kasai has worked numerous one-off matches for NJPW in recent years, including a highly acclaimed bout last June against El Desperado. The upcoming bracket will be his first-ever time working a full tour with the company.
It was also confirmed on Saturday that AEW’s Nick Wayne will return, making his second-ever run in the tournament. Wayne returned to action back in February after a broken foot left him sidelined for more than half a year.
Other cross-promotional appearances include: Dragon Gate’s Hyo, CMLL’s Titan and Valiente Jr., and DDT’s Daisuke Sasaki.
Past tournament winners in the lineup will include Kosei Fujita, El Desperado, Master Wato, and KUSHIDA. Absent will be four-time BOSJ winner Hiromu Takahashi, who left the promotion earlier this year.
Here are the full Blocks:
A Block
- Master Wato
- Ryusuke Taguchi
- Kosei Fujita
- Robbie X
- Francesco Akira
- DOUKI
- Titan
- Valiente Jr.
- Nick Wayne
- Jun Kasai
B Block
- El Desperado
- KUSHIDA
- YOH
- Robbie Eagles
- Taiji Ishimori
- Jakob Austin Young
- SHO
- Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Hyo
- Daisuke Sasaki
