Francesco Akira and Jun Kasai bled their way through Wednesday’s main event in Numazu.
Results:
- A Block: Francesco Akira (8) over Jun Kasai (8) in 13:01
- B Block: Robbie Eagles (6) over Taiji Ishimori (6) in 12:06
- B Block: KUSHIDA (4) over YOH (6) in 9:56
- B Block: El Desperado (8) over Jakob Austin Young (4)
- B Block: SHO (8) over Hyo (4) in 11:13
- B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6) over Daisuke Sasaki (6) in 6:47
- Nick Wayne, Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Tiger Mask over Titán, Robbie X, Daiki Nagai & Gedo in 9:48
- Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson over Valiente Jr., Toru Yano & Masatora Yasuda in 8:20
- Tatsuya Matsumoto over Taisei Nakahara in 7:05
In front of 777 fans at Kiramesse Numazu, Akira and Kasai headlined the show as the lone A Block match, accompanied by five round-robin contests in the B Block.
Kasai bled early in the match but would open Akira with a fork to the forehead, forcing Akira to have a violent match with Kasai. Akira fought back late in the match and withstood Kasai’s signature maneuvers before connecting with the Crown Fall to earn the win and move up to eight points in the block.
Akira credited Kasai as a “legend” in his post-match speech and is going to win the Best of the Super Juniors. Akira’s two points secure him a spot in second place, tied with Kasai and Master Wato, and underneath Titán’s ten points at the top of the block.
The B Block featured five matches on Wednesday as El Desperado and SHO emerged as its leaders with eight points each.
Desperado defeated Jakob Austin Young despite constant interference by Zane Jay. Desperado was buried underneath chairs and whipped into the seats on multiple occasions. Desperado escaped a choke by Jay and battled to finally connect with the Pinche Loco and earn the two points.
SHO kept pace with Desperado by beating Hyo. SHO brought Hyo’s stuffed animal to the ring, locked inside a cage. Hyo tried to rescue the stuffed animal and had his arm caught in the cage and rammed into the post. Referee Kenta Sato was a prop throughout the match, including SHO grabbing a pair of wrenches with one as a distraction for Sato to turn his back. Hyo gained hold of the wrench but suffered a low blow and was placed into an arm bar with SHO striking Hyo’s arm with the wrench before submitting him. This was so overbooked.
Robbie Eagles defeated Taiji Ishimori, moving to six points after targeting Ishimori’s knee. Ishimori had the Bone Lock applied and transitioned to the Bloody Cross, but Eagles countered the maneuver by landing on Ishimori’s knee. Eagles hit a 450 splash on the knee and won with the Ron Miller Special. From a technical level, this was the best match on the show.
KUSHIDA stayed alive by beating YOH with Back to the Future and improved his record to 2-4. The sock gimmick has worn thin and was a major focus of this match, ending with Back to the Future.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru submitted Daisuke Sasaki in a short match. Sasuke continually drank Kanemaru’s whiskey because he is the “Drunk Wrestler”. DDT’s Illusion was in Sasaki’s corner and got involved, but Kanemaru removed him from the ring and submitted Sasaki with the figure-four.
This was among the weakest shows of the tournament, with so much overbooking in most of the matches. The positives include Eagles vs. Ishimori and showcasing an aggressive version of Francesco Akira in the main event with Jun Kasai.
The tournament resumes on Friday with five matches, including one in the B Block:
- A Block: Kosei Fujita (6) vs. Valiente Jr. (4)
- A Block: Titán (10) vs. Nick Wayne (6)
- A Block: Robbie X (6) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi (6)
- A Block: Master Wato (8) vs. Daiki Nagai (0)
- B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6) vs. Hyo (4)
