It’s that time of the year when New Japan Pro Wrestling crowns the top contender to the IWGP Junior heavyweight championship after a tournament Final decides the winner. The Best Of The Super Juniors 26 featured sixteen of the absolute best Junior heavyweight competitors in the world. Matches like Mexico’s TITAN vs current IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion Dragon Lee brought fans to their feet as Dragon Lee draped the Mexican flag over TITAN as a sign of embrace after the tough loss. El Phantasmo made an outstanding debut to NJPW by nearly making it all the way to finals, even defeating fellow UK competitor, Will Ospreay, in the process.
BEST OF THE SUPER Jr.26 Bブロック最終戦！第8試合Bブロック公式戦！@DoukiPerros VS @elpwrestling！このシリーズ勝ち星に恵まれなかったDOUKI！最終戦の相手は強敵エル・ファンタズモ！勝利することはできるのか⁉︎
登録＆視聴▷https://t.co/8mK6n5QcEg#njpw #njbosj #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/wBK7Rh89XP— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) June 3, 2019
DOUKI also made his debut for NJPW with an ultra-impressive Dragon Suplex in his skillset, but only a couple points came to DOUKI. It’s Shingo Takagi that was the man to watch in his very first Best Of The Super Juniors tournament and he didn’t disappoint for one second, bringing out the best from SHO and Marty Scurll but leaving them all lying in a heap by the second ring of the bell. Watch this momentous event live on NJPWworld.com.
IWGP United States Championship: Juice Robinson (c) vs Jon Moxley
On Jon Moxley’s fifteenth year in pro wrestling, he has decided to take a gamble on himself. The unhinged lunatic comes from Ohio to make his debut all the way to Japan to challenge for his first ever championship in NJPW. Juice Robinson has been targeted in the “Times Up” videos, Robinson had an explosive response verbally but will that play our the same physically in the middle of the ring against a man he has never faced before? The flamboyant champion has reigned since Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4 in a match against Cody Rhodes. Moxley is going to come in guns blazing and none of the credentials of the champion will matter to Jon Moxley. A big advantage is the heart and resiliency on the side of Juice but this may be more of a fight than Robinson can muster. A major rivalry could be fueled as a rematch could be coming in the G1 Climax 29 tournament this Summer. There are many more exciting options for Moxley as the new IWGP United States champion and this would be the fresh start that Jon Moxley needs.
Prediction: Jon Moxley becomes the new IWGP United States champion.
Best Of The Super Juniors Finals: Shingo Takagi vs Will Ospreay
Shingo Takagi won his block by plowing through every since opponent in the Best Of The Super Juniors 26 tournament. Takagi got on the microphone after his A Block final match against Taiji Ishimori to say that he had never main evented Sumo Hall before in the fifteen years he has been wrestling but now he will in the Finals. The matches that “The Dragon” had in this year’s tournament are something to be marveled, SHO and Jonathan Gresham brought their A-game to the A-Block and they still got violently struck with Shingo’s Pumping Bomber Lariat in the end. It may come down to The Last Of The Dragon vs The Stormbreaker.
What makes this match so interesting is the fact that both wrestlers have teased moving to the Heavyweight division, perhaps the loser becomes a heavyweight competitor and the winner remains in the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship mix. Ospreay has improved as much as any other wrestler in the world today, the addition of the Hidden Blade to his arsenal and the mixture of Strong Style offense with high-flying make Will Ospreay the complete package in the ring. Shingo Takagi is a member of Los Ingobernobles De Japon with Hiromu Takahashi, who has posted on Twitter that the clock may have run up on his recovery time from a broken neck at the hands of the current champion, Dragon Lee. Ospreay very well could hand Shingo Takagi his first ever loss in NJPW and Shingo can head for the G1 Climax tournament next. Will Ospreay last won this tournament in 2016.
Prediction: Will Ospreay wins the Best Of The Super Juniors 26.
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