The final show from B block headlined by Will Ospreay vs Ryusuke Taguchi in a block decider.  With the winner going on to face Shingo Takagi in the final  I think I speak for everyone when I say I hope Will wins.  Seeing him on the receiving end of a Pumping Bomber would be fab.

Results

Sho & Jonathan Gresham Def. Tiger Mask & Yuya Uemara// Sho defeats Uemera with a Boston Crab

Juice Robinson & Toa Henare Def. Marty Scurll & Brody King// Robinson pins King after a Pulp Friction

Suzuki Gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi) Def. Shota Umino & Tomohiro Ishii// Kanemaru beats Umino with a Deep Impact

LIJ (Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi) Def. Dragon Lee & Titan// Takagi pins Titan after a Last Of The Dragon

Now enjoy this VERY appropriate GIF

B Block: Ren Narita vs BUSHI

At this stage, if you’ve watched any of Narita’s matches, you’ve seen this match

Lot of groundwork

He gets beat up

Makes a comeback

Locks in the Boston Crab

Doesn’t win

Opponent hits finisher for win

Winner: BUSHI Rating: 4 out of 10

Photo: NJPW1972

B Block: Bandido vs Rocky Romero

This was the kind of high paced show off kind of match that I want in my BOSJ

They did work in some limb stuff but it wasn’t in the let’s slow the match to a halt while you sell a rest hold kind of way

They found the perfect mix between storytelling and spotfest that I think fans of both styles can appreciate

Good stuff and the kind of match I wish we had more of in this BOSJ

Winner: Bandido Rating: 7 out of 10

Photo: NJPW1972

B Block: Robbie Eagles vs Yoh

Yoh hot out of the gates

Eagles attacks the knee though and sets his game plan in motion

Matches like this have been quite common in this tournament but Yoh and Eagles are perfect for the roles here.  Yoh plays the underdog very well while Eagles is great at working over a limb

Eventually, they say screw the limb work and this becomes a back and forth counter affair as both men look to put their opponent away

Not as good as the last match but still a fun contest

Yoh gets the win after a Dragon Suplex

Winner: Yoh Rating: 6 out of 10

Photo: NJPW1972

Block B: El Phantasmo vs DOUKI

Suzuki Gun member DOUKI attacks before the bell to the shock of everyone in attendance

Once we get back inside the ring Phantasmo proceeds to wrestle his WWE heel style complete with stalling and general boredom inducing offence

DOUKI tried to pull something out of ELP here and even got the crowd behind him but it felt like this match went way longer than it’s 13 minute runtime

There is a good match in there between these two but this wasn’t it

ELP unmasks DOUKI to leave him prone for his CR2 finisher

Winner: El Phantasmo Rating: 3 out of 10

Photo: NJPW1972

Block B: Will Ospreay vs Ryusuke Taguchi

This was a Junior Heavyweight championship style match

A lot of back and forth with both men emptying their arsenal to try and get the win

Taguchi had some of his comedic mannerisms in this one but we got serious Taguchi which always leads to the match being much better

Will Ospreay wins with the storm breaker

Winner: Will Ospreay Rating: 6 out of 10

Photo: NJPW1972

Final Thoughts

Of all the shows I have reviewed this was probably the best one.  There was only one bad match and two were quite good, most people probably enjoyed the main event much more than me too and will be higher on the show than I am.

Final Standings

WINNER – Will Ospreay- 14 Points (7-0-2) WINNER

Ryusuke Taguchi- 12 Points (6-0-3)

El Phantasmo- 12 Points (6-0-3)

Yoh- 12 Points (6-0-3)

BUSHI- 12 Points (6-0-3)

Bandido- 10 Points (5-0-4)

Robbie Eagles- 10 Points (5-0-4)

Rocky Romero- 6 Points (3-0-6)

DOUKI- 2 Points (1-0-8)

Ren Narita- 0 Points (0-0-9)

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