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6/7 Final

-Jay White def. David Finlay

-Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens def. Yoshi Tatsu & Captain New Japan

-Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson def. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi

-Hiroyoshi Tenzan & ReDRagon def. Tomohiro Ishii & Roppongi Vice

-KUSHIDA, Ricochet & Matt Sydal def. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Volador Jr.

-Michael Elgin & Satoshi Kojima def. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale

-Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI def. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo

Best of the Super Juniors 2016 Final: Will Ospreay def. Ryusuke Taguchi

Notes:

• I’m aware the actual name of the event has been Best of the Super Jr. XXIII. As amusing as “Engrish” can sometimes be, I have to draw the line somewhere.
• After a tremendous showing in the tournament, David Finlay goes right back to jobbing to Jay White.
• Did Yoshi Tatsu rehab a broken neck for over a year just to come back and get stuck losing with sad sack Captain New Japan all the time? It would appear so.
• Shibata finally got a win in his rivalry with Nagata when he pinned Nakanishi. I didn’t have much hope for him going in since he was paired with the generally inept Juice Robinson.
• Shibata and Nagata were actually civil during the post match stare down. I think Shibata is a sore loser. Things are more peaceful when he wins.
• Kyle O’Reilly got a small measure revenge on Rocky Romero for eliminating him from the tournament by getting the win over him in a six man tag.
• I figured the six man tag team of all junior champions would win but I was surprised they pinned Volador instead of Tiger Mask. Keep that old generation strong!
• After the match, both ReDragon and RPG Vice came out to challenge Ricochet & Sydal for the Junior Heavyweight tag titles. The champs accepted both challenges by making a triple threat match for Dominion.
• Elgin powerbombed Omega on a ladder and pinned him; a feat which officially earned him Tanahashi’s spot in the IC ladder match at Dominion when Omega accepted the challenge postmatch. If I’m not mistaken, this was the first time Omega took a pin himself since dropping the Junior Heavyweight title to KUSHIDA at WK10.
• Like O’Reilly, BUSHI got some revenge on the man who cost him his shot at winning the A Block, when he pinned Gedo.
• During the postmatch melee, Ishii came out of the locker room to help, but got misted and beaten down by BUSHI. Okada ended up alone with BUSHI and tombstoned him with a watchful eye on Naito on the outside. Champion and challenger came face to face and it looked by hand gesture that Okada was asking for their title match to be a one on one affair. Yeah right.
• Even though I figured Ospreay would win as he’s the guy with more upside, I still fell for every false finish Taguchi pulled out of his funky weapon. The match was so intense and both men sold just how badly they wanted it. Taguchi, the veteran who’s not getting any younger, has realized that he may have wasted too much of his prime as a goofy comedy act. As Steve Corino said on English commentary, Taguchi has watched his former partner Prince Devitt found one of the most profitable international wrestling sensations in Bullet Club and then move on to become one of WWE’s brightest stars. He has watched guys like Ospreay and Ricochet garner headlines with their game-changing wrestling style. It was time to dig deep and unleash his serious side. To prove he’s not Finn Balor’s Marty Jannetty. To stop the world from passing him by. For Ospreay it was about proving he belonged on this grandest of stages at such a young age. It was about his national pride as he so desperately wanted to be the first British born winner of the Super Jr tournament. And finally, on a somewhat meta level, he wanted to prove that he was a damn good wrestler and not just a flippy acrobat. He responded to the criticism of his match with Ricochet that they didn’t sell anything by selling the hell out of a leg injury. In fact, he might have gone overboard with it. In any case, it affected the story of the match and showed that he is a well-rounded performer who can do his death-defying, inhuman maneuvers and still remember that he’s supposed to be hurt. I don’t know going in that many people thought this would be the final match but I hope and believe both guys shut their critics up. Star making performances for both.