New Japan - Best of the Super Juniors - 2010

Hi wrestling fans! A few years back I found New Japan has a bunch of free matches up on their Japanese YouTube page. There's stuff from the early 2000's up to the early 2010's. There's actually quite a bit available. Now, many of these seem to be from small shows and aren't your big time events. I've gone through and there are some great matches though. In this Battle Guide, I'm collecting Best of the Super Junior matches from 2010. Down the road, I'll be looking at more of New Japan 2010. Stay tuned for that! OK let's take a look at these matches. You will find something you like!

Starting with the 06/01 show

Yoshihashi (before YOSHI-HASHI) vs Fujita "Jr." Hayato:  A very good, intense bout. Jr. looked like a leg kicking Terminator. Yoshihashi was good as well but, Jr.'s technique was superior. The finish really drove that home. Some might not love the finish but, I certainly did. It looked like a MMA finish where the ref has to call the guy off. Hells yeah!

Koji Kanemoto vs Kenny Omega: A good match where Omega's job was about selling rather than acting all strong and shit. Koji went for the ankle lock here to shut down the Canadian.

Ryusuke Taguchi vs Tama Tonga: Tonga is fully doing the Tongan thing here but, you know it works! He's like the powerhouse of the tournament and this match shows that versus Taguchi's technical prowess. If all you've seen is goofy Taguchi then, I implore you to check this version of the dude out. Sure, he's the Funky Weapon but, the emphasis is on weapon. JIP match, 6 minutes.

Jushin Thunder Liger vs Gedo: I love it when people get legitimately butt hurt about others putting Thunder in quotations. Who gives a shit at this point if people think its a nickname or part of some defunct anime from 30 years ago (holy crizza I'm old)? I digress! Gedo and JT Liger put on that "simple but good" match that you know they could (would?). And by gosh, it works! Nothing like seeing a babyface get back at a heel! 11 minutes.

Kota Ibushi vs La Sombra: JIP (why? I have no idea!), but this is a blast of a spot match. Both guys were putting on a show for the live audience -  springboard moves, dives, top rope flips, just a ton of fun!

(06/02)

Kenny Omega vs Fujita "Jr." Hayato: This was a intense sprint battle. A fantastic Day 2 match for the Super Jrs. league. It was extremely stiff with great suplexes and I loved the heck outta of it. NJPW gatekeeps a lot of their stuff because of their 'network' but, this puppy is floating out there for free on their Youtube channel. If you're a cheap ass like me, and you're reading this becuase you're genuinely interested -  watch this bout. It's around the 10-12 minute mark and, even if you don't care for the newer style, this is at the very least a very good popcorn -  fireworks Jr. match that'll make you smile and/or cringe. Its not a classic but, dang it is a blast!

Tama Tonga vs Yoshihashi: I missed this one on the previous post but, no biggie. It was an OK match. Nothing fancy but, it was not bad. Just a quick little match.

(06/04)

KUSHIDA vs Kota Ibushi: It was weird seeing KUSH in something other than his McFly get-up but, even weirder was seeing him in red & gold shorts with bleached blonde hair. Whoa! Anyhow, this was very much an offense oriented match and was quite impressive. The crowd was digging it but, for some reason it didn't "get to me." It was good though and others may like this more.

Fujita "Jr." Hayato vs Tama Tonga: A fun match pitting Tonga's power against Jr.'s kicks. It's very simple yet quite satisfying. 9 minute match and I've read that Hayato injured his foot during the match and had to pull out of the rest of the shows. Watch this bout and see if you can figure out where/when it happened. This is a shame since I was very much enjoying his shoot style leanings. 

(06/05)

La Sombra vs Davey Richards: So, we get the first appearance of the American Wolf Davey Richards. Yes! This time with NJ created some buzz back in the day as he used to appear with NOAH fairly often and now he was going to be working with New Japan. His hard hitting style is very puro influenced so, to see him working in NJ gave them impression that they were looking to mix things up in the 2010's. To be honest, the 2000's for NJPW had some high points but, overall it was pretty stale what with dabbling in MMA-centric bouts, tired match ups and uninspiring stables. So, for a big name in the US scene like Davey to align himself was exciting. But to the match at hand -  it was a good bout with nice moves. For a small show round robin match, it delivered. Some folks on the YT said it sucked but, that's B.S. They probably thought they were going to go buck wild despite the circumstances. Well, this is a New Japan house show folks...

(06/06)

Kenny Omega vs Tama Tonga: Bullet Club battle right here! 😊 No but, it was a nice Junior power vs power type of match. Like many of these matches, there wasn't a ton of selling but, it was fun watching these guys toss each other. I gotta say the Hadouken and Croyt's Wrath are great here! 

Prince Devitt vs Gedo: Gedo jumps Devitt from the get-go and dominates him for a good portion of the match. Of course, the Irishman comes back and damn! does it feel good! This is the best match so far in the project. The in ring story is there, the selling is there, the action is there, and we get humor too! Like Gedo telling the ref to "Shut the Fuck up!" on a couple occasions and pretending he's not going to use the ring bell mallet as a weapon AGAIN. Hahaha! Not to be out done, during Devitt's comeback, the Prince advises Red Shoes, in an un-princely manner, "Get the fuck outta the way!" I dug the hell outta this match. 

(06/10)

Yoshihashi vs Ryusuke Taguchi: This was OK. I liked the opening mat section but, this felt like a by-the-book junior match. I think there is some drama here as Yoshihashi was part of the NJ main crew but as in a Young Lion/Junior member capacity. I say that as I've seen him paired with Taguchi in some tag matches. So maybe there's something here along the lines of YH proving his worth yadda-yadda but, I'll be honest I might even say SKIP this one. It just wasn't worth the 10 minutes in my mind.

Gedo vs Kota Ibushi: Gedo's swearing and trash talking has been a real treat with the project. I crack up every time he tells some one off :D This match was no exception. His smack talk also strenghtens his dislike for his opponents especially Ibushi. "Come on, Golden Boy!" as Gedo slugs the comely Kota in the jaw. Oh man! That's good stuff :) K.I. comes back like a technico by finding that opening and wow-ing the fans and his foe with spectacular offensive maneuvers. And dammit! It works here because there's a reason he's doing his flips and dives. He's gotta his skill and agility to best the tough, crass vet! GO KOTA GO!This was a really standout bout in the 2010 BOSJ. 10 minutes of very good stuff here, go see it!

(06/11)

Jushin Liger vs Davey Richards: A good match that featured a Davey going after Liger's arm. Richards played the young aggressive gaijin going after the never-say-die veteran Liger. If this was a larger show, they could certainly have put on a great **** match with this story/layout. I really enjoyed this one even though it was only 9 minutes long.

Ryusuke Taguchi vs AKIRA: A match of parity and dueling leg work. This was a neat little story as both guys decided they'd hobble each other. There was some good selling and neat transitions but, neither took it so far to de-legitimize the previous portion of the match. That is to say, they didn't sell it like a torn ACL only to be running and diving a second or two later. I like this. It was a different match and told a story most people shy away from nowadays. Good match.

(06/12)

La Sombra vs Jushin Liger: Shades of Liger vs Hayabusa Super J Cup 94 baby! La Sombra was like 'Screw it! I came here to highspot!' JTL hits his backbreaker and shotei palm strike and is looking to make an opening but, the young luchador shuts him down. We get a countout win after he hits a springboard inward somersault facecrusher on Liger on the floor! Now I think it was supposed to be like AR Fox's inward somersault plancha but, how Liger caught Sombra and vice versa made it look like a face crusher/bulldog on the cement. Hells yeah! 5 minutes...sorry to spoil it but, you gotta see it for yourself.

Davey Richards vs Kota Ibushi: This wasn't the most developed match and my favorite part was when they were hitting each other BUT dang it! It worked! This was an all action bout and other than an iffy frankensteiner this was spot on. Probably not as good as their ROH bout around the same time (I think) but, this was good to very good stuff. I mean if you're interested in this you'll want to spend the 11 minutes on this match. If you dislike either guy then, uh yeah...I can't say it's what you want 🙂

Kenny Omega vs AKIRA: I really dug this bout - high level of energy and excellent laser focus from AKIRA on Omega's knee. The Canadian sold it very well. He let us know it was hurting him enough to throw his offensive momentum off but, when pushed he could pull it together. AKIRA kept on it though. Kenny was in real trouble and he needed to put that fact at the forefront of his mind for the rest of the contest if we was going to win. He gave a great performance in building up hope, showing fighting spirit, yet still impressing us with his maneuvers. Likewise, AKIRA put on one of the best outings of the BOSJ round robin in constructing a spirited, intense battle that was believable and interesting even though it focused on a submission based attack in 2010 AND was only 10-11 minutes long! Very good to perhaps great match.

(06/13)

Kota Ibushi vs Prince Devitt: Would my old ass have these two guys in the finals together? No! I would have one of them alongside a vet like Liger or Gedo. But New Japan had a future to think about and this was probably a good call. Still, the match would have had a bit of a structure or story with an old timer in there. This was just fireworks for the sake of fireworks. Kinda like when they do fireworks at a baseball game over the summer...regardless if the home team won or not. Do you get what I mean? It's kind of hollow... fun but hollow. Still, these two did their thing, the fans loved it and even people in the comments said it's a great match. I can't agree but I'm not going to complain either. It's about 15 minutes of fun. Lots of dives, moves and stuff - you'll like it 🙂

So, the MVP of this Best of the Super Junior matches is totally Gedo! Maybe I'm biased from growing up seeing him in all the sleazies and ECW (check out Jado & Gedo vs Impact Players) but, dammit- he really brought a real sense of hate to his matches. Many of the others we're technically great but, lacked serious emotion. I think that might be my complaint of wrestling in the last 15 years. There were exceptions, notably AKIRA vs Omega and the Hayato matches. NJPW has a bounty of good to great 10 minute matches on YouTube for people to enjoy. So, at least watch Fujita Hayato's bout, Gedo's bouts, Omega vs AKIRA and Liger vs Davey or Ryusuke Taguchi vs AKIRA and you'll be all set! 😁

There will be more 2010 New Japan down the road. I found a load of more stuff worth watching but have to keep trucking with my projects already in progress. I hope you are finding some wrestling you are interested in watching! Thanks for reading!