NJPW Best Of The Super Jr. XVI

[nWoHulkster]

All participants and blocks for this year’s Super Jr. tournament were announced with a very interesting cast of outsiders to compliment the usual gathering of home-based stars.

Block A:

- Tiger Mask (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion / 2004 & 2005 winner)

- AKIRA

- Milano Collection AT (2007 winner)

- Prince Devitt

- Black Tiger

- Jado

- Atsushi Aoki (NOAH)

Block B:

- Jushin Thunder Liger (1994 & 2001 winner)

- Koji Kanemoto (1998 & 2002 winner)

- Ryusuke Taguchi

- Taichi

- Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (NOAH)

- Kota Ibushi (DDT)

- YAMATO (Dragon Gate)

Доволно!

[nWoHulkster]

Koji Kanemoto emerged as the somewhat surprising winner of the 2009 Best of the Super Jr. in a year when young juniors from home and away were emphasized. Kanemoto's third Super Jr. tournament win started with an easy victory over NOAH youngster Atsushi Aoki, who was put through ankle hell to the point that the referee feared for his health and stopped the match. The second semi final was a spectacular air battle between Prince Devitt and Kota Ibushi which was more competitive and ended when Devitt revealed his "new model" ("Shingata") Prince's Throne to advance. Then later in the match the two New Japan juniors, Kanemoto and Devitt, put on a fantastic 20 minute file which both showed Devitt's growth and perhaps Kanemoto's defiance in a year where it seemed he might finally be on the way down. After a Tiger suplex, Kanemoto locked Devitt in his modified ankle hold for the tap out and tournament win. Kanemoto will now go on to challenge old friend Tiger Mask for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title shortly.

NOAH wrestlers Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Atsushi Aoki stood in the center of the New Japan ring before the show began and held up a photo of the late Mitsuharu Misawa as an image of the legend showed on the monitor. While the two would normally be booed for being hostile outsiders, they were sent warm encouragement from the fans. The fans chanted "Misawa!" after the silent prayer ended and many were in tears remembering the great man. Wrestlers wore black armbands all night in tribute to Misawa.

NJPW, 6/14/09 (SXW)

Tokyo Korakuen Hall

2,005 Fans - Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi beat Nobuo Yoshihashi (5:28) with the Fireball bomb.

2. Taichi beat Ryusuke Taguchi (1:28) with a thrust kick.

3. Best of the Super Jr. - Semi Final: Koji Kanemoto beat Atsushi Aoki (6:27) by referee stop.

4. Best of the Super Jr. - Semi Final: Prince Devitt beat Kota Ibushi (8:14) with the Shingata Prince’s Throne.

5. Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA beat Black Tiger, Jado & YAMATO (3:48) when AKIRA used a horizontal cradle on Jado.

6. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & Karl Anderson beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue, Milano Collection AT & Tomoaki Honma (13:14) when Nakamura used the Landslide on Honma.

7. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada beat Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata & Mitsuhide Hirasawa (12:47) when Goto used the Shouten on Hirasawa.

8. Best of the Super Jr. - Final: Koji Kanemoto beat Prince Devitt (19:55) with a modified ankle hold.