Eight shows have thus far encompassed NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Sixteen wrestlers divided into two separate blocks have faced each other in round-robin competition where each win is two points, a draw is worth one point, and a loss is zero.
The two top scorers in each block will advance to the finals on June 3, which will air live on New Japan World, where the winner will get an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship match on June 11 at Dominion in Osaka, Japan.
Opening night kicked off with two standout matches. ROH TV Champion Marty Scrull defeated last year’s BOSJ winner Will Ospreay by submission after catching him in mid-air and locked in the chickenwing.
The main event that evening saw Dragon Lee and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi continue their feud in another outstanding match. Lee got the win when he finished off Takahashi with a Death Valley Driver followed by a Phoenix Plex for the 1-2-3.
Night two was all about the second installment of Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet in a match that surpassed last year’s critically acclaimed and debated outing. Ospreay got the win after hitting a corkscrew kick followed by an OsCutter.
Block B may have the weaker bracket, but that didn’t stop KUSHIDA and BUSHI from closing out the show on night five with a fun match. The finish saw BUSHI escape the Hoverboard Lock and got caught with a brainbuster.
Other action saw El Desperado, who is making a name for himself in the tournament and has displayed some “interesting” antics, defeat Ryusuke “The Funky Weapon” Taguchi
With his loss on Night 5 to Will Ospreay, Jushin Liger has been eliminated from the BOSJ. Liger stated that this will be his last tournament and many were hoping he would either win or have a strong showing.
Liger is now 0-5 with a loss to Ricochet last night in Nagano. His remaining opponents in the tournament are Dragon Lee and Taichi. The legendary high-flyer could play the role of spoiler at this point as both wrestlers are currently in a five-way tie for second place.
Current Scores
| Block A | Points | Block B | Points |
| Will Ospreay | 8 | El Desperado | 6 |
| Marty Scurll | 6 | Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 6 |
| Dragon Lee | 6 | Ryusuke Taguchi | 4 |
| Ricochet | 6 | Tiger Mask IV | 4 |
| Taichi | 6 | ACH | 4 |
| Hiroumu Takahashi | 6 | Volador Jr. | 4 |
| Taka Michinoku | 2 | KUSHIDA | 2 |
| Jushin Liger | 0 | BUSHI | 2 |
The remaining schedule for BOSJ 24:
May 27th (Ibaraki) Block B: ACH vs. El Desperado, Volador Jr. vs. BUSHI, Tiger Mask vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, and KUSHIDA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
May 28th (Gunma) Block A: Ricochet vs. Taka Michinoku, Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Dragon Lee, Will Ospreay vs. Taichi, and Marty Scurll vs. Hiromu Takahashi
May 29th (Korakuen Hall) Block B: Tiger Mask vs. El Desperado, BUSHI vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Volador Jr. vs. ACH, and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. KUSHIDA (Live on New Japan World)
May 31st (Osaka) Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taichi, Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll, Dragon Lee vs. Taka Michinoku, and Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi (Live on New Japan World)
June 1st (Aichi) Block B, Tiger Mask vs. BUSHI, Ryusuke Taguchi vs. ACH, KUSHIDA vs. Volador Jr., and Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. El Desperado (Live on New Japan World)
June 3rd (Tokyo) BOSJ Finals: Block A winner vs. Block B winner (Live on New Japan World)
**Partial credit to www.PuroresuSpirit.net for the information in this post.**
Ringside Logic 