Best Of The Super Jr. 32 Entrants Revealed
I don’t usually do these kinds of articles, but there is a first time for everything. During New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Sakura Genesis event, they have announced the wrestlers who will participate in the 32nd annual Best Of The Super Juniors. This junior heavyweight style tournament is a round robin tournament that will span for 13 shows. It will start on May 10 in Chiba and end on June 1 in Tokyo.
20 wrestlers will enter the tournament. There will be 10 wrestlers in each block, A Block and B Block. They haven’t revealed the blocks as of the time of writing. The winner of the tournament will be the #1 Contender for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Dominion. If the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion wins the tournament, he will have the choice of picking his next challenger. So, let’s move through the entrants shall we.
El Desperado
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion
2024 Best Of The Super Jr. Winner
9th entry, 6th consecutive entry
El Desperado is the first entry in this year’s BOSJ. He is the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and won last year’s BOSJ. El Desperado has been having a good year so far. Even though he won the title due to unfortunate circumstances at Wrestle Kingdom, he used that to make the best out of it. Now he is entering as a champion instead of not.
Master Wato
2023 Best Of The Super Jr. Winner
5th Entry, 1st entry since 2023
Master Wato returns to BOSJ after missing out last year due to an injury in January of 2024 that sidelined him for 9 months. Wato made a shocking run to win the 2023 BOSJ and had some really good matches with the likes of YOH, Robbie Eagles & El Desperado. He also had an incredible match in the final against Titán by the way. Let’s see how the former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion can adjust and might be the dark horse.
Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables de Japón)
2018, 2020, 2021 & 2022 BOSJ Winner
10th entry, 6th consecutive entry
Mr. BOSJ himself. Hiromu Takahashi is a junior heavyweight that everyone argues should be a heavyweight by now. He has won the BOSJ four times and that includes the three-peat he did in 2020 to 2022. Over the past two BOSJ tournaments, Hiromu has failed to make it out of the blocks to the semifinals. And given that he has been away from the juniors and facing heavyweights, this might happen in the exact same way again. Then again, he did just lose the IWGP Tag Team Championships with Naito being pinned, so maybe something might change.
KUSHIDA
2015 & 2017 BOSJ Winner
12th entry, 3rd consecutive entry.
KUSHIDA enters the BOSJ for the third consecutive time. He was very close to having a chance to advance to the finals. KUSHIDA has always been a reliable wrestler for these kinds of tournaments and this year will be no exception.
Ryusuke Taguchi
2012 Best Of The Super Jr. Winner
21st entry, 1st since 2023.
The King Of Butt Style has returned in fine form to compete in BOSJ. This is Taguchi’s 21st entry as the junior heavyweight veteran missed out last year’s tournament due to an injury. He won the BOSJ in 2012, but he has been established as a comedy based wrestler who will gain one or two wins. So don’t expect a masterclass in Taguchi, but expect loads of fun and laughs.
YOH
Career PB: Finalist (2021)
7th entry, 1st entry since 2023
Another wrestler who missed last year’s tournament due to an injury is YOH. The Direct Drive has not been standing out as much this year. He and Master Wato will be challenging for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against Ichiban Sweet Boys. Let’s hope YOH can use the BOSJ as a platform to stand out.
Kevin Knight
Career PB: 4-5 (2024)
3rd entry, 3rd consecutive entry
Kevin Knight is back in New Japan for this year’s BOSJ. At the writing, he will be entering this year’s Owen Hart Foundation against Will Ospreay. I was really surprised that he will be entering given that he just signed to All Elite Wrestling. The Jet seems to be on a roll for this year and has mentioned that he will be doing more in NJPW. Last year was Kevin Knight’s best tournament campaign as he had a 4 - 5 record.
Ninja Mack
Career PB: 4 - 5 (2024)
2nd entry, 2nd consecutive entry
Ninja Mack is back for BOSJ. Last year was his first time entering and he was representing Pro Wrestling NOAH. This year, he will enter the tournament as a Freelancer. Mack made an impressive 4 - 5 record in his first entry.
Kosei Fujita (TMDK)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion
Career PB: 3 - 6 (2024)
2nd entry, 2nd consecutive entry
Kosei Fujita has grown leaps and bounds compared to last year’s outing in the tournament. In his first entry, we saw a newly formed Japanese Young Punk rising through the ranks. And now he enters the tournament as a champion and maybe a favourite to win. The current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion will make a splash in this tourney and I will stand on that.
Robbie Eagles (TMDK)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion
Career PB: 5 - 4 (2019, 2022, 2023 & 2024)
7th entry, 7th consecutive entry
Robbie Eagles is always an interesting case when it comes to BOSJ. He has been having a really good tag team run alongside Kosei Fujita as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champs. He was always close to being in the finals out of the past three tournaments with the closest being in 2023. Seems like this is the year Robbie Eagles might be in the finals, but it will depend when the blocks are announced.
Taiji Ishimori (BULLET CLUB War Dogs)
Career PB Finalist (2018 & 2024)
9th entry, 8th consecutive entry
Taiji Ishimori always brings his Bullet Club flair into BOSJ every year. Last year, he made it all the way to the finals and main evented Dominion. Now that he is representing the War Dogs instead of the main BULLET CLUB, it seems like his skills will be the same, but more aggressive.
BUSHI (Los Ingobernables de Japón)
Career PB: 6 - 3 (2019)
13th entry, 10 consecutive entry
BUSHI enters the tournament for this year. Unlike his stablemate Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI is more known as the pin eater of the LIJ group. This has also been the case in Best Of The Super Juniors. He will probably gain a win or two like Ryusuke Taguchi.
Francesco Akira (United Empire)
Career PB: 4 - 5 (2022 & 2023)
4th entry, 4the consecutive entry
Francesco Akira is the only United Empire member entering the tournament this year. Akira seems to be the next top Gaijin wrestler on the rise as he had an incredible against El Desperado for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Last year was unfortunate as he got injured during the tournament. Now he seems to be one of the favourites and might be the first gaijin to win the whole thing since Will Ospreay in 2019.
Clark Connors (BULLET CLUB War Dogs)
DEFY World Champion
Career PB: 4 - 5 (2022, 2023 & 2024)
4th entry, 4th consecutive entry
Clark Connors is back for this year’s tournament. He has been branching out as a singles competitor since Drilla Moloney is now a heavyweight wrestler. Connors did have a recent challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against El Desperado. I see him being higher than his last three tournament campaigns.
SHO (HOUSE OF TORTURE)
Career PB: 6 -3 (2020)
8th entry, 8th consecutive entry
Now this is where I want to fucking die since it’s time to talk about the FUCKING House Of Torture. SHO was unfortunately the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion in last year’s tournament. He got wins, but that didn’t make it through to the finals. This year will be having H.O.T. shenanigans from either Yujiro Takahashi or Ren Narita.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru (HOUSE OF TORTURE)
Career PB: 4 - 3 (2017)
8th entry, 5th consecutive entry
I thought I was done talking about House Of Torture for fuck sakes. Anyway, Yoshinobu Kanemaru is one of the members in this sub-faction that I actually like. Even though he is a cheater as his name, Heel Master, Kanemaru can win matches on his own unlike SHO. He will definitely be the Spoiler of the tournament.
Dragon Dia [Dragongate Japan Pro-Wrestling]
Career PB: 1 - 8 (2024)
2nd entry, 2nd consecutive entry
Dragongate’s Dragon Dia returns to compete with BOSJ once again. Dragon Dia competed in his first BOSJ last year as a last minute replacement for Ryusuke Taguchi. He would lose almost all his matches with his only victory at the end of the tour against KUSHIDA. He has made many appearances for NJPW including a Super Jr. Tag League run with Ryusuke Taguchi as the Skateboard Bros.
CMLL will be sending a representative from their roster
As of right now, we don’t know who will be representing Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in this tournament.
MAO [DDT Pro-Wrestling]
Debut Entry
MAO from DDT Pro-Wrestling will be entering the Best Of The Super Juniors. I will be honest when I say I haven’t seen a match of his. He has been gaining some fanfare, but I have to do more research. There are some fun facts about MAO. He used to be in a tag team with “Speedball” Mike Bailey called the Moonlight Express. He is in a faction with Konosuke Takeshita called 37KAMIINA. He has made appearances for both NJPW’s Japan and U.S. shows. He has also made appearances on the US shows and co-promoted shows with DDT.
Nick Wayne [All Elite Wrestling]
Debut Entry
This entry was a big surprise for me. Nick Wayne will be entering this year’s Best Of The Super Juniors. This makes it the second time an AEW representative is in the tournament. The first time AEW representative competed in BOSJ was Wheeler Yuta back in 2022. Last year, Blake Christian represented Ring Of Honor, not AEW and Christian was a freelancer at that time. I would’ve never guessed Nick Wayne to be in this tournament. My pick was Sammy Guevara representing Ring Of Honor. But I am interested to see how Nick Wayne will fare in a robin round tournament environment.
That is the entrants for this year’s Best Of The Super Juniors. This will be an intriguing tournament given that there are different options and some wrestlers will have good matches for people to check out. Round Robin Tournaments are not only a hassle for wrestlers, but for people who keep up with these shows like fans or journalists. My pick to win is either Kosei Fujita or Francesco Akira.