BOTSJ night 12

[shoe]

Baretta vs Komatsu

 

 

Komatsu is over pretty big here. Whenever he gets a win over an established star the building will rock. Both guys are really pushing the action. Komatsu's 1/2 crab is over as a finisher. A flying stomp from Baretta. A nasty Death Valley Driver on the apron by Baretta. Trading of near falls down the stretch. Komatsu really had a ton of fire in the match.Baretta's body language really puts over Komatsu well post match. 3*

 

 

Tiger Mask vs Finlay

 

This was solid. Nothing out of the ordinary 2*

 

 

Liger vs Cavenario

 

Cavenario is really wanting to have a good match with Liger. They get a ton of time, but have a fun match. 2 1/2*

 

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma, Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Yoshi Hashi, Kazushi Sakuraba, Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii

 

These 10 man tags stand out much more than on the normal houseshows since they aren't sandwiched between other 6 man and 8 man tags. We get the norm of everyone pairing off and working spots with a partner. They get heat on Tanahashi. He's a good FIP, and shows fight. We get a hot tag to Shibata who's tremendous in that role. Soon enough Sakuraba catches him in some submissions, and they do some reversals. We get some more pairing off . a lot of back and forth action. Overall good stuff. 3 1/4*

 

Romero vs Dorada

 

Some fun antics early. Romero is working on top giving Dorada some hope spots. A huge dive by Dorada. Romero going after the arm. Overall fun stuff. 3*

 

Fish vs Nick Jackson

 

I loved the Jackson/Hall/Fish spot. Jackson does a good job incorporating Hall in his heat segment. At times the match got a little too cute for me. I liked Fish targeting the leg on his comeback. 2 3/4*

 

O'Reilly vs Gedo

 

Kyle going after that arm early. He's just destroying it and Gedo is selling it big. Kyle's work on top has been superb and Gedo is getting a lot of sympathy from the crowd. Gedo starts a comeback and is cut off quickly. He tries again and targets the leg. Gedo is like ok you fucked up my arm, I'm going to fuck your leg up bad. In a great moment of drama Kyle has an armbar and Gedo's selling death till he was able to make the ropes. Both guys are bringing and old school mentality here. Kyle's selling post move of the leg was great. The build to the finish was pretty great. If you're a fan of limb work this match is a master class. 4*

 

Taguchi vs Owens

 

Taguchi needs this win to get into the finals. I still can't believe he's doing comedy on such an important match. Owens work on the neck is smart. Big dive by Taguchi and major props for Young Boy Tanaka for the assist on the catch. In a great spot that they didn't play the drama up was Taguchi catching Owens in the ankle lock. This has built into a pretty fun match. Both guys working real hard. A 2nd package piledriver makes it a Kushida vs O'Reilly final that I wanted. 3 1/2*

 

 

Overall a fun show that leads to the Finals on Sunday Morning.

 

• Jushin Liger & Sho Tanaka vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Yohei Komatsu
• Tiger Mask vs. Chase Owens
• Mascara Dorada vs. Barbaro Cavenario (first-ever singles match)
• Bobby Fish vs. Barreta
• Nick Jackson vs. Rocky Romero
• Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & David Finlay
• Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall
• Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto & Togi Makabe & Katsuyori Shibata & Captain New Japan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba & Yoshi-Hashi
• BOSJ Finals: Kushida vs. Kyle O'Reilly

Final standings Block A Block B Kyle O'Reilly 12 Kushida 12 Ryusuke Taguchi 10 Bobby Fish 10 Baretta 8 Máscara Dorada 10 Chase Owens 8 Rocky Romero 8 Jushin Thunder Liger 8 Tiger Mask IV 8 Bárbaro Cavernario 6 Nick Jackson 6 Gedo 4 Alex Shelley
(withdrew) 2 Yohei Komatsu 0 David Finlay 0