[2018-05-18-NJPW-Best of the Super Juniors] Taiji Ishimori vs Will Ospreay

[nivvad]

Unsurprising to everyone, Taiji gave Ospreay his first singles loss in Japan since last year. What was surprising to me though was the length of the match. Maybe that is in the booking to make Taiji look as strong as possible, but both guys were still able to pull out a very good match in the time length they were given. Taiji really makes the new heel turn work, and Ospreay was as athletic as usual. A rematch between these guys very soon is guaranteed, ****.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

This ruled. Definitely the MOTN. Great pace from start to finish - started off in a very explosive fashion & eventually slowed down a bit as Ishimori started to go town on Ospreay's banged up neck. Loved all the neck targeting - pretty much EVERYTHING he did was done to punish that neck. Ospreay's big comeback was really good & the match got a real nice sense of urgency from that; Ospreay busted out big bombs to try & get the job done before Ishimori would destroy his neck. Really good stuff. ***3/4

[Boss Rock]

What a crazy last two months Will Ospreay has had. Since Sakura Genesis, the guy has legitimately looked like a best in the world-level talent. He still has a tendency to overdo it on the screams, but he's gotten so much better at weaving long-term physical selling with his beautiful aerial moves. Loved how he tried to jump Taiji from the get-go and seemingly had an answer for most of his comeback attempts. However, Taiji eventually took advantage of Will's neck injury and began to turn the tide. Will's selling was perfectly weaved into his comebacks (loved the little touches like how bouncing off the ropes caused him pain) but then it was Taiji's turn to provide an answer for Will's moves. I like the Bloody Cross move but feel like Taiji could afford to get a little more elevation or impact on it.

 

Great return match for Taiji and another standout for Will.

 

****

[gordi]

I've got some thoughts on this match here, curious what you guys think:

 

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