Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2018/05/26/njpw-best-of-the-super-juniors-report-5-25-dragon-lee-and-hiromu-takahashi-renew-their-rivalry/
Friday’s Best of the Supers Juniors featured one of the most anticipated matches of the month as Dragon Lee met career-rival Hiromu Takahashi.
The two gained notoriety in CMLL for their series of matches while Takahashi was still competing under a mask as Kamaitachi, and eventually lost his mask to Lee in a March 2015 match.
Their latest effort failed to disappoint with arguably the best match of the tournament so far.
The two headlined the sixth night of the tournament and tore down the house with a match lasting 20 minutes and 49 seconds.
They began with a big exchange of overhand chops and release Germans.
Lee attempted his jumping ‘rana over the top rope while Takahashi caught him with a powerbomb onto the edge of the apron.
Following a tope con giro, Lee began to mimic the mannerisms of LIJ leader and Takahashi stablemate, Tetsuya Naito.
Lee hit a breathtaking leaping dropkick, clearing the top rope and completing the dropkick to standing Takahashi on the floor.
Following big kick outs by each from the Desnucadora by Lee, and Dynamite Plunger by Takahashi, they entered the closing sequence. Lee landed a double foot stomp to the back off the top, landed a standing Spanish Fly and won the match with the Dragon Driver in an excellent match.
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Here are the tournament results from Friday’s card:
*Marty Scurll over Chris Sabin at 14:01 – There was comedy early on with each trying to land a kick on the other and being caught. Scurll feinted and superkicked the knee, attempted the chicken wing, but was stopped. Sabin showcased fire for the comeback but was countered with an inverted suplex that won the match for Scurll.
*Ryusuke Taguchi over KUSHIDA at 1:35 – This was one of those quick upsets out of nowhere. KUSHIDA kicked out the arm, attempted a somersault and rolled into a cradle by Taguchi for the flash win. KUSHIDA looked devastated by the loss and Taguchi celebrated like he had won the entire tournament.
*SHO over El Desperado at 13:48 – Desperado attacked SHO’s left knee with repeated chair shots and became the focal point of the match. Desperado applied Numero Dos to the injured knee, but Sho reached the ropes and came back with a pair of rolling German suplexes. On the third attempt, Desperado kicked at the knee, Sho responded with a flying knee using the healthy one and executed a Last Ride powerbomb onto both knees. SHO avoided a low blow when Desperado turned the referee away, SHO caught him and hit the Shock Arrow for the win. SHO continues to look great in the tournament with strong selling in this match, conversely Desperado has an extra spring in his step coming off that great match with Hiromu Takahashi this past week.
*Dragon Lee over Hiromu Takahashi at 20:49
Following Friday’s show, below are the updated point totals for the A Block:
*Dragon Lee (6), Sho (4), El Desperado (4), Chris Sabin (2), Marty Scurll (2), Hiromu Takahashi (2), KUSHIDA (2), and Ryusuke Taguchi (2).