Hello r/njpw

It's time for my final BOSJ summary post for this year's tournament. B Block is almost at its end, and things have been cleaned up more nicely than in A Block. There was a culling on this past show, and we're down to three contenders. Who are they? What do they need? We'll be answering those questions today.

As usual, you may also view my BOSJ 31 results summary page here. I'm manually updating it as we go along the tournament. It contains the schedule of the matches, results, and a summary of the top 20 best matches of the tournament (based on CageMatch Ratings).

With all that out of the way, let's have a look at the standings

B Block Standings

As I mentioned in the last post, there was potential for a bloodbath in B Block, and boy did it happen. 5 people were eliminated from contention over the course of this show, bringing B Block down to 3 contenders in 2 matches (which is in stark contrast to A Block's 7 contenders in 5 matches). As a result, B Block will be a lot simpler to summarize.

Here are the matches for the final B Block day:

• KUSHIDA vs Dragon Dia
• Ninja Mack vs Drilla Moloney
• DOUKI vs Robbie Eagles
• Hiromu Takahashi

As you can see, only the last two will feature wrestlers still in contention, so those are the only two whose results matter as far as deciding who goes into the playoffs. Let's talk about how the results can turn out.

Fact #1: Taiji Ishimori is a lock for the playoffs

That's right. We have our first wrestler who is locked in to the semi-finals. Regardless of how either match turns out, Ishimori will be going to the semi-finals. That's the luxury he gets from having beaten everyone at 10 points. He just has to worry about his final match with Hiromu. If he wins, he takes #1. If he loses, he takes #2. If they draw, then it'll be the two of them tied for #1.

Fact #2: Hiromu is (almost) a lock for the playoffs

Hiromu's at 12 points as well, so he's in a very similar situation to Ishimori. For the most part, he's almost guaranteed to make the playoffs as well. If he wins, he takes the #1 spot. If he draws with Ishimori, then it'll be the two of them tied for #1. If Hiromu loses, then he'll be #2. Well, in most cases, he'll be #2. However, there's one little wrinkle in that possibility…

Fact #3: If Hiromu loses, then Douki takes #2 if he beats Eagles.

Yes, that's right. Douki's come a long way. For the first time in his career, he's in a position to make it out of the blocks of a BOSJ, even if it is only in second place. See, like the rest of the 10-pointers, he's lost to Ishimori. However, unlike the rest of the 10-pointers, he does own a win over Hiromu. He's been holding onto that win since day 2, and it's finally paying dividends for him. All he has to do now is cash it in, hoping and praying that Ishimori beats Hiromu while also making sure he beats Eagles. If that happens, then Douki will be one step away from main-eventing Dominion in the finals of this year's BOSJ.

So, in summary…

Without the draws, it looks like this…

What's Next?

So yeah, again, there's just two matches of consequence left: Douki-Eagles and Hiromu-Ishimori. I've gone over the results and effects of each of these matches enough. Just be sure to watch out for them.

Semi-Finals Preview

Lastly, to close this post, I'll be going over the potential Semi-final matches. It might be a bit messy, but I'll do my best.

Semi-Final 1: A Block #1 vs B Block #2

There are 4 potential A Block #1 winners: El Desperado, HAYATA, Titan, and Blake Christian. Among all of them, Titan has the best chance of taking #1, followed by Despe & Hayata, and then Christian. Meanwhile, B Block has 3 potential #2 winners: Taiji Ishimori, Hiromu Takahashi, and DOUKI. Now, All of the A Block #1's can also finish at #2, and both Hiromu and Ishimori are the only potential #1's in B Block, so there can be a lot of repeat conversations there. DOUKI's the only one where this side of the playoffs is the only place he can appear.

Blake Christian and HAYATA are outsiders with little to no prior with anyone else in this tournament. The only match-up that might spark something is Taiji Ishimori vs HAYATA. Here's a fun fact: Ishimori ended HAYATA's first ever reign as GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion in his first defense. I wonder if HAYATA holds a grudge? Well, that's Noah history, so it might not be as impactful in NJPW, but who knows? Maybe New Japan will feature that rematch.

Another fun one is Hiromu-Titan. LIJ-mates going at it. Last time these two wrestled, Titan came out on top. If they ran it back, would history repeat itself?

Speaking of stablemates, we could have ex-Suzuki-gun members face off here as well, with Despe vs Douki. They've faced off 3 times before, all in BOSJ block competition, and Despe won all three matches. However, this is the best Douki has ever been, so maybe if they meet in the semi-finals, things could turn out differently.

Semi-Final 2: B Block #1 vs A Block #2

Over on the other side of the playoff tree, Most of the same matches could happen. The only new ones would be TJP, Clark Connors, and Kevin Knight as A Block #2's, but considering the latter two only come into play with deadlock ties, they feel less likely. That leaves TJP for discussion. If he takes #2, he'll be facing either Hiromu Takahashi or Taiji Ishimori. He doesn't have a ton of history with either, only having faced Hiromu last year in the BOSJ in a losing effort, so these'd be relatively fresh match-ups.

That does it for this year's BOSJ. There's one more day of competition for each block, and then it'll be the playoffs. Given the wrestlers left in contention, it feels like the best is yet to come. It really does feel like we're in for a treat with the semi-finals and the finals.

As for me, this'll be my last post for the BOSJ. Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed my summaries. The next time I'll be writing will most likely be for the G1 Climax later this year, so please look forward to that.

Until then, thanks for reading! See you next post.