The countryside portion of this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tour concludes with this B Block show in Takaoka. After this, we’re headed back to Tokyo and Korakuen Hall to wrap up the block stage. There have been surprisingly few eliminations thus far – only Daiki Nagai and Valiente Jr. in the A Block – but that’s going to change starting very soon.

B Block: Hyo (6 points) vs. Jakob Austin Young [United Empire] (4 points)

Young must win this match or he’s eliminated. Hyo is back in his white gear and has his happy music back, despite the fact that SHO still has his leopard. Young offers a handshake, demonstrating that he’s serious by first shaking hands with ref Kenta Sato and Zane Jay. Hyo decides to shake his hand, but, of course, Young tries to kick him; Hyo catches it and gives Young a kick of his own, and away we go. Young sends Hyo to the outside and takes the ref while Jay tries to slam him, but Hyo slips out the back and runs Jay into the ringpost. Hyo hits the outside-in cutter, then hits a basement dropkick. Hyo goes to the top, but Young knocks him off to the outside and Jay gives him a clothesline. Young slams Hyo’s head into the apron, then rolls him back into the ring. Young gets two with a knee drop, then hits a neckbreaker for two. Young applies the bully choke, but Hyo makes it to the ropes. Young gets the better of a strike exchange, but Hyo hits a victory roll into a double stomp. Hyo ducks a charge by Young, sending him onto the apron, then applies the tarantula. Hyo gets two with a sunset flip and then applies an armbar, but Young turns it into a cradle for two. Hyo goes for a DDT, but Young catches it and hits Brain Rot. They exchange strikes, and Hyo takes the upper hand and then hits the rolling DDT. Hyo hits the stunner and the Samson Driver, but Young reverses the pin attempt and pulls Hyo’s trunks for the pinfall. This was okay, but Young’s offense is so basic that it seems like the onus is always on his opponent to make the match better, and that’s a tall order in a limited amount of time.

What’s next? Young (6 points) wrestles Robbie Eagles at Korakuen Hall on Tuesday, while Hyo (6 points) takes on Taiji Ishimori on the same show.

B Block: YOH (6 points) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru [House of Torture] (6 points)

Kanemaru jumps YOH before the bell, but YOH sends Kanemaru outside with a tijeras and teases a dive, but Kanemaru walks away. Back in the ring, Kanemaru goes after YOH’s shoulder, not surprisingly. YOH avoids a charge in the corner, but Kanemaru hits a tilt-a-whirl DDT for two. Kanemaru applies a hammerlock, but YOH gets to the ropes. Kanemaru tries an attack from the middle rope, but YOH avoids it and rolls him up. After Kanemaru kicks YOH off of him, he shoves YOH into Sato, then hits an enzuigiri and tries to hit Kanemaru with the whiskey bottle; YOH avoids it, hits him with an uppercut, takes a swig of the whiskey, hits Kanemaru with the Suntory Surprise and applies a small package for the pinfall.

What’s next? YOH (8 points) wrestles El Desperado on Tuesday, while Kanemaru (6 points) takes on KUSHIDA on the same show.

B Block: Robbie Eagles [TMDK] (6 points) vs. Daisuke Sasaki (6 points)

They exchange hair-pulls during the feeling-out process, then exchange arm holds before Sasaki tosses Eagles to the outside. Sasaki politely asks play-by-play man Haruo Murata for his chair, then throws Murata down when he declines and takes it anyway. Sasaki hits Eagles with the chair, wraps it around his neck and then hits a cutter on the floor. Sasaki politely returns the chair to Murata. Back in the ring, Sasaki works on the neck, but Eagles hits a springboard armdrag; Sasaki counters with the crossface, but Eagles makes it to the ropes. Sasaki sends Eagles into the corner and charges him, but Eagles tosses him off and hits a tijeras, followed by a wheel kick. Eagles delivers kicks to Sasaki, then hits the double knees in the corner; however, Sasaki rolls out of the way of a second attempt. Eagles knocks Sasaki to the floor and hits a tope con hilo. Eagles tosses Sasaki back in the ring, hits a springboard dropkick to the knee and applies the Ron Miller Special, but Sasaki makes it to the ropes. Eagles hits a series of kicks to Sasaki’s head and goes for the Hyperion, but Sasaki catches it and applies an STF, which he transitions into the crossface; Eagles makes it to the ropes, however. Sasaki hits a DDT, but Eagles catches a kick and re-applies the Ron Miller Special. Sasaki escapes by raking the eyes, then gets two with a backslide. Sasaki goes for La Mistica, but Eagles stuffs it and tries an Asai moonsault; Sasaki blocks that and hits a dragon suplex. Sasaki tries a thrust kick, but Eagles catches it and goes for the Turbo Backpack; Sasaki counters with a reverse DDT across the knee and a twisting powerslam for two. Sasaki heads to the top, but Eagles cuts him off and tries for a super Turbo Backpack; Sasaki knocks him onto the apron, where Eagles springboards up but gets caught, and they fight to a stalemate. Sasaki shoves Eagles off the top, but Eagles does a backflip and lands on his feet, then hits a 619 to the leg to knock Sasaki off. Eagles goes for the 450 to the knee, but Sasaki gets the knees up and then locks in the crossface. Eagles won’t tap, so Sasaki tries to transition to something else, but Eagles cradles him for two. Eagles sweeps the leg and goes for the Ron Miller Special, but Sasaki gets a near-fall with a cradle of his own. After Sasaki tries to bump the ref, he gets two with a tijeras roll-up, but Eagles counters with the Ron Miller Special, which gets the submission. Afterward, Murata comforts Sasaki in a cute bit of business. This was very good.

What’s next? Eagles (8 points) wrestles Young on Tuesday, while Sasaki (6 points) takes on SHO on the same show.

B Block: El Desperado (8 points) vs. KUSHIDA (4 points)

Once again, if KUSHIDA loses, he’s eliminated from contention. KUSHIDA is once again wrestling barefoot. They start with a technical wrestling display, and KUSHIDA ends up with the advantage. They have a fun sequence where they trade headlocks, but Desperado ends it by targeting KUSHIDA’s knee with a kneebreaker and a kick. KUSHIDA rolls to the outside, but Desperado follows him out and continues to work on the knee. Desperado throws KUSHIDA into a seating section, then smashes KUSHIDA’s knee with a chair. Back in the ring, Desperado continues to work on the knee. KUSHIDA reverses a kneebreaker attempt into a try for a cross armbreaker, but he can’t get it locked in before Desperado kicks him to break it up. KUSHIDA hits the handspring back elbow and the hip toss into a dropkick. In the corner, KUSHIDA shoves his foot into Desperado’s mouth, which might be the grossest thing I’ve seen in this tournament, and I’ve seen all seven Jun Kasai matches thus far; Desperado manages to get the foot out and does a toe-break spot to create some separation. KUSHIDA responds with a finger-break spot and a Shoto in the corner, then hits a top-rope hurricanrana for two. KUSHIDA applies the cross armbreaker, but Desperado counters with the stretch muffler; he can’t quite finish Numero Dos, though, and KUSHIDA counters with the Hoverboard Lock, but Desperado gets to the ropes. KUSHIDA hits Divorce Court and tries once again for the Hoverboard Lock, but Desperado catches him and hits a Fire Thunder Driver. They exchange strikes; Desperado gets the better of it, then hits Pinche Loco, but KUSHIDA kicks out at two. Desperado goes for something from the top, but KUSHIDA catches it and applies the Hoverboard Lock. Desperado manages to escape and the two exchange strikes; Desperado stomps on KUSHIDA’s bare foot to stop his momentum, but KUSHIDA hooks a small package and hits Back to the Future. KUSHIDA hits another Shoto and tries for another Back to the Future, but Desperado counters with a Tiger Driver and another Pinche Loco for the pinfall. KUSHIDA is pissed as hell to lose, but this was a hell of a match. KUSHIDA can still bring it, and I get why he’s not used more than he is, but if there’s anyone I think could have a nice little nostalgia run, it’s him. I suspect it would probably take him moving back to Japan for it to happen, though.

What’s next? Desperado (10 points) wrestles YOH on Tuesday, while KUSHIDA (4 points) takes on Kanemaru on the same show.

B Block: Taiji Ishimori [Unbound Co.] (6 points) vs. SHO [House of Torture] (8 points)

SHO forcibly takes the mic from ring announcer Makoto Abe, then cuts a lengthy promo, during which I assume he calls the audience hicks. SHO tries to jump Ishimori before the bell, but Ishimori is ready and sends SHO to the outside, running him into the ringpost, throwing him into a seating section and running him into the ringpost again. Ishimori rolls back in and removes a turnbuckle pad while Red Shoes is counting SHO. Ishimori gets two with a neck crank, then applies a chinlock. Ishimori shoots SHO into the exposed buckle, but when he goes to do it again, SHO grabs Red Shoes and uses the leverage to reverse the whip. Ishimori rolls outside, but SHO follows him out and sends him into a seating section. SHO grabs a chair and the timekeeper’s gavel, and as Red Shoes takes the chair away, he whacks Ishimori in the midsection with the gavel. SHO then pulls Ishimori against the timekeeper’s table, exacerbating the injury. Back in the ring, SHO works over the midsection. SHO gets two with a gutbuster, then applies a pulling submission hold, but Ishimori gets to the ropes. Ishimori fights back with a handspring kick, a corner knee strike and his fireman’s carry driver/thrust kick combo, which gets two. Ishimori gets SHO on his shoulders, but SHO slips out and hits a high knee. SHO hits a straitjacket piledriver for a near-fall. SHO goes for Shock Arrow, but Ishimori flips out; Ishimori tries Bloody Cross, but SHO counters with a knee to the midsection. They trade strikes and Ishimori hits the ropes, but SHO pulls Red Shoes in front of him and uses the distraction to hit a spear. SHO goes to his corner to get his wrench, but Ishimori has already taken it. Ishimori tosses it to the outside and SHO goes to get it, so Ishimori hits him with the quebrada. Back in the ring, Ishimori gets two, then drives SHO shoulder-first through the corner without the turnbuckle pad and into the ringpost. Ishimori hits a shoulderbreaker and then La Mistica into the Bone Lock, but Kanemaru rings the bell, tricking Ishimori into letting go of the hold. SHO shoves Ishimori into Red Shoes, taking him out, and Kanemaru hits the ring to attack Ishimori. SHO and Kanemaru shoot Ishimori into the exposed buckle, then SHO goes under the ring to get his cookie sheet. However, before he can do anything with it, Robbie X and Daiki Nagai hit the ring to cancel out Kanemaru, and Ishimori kicks the cookie sheet into SHO’s face. X takes out Kanemaru with a plancha while Nagai rolls Red Shoes back in, and Ishimori hits Bloody Cross for the pinfall. Once again, it’s cool when the babyfaces have friends. This was less annoying than most House matches.

What’s next? Ishimori (8 points) wrestles Hyo on Tuesday, while SHO (8 points) takes on Daisuke Sasaki.