For its first-ever event at the brand-spanking new Ebara Wave Arena [/s], NJPW presents the final of the Best of the Super Junior 2026 tournament, featuring last year’s winner, Kosei Fujita, taking on YOH in a rematch of last year’s final.

Before the match, President Hiroshi Tanahashi presents the post-tournament awards. Jun Kasai wins the Outstanding Performance Award, Daiki Nagai wins the Fighting Spirit Award and Robbie X wins the Technical Skill Award. I can’t argue with any of these.

Final: YOH vs. Kosei Fujita [TMDK]

YOH appears to have stolen Tommaso Ciampa’s collar for his entrance gear. Fujita gets a bunch of girls dancing to his ROTTENGRAFFTY song during his entrance. Fujita has Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa and Robbie Eagles in his corner, not that I expect that to play a role in the match. The crowd is mega into this, and it should be noted that this show outdrew New Year Dash!! and significantly outdrew the Anniversary Event and last year’s BOSJ final, all of which were held in this building. They feel each other out to start, then YOH ducks a kick and tries for the Rainmaker; Fujita ducks it and attempts a Zack Driver and YOH slips out the back and leaves the ring, taking out a cameraperson in the process. Back in the ring, they trade forearms and Fujita shoots YOH into the ropes, but YOH does Toru Yano’s “holding on and yelling” spot. Fujita pulls YOH down by the hair and does Yano’s “YTR” thing and hits his pose. YOH catches him with a victory roll and administers a pair of neck cranks, à la Zack Sabre Jr., while doing Eagles’ “Robbie Robbie Robbie” chant. YOH hits a back elbow into the corner and then gets two with a neckbreaker. YOH goes for a brainbuster, but Fujita flips out and hits a mid-kick. Fujita hits a kneebreaker and a standing moonsault for two. Fujita applies the single-leg crab, but YOH gets to the ropes. Fujita starts going after YOH’s shoulder and then tries a PK, but YOH catches it and hits a dragon screw. YOH hits a flying forearm, followed by a bridging half-nelson suplex for two. YOH tries for a brainbuster, but Fujita blocks it, takes him down and tries for the Nemosu Special; YOH makes the ropes before it could be locked in, however. They trade running back elbows, then YOH hits a flapjack, then heads to the top  – waving the cameraman away, à la Kazuchika Okada – hits a cannonball flip, and then does Okada’s middle-finger pose; Red Shoes does not approve. Fujita is sick of this and hits rolling Germans, ending with a bridging pinfall attempt on the third one, but only gets two. Fujita sets up for a suplex, but YOH hits a falcon arrow instead. Fujita hits some extremely stiff chops, but YOH responds with Tomohiro Ishii-esque forearms and Drop the Needle for two. YOH tries for Direct Drive, but Fujita drives him into the corner twice to break it up. YOH hits a ton of chops until Fujita responds with a German, then Fujita catches a clothesline attempt and applies the Fujiwara armbar; Fujita hooks the leg to prevent YOH from reaching the ropes, but YOH eventually gets there anyway. Fujita hits a springboard dropkick for two, then tries another German, but YOH counters with a victory roll for two. YOH runs Fujita into the ropes and tries to apply the five-star clutch, but Fujita counters with the Nemosu Special; YOH escapes and then bites the bottom rope for the break as Fujita tries to re-apply it. Fujita gets two with a snap German, then hits a pop-up deadlift German for another near-fall. Fujita goes for the Thrill Ride, but YOH counters with a crucifix driver (à la YOSHI-HASHI) for two and a double-down. They recover and trade strikes, with both guys hitting their signature kicks and ending up with another double-down. Back up, and YOH hits an ushigoroshi, then they re-enact the famous spot where Okada – YOH, in this case – pulled the ripcord on the Rainmaker and Katsuyori Shibata – Fujita – smacked him as hard as he could; however, YOH holds on and hits the clothesline anyway. YOH maintains wrist control and hits another Rainmaker, then tries for another, but Fujita counters with one of his own. YOH hits a headbutt and the Ishii forearms once again, but Fujita hits a stiff headbutt and then Abandon Hope for a near-fall. Fujita goes for the Thrill Ride, but YOH slips out the back and hits a GTR, followed by the Bomaye and a full-on Rainmaker for a near-fall; YOH then hits Direct Drive for the pinfall and the tournament win. This was fantastic professional wrestling, even though I do kind of wish YOH didn’t rely so much on doing his former faction-mates’ moves; it seems a tiny bit cheap to me, but whatever. I suppose that, at the end of the day, what is wrestling if not doing other guys’ moves? He is great, regardless.

After the match, Fujita shakes YOH’s hand and Tanahashi presents YOH with the trophy and the flag while Fujita gives it up for YOH as he leaves the arena. YOH starts off his promo by saying he has three points: YeaOh, YeaOh and, of course, there’s no third point. YOH praises Fujita and challenges DOUKI, which draws out the champion. While YOH and DOUKI go face to face, SHO runs in and attacks YOH from behind, and the heels beat on him. DOUKI tries to hit YOH with SHO’s cookie sheet, but YOH shoves SHO into DOUKI, hits a double low blow and then whacks both guys with the cookie sheet. YOH picks up the microphone and says he remembered the third point: They should have a CHAOS celebration. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Yano come to the ring and they do a traditional CHAOS celebration while SHO and DOUKI lay prone at their feet.

So, that’s that for this tournament. It was a lot of fun, and I’m encouraged by how large and boisterous the crowd for the final was. Dominion is next Sunday, and I assume the undercard will be announced tomorrow morning. Earlier in this show, they set up Jake Lee vs. El Phantasmo, and you’d have to imagine that if DOUKI can go at all, they’ll do the junior title match, if for no other reason than to get it off him, stat. On the other hand, three House of Torture title matches on the same show does seem… excessive. There’s also room for an IWGP Women’s Championship match, and, now that Mistico has recovered from his injury, you could theoretically have some sort of junior tag situation as a way to get some more guys on the show. 

However, it’s worth noting that since Dominion, like Wrestle Kingdom, is being broadcast on TV Asahi, it’s going to be subject to a hard out, so there’s also every possibility that not much more gets added, and that what’s there doesn’t get as much time as it normally would. Like, I wouldn’t expect the Knockout Brothers and TMDK to have another 26-minute banger like they had at New Year Dash!!, unfortunately. Plus, there are still three Korakuen shows between now and the start of the G1, including the Tiger Mask retirement show, so there’s time to get the junior stuff in there, if need be. Still, on paper, Dominion looks like a great show already, and I’ll be back here to tell you about it next Sunday.