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[Complete Results]
The annual junior festival, the Best of the Super Jr., returned for it's 2000 installment. An international cast made up two blocks of six wrestlers (twelve in total), with combatants from Japan, America, and Mexico involved in the prestigious tournament. The winner would earn a shot at the seemingly unbeatable IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Jushin Thunder Liger, who opted to sit out the tournament to find a worthy challenger for his belt. In additional to the BOSJ, eyes were on the 6/2 Tokyo Nippon Budokan major event. It would feature four big singles matches, the first of which was Osamu Nishimura's return from his battle with cancer, as he faced mentor, Tatsumi Fujinami. Masahiro Chono would tackle strong upstart, Yutaka Yoshie, while technicians, Takashi Iizuka and Yuji Nagata, would do battle. And in a big main event between two of the strongest wrestlers alive, Kensuke Sasaki and Manabu Nakanishi would fight over Kensuke's IWGP Heavyweight Title in a hard-hitting war.
Foreign participation:
Brian Johnston (G-EGGS): 5/19 to 6/1
Scott Norton (Team 2000): 5/19 to 6/2
Dr. Wagner Jr. (CMLL): All shows
Kid Romeo (WCW): All shows
Special participation:
Gran Hamada (Michinoku Pro): All shows
Katsumi Usuda (BattlARTS): All shows
Minoru Fujita (Michinoku Pro): All shows
Minoru Tanaka (BattlARTS): All shows
Best of the Super Jr. 2000 scoring system: Win (2 points), draw (1 point), loss (0 points)
Block A:
1. Koji Kanemoto (6th participation, 1998 winner)
2. El Samurai (9th participation, 1997 winner)
3. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (5th participation)
4. Shinya Makabe (1st participation)
5. Gran Hamada (3rd participation)
6. Dr. Wagner Jr. (4th participation)
Block B:
1. Shinjiro Otani (8th participation)
3. Kendo Kashin (5th participation, 1999 winner)
2. Minoru Tanaka (2nd participation)
4. Katsumi Usuda (1st participation)
6. Minoru Fujita (1st participation)
5. Kid Romeo (1st participation)
Points of note:
(5/19) The sole BOSJ match of the opening day saw IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title co-holder, Takaiwa, defeat young lion, Makabe, with a lariat in a surprisingly difficult match.
(5/19) Nakanishi indirectly overcame Kensuke in the first lead-in match to their upcoming IWGP Heavyweight Title match. Nakanishi & Nagata beat Sasaki & Iizuka in a 20+ minute main event, Nagata handing the ace a rare loss when he hit a backdrop suplex.
(5/21) In a rematch of their BOSJ 1997 final classic, Kanemoto faced El Samurai. This was a much shorter match than that one, Kanemoto pinning Samurai with a Tiger suplex hold in little more than 8 minutes.
(5/26) In a battle of two junior heavyweight technicians, Minoru Tanaka upset reigning BOSJ champion, Kendo Kashin, by submitting him with a cross kneelock.
(5/27) Kanemoto handed Takaiwa his first loss in Soka, using a standing heel hold to submit him in 14 minutes.
(6/2) Legend, Gran Hamada, dented Kanemoto's form when he scored a submission with with a cross armbreaker.
(6/2) Otani remained unbeaten in the tournament, picking up his third successive win in a thriller against young Michinoku Pro prospect, Minoru Fujita.
(6/2) After a long battle with cancer, Osamu Nishimura returned to New Japan, making his first in-ring appearance in one year and eight months. Nishimura wore his Muga gown to the ring, and faced Fujinami in singles action. Although he lost to a Cobra Twist, Nishimura showed much of the technique that made him a favourite before his illness, and his long trek back up the ladder started.
(6/2) Two of New Japan's elite technicians met in a wonderful match, Iizuka defeating G-EGGS' Nagata with a sleeper hold. After beating Nagata, Iizuka petitioned for an IWGP Heavyweight Title match, which would be his first challenge for the belt.
(6/2) Following his recent singles win over Kojima at the Tokyo Dome, Yoshie looked to take down Team 2000 leader, Chono. Although he controlled much of the offense, Chono's experience shone through, and he used an STF to finish off the upstart.
(6/2) Kensuke Sasaki made a successful V4 defense of his IWGP Heavyweight Title, fending off perhaps his strongest challenge of this reign, from Nakanishi. The two fought one of the most physical wars in years, demolishing each other with some brutal strikes. Kensuke succeeded in his defense with a new style Northern Light bomb, and nominated Shinya Hashimoto as his next challenger. For G-EGGS, it was a bitter 0-3 defeat on the night, with all three main members losing singles matches.
(6/3) Otani edged closer to complete victory in the BOSJ group stage, defeating BattlARTS' Katsumi Usuda with a Dragon suplex hold. Otani had only nemesis, Kendo Kashin, to get past to reach the final undefeated.
(6/6) Tanaka dropped out of contention for a place in the BOSJ final when he lost to BattlARTS friend, Usuda, leaving Otani and Kashin as the only possibilities to go through from Block B.
(6/7) Dr. Wagner Jr. obtained his second win of the tournament at the expense of Kanemoto. Kanemoto had to hope that Hamada would defeat Takaiwa tomorrow in order to keep his hopes of a place in the final alive.
(6/7) Otani completed an untarnished group stage campaign, with five wins and no losses, when he submitted Kashin with a cross armbreaker. His dream of winning the elusive BOSJ tournament was nearly a reality.
(6/8) Takaiwa made short work of Hamada to reach the BOSJ final for the first time in his career, setting up a match against friend and IWGP Jr. Tag Title co-holder, Otani, in the grand finale.
(6/9) A chain of matches were held to decide overall positions in the BOSJ, with Makabe, Wagner, Samurai, Kashin, and Tanaka all victorious. Tanaka, the BattlARTS youngster, upset Gran Hamada to complete a brilliant tournament for himself, and finished in third, while Kashin overcame Kanemoto to seal fifth place, and young prospect Makabe put away Fujita to avoid last place.
(6/9) Otani was unable to win his first BOSJ tournament, even after his rampage through the group stage, as he was beaten by Takaiwa in the final. Takaiwa defeated his mentor in a severe fight, finishing him off with a running lariat. Following the match, he appealed for both an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title shot against Liger, and a place in the G1 Climax heavyweight festival in August.
Miscellaneous:
The final standings of the 2000 Best of the Super Jr. looked as follows,
Block A:
1. Tatsuhito Takaiwa [8]
2. Gran Hamada [6]
3. Koji Kanemoto [6]
4. El Samurai [4]
5. Dr. Wagner Jr. [4]
6. Shinya Makabe [2]
Block B:
1. Shinjiro Otani [10]
2. Minoru Tanaka [6]
3. Kendo Kashin [6]
4. Katsumi Usuda [4]
5. Kid Romeo [2]
6. Minoru Fujita [2]
11th Place Match: Shinya Makabe beat Minoru Fujita (7:19) with a German suplex hold.
9th Place Match: Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Kid Romeo (8:33) with a Michinoku Driver II.
7th Place Match: El Samurai beat Katsumi Usuda (8:57) with an avalanche-style reverse DDT.
5th Place Match: Kendo Kashin beat Koji Kanemoto (7:52) with a cross armbreaker.
3rd Place Match: Minoru Tanaka beat Gran Hamada (8:01) with a cross kneelock.
Final: Tatsuhito Takaiwa beat Shinjiro Otani (18:35) with a lariat.
Stuart's 2000 Best of the Super Jr. Awards:
MVP: Shinjiro Otani
Best Bout: Shinjiro Otani vs. Minoru Fujita (6/2)
Outstanding Performance Award: Shinjiro Otani
Fighting Spirit Award: N/A
Most Inspirational Award: N/A
Back to: "WRESTLING DONTAKU 2000 - EPILOGUE OF DRAGON 1ST" (5/5/00)
Forward to: "SUMMER STRUGGLE 2000" (6/25/00 to 7/20/00)
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