New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Best of the Super Juniors 33 Tournament has officially ended.
With Dominion rapidly approaching, simply reflecting back on the month-long tournament would do its greatness a disservice. Therefore, let’s break up my thoughts into specific categories.
Since New Japan had their own fans vote on special award winners, allow me to share my own award winners based on my witnessing of every single BOSJ33 match this year.
Thoughts on the Winner: YOH
The final of YOH v. Kosei Fujita got the fans molten hot for the tribute actor of the tourney, YOH. It was either him or Master Wato that would have made for a logical Dominion challenger for IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI.
To have all this talent in the BOSJ and end it with YOH winning feels a bit flat, but this win was also long overdue. He’s been in NJPW for over a decade, he deserves this.
At the same time, YOH also deserves to win the Junior Heavyweight Title after being a constant bridesmaid, never a bride. Consistent losses against wrestlers like Hiromu Takahashi and SHO just deflated his stock, to the point where one could argue a YOH push in 2026 is too late. This is better late than never though, having patiently waited for his moment for too long.
I would have loved a Master Wato BOSJ win so he can finally win the title after also being shafted by the House of Torture for a while. Wato and YOH have such a similar trajectories toward the Junior Title, but Wato is the leading face of the Junior division alongside Kosei Fujita and Francesco Akira. Names like YOH, El Desperado, and Taiji Ishimori had more opportune moments in their careers years ago.
Overall, we can accept YOH, but we wish it was Wato. Or Robbie Eagles!
Breakout Star of Best of the Super Juniors
This was Daiki Nagai’s best showcase in his short career. The Young Lion of Unbound Co. showed some character very early into his career with some brash comments towards his opponents instead of the usual respectful nature.
Since DOUKI pulled out of BOSJ33, Nagai filled in that spot and wrestled matches against some big names to prove his worth in the Junior division. What would normally be a “happy go-lucky” Young Lion performance in a BOSJ turned instead into a reckless abandon-styled athlete who refused to die.
Nagai unfortunately didn’t win ANY of his nine Block matches, but he certainly got fans hyped during his matches and ultimately for the next match he’d have. His attitude and desperation to gain some points and kick some asses never went unnoticed. That kind of drive only exists in a certain number of wrestlers, and even when he doesn’t have a flashy gimmick, Daiki Nagai has got “it.”
Shoutout also to Nick Wayne, proving why he should be booked regularly on AEW with his pieces of the puzzle coming together. Also, this tourney was my first exposure to Valiente Jr. and he was impressive. Lots to like about this year’s BOSJ!
MVP of the Best of the Super Juniors
There were lots of individual stars that put on matches for the ages, but one man stands out the most in terms of consistent excitement and greatness
Robbie X was freelancing in RevPro before joining NJPW in 2024, so he’s used to being a “best kept secret” in wrestling. After wrestling in the War Dogs/Unbound Co. for the past few years, it’s very hard to keep this secret anymore. The A Block overall was super this year, and Robbie X was a big factor in keeping it hot.
Kosei Fujita was another hot commodity to continue his untouchable career thus far. Since being a part of TMDK, he’s shown off his arrogance and swagger unlike anyone else’s in the Junior division. It felt like wrestling Fujita would be a gritty survival game rather than an exhibitional wrestling match. True magic in those matches and he’s still only 23 years old.
Shoutout also to Hyo, my new wrestling crush. Coming over from Dragon Gate, he had such an infectious energy as a leopard-man fighting for the love of his stuffed animal, Myon-Myon. It left a huge impression on me.
Worst Match(es) of Best of the Super Juniors
Here comes my newest installment in the “why the House of Torture sucks” agenda. The B Block had both SHO and Kanemaru in it this year, and you could feel the atmosphere get heavy every time they wrestled. Them along with Jakob Austin Young, who is less charismatic than United Empire corner-man Zane Jay. Let’s name off a few contenders for this “Flop Three” as opposed to Top Three.
- SHO v. Jakob Austin Young – B Block, Night 12
- Yoshinobu Kanemaru v. YOH – B Block, Night 10
- Ryusuke Taguchi v. Master Wato – A Block, Night 2
A good handful of matches that should’ve gone longer went less than five minutes, so that was a down point of this year. Taguchi v. Wato was a showdown between two former Tag Champions ending in two minutes with nothing but rollups executed in the ring, for instance. Kanemaru and YOH hurt to look back on after YOH won the whole tourney, because that schmoz with Kanemaru was not a good way to put YOH over.
SHO and Young ended with “Captain United Empire” throwing in the towel on behalf of Young. CUE was obviously Yujiro Takahashi under that mask, and brought much facepalming upon the masses.
.@njpw_Fujita “Headbutt → Abandon Hope”
From the profile URL #njpwworld #BOSJFinal pic.twitter.com/bxjWYzJQCh
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) June 7, 2026
Sleeper Match(es) of BOSJ
Many names in this tournament went under the radar while still putting on tons of enjoyable content. KUSHIDA wrestling barefoot throughout the whole tour was a fun experiment to wrestle with a mostly grappling arsenal. Titán remained one of my favorite Juniors of all time with his mixes of lucha and submission specializations to shake everyone up. Robbie Eagles is another name who’s somehow never won this tournament in his career, but he kept putting in a case for why he should. Here’s my top four sleeper picks:
- Kosei Fujita v. Daiki Nagai – A Block, Night 12
- KUSHIDA v. Robbie Eagles – B Block, Night 1
- Francesco Akira v. Robbie X – A Block, Night 2
- Titán v. Robbie X – A Block, Night 7
Lots of praise goes to the aforementioned Daiki Nagai just from his match with Fujita alone. What an exclamation point to his BOSJ tour to challenge Fujita in that massive way. Robbie X’s flippy-doo rotations in midair never get old and Akira/Titán were both great dance partners to complement his offense. To be honest, many of KUSHIDA’s matches are worth checking out. His first of this year’s BOSJ against Eagles was the most exciting and engaging among them all.
.@njpw_Fujita “Thrill Ride”
From the profile URL #njpwworld #BOSJ33 pic.twitter.com/fdBYFQjgv2
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) June 5, 2026
Best Match(es) of Best of the Super Juniors
I can’t narrow down this tournament to one singular match, you can’t make me. Many names would bolster the star power of some absolute barnstormers, mostly in the A Block. Lots of these are must-watch and there are lovely things about all of these. Here’s many of those!
- Francesco Akira v. Kosei Fujita – A Block, Night 1
- Robbie X v. Kosei Fujita – A Block, Night 4
- Master Wato v. Kosei Fujita – A Block, Night 5
- Nick Wayne v. Titán – A Block, Night 9
- KUSHIDA v. El Desperado – B Block, Night 10
- Francesco Akira v. Titán – A Block Night 12
- Kosei Fujita v. Robbie Eagles – Semi-Final
Most of these being Kosei Fujita matches tell you all you need to know about how gifted he is as a performer. A BOSJ main event featuring Fujita is always guaranteed to be good. His match with Wato cemented Wato’s aggression and passion to win. Akira’s match turned the Italian Fireball into a mega-heel with sly and cunning ways to overcome opponents. Titán, Nick Wayne, and X all got to flip and spin around to make for memorable matches every night. And of course, Barefoot KUSHIDA was an absolute treat for this year’s tourney.
YOH v. Fujita in the finals was not as good as their final from last year, but the first ever singles match between Fujita and Eagles was amazing. It became such a chess match between the stablemates with limb work and flash moves dominating the match’s narrative. The chemistry among so many pairings in this tournament made it overall fun and a consistently sound green tick in the world of wrestling.
