6 Ups And 2 Downs From NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors 24

1. Predictable Outcome

What's that saying about hindsight?

KUSHIDA winning BOSJ 24 makes the most sense from a storyline perspective. He is in the process of becoming the company's new Junior Ace, and Hiromu Takahashi has been a terrific foil. They have history, and the company clearly believed KUSHIDA's redemption story required his second BOSJ tournament win.

My issue with this is that despite KUSHIDA being the favourite right from the get-go, the tournament showcased at least half-a-dozen competitors who proved themselves worthy of winning. Ricochet, Dragon Lee, Marty Scurll and even Taguchi pulled out impressive wins that made us think they had a chance of going all the way. In hindsight, the excitement we felt was all for naught.

Most fans will appreciate a prestigious tournament like BOSJ being intertwined with a hot feud. However, I slightly struggle with the idea that a 16-competitor tournament spanning 17 days and 57 matches ended up becoming merely the next step in KUSHIDA vs Hiromu.

Perhaps we were all spoiled by Kenny Omega robbing the heavily-favoured Naito of the G1 Climax right at the last moment. Or by Kenny's shock first-round exit from the New Japan Cup that many saw him winning.

I suppose if every tournament was shocking, none of them would be. It still doesn't sit entirely well with me though.