Francesco Akira Closes the Gap to Top of A Block at NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Day 8

By Noah Leatherland

NJPW took the Best of the Super Juniors to Numazu for the eighth day of block competition. B Block took much of the focus, while the main event saw Francesco Akira pick up a very valuable 2 points to get closer to the top of A Block.

Akira came up against the outsider from FREEDOMS, Jun Kasai. Much like the rest of Kasai’s block matches so far, things got bloody. Both men ended up with a face of crimson, with weapons quickly becoming involved in the action. Akira found himself, like so many of Kasai’s opponents, with a head full of skewers.

Even Zane Jay wasn’t safe from Kasai’s hardcore wrath.

Akira fought through the pain, with a Crown Fall proving to be the deciding blow that allowed him to secure the pin on Kasai. The win moves Akira up to 8 points in A Block, tying Kasai and Master Wato. Titan remains at the top on 10 points.

The race remains tight in B Block. El Desperado and SHO picked up wins on Day 8, pushing them both up to 8 points and tied at the top of the block. However, with 5 other men on 6 points, their lead is far from safe.

Here are the full results for NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Day 8:

• Tatsuya Matsumoto def. Taisei Nakahara (7:05)
• Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa) def. Masatora Yasuda, Toru Yano & Valiente Jr. (8:20)
• Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi), Nick Wayne & Tiger Mask def. Unbound Co. (Daiki Nagai, Gedo, Robbie X & Titan) (9:48)
• B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru [6] def. Daisuke Sasaki [6] (6:47)
• B Block: SHO [8] def. Hyo [4] (11:13)
• B Block: El Desperado [8] def. Jakob Austin Young [4] (7:37)
• B Block: KUSHIDA [6] def. YOH [4] (9:56)
• B Block: Robbie Eagles [6] def. Taiji Ishimori [6] (12:06)
• A Block: Francesco Akira [8] def. Jun Kasai [8] (13:01)

Here are the current standings for NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 33:

A Block

• Titan – 10 points
• Francesco Akira – 8 points
• Jun Kasai – 8 points
• Master Wato – 8 points
• Kosei Fujita – 6 points
• Nick Wayne – 6 points
• Robbie X – 6 points
• Ryusuke Taguchi – 6 points
• Valiente Jr. – 4 points
• Daiki Nagai – 0 points

B Block

• El Desperado – 8 points
• SHO – 8 points
• Daisuke Sasaki – 6 points
• Robbie Eagles – 6 points
• Taiji Ishimori – 6 points
• YOH – 6 points
• Yoshinobu Kanemaru – 6 points
• Hyo – 4 points
• Jakob Austin Young – 4 points
• KUSHIDA – 4 points