Former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion and Los Ignorables de Japon member Hiromu Takahashi has spent the last year trying to reclaim the title. He took the first grand step toward that goal by winning the 2018 Best of the Super Juniors Tournament.
The Ticking Time Bomb will get his next shot at the championship against current titleholder Will Ospreay at Dominion on June 9.
Takahashi won Block B with 10 points and losing only two matches to El Desperado and Current CMLL World Lightweight Champion Dragon Lee. In the tournament finale, Takahashi defeated newcomer and Bullet Club member Taiji Ishimori, who had won Block A to qualify for the final match.
Takahashi’s victory marked the first time he won the BOSJ Tournament – it is also the first BOSJ tournament championship for LIJ.
It is also the latest success for LIJ in the calendar year. Last August, current IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito won his second G1 Climax Tournament. Evil and Sanada claimed their first World Tag League Tournament and would go on to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12.
While the 2018 BOSJ victory is another feather in Takahashi’s cap, it’s also the climax in what has been a year-long redemption story arc for the Ticking Time Bomb.
Takahashi has been chasing the Jr. Heavyweight title ever since he lost it last June to 2017 BOSJ winner Kushida, who he defeated in this year’s tournament. He won his first Jr. Heavyweight title from Kushida at Wrestle Kingdom 11. During his 158 days as champion, Takahashi had four successful title defenses and formed a deep bond with the title. Calling it “Belt-san,” Takahashi would take baths with the belt and take it out to dinner. It was humorous, like many things Takahashi has done – this is a wrestler who has gotten a cat doll over with the crowd – but when he lost the title it was devastating for him. It was also a contrast to Naito, who treated his Intercontinental Championship horribly, going to great lengths to destroy it.
Takahashi unsuccessfully challenged for the title throughout late 2017 and early 2018 – one of those bouts was a fatal four-way at Wrestle Kingdom 12 that featured Ospreay, Kushida and Marty Scurll.
While Takahashi has been unable to win back the Jr. Heavyweight title, he had the support of the fans, who are waiting for him to accomplish his goal and carry Belt-san.
Even if Takahashi doesn’t win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title from Ospreay at Dominion he at least claimed his perch on the division and will be featured in various bouts for the title in the next couple of years.
Eventually Takahashi will become the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. The last two BOSJ winners have go on to win the title at some point. Kushida won the title from Takahashi after winning the tournament. Also Ospreay didn’t claim the title after he won the 2016 BOSJ Tournament, he would eventually win the belt in late 2017.
If he doesn’t win the belt, Takahashi may do what many other Jr. Heavyweights have done in the past – declare his move up to the Heavyweight Division.
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho is gearing up for his title defense against Naito at Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4th, and he is vowing to end Naito’s career when the two finally meet in the ring.
IWGP United States Champion Cody Rhodes announced that he recently suffered a knee injury during a Ring of Honor show that took place in Buffalo, New York, describing hearing a “pop” in his knee when working his way through the crowd.
Rhodes has announced that he has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled IWGP United States Title defense against Beretta and has since provided an update regarding the severity of his knee injury, via his Twitter account.
GOOD news is my doctor is fairly confident that my mcl/pcl/acl are structurally sound.
BAD news is the meniscus is fairly damaged, gonna’ require a scope. No dates will be adjusted at the moment, and I’ll definitely still compete in the final battle main event & at WK. pic.twitter.com/PtyK1wpoiz
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