The 33rd edition of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s “Best of the Super Juniors” tournament kicks off in about a month, but the full lineup was revealed on Saturday during New Japan’s “Sakura Genesis” event. With all of the blocks revealed, let’s preview each block, its entrants, and who I think could win the tournament.
Before we get into individual wrestlers in the tournament, it’s best to go over the tournament as a whole. The 20-person round robin tournament sees all participants, split into two blocks of 10, face each other in their group once, with the winner of both blocks facing each other in the finals of the tournament, with the winner receiving an International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) Junior Heavyweight Championship opportunity.
A Block consists of IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion DOUKI, last year’s winner Kosei Fujita, 2023 winner Master Wato, 2012 winner Ryusuke Taguchi, one-half of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Robbie X, Francesco Akira, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre’s Titan, CMLL’s Valiente Jr., Ring of Honor World Television Champion Nick Wayne (representing All Elite Wrestling rather than Ring of Honor) and Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS’ Jun Kasai.
B Block consists of one-half of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori, Major League Wrestling World Middleweight champion KUSHIDA (representing New Japan), 2024 winner El Deperado, YOH, Robbie Eagles, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Jakob Austin Young, DDT Pro Wrestling’s Daisuke Sasaki and Dragongate Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Hyo.
Naturally, the big name to watch in this tournament is Kosei Fujita. While the Best of the Super Junior 32 winner has not claimed the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship yet, Fujita did hold the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles with Eagles in early 2026. With a much stronger block than last year, including two former winners and three champions, it’ll be a bit harder for Fujita to go back-to-back and join Tiger Mask IV and Hiromu Takahashi as the only wrestlers to win back-to-back Best of the Super Juniors.
A Block is also full of questions regarding its participants. Titan, entering his seventh Best of the Super Juniors, hasn’t wrestled since Mar. 15 due to an injury. So, his condition going into the tournament is up in the air, and it’s unsure of whether or not he’ll be in the tournament.
While both blocks feature two debutants, A Block has the most interesting one, with that being Jun Kasai. The 51-year-old deathmatch legend is making a rare appearance in the Cerulean Blue. While he has made appearances on events co-promoted by New Japan, Kasai has only appeared in New Japan proper three times, all of them in gimmick matches. With Kasai taken completely out of his wheelhouse, it’ll be interesting to see how he performs.
Block B has less questions regarding it. All of the participants are either consistent names in New Japan or bigger non-deathmatch names. It’s also obvious that El Desperado, 5-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion and Best of the Super Junior 31 winner, will make it out of B Block. However, I’m excited to see how KUSHIDA, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Hyo, who is making his Best of the Super Junior and proper New Japan debut, fare in the tournament.
For my predictions, I imagine Fujita barely winning A Block, with DOUKI and Robbie X placing second and third. For B Block, El Deseprado will make it out, with YOH and Ishimori placing second and third. While I don’t imagine anyone goes winless, being the first person since Ren Narita in 2020 to do so, I imagine either Ryusuke Taguchi, Jun Kasai, or Jakob Austin Young will score the least amount of points among competitors in the tournament. As for the final, which takes place on June 7, 2026 in Kouraken Hall, I imagine El Desperado beats Fujita to win his second Best of the Super Juniors.
