#254: El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW Best of the Super Juniors/World Tag League Finals (12/11/2020).
This is the finals of Best of the Super Juniors 27, with the winner earning an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship shot at Wrestle Kingdom 15.
These two have a long history, dating back to 2010, and this is easily the highest profile singles meeting they’ve had together. Hiromu is looking for his second BOSJ win, while Desperado is looking for his first.
The bell sounds, and we are under way. The danger level between these two can escalate at any second. They lock up, and Desperado takes the back. He grabs hold of the arm, but Hiromu is able to counter into a side headlock takedown, but Desperado quickly gets out of it. Both men volley for control on the ground, with Hiromu locking in another headlock. Hiromu locks in a Hammerlock, but Desperado gets to the bottom rope.
They exchange heavy chops to the chest, and Desperado pokes the eye. Hiromu runs the ropes and goes for a Hurricanrana, but Desperado attempts the Numero Dos leg submission, but Hiromu is able to get to the ropes. Back in the middle of the ring, they exchange forearms, and Desperado capitalizes on a referee distraction to kick at the leg of Hiromu – a leg he previously targeted with malice during their Block match.
Now on the outside of the ring, Desperado sends Hiromu right into the barricade several times. Desperado goes back into the ring, and tears one of the turnbuckle pads off, exposing the steel. Hiromu crawls back into the ring, and Desperado sends him lunging into the exposed turnbuckle, and then follows with a back suplex. Desperado hits a snap suplex and goes for a cover, but he only gets 2. He starts to zone in on Hiromu’s leg, taking advantage of the previous work in their last match.
Both are back on the outside of the ring, and Desperado powerslams Hiromu to the floor. He smashes Hiromu’s knee into the floor pad, which is of course very thin. It’s only there to protect the floor of the building! Hiromu crawls back into the ring, but Desperado is right there to go after the leg again. He has a variation of an Indian Death Lock locked in, and Hiromu is able to crawl to the bottom rope. Hiromu counters out of a suplex, but immediately feels it in his leg. He is able to run off the ropes and hit a Hurricanrana. Hiromu clotheslines Desperado into the turnbuckle and follows with a running double kick to the head.
Hiromu drags Desperado to the outside and drops him on his chest to the floor. Hiromu gets on the ring apron and hits a running shotgun dropkick to the floor, connecting on Desperado and pushing him against the barricade. A falcon arrow back in the ring by Hiromu only gets a 2 count. They exchange counters, and Desperado attempts Numero Dos again, but Hiromu is able to counter out of it. Desperado runs at Hiromu, who catches him and flips him overhead right into the turnbuckle pad!
Desperado punches Hiromu right on the jaw, but Hiromu counters with several thrust kicks. He has Desperado up for a Death Valley Driver into the turnbuckle, and then follows with one proper. Hiromu goes for his Time Bomb finisher, but Desperado counters into Numero Dos finally – the same submission that tapped Hiromu during their Block match. With much struggle, Hiromu is able to crawl to the ropes once again. Hiromu rolls out of the ring, looking to catch his breath. Desperado goes for a suicide dive, but Hiromu is able to roll into the ring and immediately go for a Sunset Flip Powerbomb to the outside. Desperado holds on to the ropes, and Hiromu lands right on his back. He gets up, but Desperado is able to kick him into the barricade.
Using the Jr. Tag belt as a distraction, Desperado uses a chair to attack Hiromu’s leg. He rolls Hiromu back into the ring for another Numero Dos attempt, and then hits Guitarra de Angel, but that only gets him a 2 count. He goes right back for Numero Dos once again, and this time it’s locked in right in the middle of the ring. He traps the arm, making it harder to crawl. Hiromu tries to roll out of it, but Desperado maintains control, and now he has both arms trapped. Hiromu is somehow able to counter out of that into a Destroyer. That was wild.
Desperado pushes Hiromu into referee Red Shoes, and he nails a low blow out of nowhere. That’s exactly how he set up his victory during the Block, too. Hiromu is back up though, and nails a closed fist punch right to the jaw of Desperado. Hiromu picks Desperado up, and goes to rip off his mask! He pulls a huge chunk of it off of his head, as the crowd gasps in surprise. Hiromu kicks at Desperado’s head, taunting him now with slaps and verbal jabs.
In one of my favorite moments ever in New Japan, Desperado simply stands up and removes the rest of his mask himself, to the audible joys of the crowd, who straight up break protocol to voice their approval. Due to COVID, crowds were prohibited from cheering, to try and lessen the spread of the virus. In this early moment of the clap crowd era, the fans didn’t give a single fuck about a pandemic. They were just ecstatic to see Desperado remove his mask.
Desperado and Hiromu exchange heavy slaps to the face at the 25 minute mark, and this has turned into a crazy brawl! Desperado gears up for a closed fist punch, but Hiromu absolutely decks him with a slap to the face! The crowd is very excited now, even as they’ve returned to claps. Desperado finally hits that fist to the face. He sets Hiromu up for Pinche Loco, but Hiromu is able to block it with a headbutt.
Hiromu lifts Desperado up for Time Bomb, but Desperado is able to counter into a pinfall attempt, but it gets a very close 2 count. Desperado is frustrated! The crowd are stomping their feet so hard that the vibrations can be felt by commentary. They exchange heavy lariats, but Desperado goes back to the knee. Hiromu hits a thrust kick to Desperado. Desperado goes for Pinche Loco again, but Hiromu hits the running Death Valley Driver into the exposed turnbuckle!
Hiromu nails Time Bomb, but that only gets a 2 count! Desperado is bleeding from the mouth and the back, but he’s not out of this yet. Hiromu hits Victory Royal, and sets Desperado up for Time Bomb V2, and Hiromu is able to secure the 3 count finally! What a war. Both men lay on the mat, writing in pain, selling the punishment. Desperado is helped to the back, and Hiromu poses in the ring with the Best of the Super Junior trophy.
The clap crowd Pandemic era of New Japan doesn’t get a lot of love from fans, then or now. In some cases, that’s fair. Some of the booking was spotty, for sure. But, most people’s reasoning being that the lack of crowd cheering took away any semblance of excitement from the matches is certainly something that people have said. I disagree. If I learned anything watching New Japan during the pandemic, it’s that the crowd is just one piece of the puzzle. If the wrestlers in the ring are doing their jobs right, then they could have a great match in complete silence.
That said, I have to tell you that the moment El Desperado removes his mask, and the Japanese audience breaks COVID protocol to cheer that shit, that’s one of my favorite moments not only in New Japan, but in all of wrestling. At the time, I thought about that moment every single week at least a few times, and it still lives in my head rent free. That’s just one moment in a match full of them, as this match seemed to transcend the hell going on around it.
These two didn’t struggle because of the limitations – they thrived in it, and created easily the best singles match they’ve had against each other. Unlike their previous encounters, this one started off more subdued, at a much slower pace. But, once it got going, these two did not let up. Desperado’s attack of Hiromu’s knee was a smart strategy, as it played off of it his winning formula from their previous Block match.
Hiromu’s explosive offense kept Desperado on edge throughout the entire match, and that added to the ever growing tension between the two. The final five minutes, from the moment the mask was removed to the closing pinfall, were dynamite. They just went out like they hadn’t been tearing into each other for the previous 25 minutes, and it was glorious to see.
This was a typical Hiromu performance – exciting and top quality. But for El Desperado, this was a star elevating performance that capped off what was an unexpectedly successful 2020 for him. Had COVID not happened, he may have just been in the background, in the Jr. Tag Division doing his own thing, while Hiromu and likely Dragon Lee were breaking new ground for the division. But due to COVID, options were limited, and New Japan looked to their homegrown talent for help. And Desperado took advantage of that and swung for the fucking fences.