NJPW Announces Best Of Super Juniors 30 Schedule
The annual Best of the Super Juniors round robin tournament is one of NJPW's oldest traditions, and has a rich history. The tournament under its current name goes back to 1994, and was preceded by the nearly-identical Top of the Super Juniors league from 1991 to 1993, and all told, NJPW has had a junior heavyweight singles tournament of some kind almost every year since 1984.
With all those tournaments included, winners that western fans would be familiar with include Dynamite Kid, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero (Black Tiger), Jushin Thunder Liger, Kota Ibushi, Finn Balor (Prince Devitt), Ricochet, KUSHIDA, Will Ospreay, and Hiromu Takahashi. Beyond the winners, other legendary or well-known names in the tournaments include everyone from Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith to Alex Shelley and Villano IV. And on Friday, NJPW announced the lineup of dates for this year's tournament.
The list of dates announced for the 30th annual Best of the Super Juniors reads as follows:
- Friday May 12 Tokyo, Korakuen Hall
- Saturday May 13 Nagano, Nagano Prefectural Budokan
- Sunday May 14 Nagoya, Nagoya International Convention Center Event Hall
- Tuesday May 16 Akita, Akita Prefectural Budokan
- Wednesday May 17 Miyagi, Sendai Sun Plaza Hall
- Thursday May 18 Iwate, Iwate Prefectural Gymnasium
- Friday May 19 Aomori, Maeda Sub Arena
- Sunday May 21 Tokyo, Korakuen Hall
- Tuesday May 23 Osaka, EDION Sub Arena
- Wednesday May 24 Osaka, EDION Sub Arena
- Friday May 26 Tokyo, Yoyogi 2nd National Gymnasium
- Sunday May 28 Tokyo, Ota-Ku Gymnasium
No wrestlers have been confirmed for the tournament yet. Last year's participants included, among the outside and foreign names, Ace Austin, Alex Zayne, Titan, and El Lindaman, as well as many NJPW stars.