NJPW has announced the entrants for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, which this year features AEW star Wheeler Yuta.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament is one of the most highly anticipated events in the wrestling calendar. After taking place alongside World Tag League in November and December during the pandemic, this year it has returned to its traditional spot in the calendar, taking place from May 15th to June 2nd.
This year the tournament is showcasing the best cruiserweight wrestling from around the world. As well as top NJPW Juniors, it features stars from IMPACT Wrestling, CMLL, and AEW.
While NJPW has worked with the other promotions for many years, this will be the first Best of the Super Juniors to include an AEW star, in this case Blackpool Combat Club’s Wheeler Yuta.
Wheeler Yuta is no stranger to wrestling for the promotion as he has also been seen in action on their US TV show, NJPW STRONG, on several occasions, and was a member of the CHAOS faction when he was part of AEW’s Best Friends. All eyes will be on the star as AEW and NJPW prepare to go head-to-head at the cross-promotional Forbidden Door super-show in June.
The winner of the long-running tournament will get a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. The title is currently held by BULLET CLUB’s Taiji Ishimori after he defeated former champion El Desperado by submission at Wrestling Dontaku on May 1st.
You can see the full list of participants in this year’s Best of the Super Juniors below:
A Block
- Hiromu Takahashi・Los Ingobernables De Japon
- Ryusuke Taguchi・NJPW
- Taiji Ishimori ・BULLET CLUB
- Yoshinobu Kanemaru ・Suzuki-Gun
- SHO・BULLET CLUB/HOUSE OF TORTURE
- Ace Austin・IMPACT Wrestling
- YOH・CHAOS
- Clark Connors・NJPW STRONG/LA Dojo
- Francesco Akira・United Empire
- Alex Zayne・Freelance
B Block
- El Desperado・Suzuki-Gun
- Master Wato・NJPW
- DOUKI・Suzuki-Gun
- El Lindaman・GLEAT/#STRONGHEARTS
- Robbie Eagles・CHAOS
- Titan・CMLL
- BUSHI・Los Ingobernables De Japon
- Wheeler Yuta・AEW/Blackpool Combat Club
- TJP・United Empire
- El Phantasmo・BULLET CLUB