The BOSJ grind is wearing thin
We are ten nights deep into the 33rd Best Of The Super Juniors, and the internet is doing what it does best: screaming into the void. While the technical work in the ring remains elite, the sheer volume of shows is testing the patience of even the most dedicated NJPW heads. Walking through the latest threads, you can feel the exhaustion. When you are forcing talent to work Niigata gyms on a Tuesday night for the ninth straight show, the quality starts to dip. You cannot just expect world-class output every single night without the performers looking like they have been hit by a truck.
The enthusiasts are still out in full force, pointing to the crisp sequences on display. One Reddit user noted that seeing Tiger Mask IV pull out the Tiger Driver to pin Tatsuya Matsumoto in 7:11 is exactly why NJPW remains the pinnacle for pure in-ring craft. They argue that these tournaments are meant to be a test of endurance, not just a highlight reel. If you cannot appreciate the smaller venues catching world-class wrestling, you might need to go watch a circus instead.
Skeptics versus the purists
Then you have the skeptics who are genuinely concerned about the booking fatigue. Scrolling through recent F4W reports, the discourse is split down the middle. Some fans argue that the standings look cluttered and that the tournament structure feels like it is running on autopilot. If you look at the results from night nine in Niigata, it is clear that certain matches are essentially filler to pad out the length of the tour. It is not just about the win-loss ratio; it is about how much gas these guys have left in the tank for the finals.
Contrarians are, as always, enjoying the chaos. They love that NJPW is doubling down on the old-school touring model while everyone else tries to produce weekly television that feels like a soap opera. One user posted that if you are not watching the TMDK six-man tags, you are actively choosing not to enjoy your life. These fans argue that the low attendance in rural gyms brings a level of intimacy you just do not get at a massive stadium event. It is a niche opinion, but when you have 825 screaming fans in a gymnasium, the noise is actually louder than a corporate show in a baseball park.
My take on the booking mess
Look, I have been watching New Japan since the days of the old VHS trading rings, but even I have my limits. My analysis? The company is running the risk of turning their crown jewel tournament into a monotonous endurance test. You can only watch high-flying sequences that lead to a predictable near-fall exchange so many times before it loses its luster. When you hit match number five of the night, the crowd starts to check out, and so do I. It is a simple law of diminishing returns that NJPW seems to be ignoring entirely this month.
The stronger argument clearly rests with the skeptics. There is a massive difference between storytelling through attrition and just throwing bodies at a mat to fill time. When you have a tournament that lasts for weeks, the stakes need to feel massive, but right now, night ten feels almost identical to night six. It is not helping that the promotion is balancing this with other events, which is confusing the casual viewer. If they want to keep the BOSJ prestigious, they need to shorten the tour or raise the stakes for those mid-tournament matches. Otherwise, we are just looking at a slow decay of intensity in front of thinning crowds.
Ultimately, NJPW has the best roster in the world, but they are misusing them right now. They have the horses to run a race, but they are making them walk a marathon in shallow water. If they don't pivot the production value or the narrative stakes by the time we hit the final block, the whole tournament is going to end with a whimper rather than a bang. Everyone wants to see the best juniors, but nobody wants to see them worked into the dirt for the sake of checking off a calendar day.
