Why NJPW's Best of the Super Juniors is facing a booking identity crisis

Pour a double of the cheapest draft in the house and pull up a barstool because Hyogo just hosted a wrestling disaster wrapped in hard work. While the sports world counts down the four days until the UCL Final, the FIFA World Cup kickoff is only 18 days away, and AEW fans prepare for Double or Nothing tonight, the New Japan faithful are looking at a system in decay.

The ongoing Best of the Super Juniors 33 tournament should be a celebration of the fastest division in professional wrestling. Instead, it feels like a grueling grind that exposes a depleted roster and a broken stable structure. The hard work of the athletes in the ring cannot hide the fact that the office is booking this tournament on autopilot.

Look at the numbers from the weekend. The show in Osaka on May 22 drew a sub-par crowd of 1,192 fans. The next night in Himeji, only 1,153 fans bothered to show up. These are tiny numbers for a tournament that used to fill major halls, and it shows that the local audience is growing cold.

The primary culprit is a booking philosophy that has hollowed out the stable system. In New Japan, stables are the narrative engine that drives every single storyline. Right now, that engine is throwing a rod.

The Collapse of Unbound Company

To understand why this tournament feels so hollow, we must look at the stable known as Unbound Company. Formed with massive hype on January 5, 2026, at New Year Dash!!, the group was supposed to represent a powerhouse merger. Yota Tsuji brought together the unaffiliated remnants of Los Ingobernables de Japon and the Bullet Club War Dogs.

Tsuji stood in the center of the ring and delivered a grand tagline that promised a revolution.

We cannot be bound by anyone.

Fast forward five months, and that quote is a punchline. The group has been completely gutted by departures. Hiromu Takahashi, David Finlay, Clark Connors, and Gabe Kidd did not just leave the stable; they walked away from the promotion entirely.

This massive exodus left Unbound Company as a hollowed-out shell. In Himeji, the grand revolution was reduced to Gedo teaming with a Young Lion in the opening match. It is a depressing fall from grace for a stable that was booked to dominate the calendar.

No disrespect is intended toward Daiki Nagai. The rookie has legitimate fire, a solid background in the Ground Self-Defense Force, and a history in competitive hammer throw. Since he appealed to join the unaffiliated crew in July 2025, Nagai has broken the traditional, quiet mold of Young Lions.

But he is still a rookie. Pairing him with a retired manager like Gedo is a booking choice that actively hurts the stable's credibility. It turns what should be a badass rebel faction into an easy undercard pin-eater.

The tag match in Himeji on Night 6 against the United Empire was short and painful. Francesco Akira and Zane Jay walked away with an easy victory in exactly six minutes and fifteen seconds. The match was a physical showcase that highlighted the massive gap between a rising team and a dying stable.

Zane Jay looked like an absolute monster in the ring. The former college football and rugby athlete won the STRONG Survivor title on December 15, 2024, by defeating Matt Vandagriff. He chose to surrender the belt to train at the Noge Dojo, showing a rare commitment to the craft.

In Himeji, Jay used his rugby-honed power to steamroll Nagai, cutting off the rookie's forearm strikes with a brutal spinebuster. Francesco Akira then followed up with his high-speed signature offense, hitting a flying forearm before securing the pin over Gedo. The United Empire's junior tag future looks bright, but Unbound Company is staring at the lights.

Tactical Breakdown of A Block

The undercard tag matches highlight the narrative decay, but the tournament matches themselves show a division working overtime to deliver in-ring quality. The A Block matches in Osaka on Night 5 offered some brilliant technical displays. The results reported by PWInsider show a block that is still capable of high-level workrate.

The stand-out match in Osaka was Master Wato defeating Kosei Fujita in a grueling 14:30 clash. Wato secured the victory with a perfectly executed Tsutenkaku German Suplex Hold. The match was a tactical masterclass in pacing, with Fujita targeting Wato's neck before Wato rallied with his signature high-kick combinations.

We also saw Titán maintain his perfect tournament record by defeating Ryusuke Taguchi in seven minutes and thirty-one seconds. Titán locked in his signature Llave Inmortal submission, forcing the veteran to tap. The victory put Titán at ten points with a perfect five-and-zero record, making him the undisputed class of the block.

Other A Block action in Osaka saw Jun Kasai defeat Robbie X in twelve minutes and six seconds via a brutal Reverse Tiger Suplex. Francesco Akira defeated Valiente Jr. in nine minutes and forty-two seconds using the Crown Fall. Meanwhile, Nick Wayne quickly dispatched Daiki Nagai in five minutes and twenty-four seconds with Wayne’s World.

Yet, the A Block story took a wild turn on Night 6 in Himeji. In a major shock, Valiente Jr. defeated Jun Kasai in seven minutes and one second. This upset halted Kasai's momentum and showed the volatile nature of the block system, even as Valiente Jr. sits near the bottom of the standings.

The B Block Gridlock

While A Block has a clear leader in Titán, B Block has descended into pure chaos. The action on Night 6 in Himeji left the block in a massive five-way tie at the top of the standings. As documented in F4WOnline's tournament recap, El Desperado, YOH, SHO, Daisuke Sasaki, and Taiji Ishimori are all deadlocked at six points.

The main event in Himeji was a technical struggle between Robbie Eagles and YOH. Eagles secured the victory at the 18:37 mark after hitting Hyperion. The match was built around Eagles targeting YOH's left knee with low kicks, which neutralized YOH's speed and set up the decisive finish.

This result was a brilliant piece of tactical storytelling. By defeating YOH, Eagles prevented him from taking sole possession of B Block. It also kept Eagles alive in the tournament, moving him to four points.

The rest of the B Block matches in Himeji offered a mix of styles. El Desperado defeated SHO in ten minutes and twenty-one seconds by locking in Numero Dos. Desperado fought through SHO's typical referee distractions and wrench shots, winning with pure technical superiority.

Taiji Ishimori made short work of Yoshinobu Kanemaru, winning in three minutes and thirty-eight seconds with the Bone Lock. Jakob Austin Young picked up a vital win over Daisuke Sasaki in six minutes and sixty-eight seconds via rolling cutter. These matches show a division that is fighting tooth and nail for every point.

The Sad Decline of KUSHIDA

However, we must address the most disappointing aspect of this tournament. The booking of KUSHIDA has transitioned from questionable to outright disrespectful. The former six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion is currently sitting at the bottom of B Block with a miserable record of one win and four losses.

In Himeji, KUSHIDA suffered an eleven-minute and thirteen-second defeat to Hyo, who pinned the veteran after hitting Hunting. This loss was not framed as a tragic fall or a passing of the torch. It was simply treated as another mid-card result, a throwaway match on a depleted card.

KUSHIDA is one of the greatest junior heavyweights in the history of the company. Watching him get pinned by mid-card heels in undercard matches with zero narrative build is a major mistake. It damages the history of the division and active fan interest.

If the office wants to build new stars, they should do it through compelling long-term booking, not by using a legend as a generic stepping stone. This decision hurts the credibility of the entire tournament and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of the audience.

The Stable System Needs a Hard Reset

The current state of the Best of the Super Juniors highlights a promotion at a crossroads. The stable system is the lifeblood of NJPW booking, but that system is currently running on fumes. Stables like Unbound Company have been gutted of their main stars, leaving the division feeling disorganized and aimless.

Workrate alone is not enough to carry a three-week tournament. The fans need stakes, narrative consistency, and characters they can believe in. Right now, they are getting random tag matches and managers eating pins.

If Yota Tsuji is going to save Unbound Company, the booking team must recruit actual high-caliber talent, not just team him with Young Lions and veteran managers. Until the office commits to a real narrative reset, the Best of the Super Juniors will continue to feel like a marathon of workrate without a destination.

Pour another double of that cheap draft. The junior division is working as hard as ever, but they are swimming upstream against a booking committee that has lost its way.