by Daniel Johnson

Ryusukue Taguchi vs. Minoru

The 2008 Best of the Super Juniors allowed another great showing by some of the best light heavyweights NJPW could get together. Among some of the top level participants was Ryusuke Taguchi, but his opponent in this match, Minoru was no slouch either. One attribute Taguchi posses that really makes him stand above the pact is his versatility. Whether brawling, high flying or whatever else Taguchi has a diverse skill set that can be plugged into a variety of matches to produce excellent results.

Taguchi’s first big spot in this match is when he swings off of a top turnbuckle and lands a plancha on Minoru on the outside. From there the pace of the match slows down a bit as Taguchi uses a variety of submission maneuvers. Although Minoru gives a good show in his comeback, the part of this match that really stands out is the exchange of suplexes near the end.

First, Taguchi performs some rolling suplexes then Minoru responds with a tiger suplex and a belly-to-back suplex. Taguchi sells the tiger suplex particularly well. Really, it looks like Minoru killed him after it! Minoru isn’t done yet though and hits a fisherman buster from off of the top rope. Minoru next tries to obliterate Taguchi with one of those rarest of all moves, a dragon suplex from the ropes. With all these suplexes and suplex attempts it reminds me of Scott Steiner taking on HHH at the WWE Royal Rumble 2003 only you know there is a variety of suplexes performed instead of just one over and over again. Plus, this match is completely awesome instead of completely terrible. At any rate Taguchi avoids the dragon suplex from the ropes and after hitting some more suplexes, plants Minoru on the mat for a victory.

Taguchi would go onto the semi-finals of the Best of the Super Juniors that year before submitting to Koji Kanemoto. Taguchi has plenty to be proud of though because there is no shame in tapping to someone as gifted as the former Tiger Mask III.

Categories: Wrestling Clips

Tags: Best of the Super Juniors, HHH, Japan, Koji Kanemoto, Minoru, NJPW, Puro Flashback, Ryusuke Taguchi, Scott Steiner, Tiger Mask, Tiger Mask III, WWE, WWE Royal Rumble, WWE Royal Rumble 2003