Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi from NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2010

The New Japan Pro Wrestling Best of the Super Juniors tournament is one of the highlights in professional wrestling every year. In 2010, the finals came down to Prince Devitt and Kota Ibushi.

 

Devitt lost in the finals of the year before, but he was able to seal the deal in 2010. Similarly, while Ibushi lost in the finals of 2010, he won the whole tournament in 2011. Both men are two of the best athletes in all of professional wrestling and you are really missing out if you haven’t seen them in action.

 

Prince Devitt was kind enough to take the time to share his thoughts on the match and the importance of winning the prestigious Best of Super Juniors Tournament.  You can follow Prince Devitt on his twitter, and you can ‘like’ his Facebook page.

 

Thoughts from Prince Devitt:

I can’t really remember what the match was like, but I do remember at one point towards the end of the match that the energy in the building was amazing.  I thought to myself: this is what its all about. I think that the fact that Ibushi got hurt toward the end took a little of the shine of it, but I was glad that he could return to the ring soon and it has always been a pleasure to wrestle him.

 

[Winning BOSJ] was a huge honor for me; it’s something that I have always been a huge fan of.  As a teenager, I used to get the tapes and be hooked on them. I love the tournament style. When I started in NJPW, all I wanted was to be entered. I had a run of bad luck the with injuries the first few years I was there, but finally I had a good run and I made it to the final the year previous, but winning in 2010 was really the crowning accomplishment up until that point. It’s something that I had never ever dreamed would happen, a once in a life time chance, and I’m sure I’ll look back on that in 10-15 years as one of my greatest achievements

 

 

Match Recap from TJ Hawke

The first few minutes established that both men were respectful athletes.  Eventually Ibushi got sent to the outside and Devitt hit a beautiful no-hands somersault plancha.  Ibushi made a comeback and hit an amazing Arihara moonsault.  Ibushi got right back up and hit a springboard dropkick to floor, which almost got him the win by countout.  Ibushi followed that up with a lionsault for a nearfall.  Ibushi went for his double jump moonsault but Devitt blocked it (it’s a signature spot from Ibushi that never gets blocked).  Devitt hit a huge super back suplex but Ibushi kicked out.  Devitt followed it up with a gutbuster and a pair of double stomps but Ibushi still kicked out.  Ibushi came back with a Pele kick and a half-n-half suplex (fans are going batshit at this point).  Ibushi hit a huge frankensteiner but Devitt kicked out.  Ibushi THEN hit a bridging German and a 450 splash but Devitt STILL kicked out.  Ibushi started selling his arm big time after that kickout and was being tended to in the ring; Ibushi forced himself to go on though.  He peppered Devitt with kicks but Devitt avoided one kick and hit a double arm ddt for the win.  After hitting so many big moves, the double arm ddt was a little bit of a flat finish, but still though, this was a tremendous athletic contest that I HIGHLY recommend.  Devitt says that he loves wrestling for NJPW and that he is after the IWGP Jr. Title

Match Rating: ****