Last year DDT regained a presence in New Japan’s annual Best Of The Super Jr. tournament by sending MAO over to compete. Things worked out very well for him and he narrowly missed out on qualifying into the final rounds outside of the group stage. I had expectations that MAO would compete again this year but it turns out his focus on becoming the most square shaped wrestler to ever live had the side effect of him growing too big to be eligible for the tournament. Instead, DDT decided to enter Daisuke Sasaki 14 years after his last appearance in BOSJ. He’s done this twice before to poor results. In 2011 he only got one win and in 2012 he only got two. He’s mostly a different wrestler in 2026 and he was able to have his best results ever. Too bad he peaked very early in the tour and just kept falling until the end. The moral of this story is MAO needs to go on a diet.
B Block
1. Robbie Eagles (12)
-. YOH (12)
-. El Desperado (12)
-. SHO (12)
-. Taiji Ishimori (12)
6. Daisuke Sasaki (6)
-. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6)
-. Hyo (6)
-. Jakob Austin Young (6)
-. KUSHIDA (6)
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 14/05/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,445 Fans (No Vacancy)
8. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (2) defeated El Desperado (0) with La Mistica Crossface Lock (16:10).
Sasaki jumped out of the starting blocks very well on opening day. His first match in the B Block was against his good old friend El Desperado. Things got off to a friendly start with some polite hand kissing but they decided to turn up the aggression by fighting outside over to the commentary table. Back in the ring the match went back and forth until Sasaki shoved the referee into Despy’s way, allowing him to catch Despy with a Low Blow kick by the corner. Sasaki then used La Mistica Crossface Lock to make his friend submit. Obviously due to the way Sasaki won the match, Desperado didn’t want to shake his hand afterwards. He flipped him off instead. In the leadup to the tournament, Sasaki bragged that he was going to win it but secretly doubted himself. But after beating Desperado he is now 100% see himself going all the way!
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 16/05/2026
Tokyo Esforta Arena Hachioji
1,076 Fans
5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (4) defeated KUSHIDA (2) with La Mistica Crossface Lock (7:17).
Sasaki fought KUSHIDA in the BOSJ once before, losing to him in 2011. KUSHIDA is making a habit of wrestling barefoot nowadays so Sasaki dared him into doing it for this match and he would join in. The plan was to target KUSHIDA’s left leg because it wasn’t 100% and he hit it with a chair against the ring post. When KUSHIDA kept making comebacks, Sasaki would fight dirty to cut him off so KUSHIDA used a trick of his own and tried to shove his sock into Sasaki’s mouth. Sasaki went one step further by grabbing KUSHIDA’s foot and taking a bite out of it! He then applied the Cross Facelock while smothering KUSHIDA with the sock to make him give up. Sasaki complained about how awful KUSHIDA’s feet taste like but at least he got revenge from their first match 15 years ago. Now that he has beaten Despy, KUSHIDA and Hiromu Takahashi in BOSJ matches Sasaki called himself the next symbol of New Japan’s junior heavyweight division.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 17/05/2026
Tokyo National Yoyogi Stadium Gymnsium #2
1,664 Fans
6. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (6) defeated Hyo (2) with the Crossover Face Lock (9:34).
The good times kept on rolling for Sasaki when he got his third win in a row. Hyo from Dragon Gate was his next opponent and this guy had a tendency of using a stuffed leopard named Myonmyon to gather fan support. Sasaki took advantage by grabbing Myonmyon and throwing it away so Hyo would be too distracted to defend himself from getting a chair thrown at him. Hyo did have the awareness to avoid a Low Blow after the referee distraction but he still got caught with Sasaki’s finisher. Sasaki then switched it over to the Crossover Face Lock for the victory. He said Hyo was so fast he couldn’t see him but he got out of the match unscathed. He is now confident he will go undefeated without a scratch. Instead the opposite happened and he wouldn’t win a block match again for the rest of the tournament.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 20/05/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,257 Fans
5. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Taiji Ishimori (4) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with a Gedo Clutch (11:36).
The match against Taiji Ishimori turned into more of a DDT Vs NJPW battle than expected. The two promotions had an inter-promotional show coming up after BOSJ and Sasaki made it known to everyone that the commentator Haruo Murata was a DDT guy first and foremost. He then tried to use Murata as a shield when the match broke out of the ring. Ishimori responded by threatening to use Milano Collection A.T. as his human shield. Sasaki soon got a taste of his own medicine when Ishimori used the ref push spot against him and did a Low Blow of his own. Sasaki was in too much pain to kick out of the Gedo Clutch after that and complained that Ishimori didn’t fight fair and square. He then got paranoid thinking that by losing the match he was already eliminated from the tournament. He’ll get revenge by kicking every New Japan wrestler in the dick!
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 22/05/2026
Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium Sub-Arena (Asue Arena Osaka)
1,192 Fans – No Vacancy
2. Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Masatora Yasuda when Young pinned Yasuda with the Jakob’s Ladder (6:33).
A couple of the shows gave Sasaki warmup matches for some of his upcoming opponents. He was given the young lion Masatora Yasuda as his main tag partner for these matches. First up they took on a pair of American wrestlers from United Empire. Sasaki’s focus was on Jakob Austin Young while Yasuda got scrappy with Zane Jay. The pairings swapped over and Young ended up beating Yasuda with his finisher. He then taunted Sasaki by taking his chair and sitting on it in the ring. Sasaki showed some sympathy towards Yasuda and warned Young he will end up getting beaten up like Yasuda in their block match.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 23/05/2026
Hyogo Arcrea Himeji
1,153 Fans
6. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Jakob Austin Young (4) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with a BITES THE DUST onto a chair (6:58).
Once again Sasaki now knows what it is like when the cheating happens against him. Young had Zay in his corner for the match and relied on him to interfere or distract the referee when necessary. Sasaki evened the odds by grabbing a chair from the commentary table (and was angry to find another announcer there instead of Murata). Sasaki would then make Young tap out to the Crossface Lock but Jay prevented the ref from seeing it. Sasaki tried to hit Young with the chair during the distraction but Young Dropkicked him in the leg instead, making Sasaki fall face first onto the chair. Young then gave him a Wrist Clutch DDT onto the chair and got rid of the evidence before the ref could turn back around and count the pinfall. With two block losses in a row, Sasaki was now getting paranoid he was falling out of contention.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 24/05/2026
Kyoto KBS Hall
767 Fans
1. Daisuke Sasaki & Masatora Yasuda defeated Toru Yano & Tatsuya Matsumoto when Sasaki submitted Matsumoto with the Crossface Lock (5:43).
Speaking of cheating, Sasaki took on a master of it in a non-tournament tag bout next. Toru Yano was there to look over the young lion Tatsuya Matsumoto but then raced with Sasaki to remove the turnbuckle pads from the opposite corners. Sasaki pushed Matsumoto into one of the exposed buckles and then did a Diving Elbow Drop for a nearfall. Matsumoto showing guts by kicking out only meant Sasaki had to make him submit instead. Sasaki again stood up for Yasuda then started acting like he is from DDT. Yasuda got nervous and started apologizing when Sasaki ordered him to start talking.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 27/05/2026
Shizuoka Kira Messe Numazu
777 Fans
4. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with a Figure 4 Leg Lock (6:47).
By this point of the tour, Sasaki figured out the cheating that worked out so well for him at the start had now become ineffective. The solution to this is to cheat even more! Learning from his match with Young, Sasaki was now bringing in his DAMNATION T.A stablemate Ilusion to be his ringside attendant for the match against Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Ilusion’s interference worked up to a point but backfired when Sasaki took a drink of Kanemaru’s whiskey. Sasaki spat out Whiskey Mist but Kanemaru ducked and Ilusion got blinded with it instead. Kanemaru then gave Sasaki a series of Knee Crushers before putting him in a Figure 4 Leg Lock to make him submit. He said the result showed the difference between brains and skill. Sasaki tried to shrug off the loss because he got to drink some of Kanemaru’s whiskey.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 29/05/2026
Niigata Tsubame City Gymnasium
825 Fans
2. Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson defeated Daisuke Sasaki, Toru Yano & Masatora Yasuda when Jackson pinned Yasuda with a Senton (6:51).
This time Sasaki & Yasuda had Yano teaming up with them as the three faced off against TMDK. For Sasaki it would give him a taste of wrestling Robbie Eagles before their block match the next day. He got to wrestle Ryohei Oiwa a little bit too but that meant poor Yasuda had to fight off the big boy Hartley Jackson. He got crushed with a Senton for his troubles. Yano started arguing with Sasaki over it because he didn’t want to team up with a DDT wrestler in the first place. Sasaki later tried to convince Yasuda they should go challenge for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 30/05/2026
Toyama Takaoka Techno Dome
957 Fans
7. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: Robbie Eagles (8) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Ron Miller Special (13:17).
Although Sasaki did take Murata’s chair and used it as a weapon on Eagles, he was polite enough to give it back to the commentator and fought the rest of the match only by bending a few rules instead of breaking them. Other than that the match came down to a test of skill. Sasaki almost got the win using the Sasaki-Style Hurricanrana but Eagles outdid him by kicking out and then wrapping Sasaki up in the Ron Miller Special to make him give up. Eagles said backstage that he and Sasaki share a closer connection than people may realize. Eagles has trained under Ikuto Hidaka in the TAKESHIBA Colosseum so that means he learned from the tag partner of Sasaki’s mentor Dick Togo.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 02/06/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,310 Fans
4. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: SHO (10) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Shock Arrow (6:43).
With only two block matches remaining and having been stuck in the mud with 6 points, Sasaki was now on his last legs in the block. He needed to beat SHO from House Of Torture just to stay in the running even if his hopes of reaching the playoff rounds were slim. Sasaki was led down to the ring by Hideki Okatani while wearing a full entrance costume until SHO ambushed the two of them. But as SHO stomped on “Sasaki” in the ring, the real Sasaki showed up behind him and launched a counter attack. The first one was just Ilusion in disguise! Yujiro Takahashi got involved to help SHO but a ref bump allowed Okatani to attack them with his bamboo sword. Sasaki then pulled out a stun gun but SHO distracted him by holding up a metal plate with a picture of Dick Togo on it. Sasaki hesitated to risk besmirching his mentor but closed in to use the stun gun. SHO blocked him with the plate, used the plate to hit Sasaki over the head with and then pinned him with the Shock Arrow. SHO explained he was able to block the stun gun with a metal plate because there was a layer of cardboard behind the picture of Togo that absorbed the electricity.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 03/06/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,255 Fans
4. BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33 – B Block: YOH (12) defeated Daisuke Sasaki (6) with the Five Star Clutch (9:42).
No result would send Sasaki into the semi finals so all he could do on the final day of block matches was play spoiler against YOH. As you all know by now that did not happen and YOH went on to win the whole tournament. YOH was in a DDT kind of mood because he kept flashing Gongitsune hand signs during the match. He also grabbed Milano’s chair to match with Sasaki taking Murata’s chair at ringside. Both sides stared each other down until they rushed back into the ring to avoid getting counted out. Sasaki got out of an Anaconda Vice by poking the ref in the eye and then poking YOH. He also avoided the Direct Drive but a scramble for cradling pins led to YOH catching Sasaki in the Five Star Clutch for the three count. While Sasaki was lamenting over only gaining one extra BOSJ win than his previous attempts 14 years ago, El Desperado barged in complaining about Sasaki’s defeat knocking himself out of the tournament. Despy cannot believe he lost to Sasaki but Sasaki couldn’t beat YOH! Sasaki promised he will do better when he comes back to BOSJ in another 14 years time.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 05/06/2026
G-Messe Gunma
1,102 Fans
5. El Desperado & Hyo defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Dick Togo when Desperado submitted Togo with the Numero Dos (6:20).
All that was left to do for Sasaki’s final tour dates were take part in non-tournament tag matches. Desperado wanted to team up with Hyo so the two of them took on Sasaki and his mentor Togo. It was then revealed that Togo had kidnapped Myonmyon at some point before the show. Hyo was able to rescue his little buddy while Despy got Togo to submit to the Numero Dos. Togo quickly got revenge by kidnapping Myonmyon again while Sasaki used a stun gun to keep Hyo at a distance.
NJPW “SEKICHU PRESENTS BEST OF THE SUPER JR. 33”, 07/06/2026
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium (EBARA WAVE Arena Ota)
3,969 Fans (No Vacancy)
3. Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Daisuke Sasaki, Nick Wayne & Valiente Jr. defeated Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X, Titán, Gedo & Daiki Nagai when Taguchi submitted Gedo with the Oh My & Garankle (10:25).
Sasaki’s last match on the final night was a complete smorgasbord of wrestlers from all over including some from AEW and CMLL. Gedo was the odd man out because he was the only person in the 10-Man Tag Match to have not competed in BOSJ this year. Sasaki wasn’t enthusiastic to team with Ryusuke Taguchi but did seem to get along with Master Wato. After the match Sasaki told New Japan when he comes back in 14 years he doesn’t want to team with wrestlers like those two again.
Dramatic DDT 