Wrasslin' Wrap: Robbie Eagles dominates early stages of Best of Super Juniors tournament

Liam O'Loughlin

Wrasslin' Wrap: Robbie Eagles dominates early stages of Best of Super Juniors tournament image

Robbie Eagles has had a huge week in Japan, scoring two massive victories in the opening week of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament.

Elsewhere, the likes of Grayson Waller and Buddy Matthews picked up important wins in singles and tag-team action respectively. 

Here's the latest on the Australian and New Zealand stars overseas. 

Robbie Eagles (NJPW)

A massive week for Eagles, with the annual Best of the Super Juniors (BOSJ) tournament kicking off in Japan.

BOSJ is a prestigious round-robin tournament, with two separate blocks. Wrestlers are awarded two points per victory, one point for a time-limit draw and zero points for a loss. The leading point-scorers from each block face off in the finals. 

Eagles won his opening Block B match against AEW's Wheeler Yuta in a thrilling contest, before teaming up with Yuta and Titan the next night in a six-man tag victory. 

The win over Yuta has some extra significance for Eagles, with the former the current ROH Pure Champion, and with NJPW and AEW set for a huge pay-per-view event in June, it could see the Aussie standout on a massive stage. 

Eagles looked to continue his momentum when he faced off against Bushi in his second match, but lost via pinfall in a hard-hitting, back-and-forth match.

His final tournament match of the week saw Eagles pick up another win, defeating Douki, taking him to equal-second place the Block B leaderboard behind El Phantasmo and El Desperado. 

Buddy Matthews (AEW)

Matthews scored another victory in six-man tag team action on Friday's edition of Rampage.

Teaming up with fellow House of Black members Brody King and Malakai Black, the trio easily defeated Dark Order and Fuego Del Sol. 

After the match, Matthews and company were confronted by long-time rivals Death Triangle, with a final match between the two teams set to take place at the upcoming Double or Nothing pay-per-view. 

Grayson Waller (WWE NXT) 

After losing in mixed-tag action a week prior on NXT, Waller bounced back and defeated Andre Chase in singles competition. 

Despite the match only lasting four minutes, Waller was able to get plenty of his signature of offence in and continued an impressive run that has seen him win seven of his past 10 outings in singles competition. 

Waller also continued his budding partnership with Tiffany Stratton in a backstage segment, with WWE officials clearly high on both rising stars. 

Indi Hartwell (WWE NXT) 

Hartwell cut a passionate backstage promo, setting up a match with NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose.

After the unfortunate release of former tag team partner, Hartwell now looks set to challenge for singles gold in WWE. 

Duke Hudson (WWE NXT)

Despite not competing in the ring, it was a big week for the six-foot-five Hudson, who was involved in two backstage segments with NXT Champion Bron Breakker.

The pair will now square off in singles competition this week on NXT, which is undoubtedly the biggest match in recent memory for Hudson. 

Toni Storm (AEW)

After qualifying for the semi-finals of the Owen Hart Tournament a week prior, Storm did not compete this past week on AEW.

Storm will now face former world champion Britt Baker in the semi-finals, with the winner advancing to the final at Double or Nothing. 

She also spoke to AEW Unrestricted about her move to AEW, exit from WWE and her journey from a teenager in Australia to the big stages in Europe, Japan and America. 

Rhea Ripley (WWE) 

After joining forces with Edge a week prior, Ripley did not compete on RAW.

She was part of a pre-taped promo segment with Edge and Damian Priest . 

Jay White (NJPW/Impact/AEW)

Switchblade did not compete this past week, but did briefly feature on Impact when accompanying Gallows and Anderson out prior to their tag-team victory over Honor No More. 

JONAH (NJPW) 

JONAH was a part of a losing tag-team effort on NJPW Strong this past week, going down to United Empire. 

Tenille Dashwood (Impact) 

Dashwood did not compete on Impact this past week, but did have a backstage promo segment with tag partner Madison Rayne. 

Xyon Quinn (WWE NXT)

Quinn is believed to be dealing with an injury and was not cleared to compete on NXT this past week. 

Slex (NOAH) 

Slex did not compete for NOAH this past week. 

Liam O'Loughlin

Liam O'Loughlin Photo

Liam has been with The Sporting News since 2019, helping lead both NRL and cricket content, as well as delving into the world of combat sports and NFL. A true rugby league tragic, he has spent the past 20 years playing, coaching and volunteering for his beloved junior club, Penshurst RSL. 

Away from work, Liam has a lifelong passion for all things pro wrestling and has travelled abroad to attend showcase events for WWE, AEW and NJPW.