Full Lineup Announced For NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors 30

The short, relative dampness of April is about to give way to the warmth of May, and with it comes New Japan Pro-Wrestling's annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament. The junior heavyweight equivalent to New Japan's G1 Climax, the BOTSJ tournament is celebrating its 30th edition in 2023, and as such, a stacked field would seem to be in order. And it is, with New Japan going out to get 20 of the best junior heavyweights in the world.

Those participants, and their respective blocks, were unveiled this morning, with New Japan posting the announcement on YouTube for good measure. Block A will be led by current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, Hiromu Takahashi. He is joined by DOUKI, two-time BOTSJ winner and current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion KUSHIDA, Lio Rush, Impact Wrestling's "Speedball" Mike Bailey, former BOTSJ winner Ryusuke Taguchi, SHO, Taiji Ishimori, CMLL's Titan, and TJP.

Block B will be headlined former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champ El Desperado, newest Bullet Club member Clark Connors, and newly-minted tag champion Kevin Knight. Joining them are BUSHI, Revolution Pro's Dan Moloney, Francesco Akira, Master Wato, recent ROH World Title challenger Robbie Eagles, YOH, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

While the field is crawling with notable talent, all eyes will likely be on Takahashi, who has won the tournament three times in a row and four times in the last five years, an unprecedented run for a talent competing in BOTSJ. Takahashi also may come into the tournament with more gold as he is set to challenge SANADA for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestling Dontaku next weekend. 

Best of the Super Juniors 30 will officially kick off on May 12, with the finals taking place on May 28 in Tokyo.