NJPW Sakura Genesis
April 1st, 2018 | Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 9,882
The April Sumo Hall show. Usually, this is one of the stronger NJPW events of the year. It features the fallout from the New Japan Cup, while setting up the rest of the spring shows and even starts some of the Dominion talk. However, this is the weakest April card I’ve ever seen NJPW put out, with only the main event feeling like an interesting matchup. I’m intrigued to see if they can over deliver.
Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi w/ PIETER vs. The Young Bucks
Shoutout to the Young Bucks for moving to the heavyweight division and STILL being in the opening tag. This continued the Bullet Club battles, with the guys “TOO SWEETING” each other. Also, Yujiro had PIETER with him, so I instantly enjoyed this more than expected. The action in the match was fine. Matt continued the trend of selling his back since January. He went to do his Sharpshooter spot where he’s in too much pain and can’t keep it locked in, but Yujiro broke it up, which messed it up. He eventually slapped the hold back on and made Chase tap at 9:23. Like I said, it was fine and nothing more. The Bucks got a rebound win. [**¼]
Taichi and Takashi Iizuka vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano
Ah, so this is the time of the year when Ishii wastes time. By the way, NJPW ran this EXACT match during the New Japan Cup and it was the first Ishii match I ever gave the DUD rating too. So, good job on booking it again, Gedo. The good news is, this was better than that match. The bad news is, this still sucked. Lots of Suzuki-Gun bullshit, mainly from lazy ass Iizuka and not enough of what makes Ishii and Yano work. Yano rolled up Iizuka after an Ishii lariat to win in 7:42. Yea, that wasn’t good. Please give Ishii something interesting to do. [½*]
NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship: Bad Luck Fale and the Guerrillas of Destiny [c] vs. Michael Elgin, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Togi Makabe
I feel like people would’ve given WWE hell if they kept booking and pushing Michael Elgin the way NJPW has. Anyway, Elgin took the heat segment for his team, leading to the hot tag to Makabe. It’s a bad move to have Elgin as the face in peril because A) Taguchi is better in the position and B) nobody really has any sympathy left for Elgin. He gets beat up and we’re all like, “Good.” The champions withstood a flurry by the challengers, before Taguchi got put away with Gun Stun in 11:20. Having Elgin take the heat was a bad move and easily the sluggish part of the match. Other than that, this was decent. [**¼]
David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Juice Robinson vs. NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jay White, and YOSHI-HASHI
The ongoing stories here were the upcoming Finlay/White US Title match and Juice’s rivalry with Goto. I hope Juice dethrones him. Fittingly, White and Finlay beat the hell out of each other at the start. Finlay got thrown into the guardrail and took the heat for a while. Juice was just delightful in his run against Goto. Their singles match should be better than the one last year. After Tanahashi got tagged, everyone came in and got some stuff in. It was a fun run. Juice hit Goto with Pulp Friction again, to a very strong pop. Tanahashi was the legal man, though, so he pinned HASHI with High Fly Flow in 9:18. Hey, some good wrestling on this show. I appreciate it finally. Lots of strong interactions and build for future matches. Pretty much what I want from my multi-man tags. [***]
Tetsuya Naito, and IWGP Tag Team Champions EVIL and SANADA vs. The Killer Elite Squad and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Minoru Suzuki
LIDJ remains the best stable in the world and have been the only guys to make Suzuki-Gun watchable on a consistent basis. They’re also typically the saviors of an NJPW undercard. An early attack by Suzuki-Gun backfired. Minoru’s need to go after Naito allowed the LIDJ leader to turn the tables. Naito’s attitude is a great foil for Suzuki, because the IC Champion gets angrier when Naito is nonchalant about everything. Lance Archer stole the show by making a kid cry in the front row. Amazing. Naito got isolated until he found an opening and tagged in SANADA. He gave us a strong hot tag segment. In the end, Suzuki held Naito back as KES planted SANADA with the Killer Bomb. EVIL fought it off, but also fell to the same move and lost at 11:27. This was very good and built to Suzuki/Naito and KES/EVIL & SANADA II. Good back and forth that made me more interested in what’s coming next. [***¼]
After the match, Naito challenged Suzuki for the Intercontinental Title. I’m hype for the match, but it continues to feel like Naito’s character is lost. Why would he care about going back after the title he treated like trash? It’s been three months and the loss at WK makes less sense every day. I’m sure people will still grasp at straws in an attempt to defend it. Anyway, Suzuki vs. Naito should be great. I’m assuming it main events Wrestling Dontaku.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru [c] vs. BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi vs. Roppongi 3K w/ Rocky Romero
NJPW ran this exact same match at the Anniversary Show, which was where Suzuki-Gun won the titles. Unlike that match, which was surprisingly good, this one lacked a ton. This was just kind of a mess, with seemingly no rules and a bunch of tropes. Like, there would be one team thrown outside at a time and it just never clicked. Hiromu was the best thing about this match, like he is in almost everything he does. In the end, Kanemaru pulled the referee out following Time Bomb and Desperado used a shot with the title to retain in 12:45. Nowhere near the level of their solid Anniversary Show match. Disappointing and another in a long line of forgettable Jr. tags. [**]
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay [c] vs. Marty Scurll
This is one of the most uninteresting Jr. Title matches NJPW could put on. Don’t get me wrong; these guys have great chemistry. It’s just been so overdone and their NJPW matches have never reached the level of their stuff in RevPro or PORGRESS. They’re familiar with one another on a crazy level, leading to tons of counters and reversals. It’s all good stuff. Marty targeted the neck, which made sense as it still allows Will to do his flippy stuff and not look like a fool who can’t sell. Remember, he only sells when he feels like it. However, Will went out and just keeping doing offense that would further damage his neck. He came across as dumb. Some of their counter stuff was natural and great looking, while some felt very contrived. Like they felt they just had to get it in, rather than because it made sense within the flow. Will had a nasty moment on a Spanish Fly off the apron, when he cracked his head on the apron. It led to a gross looking cut. It felt like that would be the end for Will, but he continued to fight valiantly. The visual is the best part of the match. Scurll kept dropping Ospreay on his head and Ospreay kept surviving, to the point where it felt way over the top. There’s such a thing as “diminishing returns.” Ospreay hit the Oscutter out of nowhere to retain in 30:44. Yea, this had no business going thirty minutes. It had some good moments, like some of the counters and the bloody Ospreay stuff, but it also had several contrived moments and way over the top stuff near the end. I wouldn’t call it bad, but it tried way too hard to be something epic and missed the mark by a lot.[**¾]
Post-match, Ospreay called out KUSHIDA, who was on commentary, to prove that his win over him wasn’t a fluke. I mean, I get the story they’re telling with Ospreay, but it’s causing us to get way too many rematches. Especially since Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA hasn’t come close to the level of their first encounter.
Cody and Hangman Page vs. The Golden Lovers
The Bullet Club are at war, in case you forgot. Cody draws a ton of draw, probably the most in NJPW. He did great at the psychological stuff here. He’d attack Kota Ibushi viciously to upset Kenny and the fans. It felt like everything he did was done to bother Kenny or the crowd. Kenny took a chair to the face from Cody, which set up some isolation on Kota. Kenny ended up isolated for longer and Cody nearly put him through a table. However, the Young Bucks showed up to voice their displeasure with this idea. Cody ended up getting busted open the hard way, just as the Golden Lovers truly got rolling. Page cut off their Golden Shower (yikes) and then went into a series of good offense. The finishing stretch was as wild as you’d expect. Kenny set Cody up for One Winged Angel off the apron and through a table, but he fought it off and Kota went for the dead lift German. Instead, Page came in and get hit a doomsday dropkick. The finish was great, as Page grabbed Kota’s leg to prevent Cody from eating Kamigoye. Cody then rolled him up with a handful of tights to steal it in 23:52. This was very good. Cody played a great heel and there was some dynamite storytelling throughout. Kota and Kenny continue to have fantastic chemistry and Cody is a great foil for them. [***½]
After the match, Cody and Page attacked Ibushi. Cody went to use a chair, but Omega took it from him and ran them off.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] w/ Gedo vs. Zack Sabre Jr. w/ TAKA Michinoku
Okada is at his best in matches that take him out of his formulaic comfort zone (Shibata, the third Omega match, etc.). Sabre is just the kind of guy who can do that. Sabre wasted no time taking Okada to the mat, where he was clearly superior. In true Okada title defense form, he was obsessed with beating Sabre at his specialty, so he worked him on the mat too. Okada tried, but Sabre responded by twisting him up with relative ease. One of my favorite moments came when Sabre caught Okada’s signature dropkick into a submission. I love that because if a guy does the same stuff over and over, the way Okada does, a smart wrestler would counter. There was also his counter of Okada’s signature neck breaker by going right into an octopus hold. Sabre began to pick apart Okada’s Rainmaker arm. Okada realized that he’s in more trouble than he thought and can no longer focus on trying to beat Sabre at his own game. He’s overmatched. Sabre also had a submission counter for the flying elbow and even did one for the Rainmaker pose. Incredible. There’s also a great moment where Sabre caught Okada in the same submission that Okada tapped to in the G1 25 against Shinsuke Nakamura. It’s the only time Okada tapped in his career. Okada survived and went into Rainmaker mode. Sabre had a counter or two ready, like everyone else when Okada goes into his finishing stretch, but he eventually hit one that ended this at 34:58. A great main event that did enough to pull Okada out of his formula. They told a stellar story, where Okada tried to match Sabre on the mat and fell way short, but fought valiantly enough to withstand it all. Sabre did his homework and had answers for everything. I do think the finish was a bit too similar to many other Okada matches, which took away from some of it. Still, this ranks only behind Okada’s defense against Shibata and right up there with the first Omega and the Marufuji ones. [****¼]
After the match, Hiroshi Tanahashi showed up to challenge Okada for the title now that Okada has tied his defenses record. I’m sure it’ll be a great match (all but their WK10 match were), but I’m not interested in seeing it again.
Overall: 5.5/10. Easily the worst April Sumo Hall show I’ve ever seen. The main event delivered and was mostly the great match I was hoping for. The Jr. Heavyweight Title match was the worst I’ve ever seen from those two and everything else on the card, sans the Golden Lovers tag, was forgettable or kind of just there. It worked to set up some future shows, but that’s about it. Major disappointment from a show that usually delivers.
NJPW Strong Style Evolved
March 25th, 2018 | Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California | Attendance: 4,372
After a successful first trip to the United States, NJPW returns with Strong Style Evolved. Last year’s shows crowned the first IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion and featured a handful of standout matches. This year’s card looks much worse on paper. Other than the novelty of the main event, it plays out like a “Road to” show for the company. Those are usually fine shows, but it feels very lackluster to put on one of those for a rare trip to the US. As always, I’m optimistic that the show will be great, so let’s dive in.
Jim Ross and Josh Barnett were on commentary again. JR was a trip last time. The opening video package ran down the card, with a lame voiceover guy.
Rocky Romero and Roppongi 3K vs. SoCal Uncensored
SoCal Uncensored is Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky. When I see Scorpio, I just wonder if it’s somehow 2005 again. Watching him and Rocky start took me back about a decade. Roppongi 3K worked great together, as always. They’ve just been hampered by bad booking. Lots of fast paced action in this one, with everyone working hard. I got a kick out of seeing Scorpio and Daniels take to the skies like younger men. In fact, Sky had the highlight with a very cool neckbreaker variation. After things broke down and set up a frantic finish, Roppongi 3K got the win with their 3K finisher in 11:03. Good choice for an opener. Lots of energy and some fun spots. Can’t ask for much more than that from the guys involved. [***]
David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs. Gedo and NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto
This helps build Goto vs. Juice, since Juice recently beat him in a tag. I’m all for Juice winning a title, especially since it became hard to care about Goto once Okada bitched him out. I may not be a fan of Gedo as a booker, but I mostly enjoy him as a foul-mouthed trash talking wrestler. Juice was introduced as the “Flamboyant” Juice Robinson. Everything involving Juice and Goto was really good, while Gedo provided some good comedy moments. Finlay continues to be an underrated piece of the NJPW roster. I miss his short-lived team with Ricochet. I was happy to see him get the win, hitting Gedo with a stunner in 7:26. That was quite entertaining. I dig this Juice/Finlay team. [**¾]
Chuckie T and Toru Yano vs. The Killer Elite Squad
A comedy duo against a vicious, bruising tag team. Loud “Yano” chants. As Suzuki-Gun members, it was a given that KES would attack before the bell. This was more fun than expected. The fans ate up each one of Yano’s antics. Seeing a hot tag go to him was a great change of pace. His reactions to everything were perfect. After a Chuckie dive, he faked his own dive and instead pulled off the turnbuckle pad. Chuckie got a few flash near falls on Archer, but fell to the Killer Bomb in 10:48. Again, this was a blast. KES remained strong ahead of their eventual title shot, while Yano and Chuckie were booked as great underdogs. [**½]
Before the next match, Cody cut a promo to say that the Bullet Club is fine and the booking of this match was pointless. He called Tama a Bullet Club OG and put them over. However, Tanga Loa said the match would happen and that they aren’t Team Cody.
Cody and Marty Scurll w/ Brandi Rhodes vs. The Guerrillas of Destiny
Marty had some fun early, getting happy when Cody was dumped outside and siding with GOD, only to hug Cody when they tackled him down. From there, Cody spent most of the match playing up to the heel tactics that got the crowd going. Cody’s ring work since leaving WWE has been unspectacular, but the dude always nails his character work. They did well to further the Bullet Club issues, while having a decent match. Though the ring stuff wasn’t great, the character work on display allowed this to be an enjoyable match. Cody won via Cross Rhodes in 10:53. [**¾]
BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, IWGP Tag Team Champion SANADA, and Tetsuya Naito vs. Dragon Lee, Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA, and Ryusuke Taguchi
It makes me sad that this is the most important match KUSHIDA has had since Wrestle Kingdom. Though this was a step away from Naito and Tanahashi’s current feuds with Suzuki-Gun, I can’t hate them facing off. In fact, they started the match and the fans loved it. The same went for the always insane interactions between Lee and Takahashi. They’re so good together. It was also great to see KUSHIDA getting to do something of note. He reminded everyone how good he is. The fans loved LIDJ and it made for the best atmosphere on the show up to this point. Naito got the win after nailing Destino on Taguchi in 12:14. The best match on the card to this point. LIDJ never fail to deliver. Great fun. [***½]
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay
This was originally scheduled to be Liger vs. Rey Mysterio. In fact, Mysterio cut a promo before the match to say that will still happen, but he’s just hurt right now. Ospreay is a poor replacement, as we’ve seen this pairing before and it’s always just good and nowhere near great. That was the case here again. Liger hit a brainbuster in the aisle that kept Will down for about 18 second. Then, he miraculously sprinted up and beat the count. You’ve got to make it look better. The frustrating thing about Will is that we’ve seen him do much better (look at his first match with KUSHIDA for example), he just chooses not to and it hurts his matches. He often struggles to put together key things that make a match great. The execution in this one was mostly right, but the crowd didn’t care that much, which was surprising. When Ospreay kicked out of a super brainbuster, it didn’t get the response they hoped for. Will’s floppy selling was also a troublesome point. He won with the Oscutter in 10:36. The match told a fine story of the ageless Liger still bringing quality effort, but some of the technical stuff kept it from being what it could’ve been. Like their BOTSJ matches, it disappointed. [**½]
After the match, Ospreay challenged Mysterio to a match at some point. He was jumped by Marty Scurll, because why book something fresh for the juniors division?
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii vs. IWGP Intercontinental Champion Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr.
Nothing against the main event, but this was the match that I was most interested in on the card. The stuff between Sakura Genesis opponents Okada and Sabre were great. Okada’s usually a cocky prick, but Sabre, just as cocky, was easily twisting him around. He made Okada kind of look like a chump instead of a dominant champion. Their match is going to rule, even if the result is obvious. However, it wasn’t just their stuff that worked. Ishii and Suzuki are two of the baddest wrestlers on the planet. Watching them beat the hell out of each other was fantastic. The strikes they exchanged were cringe worthy in the best possible way. Sabre earned more momentum when he bested Ishii via submission and ref stoppage in 19:56. In an awesome moment, Sabre easily trapped Okada in another submission. The new best match on the show, as four talented guys put together a compelling tag that beautifully built to the PPV. [***¾]
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Jay White [c] vs. Hangman Page
This has been building for a while. The problem is, Hangman Page just isn’t that compelling of a character or wrestler. He’s been find in multi-man tags, but being asked to go over 20 minutes in the semi main event is a lot. This was built at a very slow pace, without much flow to it. Some of the moments, like a fight outside and one on the top, seemed to go on forever in an effort to extend things. The mostly hot crowd for the night was pretty dead for this. Page got a hot run late that picked up the pace, but it wasn’t enough. He fell to the Blade Runner in a long 25:01. This seemed like another case of NJPW’s thought process that going long = great match. Shave off about ten minutes and this would’ve worked better. It was still good, just probably not at the level it could’ve been. White still seems to be figuring out his ne character in the ring, though he does well with it outside. [***]
Post-match, David Finlay speared Jay White. He came off like a heel and challenged Jay for the title in April. Like Ospreay/Scurll, this should be a good match, but another case of something unoriginal happening. Also, Finlay is like 0-12 against Jay. What gives him the right to a title shot?
The Golden Lovers vs. The Young Bucks
I didn’t watch live, so I came into this hearing all the high praise that this might’ve been the greatest tag team match in history. After seeing it, I wouldn’t go that far, but make no mistake. This ruled. For years, my least favorite thing in all of pro wrestling was the Young Bucks. However, for the past year or so, they’ve been so much better. They’ve cut most of the grating personality stuff, improved their selling and, most important, began telling compelling stories in the ring. This was their magnum opus. For 39:23, both teams brought out their big offensive guns, but it never felt like moves for the sake of it. There was meaning behind it all. Omega was conflicted about beating up his pals, Ibushi was happy to do it, and the Bucks had their own ways of responding to it all. Matt sold the hell out of his lower back, which he’s been doing so well since the Tokyo Dome. His back giving out when he applied the Sharpshooter was great. When Omega hoisted Matt up for the One Winged Angel, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Matt, who had antagonized Kenny throughout, demanded he go through with it and put the nail in the coffin. It was a splendid moment that should’ve been the finish, but Nick broke it up. That it continued wasn’t bad, it just would’ve meant more to me if it had finished there. The Lovers used the Golden Trigger on Matt to seal it. All this, without mentioning that these guys all pulled out some of the wildest spots you’ll ever see in tag team wrestling. I’d put it behind DIY/Revival II and the Tag Title match from No Mercy 2002 off the top of my head, but this was tremendous. EASILY the best Bucks match ever and certainly Kenny’s best work of 2018 so far. [****¾]
After the match, Cody arrived and yelled at Matt, before shoving Nick. The Golden Lovers made the save and Omega hugged Nick. Matt refused and the Bucks left together. Kenny ended the show by saying the Golden Lovers were here to stay and that they would be in featured matches come NJPW’s July 7th return to the US.
Overall: 7/10. It was basically a two match show on paper and that’s mostly how it played out, though the LIDJ/Taguchi Japan tag was also a highlight. Most of the show felt like a typical NJPW “Road to” event, even the standout Sabre tag. However, the main event was stellar and arguably the best match NJPW has put on this year. The biggest problem with the show was the production. Don’t get me wrong, NJPW production is normally top notch. But, it seems like AXS was running this and it made for bad sound, shit camera angles, and commentary was really bad. Go see Bucks/Lovers, though.
NJPW New Japan Cup Finals
March 21st, 2018 | Aore Nagaoka Arena in Nagaoka, Niigata | Attendance: 3,996
I probably should have done my Semi-Finals review with the Quarterfinals. Ah, well. I’ll give quick thoughts on that before doing the Finals review.
Tanahashi/Juice: I thought they told a great story and Juice gave one of his best performances ever. I do think it suffered from the NJPW thinking of “longer match = better match.” It drags at points, keeping it from being truly great. Still, a very good match and another notch in Juice’s belt as a fast rising star. [***¾]
SANADA/Sabre: Like the other semi-final match, I do feel this went too long, at 26:40. I did enjoy how SANADA made it into a grappling battle, showing that he could hang with the best there. The crowd wasn’t as invested in this as you’d expect, which kind of kept it from being truly special. There were some great exchanges in this one, though too many dead spots held it back. Sabre eventually won via submission. [***½]
Shota Umino vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi
It’s the Young Lions. You know what you’re getting from them at this point. They bring a ton of fire and energy. Lots of hard hitting strikes, and two guys who brought everything they could to this match. Even with their limited move sets, they engaged the crowd. It was an even affair throughout, with an intensity that might not be matched on the rest of the card. Umino made Yagi tap to the Boston crab in 7:40, which makes sense since Umino has been quite good lately. A fun opener. [**¾]
Taichi vs. Tomoyuki Oka
Since becoming a heavyweight, Taichi has been surprisingly better. However, that was in matches against the likes of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito. Here, he worked a young lion and toyed with him. It was a good idea since Oka brought a lot of energy in his attempted comebacks. This just wasn’t a very strong performance from Taichi. It wasn’t as bad as his junior heavyweight stuff either, though. He got the win with a superkick in 7:05. Decent. [**]
Bad Luck Fale, Tanga Loa, and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Michael Elgin, Toa Henare, and Togi Makabe
Tokyo Latina was here and she looked incredible. She was the best thing about this. It’s weird watching Michael Elgin and I just can’t get invested in his stuff. Nobody really brought any effort, except Henare. However, I missed watching his battles with Ishii. They need to go against each more often. As stated, there wasn’t a lot of effort in this and Tanga won with Ape Shit in 9:54. It happened. It was inoffensive, but is an easy skip. [*½]
The Killer Elite Squad vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano
Ishii and Yano have been a steady team in NJPW whenever Ishii isn’t on a singles run. Anyway, Archer was on fire with the antics here. He had a blast spitting water on the crowd and messing with them. At one point, he rubbed an elderly woman’s towel on his crotch. Ishii got to bring the babyface fire against his larger opponents, which works. That, combined with the antics of Archer and Yano, made for a fun match. Davey looked much better here than in the singles match with Yano. The closing stretch lacked something, before Yano fell to the Killer Bomb in 12:59. It probably went a bit longer than it had to, which showed in the final few moments, but it was mostly fun. [**¾]
David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs. Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI
I’ve really been enjoying the Finlay and Juice team. This was a fluid match with some quality action. Goto and YOSHI worked well together and cut the ring in half on Finlay. Juice got to come in with the hot tag, which is something he does well. He’s on a great roll and it carried over here. Everyone was good in this, but Juice felt like the star. He scored a huge win by planting Goto with Pulp Friction in 10:23. That puts him in line for a shot at a title he came close to winning last February. This was the best thing on the show so far and featured four guys putting in strong performances. [***¼]
BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, and Tetsuya Naito vs. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Minoru Suzuki, and Takashi Iizuka
This seems to be building towards Suzuki/Naito for the IC Title. It’s not at all where Naito should be right now, but that sounds great. More importantly, it sounds fresh. Where the last match was a lot of action, this was more about mind games and brawling. These are two rule breaking, cunning factions and it shows in their matches. Suzuki-Gun was in control for most of this, showing that they’re the leaders of this domain. There was an interesting note of how Naito would jump on the grenade for his guys and take Minoru’s torture instead of them. Minoru took him into the crowd for a fight, which left SANADA to beat Iizuka with Skull End in 12:45. A good little brawl that helped build the next faction feud. I’m all in for Suzuki/Naito. [**¾]
Post-match, BUSHI and Hiromu attacked the Jr. Tag Team Champions, only for Roppongi 3K to hit the scene and clear out both teams. It seems like we’re getting the three way rematch come Sakura Genesis.
Chase Owens and Kota Ibushi vs. Chuckie T and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada w/ Gedo
Owens and Ibushi have formed quite the team on this tour. They typically have good matches and solid chemistry. As for the CHAOS team, give me this Okada more often. He looked like he was out there having fun now. Anyway, Chase has been doing all he can to Package Piledriver Okada, which played a role here. Every combination in this was fun, from Okada and Ibushi being great to Owens’ desperation against Okada, to Chuckie being a blast, especially against Ibushi. In the end, Chase came close to beating Okada once or twice, but ended up tapping to the cobra clutch in 11:57. Better than expected, thanks to everyone putting in the work. I liked most of the interactions and this was the most likable Okada has been in a long time. [***¼]
New Japan Cup Finals: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. w/ TAKA Michinoku
Sabre beat Tanahashi in his G1 debut (****¼), but Tanahashi got his win back with the Intercontinental Title on the line a few months later (***¾). This was the definition of a chess match in a wrestling ring. They brilliantly played off their previous matches. Sabre knew what to target, going after Tanahashi’s battered arm and transitioning to the leg to neutralize things like the High Fly Flow. Tanahashi had his own plan, taking to Sabre’s legs. Sabre’s been a cocky little shit during this tournament and I loved how he cut off Tanahashi’s attempts to be the brash one, like he did when Tanahashi tried to skin the cat. Tanahashi’s comeback was great, aided by his continuous selling and Sabre’s growing aggression. It was as if Sabre got angrier and angrier when his offense wasn’t enough to keep the ace down. Sabre not having a specific finisher established added a lot, as almost any submission he puts on after a certain point feels like it could be the end. My favorite spot was probably Sabre stepping out of the dragon screw into the European clutch pin. Tanahashi doing the pin back to him was great, too. In the end, Sabre’s technical acumen was too much and he trapped Tanahashi in a position he couldn’t escape, forcing him to submit at 34:02. This never felt long, had a great pace to it, and every little thing they did made sense. There was tons of drama and I love that, despite Suzuki-Gun being cheats, Sabre did this entire tournament with no help. Incredible. [****½]
After the match, Sabre made it clear he was coming for Okada and the IWGP Heavyweight Title. I don’t think Okada’s reign is in danger, however, Sabre makes for the most interesting opponent for Okada since Shibata challenged him after last year’s New Japan Cup. Sabre has been spectacular in 2018 and he’s different enough that it should make the title defense a special one.
Overall: 7.5/10. An enjoyable show from top to bottom, with only the Elgin tag sticking out as something you should skip. There are some decent matches on the undercard, though it continues to be stuff that you could miss and not feel like you’re really losing anything. Still, the Naito/Suzuki interactions and the Ibushi tag were worth it, as was another outing by the Juice/Finlay team. The tournament finals were fantastic and one of the best matches NJPW has put on all year.
NJPW New Japan Cup Quarterfinals
The tournament is down to eight participants. Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin, Bad Luck Fale, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Zack Sabre Jr., Toru Yano, and SANADA. At least one matchup sounds interesting on paper. Let’s get to it.
March 14th, 2018 | Fuji-San Messe in Fuji, Shizuoka
New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: Juice Robinson vs. Michael Elgin
Early on, the fans were kind of subdued. Both guys are babyface and Juice showed that he wasn’t some underdog by trading some power stuff. It’s an interesting progression of how far Juice has come in a few short years. He’s a Gedo success story. Anyway, Elgin was still too strong and it showed. He took control and Juice was awesome at bumping for him. He made sure Elgin looked like a monster. Juice had some hope spots, but not any that really got the crowd going. Elgin fought off Pulp Friction on more than one occasion. He hit the Buckle Bomb and went for the Elgin Bomb, only for Juice to counter into an inside cradle that got him the win in 17:04. I thought this was a good match that didn’t have enough drama to make it stand out. I liked how Juice got to look evenly matched at some points.[***]
New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: Bad Luck Fale vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Sometimes, people can wrestle a bunch and always find ways to make it different (Usos/New Day, Almas/Gargano, Naito/Tanahashi). While I enjoy Bad Luck Fale more than most, he’s kind of limited and Tanahashi can only do so much with him. Gedo has booked this countless times over the past few years. Tanahashi spent the early portions making Fale work and chase him around. Tire out the big man. It’s a good strategy. Tanahashi was the underdog and did all he could to overcome his larger opponent. I did get a kick out of Fale trying to win by countout, which is how Tanahashi beat him in the G1 last year. Tanahashi played that card again, escaping the Bad Luck Fall and sending Fale outside to win by countout after 14:36. Not bad, but it feels like way too much of the same between these two. Fresher booking would help. Speaking of booking, I get the sense this is all leading to Tanahashi challenging Okada with his record number of defenses on the line. Stop me if you’re heard Tana vs. Okada before. A lot. [**¾]
March 15th, 2018 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, JapanNew Japan Cup Quarterfinals: SANADA vs. Toru YanoThey had a mini-feud last year, which included a G1 match. There was fun to be had from the start. They took the fight outside and SANDA tried tying Yano up into the Paradise Lock for a countout win, which was how he beat Yano in the G1. Yano slipped free and nearly won by countout. SANADA’s frantic attempts to get back in was great. Yano missed a chair shot and eventually beat a countout of his own. After some surprisingly good counter wrestling, SANADA used a Yano trick by hitting him with a low blow. Skull End followed and Yano was done at 4:51. See how much of a difference it makes when you book Yano to go five minutes instead of thirteen? This was way more entertaining. Some good fun, the right guy went over, and they kept me engaged. [**½]
New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. w/ TAKA Michinoku
Hands down, the most interesting matchup in this tournament. Their G1 match last year was incredible (****½). It’s interesting to note that Ibushi admitted he’d rather face Naito than Sabre, because Sabre gives him trouble. He did lose to Naito and beat Zack in the G1 last year, though. Early on, Sabre’s methodical pace worked to perfection. He slowed Ibushi and took him to the mat. Sabre used them to combat Ibushi’s kicks. He went after any and all body parts. Usually, that might impact the overall story, but it worked here because Ibushi has so many weapons and he had a grueling match with YOSHI-HAHSI in the opening round. When Ibushi got back into it and they traded stuff, things were great. So many highlight exchanges. I loved that Sabre had the Kamigoye scouted. Ibushi didn’t debut it when they last met, but Sabre did his homework. He kept finding ways to avoid it. There’s a great struggle as Ibushi refused to quit and Sabre grew frustrated as he threw his best submissions at him. They teased the finish from their G1 match twice, but Sabre survived. He managed to trap Ibushi in a brutal octopus hold variation and, while Ibushi still wouldn’t quit, the referee had to call for a stoppage at 21:02. What a match. Neck and neck with Tanahashi/Suzuki for the best NJPW match of the year. Their exchanges were fantastic, while Sabre came out looking like a killer and Ibushi lost nothing as he refused to give up. I love these two. [****½]
The semi-finals sound so much better than this round on paper. You’ve got two first time ever matches. Juice against one of his mentors in Tanahashi, while Sabre takes on SANADA in a match that sounds awesome.
Overall: 7/10. This was a solid round of the tournament. Juice/Elgin was a good way to get things going. Tanahashi/Fale lacked and didn’t click the way their past matches have. Probably because we’ve seen it too often. SANADA/Yano was a nice little surprise that didn’t take too long. Sabre/Ibushi was a must see match between two of the most consistent wrestlers in NJPW. Amazing match.
NJPW New Japan Cup First Round
Instead of spending time worrying about the mostly irrelevant undercards on these shows, I decided to do one big review of only the eight first round tournament matches.
March 8th, 2018 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, JapanNew Japan Cup First Round: Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi
This is a rematch from last year’s first round (**¾), which Juice won. According to Kelly, Yujiro has lost in the opening round in five of his nine Cup appearances. Yujiro took Juice to the mat and wore him down in the early stages. He came in with a plan and constantly cut off Juice’s comeback attempts. Like most good heels, Yujiro was more than willing to take a countout win. Juice was valiant and made it back to the ring. The fans rallied behind Juice. Each move got a great response. His gut buster looked great. Yujiro used the Yano special (low blow and cradle) for a near fall that the fans bit on. They also were shocked when Juice kicked out of a rough looking powerbomb/backbreaker type move. Juice came back with a powerbomb for two, before winning with Pulp Friction in 16:08. Better than I thought it would be. Yujiro did good heel work, though his heat segment lacked a bit. Still, Juice is a top notch underdog babyface and he got the crowd totally invested. Best Yujiro match in a while.[***¼]
New Japan Cup First Round: Michael Elgin vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Though this tournament is typically one filled with upsets, many expected Ishii to make it far or even win. With the way they’ve built up Jay White driving a wedge into CHAOS and suggesting guys in there should go after Kazuchika Okada, it would make sense. Especially since Ishii is one of the few to beat Okada in the past two years. Anyway, these guys went with the kind of match I want from them. However, it was nowhere near the level of their excellent G1 25 bout (****½). They were evenly matched in some areas, but Elgin was clearly the stronger. Ishii refused to stay down as Elgin threw everything he had at him. There were several moments where it looked like Ishii was basically going to die. He took some scary bumps, including a Splash Mountain where he landed on his head. Even Elgin was concerned for Ishii’s health. He remained sloppy throughout, before winning with Burning Hammer in a whopping 29:07. Imagine thinking Elgin A) going over Ishii, B) in a thirty minute match, and C) in 2018, was a good idea. I swear, Gedo’s booking love baffles me. The match was good, though scary at many points. Elgin’s sloppiness was tough to get past. If you want to watch these guys kill it, check out 2015. [***½]
March 10th, 2018 | Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Aichi
New Japan Cup First Round: Bad Luck Fale vs. Lance Archer
Both guys are capable of good singles matches, with the right opponents. They don’t feel like that kind of opponent for each other. Anyway, these guys went out and had a HOSS FIGHT. They brawled around the ring and into the crowd. I got a kick out of Archer busting out some Undertaker style OLD SCHOOL. His character work throughout this made it more fun than I expected. Fale eventually picked up the win with the Grenade in 11:02. I was impressed with this. It wasn’t some mind blowing match, but it was what it needed to be. Two big guys hammering away each other, with good character stuff from Lance to put it over. [***]
New Japan Cup First Round: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taichi
This is Taichi’s second heavyweight singles match, and Tanahashi’s first since New Beginning. Tanahashi busting out some black gear is interesting. Maybe it’s like Hogan wearing black in 1995 to channel his darkness. Taichi played this wisely. He avoided contact early and even teased getting himself counted out. It’s an old school stall tactic, but one that worked for heat here. Once we moved past that segment, the match picked up. Taichi began showing off moves we didn’t get to see often when he was a junior heavyweight. It showed that there’s something more to him than we’ve come to expect. They made the fans believe in Taichi’s near falls, especially one that came after a low blow and rollup. Tanahashi hasn’t made it past the first round of this tournament in four years, so a loss is very believable. Tanahashi made the big comeback and won with High Fly Flow in 23:53. The best Taichi singles match I’ve ever seen. Slightly better than the Naito one. They told a very good story, with Tanahashi having to overcome his past demons in this tournament and Taichi throwing every trick at him. [***½]
March 11th, 2018 | Amagaski Memorial Park in Amagaski, HyogoNew Japan Cup First Round: Kota Ibushi vs. YOSHI-HASHITheir G1 Climax match last year was good, but nowhere near great. This was much better. There was a sense of urgency behind YOASHI’s offense and it felt like he desperately wanted to get a big win. Ibushi is always reliable for a great big match, so I wasn’t worried about him. HASHI came across as a guy who was disgruntled. Like, at the world. He’s not as good as the top guys in NJPW and it bothers him. He threw everything he had at Ibushi, including busting out a Canadian Destroyer. Ibushi decided this arena had a balcony worth diving off, so he did a moonsault off one for the biggest high spot of the match. Though HASHI gave his best performance since the Omega match in the G1 26, the fans just never fully bought into him as a threat. The Butterfly Lock got less of a reaction than another guy’s submission would. He got many near falls, but fell to the Kamigoye after 22:33. Very good match and the best that YOSHI’s had in quite some time. Ibushi is on fire right now and seems incapable of having a bad match. Really strong back and forth stuff. [***¾]
New Japan Cup First Round: Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
They are two of my favorite guys to watch. Their G1 match was very good (***¾). Sabre targeted the left arm of Naito, which made sense because it’s been the focus of recent Suzuki-Gun attacks and because it limits Destino. Everything Sabre did looked incredibly fluid. He transitioned into moves with the greatest of ease. He had Naito scouted so well, finding counters for all his signature stuff. Sabre added the legs to his focus, twisting Naito in absurd ways. Naito showed tons of fire and desperation. However, Destino was countered or block at every turn. That included two counters in the final stretch that led to Sabre applying a brutal looking submission to earn the win in 22:43. A fantastic match that played to Sabre’s strengths. It reminded me of his G1 outing against Tanahashi. Meanwhile, this was the best babyface work by Naito in a very long time. He nailed all the expressions, selling, hope spots, and desperation. Sure, he took HASHI and Taichi lightly, but has now lost another big match in 2018. [****¼]
March 12th, 2018 | Takamatsu City Taiikukan in Takamatsu, KagawaNew Japan Cup First Round: Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Toru YanoOkay, so this was exactly what I didn’t want it to be. I wanted one of two things. Either a Davey Boy win or for Yano to win in short order. That’s when Yano is at his best. He gets in, does his comedy, and gets out. When they drag his matches out past seven or so minutes, it gets rough. They did all the stuff you expect from a Yano match, except they made it last excruciatingly long. And it was all so Yano could win by countout at 12:52. Look, I enjoy Toru Yano. But this was too much. Arguably the worst match all year from any promotion. [¼*]
New Japan Cup First Round: Chuckie T vs. SANADA
A strange choice for a main event. Chuckie is not established in NJPW and is replacing Beretta, while SANADA is a Tag Team Champion. There was a bit of everything in this match. Chuckie showed a bit of his famous comedy side, they did some brawling through the crowd, and showcased mat work. Chuckie played the role of the aggressor from the start. I didn’t expect it, but was pleased to see it, as it allowed him to seem like a threat against his bigger star opponent. SANADA has been getting lots of pops lately, so him having to come back got a good reaction. Chuckie got very close on a flash pin and with the Awful Waffle. He escaped the Skull End, so when SANADA applied it again, he decided to let it go after a bit and resort to the moonsault to advance in 21:31. This was a good match. Some solid back and forth, with a good enough showing for Chuckie to establish that he can be taken seriously. [***]
So, the first round is up. The quarterfinals are set up as Juice Robinson vs. Michael Elgin (in what world is that better than Juice vs. Ishii?), Bad Luck Fale vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (a favorite of Gedo’s that he uses too often), Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (their G1 match was incredible), and Toru Yano vs. SANADA (meh).
Overall: 7.5/10. A mostly good first round of the New Japan Cup. I question several booking decisions (another Tana/Fale match and Elgin advancing), but all the matches cracked three stars outside of the dreadful Yano/Davey bout. Night three had the best two matches in Ibushi/HASHI and Naito/Sabre. Those are the only matches that felt like they were “must see”, but other than the one stinker, it’s worth checking out.
