When New Japan announced its post COVID-19 plans for 2020, fans were filled with optimism. Not only was New Japan returning, but it was returning with the New Japan Cup, a tournament originally scheduled to take place in March. And whilst top stars such as: Will Ospreay, Jay White and KENTA couldn’t participate, New Japan made up for this by announcing the first Openweight New Japan Cup in 15 years. So, how was the first round of matches? Here are my thoughts:
TOGI MAKABE VS YOTA TSUJI
Three months off clearly benefitted some wrestlers more than others, and it understandably helped Makabe out tonnes. Makabe looked the best he’s looked since 2015 during his NEVER Openweight wars with Tomohiro Ishii and, with all due respect to Tsuji, he’s no Tomohiro Ishii. However, Tsuji showed a lot of heart during this match, emphatically slapping Makabe before being turned inside out with a lariat and being put away by a beautiful bridging German Suplex from Makabe. Clocking in at just under 10 minutes, this match was short and sweet, and did exactly what it needed to do. 6/10
TORU YANO VS JADO
If I had to describe this match in one word, it would be ‘ugh’. Because that word was the most frequent one uttered by me whilst watching this match. Jado can’t even move, let alone wrestle a nine minute competitive match with long heat spots. And whilst I’ve written in length about my love of Toru Yano, his charisma alone wasn’t enough to carry this match. And whilst I did find myself chuckling at Jado’s attempts to start a Jado chant, followed by Yano mocking him, the rest of the match was dull and drawn out. This was by far the worst New Japan match of the year, potentially the worst overall match of the year so far. 1/10
TOMOAKI HONMA VS HIROMU TAKAHASHI
Coming into this match, I didn’t have high hopes. I purely expected it to be an exhibition for Hiromu with Honma not taking many bumps. With that being said, I was taken aback by the physicality of this match. Honma definitely benefited from taking three months off, and it showed in this match. Both Honma and Hiromu took some brutal bumps, the most notable of which being a death valley driver on the apron from Hiromu to Honma. As a man who temporarily retired, Honma didn’t have to take those hard spots, but hats off. Hiromu looked great as well, showing the kind of intensity that he’d shown for years in the junior heavyweight division, proving why he’ll be a star for years to come, winning with a Timebomb. 7/10
TOMOHIRO ISHII VS EL DESPERADO
In terms of the junior heavyweight division, there is no one more underrated than El Desperado. The man has the swagger of a champion and plays the cocky heel so well, all without using facial expressions. And he also happens to be amazing in ring as well. So pair him with Tomohiro Ishii, one of the most consistent performers of the last decade, and you get magic. Desperado viciously targeted Ishii’s knee, which led to some great near falls. In the end, Ishii got the win with a brainbuster, but a 20 minute main event has raised Desperado’s stock exponentially. The only improvement I could think of, was having this match take place in a crowded Korakuen Hall, but obviously New Japan did the best they could. 8/10
GABRIEL KIDD VS TAIJI ISHIMORI
Out of the three Young Lion matches, this one was unfortunately the weakest. It wasn’t a bad match by any means, but in terms of competitiveness and in-ring quality, the match ranks third. Whilst Gabe did show some fighting spirit, the majority of the match was controlled by the methodical pace of Ishimori, which doesn’t seem fitting of the former IWGP & GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion. Whilst the back rakes and eye pokes fit his tag team partner El Phantasmo, they don’t fit the Bone Soldier, who has a much more high flying style. In the end, the match wasn’t bad, just overshadowed by the other Young Lion contests. 5/10
YUYA UEMURA VS YOSHINOBU KANEMARU
Now we move on to the best Young Lion match of the three. Whilst Uemura has been bottom of the totem pole of Young Lions for a while, this match has really elevated him. During lockdown, he has clearly gotten bigger, which is only a good thing. And he played the perfect foil to the dastardly Kanemaru. Whilst Kanemaru tries to grind down Uemura, Uemura tosses him around like clothes in a washing machine. Whilst ultimately Kanemaru was always going to win (setting up a tasty second round clash) it was nice to see Uemura get so much offense in. He’s a future star, for sure. 6/10
YUJI NAGATA VS MINORU SUZUKI
How good was this match, eh? Everyone knows how good Minoru Suzuki is, and Yuji Nagata is one of the most underrated Japanese stars of all time. Seriously. If he was ten years younger or ten years older, he’d be a mega star. And he continued the streak of excellent New Japan Cup matches here. Nagata and Suzuki beat the hell out of each other, which was phenomenal. And whilst some people were upset that Nagata beat Suzuki, I’m all for it. Not only is Nagata just as good as Suzuki in my opinion, but this also sets up a fresh match versus Okada for Nagata. Suzuki will be fine, as the loss was presented as an upset, and tournament losses aren’t that damaging. Especially in a match as good as this. 8/10
KAZUCHIKA OKADA VS GEDO
You know that old saying, ‘Okada could have a three star match with a broom’? This is the counter argument to that saying. A match between the Rainmaker and the Raintaker could have been good, the match at Road To Tokyo Dome on 14th December 2018 was serviceable. But the match went on far too long. Everyone knew the end result, and never did I believe that Okada was in any danger of losing, unlike the match eighteen months ago. In the end, the match was far too drawn out, but at least it was an improvement on the first Bullet Club vs Chaos match of the New Japan Cup. 3/10
RYUSUKE TAGUCHI VS SANADA
Lukewarm take here, I’m not a fan of SANADA. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good wrestler and I can see why people like him (Check out Conrad’s essay on SANADA here) but I don’t have the same connection with him as some others do. In terms of LIJ I feel he ranks fourth behind Naito, Hiromu and Shingo. And this match sums up why I’m not a huge fan. To me, this match was poor. It went five minutes too long and I never doubted the result. By the end I was just waiting for the match to end so that we could get to the three belters. Overall, not an awful match, but I wouldn’t call it good either. 4/10
SHO VS SHINGO TAKAGI
Instant Classic. That’s how I describe Sho vs Shingo Takagi. This rivalry has been boiling over for over a year and this was a brilliant match to extend the feud. Sho seems like a cross between Ishii and KUSHIDA, which is great. Some of the submissions he pulled out were reminiscent of the Time Splitter, but he threw some stiff lariats, perhaps even stiffer than Shingo’s. Speaking of Shingo, he was great as always. I personally believe that he has all the tools to be a top heavyweight contender, but whilst Naito holds the top two belts, the NEVER Openweight scene is perfect for Shingo. This seems likely to be setting up a rubber match at Dominion, which is what the New Japan Cup is great at. My only criticism is that it could have been longer, but I’m sure it will get more time at Dominion. 10/10
KOTA IBUSHI VS ZACK SABRE JR
This was your typical Ibushi vs ZSJ match, which means it was excellent. Zack was as smooth as butter, as usual; Ibushi was a house on fire. Whilst the match wasn’t revolutionary, there was no new ground tread here, the match was still very good. Zack and Ibushi have great chemistry which always shines through in their matches, with slick counters being a regular occurence. Overall, it’s Kota Ibushi vs Zack Sabre Jr. Were you expecting a bad match? The Kamigoye is brutal by the way, no one kicks out of that. 7/10
HIROSHI TANAHASHI VS TAICHI
I was really rooting for Taichi here. As I type this in June 2020, the majority of people still believe that Taichi is a bad wrestler, and I simply disagree. Ever since his move to heavyweight, Taichi has had great matches with the likes of; Tomohiro Ishii, Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and even a banger against Tomoaki Honma. So I knew that Taichi was capable of big things against Tanahashi. But there was one thing that killed this match, the lack of a crowd. Had this match taken place in front of a rowdy Korakuen Hall, this match would have been brilliant, but taking place in total silence, the match felt slow and, at times, awkward. It wasn’t a bad match by any means, I was just disappointed at how this turned out. Taichi winning was a nice touch, hopefully his Ibushi match is better. 5/10
YOH VS BUSHI
Whilst Sho took part the best match since Wrestle Kingdom, his partner Yoh however, could not live up to him. The debut of a solo theme for Yoh is another sign that Roppongi 3K isn’t going to last, and Yoh needs to make sure he does something to stand out otherwise he will end up drowning amongst the sea of excellent juniors, just like Bushi has seemingly done. This match was fine, it wouldn’t look out of place in Best of The Super Juniors, but that’s about it. 6/10
HIROYOSHI TENZAN VS YOSHI-HASHI
Whilst I am not a Yoshi-Hashi fan by any means, even I can admit that this match was good. Don’t get me wrong, it was not revolutionary, but it was solid. Like Makabe, Tenzan seems rejuvenated after his three months off, taking what felt like his first bump in years. And Yoshi-Hashi actually showed some aggression in this match. Not much, but it’s a start. His match with Bushi will be a test to see if this was a one off, but perhaps a rebuilding of Yoshi-Hashi is in line? 6/10
HIROOKI GOTO VS YUJIRO TAKAHASHI
Ever since Yujiro joined Buller Club in 2014, his matches have been lackluster at best. Whilst never being the most technically gifted member of the roster, his matches were still exciting. With that being said, this was by far his best Bullet Club match. Both Goto and Yujiro brought some hard strikes to the table that I wasn’t expecting, and this match was probably the most surprising of the round. Goto has stagnated since joining Chaos in 2016 and needs to leave Chaos if there’s any hope for a career renaissance, however a strong cup run could put him well on his way. 7/10
SATOSHI KOJIMA VS EVIL
As expected, this match was hard hitting from the off. Kojima and EVIL battered one another, managing to work around Kojima’s limitations in-ring. EVIL spent the majority of the match working on Kojima’s arm, which was a great added layer to the match. Whilst Kojima isn’t at Nagata or Suzuki’s level in-ring anymore, he still showed he is more than capable of putting on a good match when called upon. EVIL vs Goto in the second round is an interesting matchup, it should give us an idea as to who New Japan views as a more valuable upper-midcarder. 7/10
CONCLUSION
Overall, the first round of the New Japan Cup has been a success. It’s set up fresh, exciting matches, advanced storylines and provided some instant classics. What more could you want from a company, particularly one that has just returned after a three month break? I, for one, am excited to see the direction New Japan goes in, which is the whole point of the tournament. Now all that’s left is the Taichi win.