Traditionally, the second round of the New Japan Cup has produced some of the best matches of the tournament. Whether it is Goto vs Shibata, Ibushi vs ZSJ or Suzuki vs SANADA, many classics have taken place in the second round. So how was 2020’s second round? Here’s my take:
TAIJI ISHIMORI VS YOSHINOBU KANEMARU
Perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the second round pit Kanemaru against Ishimori, two men who have a long history in NOAH, with Ishimori never beating Kanemaru one-on-one before. New Japan just completely ignored this history by having Ishimori win, but as for the match, it was good. Ishimori acted as the babyface really well against the grimy Kanemaru, who jumped Ishimori before the bell. Kanemaru looked nasty, and whilst it would have been nice to see the Heel Master get one over, I understand that Ishimori vs Okada is the better match. Just let Ishimori wrestle instead of employing heel tactics all the time, and he’ll be fine. 6/10
TOGI MAKABE VS TOMOHIRO ISHII
As expected, 90% of this match consisted of stiff forearms, chops and slaps. Makabe has looked great since New Japan made its return, harking back to 2015 in this match with Ishii, who was great as usual. Whilst not as good as those wars, Makabe and Ishii beat the hell out of each other, setting up at tasty quarter final between Hiromu and Ishii. 7/10
TORU YANO VS HIROMU TAKAHASHI
How the hell do I grade Toru Yano matches? This match was a brilliant Yano match, probably his best since Mox, but I can’t grade it highly, surely? Hiromu was great at portraying genuine fear of getting his head shaved, as this match was a great palate cleanser for the main event. This was probably my second most enjoyable match of the tournament, and the creative finish made me chuckle. 7/10
KAZUCHIKA OKADA VS YUJI NAGATA
This was, as the commentators built it, New Japan’s past vs present. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, Yuji Nagata is good enough to be a regular IWGP Heavyweight Championship contender. If Suzuki is put in the position of legit contender to titles, why isn’t Nagata? The match itself was excellent, with Okada reverting back to the cocky young Rainmaker of 2012 by going for cocky pins and working a heel style in this match. It’s looking likely that Okada will be going to the finals, which is fine, but it feels like the Rainmaker needs a shakeup, similar to 2018. Maybe a tag run? Maybe a NEVER run? Whatever it is, Okada needs something different. This match was great though. 8/10
YOSHI-HASHI VS BUSHI
What a dead matchup. YOSHI-HASHI is a mediocre wrestler with no personality, and BUSHI is a decent wrestler with a mask as a personality. Seriously, I physically couldn’t have cared less about this match. The in-ring action was fine, but I knew that YOSHI-HASHI was winning and thus didn’t get invested. Neither man seemed to care all that much about the match and it showed, and now I have the misfortune of sitting through another YOSHI-HASHI singles match. At the very least, he isn’t in the G1. 4/10
SHO VS SANADA
Whilst the 1/7 show wasn’t as good as the 24/6 show, this match was probably the best of the bunch. With that being said however, I still was not a huge fan of it. I’m a huge fan of SHO, and Roppongi 3K has officially run its course, but in this match he seemed slower than usual. As for SANADA, he just seemed like he was going through the motions, and whilst I understand that he’s the ‘Cold Skull’, you need to show some form of emotion rather than a blank stare for the whole match. That’s why people like Naito, even though he tries to make it seem like he doesn’t care, he does. SANADA genuinely doesn’t care, which is a bore to watch. 6/10
KOTA IBUSHI VS TAICHI
It’s such a shame. This was Taichi’s chance to prove the naysayers wrong, to prove that he is a good wrestler, but this match couldn’t do that. This was a dull match. Whilst some of the strike exchanges were quality, large stretches of the match were filled with dead air. Whilst Taichi pinning both Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi makes Dangerous Tekkers a serious threat to the Tag Team Championships, the match itself wasn’t all that. A tag run could do Taichi the world of good, as he is not yet at the level of upper midcarders such as Ishii or ZSJ. 6/10
HIROOKI GOTO VS EVIL
Like I said about the previous two matches, this was fine, but not great. I feel like these empty arena shows are running out of steam, and once fans are allowed back into the shows on 11th July, the matches will seem great once again. The forearm exchanges in this match didn’t really do anything for me, but if a crowd was behind it cheering every strike, I might have been more invested. As it stands, the match itself was ok, but not spectacular, setting up a lukewarm at best match between YOSHI-HASHI and EVIL. Can we just do Okada vs SANADA now and be done with it? 7/10
CONCLUSION
And so we go from 16 down to 8. Like I said previously, these matches seem to be running on fumes at the moment, without the familiar backing noise of a crowd. The novelty has worn off significantly, and I can’t wait for Dominion.