Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Ryusuke Taguchi – New Japan Cup (Round 1)
As solid as it’s gonna get for a wrestling match between Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Ryusuke Taguchi in 2019. The comedy bits were a big hit (The TENZAN HIP SWIVEL = Spot of the year) and the more competitive wrestling sections had the crowd invested in both Taguchi’s junior heavyweight struggle and Tenzan’s poor dangling ankle.
Unlike the Chase/Juice match, the rollups were used to great effect here and built up nicely to the shock finish. Tenzan had his working boots on, Taguchi sold big and made the old man look like a threat, the crowd popped huge for the ending. Mission accomplished. ***
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shota Umino – New Japan Cup (Round 1)
Loved this one to bits. Not a flashy match that’s gonna get much MOTY talk, but a really well-worked company ace vs. rising young lion match where both guys played their roles to perfection. Tanahashi was in full disciplinarian mode and made Shota work his ass off for every scrap of offense he managed to get. Again, it’s always the simplest stuff that works best – Shota finally body slamming Tana after 3 failed attempts got as big of a pop as any of the high spots in the tournament so far.
The strike exchanges were awesome – particularly the spot where Umino started unloading on Tana with a BILLION FOREARMS and the one where he managed to slap him right off his feet. Shota getting payback for Tana’s nasty-as-hell Boston crabs (more like Lion Tamers) by using his own Texas cloverleaf against him also was a real stroke of genius. Can’t wait to see where Shota goes from here. ***1/2
EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – New Japan Cup (Round 1)
EVIL’s SATANIC FIDGET SPINNER HOLOGRAM is the greatest entrance prop in wrestling. This is not debatable. To me, this was slightly below their February match, but these two can do no wrong together so this was still pretty good stuff. The core story here was the same as their previous encounters: EVIL is the stronger and beefier of the two, but Zack is faster and knows all the submissions.
I liked Zack going after EVIL’s bad arm whenever he could, as it led to some bonkers submission spots like a freaking crucifix turned into mid-air Octopus hold. Strong selling from both guys – Zack acting like a truck just ran over him after the big Superplex was a nice touch.
EVIL bringing back the RED SHOES-ASSISTED MAGIC KILLER almost instantly bumped this to four stars, but I still felt there was something missing to get there. Maybe it was the weirdly fudged Half Tiger Half Dragon suplex sequence, or maybe I just really wanted EVIL to win. ***3/4
Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi – New Japan Cup (Round 1)
The Japanese commentary team kept going back to the word ‘’high level’’ when describing this match, and I don’t think there’s a better word to qualify the chemistry Naito and Ibushi have in the ring. It goes beyond the inhuman counters and career-shortening death spots too – Ibushi’s bright and shiny babyface charisma brings out the nasty heel mean streak in Naito and it always makes for a lovely dynamic.
The big advantage this had over their previous match is that Naito didn’t bother with the leg work subplot and it made for a tighter opening with great cutoffs and brutal neckbreakers. Obviously, these guys have always been obsessed with All Japan-esque head-drop destruction so this match had plenty of that too. The big Holy Shit Moment of the match (that sit-out Tombstone on the apron) was a little awkward to set up, but Naito smartly made up for it by flashing a hilariously-evil smile before spiking Ibushi.
Aside from Naito whiffing his running Destino, the ending stretch was exactly the kind of edge-of-your-seat insanity you would expect from these guys. Huge near-falls, tons of excitement and probably the wildest finish I’ve seen this year in Ibushi’s Tiger Driver ’91 into Kamigoye combo. Total banger. ****1/4
