1. New Japan Cup – Round 1: EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Zack Sabre Jr. and EVIL are two fellas that have good chemistry any time they lock up, and after that Chris Jericho run-in late last year I’m glad they got some time to do their thing. You’ve got EVIL’s big burly guy who hits hard but is weirdly capable of counters thing vs. ZSJ’s speedy swimmer body technical guy thing and here they successfully meshed that dynamic into an exciting pro wrestling match-up. ***1/2
2. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito
So – they did it. They really did it. We are at a point where an excellent wrestling match with all the stuff everybody wanted in a wrestling match from like 1995-2010 comes across as middle of the pack and almost unmemorable. It might just be a glut of quality, or it might actually speak to larger issues of everything running together and neither guy able to break out. Regardless, a hell of a match – unreal speed, big intensity, disgusting strikes. As they go on Naito tries more and more to straight-up break Ibushi’s neck, including an Emerald Frosion on the stupid apron. The finish is a freaking Tiger Driver ’91 followed by a straight-up knee to the face and that’s a tremendous finish to a wrestling match. This was all very exciting and insane but it was missing some things. ****1/4
