1. New Japan Cup – Round 1: YOH vs. BUSHI
Kind of slow. Like the slowest, most stubborn Best of Super Juniors match of the modern era. The work was fine, but never really moved one way or another. Sometimes I think YOH is a future Kanemoto; sometimes I think he’s a future Yujiro. The BUSHI win was a shocker and at this point I’m inclined to say deserved. **
2. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. YOSHI-YASHI
I have no idea how this was good but here we are. After around 10 minutes of passable action where YOSHI brought it to old man Tenzan, he hit a Meteora that felt like it would’ve been the right finish. Like a perfect RAW TV match finish, where they kept the match length tight and got something over – in this case, perennial underdog YOSHI relentlessly keeping up with Tenzan until Tenzan just couldn’t respond.
Tenzan kicked out though, which is usually cue for these kind of matches to become a little much. But they just kept building and building and by golly they got me. There’s something special about these big lumbering dudes who through 15 plus minutes of wrestling action look like they’ve been through a war, even if they didn’t take all that many bumps. By the time YOSHI threw a slap in desperation and Tenzan responded with a spear of his own desperation, I was IN.
YOSHI struggling to escape the Anaconda Vice at the end was tremendous, and by the time he actually did defeat Tenzan it felt like he earned it way more than that Meteora finish ever would’ve made it feel. I might be overrating it because it was such a surprise, but I do like surprises. ***1/2
3. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & SHO vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi
Loads of talent here, folks. Loads of it. Hiromu vs. Yano and SHO vs. SANADA are the Round 2 matches to build to, and I didn’t catch much build for the latter one but Hiromu and Yano had a little fun. Plus Okada and Naito wrestled each other a little. **1/2
4. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
The inverse of Tenzan vs. YOSHI, with zero charm or heart in Yujiro bringing it to Goto. In this case, Goto won. Good. *1/2
5. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Satoshi Kojima vs. EVIL
These two have such great chemistry, like bulky dad and bulky son knocking each other around with well-timed lariats and huge lariat bumps. They got a lot out of EVIL’s arm work too, whether from Kojima desperately fighting to escape a submission or just going for broke and throwing that lariat. I loved the finish, as they were building towards a pretty traditional 20-minute closer but EVIL just caught Kojima with Everything is EVIL and that was it. ***1/2
Happy Thoughts: There were a couple turds here but TenKoji showed up. Again. 6/10
