1. New Japan Cup – Quarter Final: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiromu Takahashi
This took a while to click but I liked what they did here. New Japan likes their tradition – sometimes it’s frustrating, sometimes endearing. I don’t know how dynamic up-and-comer Hiromu having to work SO HARD against stocky yet badass old man Ishii plays against those without the most patience in the world, but I decided to play along and came out impressed. Hiromu was basically squashed early, always fighting back and getting in flutters of offense but basically outmatched by all of Ishii’s usual stuff. After a while, and it sure felt like a while, Hiromu found his rhythm and was able to knock everybody’s second favorite Pitbull loopy before he seriously actually won. It was very good, maybe not as high-end as I wanted but still very good. The Hiromu win is big time stuff. ***1/2
2. New Japan Cup – Quarter Final: YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL
EVIL attacks YOSHI-HASHI’s leg before the bell with a chair, then locks him in a Scorpion Deathlock for a couple minutes before the referee stops the match. One of my favorite matches from the Cup.
3. Hirooki Goto, SHO & Yuya Uemura vs. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI
Shingo vs. SHO continues to be enticing, and young Yuya got to do some fun stuff. **
4. New Japan Cup – Quarter Final: Kazuchika Okada vs. Taiji Ishimori
Even though the finish was never (EVER) in doubt, Okada gave Ishimori a full match. And at some point, after Ishimori’s fourth false finish and the Gedo interference, it all began to feel a bit unnecessary. The match was fine, but I didn’t like it. **3/4
5. New Japan Cup – Quarter Final: SANADA vs. Taichi
Ah, this was terrible. These are two guys who have had plenty of good matches but are also guys I never fully trust – example: this match. They did all the stuff that typically works for them but it never once got actually interesting over the unbearable 27 minutes it lasted. *1/2
Happy Thoughts: Ironically, the third round of the New Japan Cup was the weakest show. To get to a fun-looking Semi Finals, we took a detour through a whole lot of mis-matches in the third round. Hiromu/Ishii was good but not good good, and everything else was skippable. 3/10
