New Japan’s 2022 NJ Cup and Hyper Battle tours both continued a gradual return to the normalcy lost from COVID-19’s restrictions on borders and sound. In the last week it was rumored visas for more outside talent were being worked on, and though it was in limited bursts the crowds were starting to make more noise.
The last time there was an identical scenario of Zack Sabre Jr. winning the NJ Cup and challenging IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada — and there was a time — it was four years ago and the matches underneath were Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Hangman Page & Cody Rhodes and Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll. So, I posit to you: what the fuck even is normalcy, anyways?
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado vs. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Gedo
Hiroshi Tanahashi is magic, willing and able to see through even the most questionable projects he’s taken on deep into his career like teaming with Toru Yano and this babyface run for the Guerillas of Destiny. Hot Tag Jado is not the best version of pro wrestling, but it was amusing and different enough to make the match work though likely the last straw before someone started looking at flight prices again. ***
2. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay & Aaron Henare
Naito, Shingo, and Ospreay delivered some fun on the undercard. Aaron Henare was also in this match. ***
3. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato [c] vs. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo
This reminded me of my 4-year-old son playing soccer: uncomplicated and occasionally pleasant, silly and occasionally frustrating… nothing I would brag to anyone about (yet) but it made for a nice enough Saturday morning. ***
4. KOPW 2022 – No Ropes Ring-out Match: Toru Yano [c] vs. Taichi
What is this? Why? DUD
5. NEVER Openweight Title: EVIL [c] vs. Hiromu Takahashi
This was similar to their match in the New Japan Cup, which I didn’t think much of. It’s not that either was bad; they just both felt more like any other recent EVIL match than a cool or charming Hiromu Takahashi match. I wish Dick Togo in 2022 was taking more interesting bumps too, as these matches for some reason seem to rely on them over anything else. This was the better of the two and even on occasion got what one might have referred to in the past as “hot,” just… Too Much Torture. ***1/4
6. IWGP Tag Team Title: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [c] vs. Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb
The tag team run of Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI has not provided any of the best matches of all-time, of the year, even most shows… but their solid and steady contributions to New Japan’s tag division has provided its’ best matches in years. This was another one of those, even if their consistency was rewarded with a single defense. Quality babyfaces, burly bad guys, good near falls: ***1/2.
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: El Desperado [c] vs. SHO
The overarching problem of this match is that SHO doesn’t have it, he maybe had it at one time but since he turned heel it just isn’t there: strikes with nothing behind them, cross armbreakers that don’t make sense, and the possibility of interference or a wrench now always close by.
The overarching solution to that problem is that, having a championship reign to upkeep, El Desperado doesn’t give a shit. He provides the emotional attachment of the match that SHO’s bad heel act could not by, among other things, trying to stomp holes through SHO and getting his mask ripped up and taking a bump from the apron into and over the guardrail that I’m convinced broke a few ribs. Good match but a confident, ballsy, and genuinely incredible El Desperado performance. ****
8. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Between 2018 and now these two, like all of us I suppose, went through some stuff. The signature moves and interesting submissions had remained, but the auras had subsided. This year by way of Wrestle Kingdom and the New Japan Cup they both re-emerged: Okada’s believability as a confident champion and Zack’s believability as a credible threat.
This match did a good job highlighting all the cool things these two bring to the ring, which was enough to get by with a quality match though it was missing a sense of urgency and crowd reaction to really take it over the top. It was similar to their match in the same scenario four years ago, though felt a little less… maybe that’s from a loss of a more youthful hope that existed back then, or maybe it’s because they didn’t really provide anything new on top of what already existed in the last match. Maybe there will be a time I want to re-visit how things felt back then, but for now I’d like to move forward. ****
Happy Thoughts: More consistent than the usual New Japan show (especially the last couple years), though the main events didn’t peak as high as the main events normally do as well. Either way, good show. 3.75 / 5.0
