New Japan Pro Wrestling: The Unstoppable Lion
Dec 18, 2020 1:22:12 GMT 1
Asaemon and Avery like this
Post by The Final Countdown on Dec 18, 2020 1:22:12 GMT 1
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Jeff Cobb defeated Togi Makabe in 12:53 with a standing shooting star press.
-About what you would expect: lots of strikes, especially from Makabe, while Cobb showed off his power and suplexes. A powerslam off of the ropes followed by a standing shooting star from the agile big man ended the opening match of the tournament.
Match Evaluation: 77%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Toa Henare defeated Tomohiro Ishii in 14:29 with a Toa Bottom.
-Young Henare has been trying to prove his toughness by stepping up to Ishii for a long time now, and tonight he finally got the big win. There were too many forearm strikes to count, from both guys, but Henare racked up near fall after near fall before finally getting the elusive pin, the biggest of his career so far.
Match Evaluation: 82%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Chase Owens defeated Toru Yano in 13:57 with a school boy.
-Yano got up to his usual tricks, trying to steal the pin with low blows and roll-ups, but Chase beat him at his own game in a match that the crowd loved well beyond either guys’ usual placement on the card.
Match Evaluation: 89%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Colt Cabana defeated Bad Luck Fale in 14:47 with a Gedo Clutch.
-The story here was all about Fale trying to overpower Cabana, who focused on trying to catch the big man with a quick rollup. After surviving several power moves, including the Grenade, he succeeded.
Match Evaluation: 75%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Kazuchika Okada defeated Jay White in 25:38 with a Rainmaker lariat.
-I think some people suspected a time limit draw or something along those lines when this match between two of the top guys in the company was announced for the first round. They did tease that somewhat by coming within five minutes of the 30 minute time limit for the opening round, but we got the clean finish in the end. This was slightly more one-sided than you might have expected, with Jay largely wrestling defensively. He survived by countering or avoiding several Rainmaker attempts throughout the match, but Okada finally caught him with one after the 25 minute mark and got the pin.
Match Evaluation: 81%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Minoru Suzuki defeated Yuji Nagata in 17:18 with a Cross Armbreaker.
-Lots of kicks, submission attempts and submissions countered into other submissions here. Suzuki effectively finished Minoru with the Gotch Piledriver but slapped on the armbreaker afterwards just to force him to submit.
Match Evaluation: 73%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Juice Robinson defeated Alex Coughlin in 15:03 with a top rope splash.
This match between the former US champion and the young lion was a shocking highlight from the opening round. Coughlin got several hope spots and even a couple of near-falls that the fans bought, but Juice finally put him away to move on as expected.
Match Evaluation: 91%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Tanga Loa defeated David Finlay in 08:49 via KO with Apeshit.
This was pretty even while it lasted, but then Finlay apparently hurt his neck when Loa hit his finisher and the match was stopped. Not sure if that was an angle to further Finjuice vs. GoD or if he’s legit hurt, but I guess we’ll see.
Match Evaluation: 52%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Taichi in 14:57 with a cloverleaf.
Taichi was up to his usual tricks, including a low blow into a Gedo Clutch that almost stole it, but this was largely Tanahashi’s match. He worked the legs with dragon screws and dropkicks and got a tap out with the cloverleaf.
Match Evaluation: 77%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Kota Ibushi defeated Zack Sabre Jr. in 15:45 with the Kamigoye.
Ibushi got off to a hot start and really never looked back. Despite some nifty submissions from ZSJ towards the end, he got caught with a cross arm suplex into a Kamigoye knee strike to set up a second round match between the tag team champions.
Match Evaluation: 88%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
SANADA defeated Mikey Nicholls in 16:37 with a rolling cradle.
Not a bad match at all here. Mikey kicked out of a Muta moonsault and got a near-fall with a blue thunder bomb, but SANADA caught him with a rolling cradle.
Match Evaluation: 84%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Shingo Takagi defeated Will Ospreay in 14:43 with a Pumping Bomber.
There were enormous expectations to live up to here after these two had arguably the best match anywhere in the world in 2019 in the BOSJ finals. This wasn’t as long or as epic as that match, but it was nearly fifteen minutes of all action. Both guys busted out a lot of their big moves, including near-falls with Ospreay’s Storm Breaker and Shingo’s Last of the Dragon, but the Pumping Bomber lariat saw Shingo avenge Ospreay handing him his first New Japan loss last year.
Match Evaluation: 92%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated YOSHI-HASHI in 16:29 with an Anaconda Vice
This was a major surprise, both in the result and in the effort from Tenzan, who hasn’t had a performance like this in years. Wonder what it says about their faith in YOSHI-HASHI if he’s losing to the likes of Tenzan though.
Match Evaluation: 90%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
KENTA defeated Karl Fredericks in 08:08 with the Yes Lock
The young lion Fredericks did okay here and got in a couple of hope spots, but a fisherman buster softened him up for the Yes Lock submission.
Match Evaluation: 57%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
EVIL defeated Satoshi Kojima in 14:14 with EVIL
Kojima got in a fair bit of offense, including a Koji Cutter, but to the surprise of few EVIL got the win with his confusing-named STO finisher.
Match Evaluation: 68%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Hirooki Goto defeated Yujiro Takahashi in 17:44 with the GTR
Yujiro was more impressive than usual here. His valet Pieter distracted the ref to help him survive one GTR, but the second finished him.
Match Evaluation: 83%
New Japan Cup Round of 16 Lineup:
Jeff Cobb vs. Toa Henare
Chase Owens vs. Colt Cabana
Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki
Juice Robinson vs. Tanga Loa
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi
SANADA vs. Shingo Takagi
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. KENTA
EVIL vs. Hirooki Goto
Jeff Cobb defeated Togi Makabe in 12:53 with a standing shooting star press.
-About what you would expect: lots of strikes, especially from Makabe, while Cobb showed off his power and suplexes. A powerslam off of the ropes followed by a standing shooting star from the agile big man ended the opening match of the tournament.
Match Evaluation: 77%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Toa Henare defeated Tomohiro Ishii in 14:29 with a Toa Bottom.
-Young Henare has been trying to prove his toughness by stepping up to Ishii for a long time now, and tonight he finally got the big win. There were too many forearm strikes to count, from both guys, but Henare racked up near fall after near fall before finally getting the elusive pin, the biggest of his career so far.
Match Evaluation: 82%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Chase Owens defeated Toru Yano in 13:57 with a school boy.
-Yano got up to his usual tricks, trying to steal the pin with low blows and roll-ups, but Chase beat him at his own game in a match that the crowd loved well beyond either guys’ usual placement on the card.
Match Evaluation: 89%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Colt Cabana defeated Bad Luck Fale in 14:47 with a Gedo Clutch.
-The story here was all about Fale trying to overpower Cabana, who focused on trying to catch the big man with a quick rollup. After surviving several power moves, including the Grenade, he succeeded.
Match Evaluation: 75%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Kazuchika Okada defeated Jay White in 25:38 with a Rainmaker lariat.
-I think some people suspected a time limit draw or something along those lines when this match between two of the top guys in the company was announced for the first round. They did tease that somewhat by coming within five minutes of the 30 minute time limit for the opening round, but we got the clean finish in the end. This was slightly more one-sided than you might have expected, with Jay largely wrestling defensively. He survived by countering or avoiding several Rainmaker attempts throughout the match, but Okada finally caught him with one after the 25 minute mark and got the pin.
Match Evaluation: 81%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Minoru Suzuki defeated Yuji Nagata in 17:18 with a Cross Armbreaker.
-Lots of kicks, submission attempts and submissions countered into other submissions here. Suzuki effectively finished Minoru with the Gotch Piledriver but slapped on the armbreaker afterwards just to force him to submit.
Match Evaluation: 73%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Juice Robinson defeated Alex Coughlin in 15:03 with a top rope splash.
This match between the former US champion and the young lion was a shocking highlight from the opening round. Coughlin got several hope spots and even a couple of near-falls that the fans bought, but Juice finally put him away to move on as expected.
Match Evaluation: 91%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Tanga Loa defeated David Finlay in 08:49 via KO with Apeshit.
This was pretty even while it lasted, but then Finlay apparently hurt his neck when Loa hit his finisher and the match was stopped. Not sure if that was an angle to further Finjuice vs. GoD or if he’s legit hurt, but I guess we’ll see.
Match Evaluation: 52%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Taichi in 14:57 with a cloverleaf.
Taichi was up to his usual tricks, including a low blow into a Gedo Clutch that almost stole it, but this was largely Tanahashi’s match. He worked the legs with dragon screws and dropkicks and got a tap out with the cloverleaf.
Match Evaluation: 77%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Kota Ibushi defeated Zack Sabre Jr. in 15:45 with the Kamigoye.
Ibushi got off to a hot start and really never looked back. Despite some nifty submissions from ZSJ towards the end, he got caught with a cross arm suplex into a Kamigoye knee strike to set up a second round match between the tag team champions.
Match Evaluation: 88%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
SANADA defeated Mikey Nicholls in 16:37 with a rolling cradle.
Not a bad match at all here. Mikey kicked out of a Muta moonsault and got a near-fall with a blue thunder bomb, but SANADA caught him with a rolling cradle.
Match Evaluation: 84%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Shingo Takagi defeated Will Ospreay in 14:43 with a Pumping Bomber.
There were enormous expectations to live up to here after these two had arguably the best match anywhere in the world in 2019 in the BOSJ finals. This wasn’t as long or as epic as that match, but it was nearly fifteen minutes of all action. Both guys busted out a lot of their big moves, including near-falls with Ospreay’s Storm Breaker and Shingo’s Last of the Dragon, but the Pumping Bomber lariat saw Shingo avenge Ospreay handing him his first New Japan loss last year.
Match Evaluation: 92%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated YOSHI-HASHI in 16:29 with an Anaconda Vice
This was a major surprise, both in the result and in the effort from Tenzan, who hasn’t had a performance like this in years. Wonder what it says about their faith in YOSHI-HASHI if he’s losing to the likes of Tenzan though.
Match Evaluation: 90%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
KENTA defeated Karl Fredericks in 08:08 with the Yes Lock
The young lion Fredericks did okay here and got in a couple of hope spots, but a fisherman buster softened him up for the Yes Lock submission.
Match Evaluation: 57%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
EVIL defeated Satoshi Kojima in 14:14 with EVIL
Kojima got in a fair bit of offense, including a Koji Cutter, but to the surprise of few EVIL got the win with his confusing-named STO finisher.
Match Evaluation: 68%
New Japan Cup Opening Round:
Hirooki Goto defeated Yujiro Takahashi in 17:44 with the GTR
Yujiro was more impressive than usual here. His valet Pieter distracted the ref to help him survive one GTR, but the second finished him.
Match Evaluation: 83%
New Japan Cup Round of 16 Lineup:
Jeff Cobb vs. Toa Henare
Chase Owens vs. Colt Cabana
Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki
Juice Robinson vs. Tanga Loa
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi
SANADA vs. Shingo Takagi
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. KENTA
EVIL vs. Hirooki Goto
