New Japan Pro Wrestling
Tokyo, Japan (Aired on New Japan World)
Report by Dot Net reader Bryan Houghtling Jr.
1. Jay White defeated David Finlay by submission with a Boston crab. Okay opener that showed off the young talent.
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Juice Williams defeated Cody Hall and Yujiro Takahashi by submission when Cody Hall tapped to a Cloverleaf from Tanahashi. Juice (aka CJ Parker) looks better here then he ever in NXT.
3. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Yuji Nagata, Hiroshi Tenzan, and Manabu Nakanishi, defeated KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, and Katsuyori Shibata by pinfall with Shibata hitting the PK on Nakanishi. This was just a fun match with everyone getting there spots in. This match had some of my favorites though, Shibata, Liger,and KUSHIDA so I was loving this. Liger and KUSHIDA had a staredown at the end so I think we may see that soon. Possibly at Invasion Attack.
4. YOSHI-HASHI and Kazucha Okada defeated BUSHI and EVIL by pinfall when Okada hit BUSHI with the Rain Maker. This match was okay. I expected more from these guys. This has been a decent first half of the show, not as strong as day one though. I am ready for round two to begin now.
5. Toru Yano defeated Satoshi Kojima in a New Japan Cup second round match. Yano won by pinfall with a roll-up. This one confuses me a little bit I don’t think the right guy one here but we’ll see where they’re going with it I guess. Yano seems more of a comedy guy and better for tag matches. Kojima was a guy I had in the semis.
6. Hirooki Goto defeated Tama Tonga in a New Japan Cup second round match. Goto went over by pinfall with a Soccer Kick to the chest. It looked like Tama had the fans solidly behind him, which was cool. I am glad they gave Tama a shot to shine in the ring with one of the big dogs in NJPW. It started slow with lots of stalling and Tama trying to get the cheap count out. After that it picked up and was a hard hitting match that just had a good flow to it.
7. Michael Elgin defeated Bad Luck Fale in a New Japan Cup second round match. Elgin won by pinfall when he powerbomed Fale off the second rope. This was intense these two bulls beat the hell out of each other. Elgin hit Fale with a high vertical suplex for a near fall and crowd erupted. Elgin will be a star in NJPW for sure. This was match of the night so far. I wish when we see two big guys in the WWE (not named Kevin Owen’s) we would get something like this.
8. Tetsuya Naito beat Tomohiro Ishii in a New Japan Cup second round match. Ishii went over by pinfall when Naito reversed a German suplex into his version of the sliced bread on Ishii. This was great, it was back and forth with Naito using every dirty trick he could and still couldn’t keep Ishii down. Even going as far as to slapping him and spitting on him. Ishii hit so many hard shots it was brutal. Naito kicked out of one of the nastiest stone pitbull lariats I’ve ever seen. They had the crowd on its feet the whole time so back and forth so many near falls. Definitely MOTN, the last two matches make this whole card worth going out of your way to watch. Los Ingobernables attacked Ishii after the match. Naito said something to the fans after but my Japanese is not very good yet, sorry for that. It sounded mostly like putting over the group and how they are going to take over NJPW.
I will be back next weekend for the finals of the New Japan Cup.
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