Following the sad news of the passing of Hayabusa, the second day of the New Japan Cup understandably could have been a muted affair at Korakuen Hall. New Japan held firm though, and put on another entertaining card as the final four in this year’s New Japan Cup were determined.
Stream-wise today, the buffering wasn’t as bad as it has been, but it was bad enough to make the first match and the start of the second match unwatchable. Things picked up, but by the time we got to the EVIL/BUSHI tag match, the feed died again to the point where my impatient self swore to wait for the on-demand version.
David Finlay vs. Jay White
If I hadn’t seen the Young Lion’s Project, I would have sworn that these are the only two Young Lions on New Japan’s books! These two have had several matches against each other, with White winning four times and Finlay the once.
Finlay is slowly starting to work as a heel in these matches, hooking away at White’s nose during a chinlock. White worked a cool spot where he got himself in electric chair position whilst on the top rope, but used it to pound away on Finlay instead of the cliched top-rope mounted punches. An overhead belly to belly suplex gets Finlay a near fall, as did a roll through from a waistlock. Just like their last encounter during the Honor Rising shows though, White got the win via submission with a Lion Tamer-esque Boston Crab. In the world of Kayfabe, Finlay really needs to learn an escape from that hold!
Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson
Going from the main event to second on the card was Hiroshi Tanahashi, teaming with Juice Robinson to take on some of the Bullet Club remnants. A rather quiet match compared to some of Tanahashi’s efforts, but there were good spots where Takahashi and Hall worked well together as a team, including a springboard bodysplash by the giant Hall.
Hall had Tanahashi set up for the Razor’s edge, but Robinson ran in to save Tanahashi, before the pair combined to hit a double flapjack on Hall. My God, Hall is a very loud seller. Tanahashi got the win with a Texas cloverleaf on Hall.
Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Tiger Mask, Yuji Nagata, Hiroshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Katsuyori Shibata
A monstrous ten-man tag followed, and we started off with KUSHIDA and Liger. The veteran bent KUSHIDA like a pretzel, courtesy of a sit-down surfboard that looked torturous, and that somehow turned into Taguchi and Tiger Mask running the ropes like lunatics. Taguchi gets stuck in the ropes with a hip attack, and forces Tiger Mask to abort a running dive when he motions for another butt-strike.
Honma came in for an extended period of time and took a beating from Nagata, who again focussed on the arm. At least it means Honma’s not using his head as a battering ram today! Tenzan came in and managed to block a deadlift suplex with a standard suplex of his own, before Nakanishi and Makabe’s striking war started as a set up for Shibata to come in and lay waste to the other team. Sadly, that wasn’t such a good idea, as it led to a distracted Shibata getting a German suplex, followed by some big boots as Honma was forced to make the save.
The match then degenerated into the “everyone comes in to hit a spot” routine that you usually see in North America, until Shibata reversed out of a torture rack into a rear naked choke, and then a sleeperhold that set up Nakanishi for a running kick that got the win.
EVIL & BUSHI vs. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI
Oh God, my Caps Lock key is going to love me in this one…YOSHI-HASHI was completing the set, as it were, after taking Tetsuya Naito to the limit last night, but it didn’t take too long before there was double teaming and action outside, as EVIL nonchalantly wrapped a chair around YOSHI-HASHI’s head and threw it into the ringpost. That made YOSHI-HASHI a lame duck for most of the match, as the heels kept him away from Okada, at least until a ducked clothesline and a leaping neckbreaker gave YOSHI-HASHI the opening to tag in Okada.
Okoda gave away a lot to EVIL considering that he’s the IWGP heavyweight champion, and for a while it looked like BUSHI would be having similar success. However, Okada rolled out of a double stomp off the top, which led to YOSHI-HASHI running in with the two of them combining to slingshot BUSHI into a DDT. BUSHI did escape a tombstone piledriver attempt, but ultimately succumbed to the Rainmaker lariat as YOSHI-HASHI held EVIL on the outside, allowing Okada to secure another win.
Toru Yano vs. Satoshi Kojima
The second half of this card is all New Japan Cup matches, starting with the man who jerked the curtain last night for his brief countout win – Toru Yano. It seems that the guy with the alternative music for New Japan World wasn’t booked, as Kojima comes out to silence. Yano shouting “break” in the early going sounds like he’s doing a Father Jack Hackett tribute, which is nice… I now have images of the drunken priest from Father Ted as a wrestler…
Kojima and Yano spill onto the floor, and a double reversed Irish whip sends Yano into the barrier, as Kojima threatens to use the steel chair that Yano had brought out with him. The referee stops Kojima, but Yano just shoves him away and uses the chair without any repercussions. Yano removes the corner padding, and immediately whips Kojima into the exposed buckles… so this match cannot be going long.
Yano ends up taking the buckles himself, which sets up Kojima for some rapid-fire chops, but after a comedy spot where Yano low blowed Kojima as the referee was distracted, Kojima sells so much that Yano rolls him up for the shock win. Well, Korakuen was certainly stunned into silence. I’m not sure how to take that result. The match wasn’t awful, but the idea of Yano getting close to a title shot on one of the big shows of the year is tough to take.
Tama Tonga vs. Hirooki Goto
Let’s pretend we didn’t see that guy in the front row when Tonga came out, shall we? Tonga’s ring gear is still Bushwhacker Roman Reigns-esque, but his face paint is more of a Scream mask than a KISS tribute.
There was no jump start here, as Tonga waited for the bell before charging into Goto with a dropkick this time. Tonga worked over a headlock for a while, but then went into stall mode, playing chase with Goto, as they spilled onto the ringside area, with an Irish whip literally breaking open the guard rail once more.
Tonga followed up by dropping Goto face first on the apron as they teased a count-out, but Goto got back in at the count of 19. A Stinger splash in the corner took Goto down, as a follow-up elbow drop got Tonga a two-count. Goto gets back on top with a spinning wheel kick in the corner and a side suplex for a near fall.
Tonga kept up his run of using the Stun Gun, but it took him three attempts as Goto blocked the first two, before a unique rope-running spot saw Goto pick up Tonga in a Fireman’s carry, only for Tonga to turn the move into the Stun Gun that got him a two count. Goto powers out of a butterfly suplex, then kicks Tonga in the head, before a headbutt and a stiff kick got Goto the win (even though Tonga had his shoulder up at two…)
Bit of a weird one here – I like Tonga continuing to pay tribute to his departed Bullet Club friends, but it also feels a bit like they’re refusing to move on from the losses. Post-match, Kazuchika Okada entered the ring and wanted to shake Goto’s hand, but Goto again refused. Foreshadowing?
Bad Luck Fale vs. Michael Elgin
Here we go, the match I had a perverse desire to see! Again, that guy in the front row wets himself as part of the Bullet Club walks past him, and Michael Elgin still has ROH in his entrance video. If Jim Ross were to call this one on AXS, I can imagine his commentary for the start involving some analogy about hosses coming together…
The two big guys bound off the ropes in turn, as they try to take the other one down, and there’s a lot of collisions and not a lot of bumping. At least until Elgin’s enziguiri stuns Fale, but a resulting suplex attempt only gets turned into a Samoan drop. Fale goes to the floor, and you know what this means: whips into the railing and broken barrier doors! Another count-out is teased, but Elgin makes it in at 17, only for Fale to stand on his back. That can’t feel great.
Fale worked a lot better here against a man closer to his size, and was able to outpower Elgin… at least until Elgin finally connected with a monstrous suplex that elicited a huge “ooooh” out of the Korakuen crowd, and a near-fall for the newly-signed gaijin. Elgin motioned for the buckle bomb, I guess in an effort to break the ring, but he wasn’t able to get Fale off his feet, instead opting for a roaring elbow… only for Fale to break him in half with a spear off the ropes.
Fale went up to the top rope, but despite getting caught, he was able to block a back superplex. However, Elgin kept on, and managed to catch Fale with a powerbomb out of the corner to get the win after just over ten minutes.
That wasn’t anything like what I was expecting – it’s just a shame that New Japan don’t have many more guys of Elgin’s size to work with Fale.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Naito’s added a fury death mask to his Saturday Night Fever white suit today, and he starts out extremely tentatively, at least until Ishii charges in with kicks to make him get going!
Naito bends but refuses to break to Ishii’s barrage of chops, and when Naito does get on top, his offence is frequently punctuated with his usual arrogance, including posing after taking down Ishii with an STO. Naito catches Ishii with a super huracanrana off the top, but Ishii fired back with a deadlift German suplex after catching Naito in midair.
Naito knocks Ishii loopy with a slap, but a lariat returns the favour, turning Los Ingobernable inside out, before a powerbomb gets Ishii a two count. Naito is the overwhelming favourite here, and the sympathy grows when another clothesline dumps him on his head. The crowd go wild when Naito hits the Gloria (hammerlock cradle into a powerbomb), but Ishii kicks out, whilst a Dragon suplex moments later gets a similar result.
Ishii blocks the Destino (standing Sliced Bread #2), and turns it into a lifting reverse DDT, with a diving clothesline to a seated Naito getting a near-fall as well. Naito wriggles out of a suplex attempt, but eats an enziguiri. Ishii goes again for the Ishii driller, but Naito turns it into the Destino and gets the surprise (but popular) win.
EVIL and BUSHI run in after the bell to keep laying out Ishii, as EVIL’s STO getting payback for his elimination in day one of the tournament. That was quite the match, with both men pulling out all the stops for what I can only describe as a fun main event. Indeed, this was quite the show, in spite of the sadness it was held against.
We’re left with a final four of Elgin, Goto, Yano and Naito; can you tell the odd one out? The semis and finals are set to be held in Aomori next Saturday (March 12) – and whilst the long-term seems to be for Goto to rebuild himself, I’m going to pick Naito to win it next weekend.