Cero Reviews NJPW New Japan Cup 2020, Day 2

[cero2k]

NJPW New Japan Cup 2020, Day 2
June 17, 2020
Tokyo, Japan

New Japan Cup First Round Match
Taiji Ishimori vs Gabriel Kidd - 5/10
Ok opener, Ishimori did quick work over Gabriel, who got some offense, but no big near falls or anything, it was more Ishimori showing off. Ishimori won via submission with a Omoplata Crossface.

New Japan Cup First Round Match
Yuya Uemura vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru - 6.5/10
This was more of a brawl than your usual YL match. Uemura tried to catch Kanemaru early before the usual SZKG jump attack. Uemura actually got some nice offense early on, he was on his toes reversing Kanemaru and being one step ahead, but once back in the ring, Kanemaru gained control and started working over Uemura.

At the end, Uemura made a great comeback, getting some near falls after a Swan Dive and a Suplex, forcing Kanemaru to pull the ref in for protection and go for the Whisky bottle. Kanemaru won with Deep Impact.

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, & Roppongi 3K) vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI, & Shingo Takagi) - 7/10
You wouldn't believe who was cut off from their corner and worked on. No, none of the Jr. Heavyweights, it was obviously YOSHI-HASHI. The rest of the match was just their pair ups, YOH vs BUSHI was better than I expected it, SHO and Shingo always deliver. Goto won with the GTR over BUSHI.

My biggest take was that as much as I expect and want to see EVIL vs SANADA in the tournament, I really wouldn't mind a SANADA vs Goto match.

New Japan Cup First Round Match
Minoru Suzuki vs Yuji Nagata - 8.5/10
Well, as expected, these two hit each other a lot, and in a silent venue, you could really hear the slaps quite loud. They started with about 5 minutes of slaps before Suzuki transitioned for the leg work. There was a brawl outside with weapons where Suzuki gained control, followed by some really stiff work by Suzuki. Nagata eventually recovered and also went stiff with kicks on Suzuki, going after the arm. The rest mostly revolved around Suzuki chasing the GSP, Nagata blocking, a HELL of another slap exchange, that led to what will be a upset win for the tournament, Nagata pinned Suzuki with a Backplex after countering the Sleeper Hold.

Overall, this was exactly what I wanted and expected from these men. Two old timers that I knew would beat the shit out of each other. Nagata seemed to have taken the hiatus really good, he looked fresher and recovered from that last time he was in the ring, where age had started to show.

I rarely say this because to me it is irrelevant, but this would had been super heated with fans in attendance. Nagata got his lip busted open. I hope they bring Nogami for Nagata's next match.

New Japan Cup First Round Match
Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo - 6.5/10
Gedo came out with his arm on a sling, saying that he couldn't wrestle tonight. Okada was like I don't give a fuck, but Gedo was like c'mon old friend. Eventually Gedo revealed that he had a spray and tried to attack Okada, but was caught. Gedo offered Okada to just pin him and get it over with, but once again Gedo acted to early and went for the Small Package. At this point Okada just started attacking him, pulling out all the gimmicks from Gedo's pockets, teased using the Brass Knucks, but all the distraction did allow Gedo to pull out a wrench and attack Okada.

The rest was a lot of Gedo using weapons on Okada while he had him down, Red Shoes giving zero fucks about weapon use, and eventually, Okada recovered, fought through the work done on his leg and from the cheating, and won with the Tombstone and the Deep In Debt. Gedo did have an amazing near fall after using the knucks and the Gedo Clutch for the pin, especially since we had just seen an upset before.

If anyone came to this match expecting a clean fight without a ton of shenanigans, I don't know what you were thinking, you should know better. I really have to give props to Gedo tho, to have a 15 minute match, mostly by himself, it's not something we see from him.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Decent show, but nothing out of this world, this bracket had two YL matches and a Gedo match, I think it was as good as we could hope for, but it's the first round with a lot of filler guys, we know the best is yet to come. I know Okada is the top dog, but Suzuki vs Nagata was the real main event of the night.

Next round, we get Okada vs Nagata and Ishimori vs Kanemaru.

[Big Red Machine]

New Japan Cup First Round Match
Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo - 6.5/10
Gedo came out with his arm on a sling, saying that he couldn't wrestle tonight. Okada was like I don't give a fuck, but Gedo was like c'mon old friend. Eventually Gedo revealed that he had a spray and tried to attack Okada, but was caught. Gedo offered Okada to just pin him and get it over with, but once again Gedo acted to early and went for the Small Package. At this point Okada just started attacking him, pulling out all the gimmicks from Gedo's pockets, teased using the Brass Knucks, but all the distraction did allow Gedo to pull out a wrench and attack Okada.

Didn't they do this exact same thing the last time these two had a match?

[cero2k]

New Japan Cup First Round Match
Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo - 6.5/10
Gedo came out with his arm on a sling, saying that he couldn't wrestle tonight. Okada was like I don't give a fuck, but Gedo was like c'mon old friend. Eventually Gedo revealed that he had a spray and tried to attack Okada, but was caught. Gedo offered Okada to just pin him and get it over with, but once again Gedo acted to early and went for the Small Package. At this point Okada just started attacking him, pulling out all the gimmicks from Gedo's pockets, teased using the Brass Knucks, but all the distraction did allow Gedo to pull out a wrench and attack Okada.

Didn't they do this exact same thing the last time these two had a match?

yeah, pretty much, but last time, the spray worked, and now Okada learned from that mistake. Last match also had White attack directly

[Big Red Machine]

New Japan Cup First Round Match
Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo - 6.5/10
Gedo came out with his arm on a sling, saying that he couldn't wrestle tonight. Okada was like I don't give a fuck, but Gedo was like c'mon old friend. Eventually Gedo revealed that he had a spray and tried to attack Okada, but was caught. Gedo offered Okada to just pin him and get it over with, but once again Gedo acted to early and went for the Small Package. At this point Okada just started attacking him, pulling out all the gimmicks from Gedo's pockets, teased using the Brass Knucks, but all the distraction did allow Gedo to pull out a wrench and attack Okada.

Didn't they do this exact same thing the last time these two had a match?

yeah, pretty much, but last time, the spray worked, and now Okada learned from that mistake. Last match also had White attack directly

Okay. So on one level it's a new step, but on the other hand, it makes Gedo look kind of silly for thinking a ploy that failed the first time would work the second time.

[cero2k]

Okay. So on one level it's a new step, but on the other hand, it makes Gedo look kind of silly for thinking a ploy that failed the first time would work the second time.

yeah, some of his ploys were working, he had brass knuckles hidden around and extra weapons, but still wasn't enough. It's Gedo, I wouldn't expect a mastermind plan at this point of his career

[Earth Child]

Hey Cero, you watch NJPW with Japanese commentary, yes?

I think I remember you saying you don't like Kevin Kelly.

Would you say you get used to it after a while? Maybe even pick up a few words here and there? I tried watching a few shows with the Japanese commentary becuase they do have a lot more emotion and excitment in their voices, but I find I learn so much with the English commentary. Names of moves, the history of fueds, if I missed a show sometimes they fill in the blanks. Plus I enjoy Gino Gambino when he's on the desk.

Any tips?

[cero2k]

Hey Cero, you watch NJPW with Japanese commentary, yes?

I think I remember you saying you don't like Kevin Kelly.

Would you say you get used to it after a while? Maybe even pick up a few words here and there? I tried watching a few shows with the Japanese commentary becuase they do have a lot more emotion and excitment in their voices, but I find I learn so much with the English commentary. Names of moves, the history of fueds, if I missed a show sometimes they fill in the blanks. Plus I enjoy Gino Gambino when he's on the desk.

Any tips?

yeah, still watch in Japanese, I love the energy they have compared to any other commentator. I do think I've learned a bit at first, but it WAS the inspiration for me to start studying Japanese formally, i'm two years in and about to have class in about half an hour right now. Now I've started to understand more, at least the expressions, catchphrases, time cues, stuff like that.
I can't compare the amount of understanding to watching it in English for sure, so it just takes a little bit more of research, like checking the wrestler's entry in the Puro wiki to see names of moves. Storylines and promos, you can usually find everything subtitled on their youtube the day later, and for that matter, they have the backstage promos that we don't get on NJPWWorld, so there's even more story there. They also have little history lessons on their youtube to understand more of where some wrestlers are coming from and what their deals are. They're making an effort to bridge the gap

if you enjoy Gino Gambino, i don't think I can help you with that, you may need therapy for that


Puro Wiki: https://puroresusystem.fandom.com/wiki/ ... ystem_Wiki

NJPW Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1lgJk ... zsvrTCdxPw

[Big Red Machine]

Gino Gambino is the best English-speaking announcer that company has by MILES.

[cero2k]

Gino Gambino is the best English-speaking announcer that company has by MILES.

i don't disagree, I mean, I don't know him that much and I've only cared about Chris Charlton, but my perception of the bar is pretty low

[Earth Child]

Hey Cero, you watch NJPW with Japanese commentary, yes?

I think I remember you saying you don't like Kevin Kelly.

Would you say you get used to it after a while? Maybe even pick up a few words here and there? I tried watching a few shows with the Japanese commentary becuase they do have a lot more emotion and excitment in their voices, but I find I learn so much with the English commentary. Names of moves, the history of fueds, if I missed a show sometimes they fill in the blanks. Plus I enjoy Gino Gambino when he's on the desk.

Any tips?

yeah, still watch in Japanese, I love the energy they have compared to any other commentator. I do think I've learned a bit at first, but it WAS the inspiration for me to start studying Japanese formally, i'm two years in and about to have class in about half an hour right now. Now I've started to understand more, at least the expressions, catchphrases, time cues, stuff like that.
I can't compare the amount of understanding to watching it in English for sure, so it just takes a little bit more of research, like checking the wrestler's entry in the Puro wiki to see names of moves. Storylines and promos, you can usually find everything subtitled on their youtube the day later, and for that matter, they have the backstage promos that we don't get on NJPWWorld, so there's even more story there. They also have little history lessons on their youtube to understand more of where some wrestlers are coming from and what their deals are. They're making an effort to bridge the gap

if you enjoy Gino Gambino, i don't think I can help you with that, you may need therapy for that


Puro Wiki: https://puroresusystem.fandom.com/wiki/ ... ystem_Wiki

NJPW Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1lgJk ... zsvrTCdxPw

Thanks! I have subscribed to their YouTube channel. I liked their History Of videos and their 'My Best Entrance/Finish' videos.

Will totally check out the Puro Wiki tonight.

Can't say though I'd have the time to take proper Japanese lessons.

Gino Gambino is the best English-speaking announcer that company has by MILES.

i don't disagree, I mean, I don't know him that much and I've only cared about Chris Charlton, but by perception of the bar is pretty low

HAHAHA! I enjoy his heelism and Aussie-ness.
And IMO I like his dynamic with Kevin Kelly and Rocky and Charlton when they're there.

[Earth Child]

I don't remember the show but I loved this quote:
Gino: Oh look it's Jerome (refering to one of the western referees)
Kevin Kelly: No that's Jeremy
Gino: Aw! I've been calling him Crab-Apple!

A Simpsons reference will always win me over.

another one:
Gino: hey there's Spiderman!.... wait can I say Spiderman?!?!? (I can't remember who was dressed as spiderman but I think it was one of the CMLL guys in one of the opening tag matches of a show)
Kevin Kelly: You just did >.<
Chris Chartlon: um... Arachnid-man!

[cero2k]

I'll give Gino the benefit of the doubt. He came up when I stopped giving the english table a chance, so I haven't really heard much from him aside the NJPW podcast that Gino/Chris/Kevin do, which is another good source to understanding all that's going on