BRM Reviews NJPW New Japan Cup 2021: Day 2 (Okada vs. Shingo!)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews NJPW New Japan Cup 2021: Day 2 (Okada vs. Shingo!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Mar 8th, '21, 18:31

NJPW New Japan Cup 2021: Day 2 (3/6/2021)- Tokyo, Japan



TOA HENARE, YUYA UEMURA, & DAVID FINLAY JR. vs. BULLET CLUB (Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens, & Jay White) (w/Gedo)- 6/10
Fine opening match New Japan stuff. Uemura was the babyface in peril and sold well.

LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, & Sanada) vs. UNITED EMPIRE (Jeff Cobb, the Great O-Khan, & Will Ospreay) (w/Bea Priestley)- 6.5/10
United Empire jumped the bell on LIJ, because every heel stable in New Japan must jump the bell on their opponents. Naito was the babyface in peril.

NEW JAPAN CUP FIRST ROUND MATCH: Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomoaki Honma- 6.75/10
You know… if he didn’t jump around and slap his own head so many times first, I bet Honma would hit that falling headbutt more often. This started out as every Honma match ever and turned into every Suzuki match ever for the heat and beginning of the comeback. Once we got past that, things got a lot better, as they started blending their usual stuff very well, rather than it feeling like my match when I’m on offense and your match when you’re on offense.

NEW JAPAN CUP FIRST ROUND MATCH: KENTA vs. Juice Robinson (w/David Finlay Jr.)- 7/10
KENTA hit Juice with the ring bell to set up the heat. This then turned into every New Japan match ever with the heel on the outside choking the babyface with a guardrail while the referee counts to get him off instead of calling for the DQ because the heel is using a weapon and doesn’t ever try to count them out until the heel gets back into the ring to set up the Count-Out Tease That No One Ever Buys™.
We got quite a bit of heat before they wound up on the outside again to not be counted out. Juice eventually turned things around with by countering an attempted Thesz Press off the apron into a Death Valley Driver on the floor. Juice did a great job as the never-say-die babyface, but he eventually had to say die.

NEW JAPAN CUP FIRST ROUND MATCH: Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo Takagi- 8.75/10
Lots of guys working the head and neck, as you would expect. They kept the Money Clip to a minimum, which was good. In some ways, the greatest complement I can give to this match is to say that it was mostly guys running into each other with clotheslines and lariats, and they made it awesome with their selling of exhaustion and their fighting spirit and just how much they’ve built up their trademark clothesline and lariat finishers over the years.


This was a good show from New Japan. The main event was worth the price of admission, and the rest of the card was perfectly fine for what it was.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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