Cero Reviews NJPW New Japan Cup 2021, 3.14

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Cero Reviews NJPW New Japan Cup 2021, 3.14

Post by cero2k » Mar 16th, '21, 13:00

NJPW New Japan Cup 2021, Day 8
March 14, 2021
Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan

David Finlay, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura vs. CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) - 6/10
Ok match, once again the best thing was Ishii wrestling the Young Lions. YH vs Finlay was fine, just not something I care much for.

Suzuki-gun (DOUKI, Minoru Suzuki & Taichi) vs. BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & KENTA) - 4.5/10
KENTA vs Suzuki aside, this was weak, Taichi couldn't save it. KENTA and Mizuki, not having to waste so much time, just went straight to business and was quite enjoyable compared to some parts of their singles match. Owens got the win with a Package Piledriver.

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada & SHO) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) - 6.5/10
Good stuff. I've been enjoying these CHAOS vs LIJ pair ups since we get a lot of Naito vs Okada, and now we got a lot of Shingo vs Goto too. SHO pinned BUSHI for the win.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson & Toa Henare vs. BULLET CLUB (EVIL, Jay White & Yujiro Takahashi) (w/Dick Togo & Gedo) - 6.5/10
Everything with Tanahashi was for the most part good, his stuff with White, having more time, looked best, but even Tana vs Yujiro was good. Robinson and Henare were ok. Tana pinned Yujiro with the HFF.

New Japan Cup 2021 Second Round Match
Yuji Nagata vs. SANADA - 7.5/10
I enjoyed this for what it was. I didn't get to see the Road To Castle Attack these two had a month ago, so I wasn't able to compare it to that one, but also, everything here felt knew-ish to be for that same reason. The match was a good mixture of submission work, some striking, and some of SANADA's stuff sprinkled throughout. I liked the combination of the two, Nagata is a package of a wrestler that is great all around and while he can't go and have everyone's match anymore, his work is something that can make anyone look good and comfortable.

SANADA worked on Nagata's neck from early on when he dropped him with a piledriver. Nagata's offense early on was mostly based on his kicks and strikes, but as the match went one, they got into exchanging submissions and near falls. Nagata kicked out of the Japanese Clutch and countered with the Nagata Lock II that Ospreay escaped. At the end, SANADA won with the Skull End and Moonsault combo.

New Japan Cup 2021 Second Round Match
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Will Ospreay - 9.5/10
This was awesome. I hadn't seen them wrestle each other in so long (well, a year since their RevPro match), that it's hard to compare with their past matches, but even if I had, this was so different with the current Ospreay evolution. He's been a heel before, he's been a stable leader before, but he's now bigger, he's definitely smarter and a better overall worker.

This match was built around Ospreay being an incredible cocky dick, but having a big target around his wrapped shoulder. Right from the start, Ospreay started to show off and celebrate countering some of Sabre's moves, which granted, is not something that most can do in the roster, he was cocky that he was now bigger than Sabre, who as usual, wrestled his defensive approach, picking his times and countering when it mattered. As the match went on, Sabre started to get more and more upset and he got a bit more vicious with his work, but as usual, he gets overconfident too and wants to play strong style, that 9-out-10 times, it works against him. We got a couple of great near falls with Sabre hitting the Zack Driver or locking in (I think) Yes, I'm Far Away from Home. At the end, Ospreay used his newly acquired strength advantage, blocked another Sabre attempt and got him with the Stormbreaker for the win. Favorite match of the tournament so far, up there with Shingo vs Okada and Shingo vs Goto, but just slightly better.

Last thing to mention, I don't know exactly when it happened, it was around when Sabre did La Mistica, but Ospreay straight up broke his nose, it wasn't that bad that he had to stop the match, but his face was a bit of a mess by the end.

Ospreay vs SANADA in the quarter finals.

Post-match - Ospreay cut a great promo talking about winning the tournament.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
The undercard of this show was weaker than usual, but the two tournament matches made up for it. If anything else, this was a super easy watch.
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