Cero Reviews NJPW New Japan Cup 2022, 3.21

[cero2k]

NJPW New Japan Cup 2022, Day 13
March 21, 2022
Aore Nagaoka, Nagaoka, Japan

Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask & Yuto Nakashima vs. Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Togi Makabe - 6/10
Usual Young Lino goodness. Kojima won over Oiwa and Makabe couldn't wait to get to the back, dude was halfway to the back when the pin came.

CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Suzuki-gun (DOUKI, Minoru Suzuki & Taichi) - 6/10
Ok match, it started with some Sumo stuff between Taichi and Yano, leading to Yano being cut off, Tanahashi hot tag, and then some Ishii towards the end. Tana got the pin over DOUKI with the HHF.

Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa), Jado & Six Or Nine (Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi) vs. BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, El Phantasmo, Gedo & Taiji Ishimori) - 6/10
They had virtually the same match as yesterday, with the only difference that G.O.D. got more time in the ring this time around with Tama Tonga as the babyface in peril. Finish saw ELP hit CRII on Taguchi for the win, after Ishimori hit him with the belt.

Post-match - All of the Bullet Club attacked until Tanahashi made the save and told the Bullet Club to go home. Tana and the Guerrillas shook hands for the first time, and this is when you officially join the home team.

Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, TAKA Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. House Of Torture (EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) (w/Dick Togo) - 6.5/10
I liked this a lot, the Jr. trio of Suzuki-Gun worked great together, and I weirdly enjoyed EVIL vs Kanemaru, the idea that Kanemaru is as good at cheating as EVIL and thus can dodge his tricks is a match I'd love to watch. Finish saw Yujiro pin TAKA after Pimp Juice.

Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) & Tomoaki Honma vs. United Empire (Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) - 6.5/10
Good match, got strong vibes that Cobb is after the titles by how much he antagonized Goto and YH. Match was good, but a bit short to get to enjoy more UE versus Bishamon before Honma had to get in there to get pinned by Cobb's Tour of the Islands.

Post-match - Cobb got in both Goto and YOSHI-HASHI's face. He was later joined by Henare and O-Khan, so it seems we may indeed have a title challenge coming up, and from how O-Khan stayed a bit behind, I take it Cobb and Henare are the two to go after them.

CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOH) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito) - 7/10
Good match, either Okada versus Naito, or YOH versus BUSHI gave us good action. We've seen Okada and Naito wrestle so many times, and they recently built their Golden Series match, so their preview wasn't anything new. YOH pinned BUSHI with a roll up.

New Japan Cup 2022 Quarter Final Match
Shingo Takagi vs. Hiromu Takahashi - 9/10
This was awesome, just a true back and forth contest of two guys with no heat, but all desire to advance to the semi-finals. Hiromu worked Shingo's leg for most of the match, but as they escalated, they both just went back and forth more with spots that worked the head, just by the nature of Shingo's and Hiromu's usual signature moves and strikes. At the end, it was Shingo who took the win with a Last of the Dragons.

New Japan Cup 2022 Quarter Final Match
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Will Ospreay (w/Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) - 9/10
It somewhat warms my heart that after so long, these two still get to wrestle each other, main eventing a NJPW show and still calling each other 'dickheads'. The match reflected that, there were some spots where both guys are just teasing each other and going back and forth until the heat escalates back into a fight.

The match was similar to many of the matches they've had, but this one in particular has a far bigger and stronger Ospreay, a far more dominant and dangerous one too, so while Sabre kept locking Ospreay and working his leg. Meanwhile, Ospreay just kept trying to knockout Sabre, and just like, in the most Sabre way, we got a finish out of nowhere when Sabre managed to lock one of Ospreay's legs and fold him back into a sleeper for the immediate tap out. Sabre tried to argue that he didn't tap, but we all saw it, and it was glorious.

It's on, our two semi-finals are Okada versus Naito and Sabre versus Shingo.

Post-match - Sabre cut a promo and remembered that it was in Nagaoka that he won the Cup five years ago, and he's about to do it again, and once he wins, he'll win the title and have a title match in Nagaoka.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Really good show, the two tournament matches were some of the best of the tournament altogether, and some of the undercard matches were above the average we've been getting during the tour.