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Csonka’s NJPW New Japan Cup (Night 7) Review 3.16.18
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Csonka’s NJPW New Japan Cup (Night 7) Review 3.16.18
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi & Tomoyuki Oka @ 7:07 via pin [**]
– Taichi, Lance Archer, & Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Shota Umino, David Finlay, & Michael Elgin @ 9:48 via pin [**¾]
– Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Toa Henare & Togi Makabe @ 11:15 via pin [***]
– CHAOS defected Bullet Club @ 9:50 via pin [***]
– Takashi Iizuka & Minoru Suzuki defeated Gedo & Kazuchika Okada @ 13:25 via pin [**]
– BUSHI, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr., & Taka Michinoku @ 13:55 via pin [**¾]
– New Japan Cup 2018 Semifinal Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Juice Robinson @ 29:55 via pin [****]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
– You can read reviews of night one here, night two here, night three here, night four here, night five here, and night six here. You can also read my round one breakdown at this link.
Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi & Tomoyuki Oka: Yagi attacks at the bell anis a house of fire, taking the fight to Takahashi until Takahashi cuts him off with a big boot. Loa takes Oka to the floor and Bullet Club is in control. Back in and Loa takes the heat on Yagi, picking up near falls. Yagi tries to fire up, picks up the pace and hits the desperation dropkick. Hot tag to Oka, he runs wild a bit until Loa hits a German, and Takahashi tags in. Oka fights him off, runs him into Loa and gets a spinebuster for 2. Yagi in and it breaks down. Takahashi hits the fisherman’s buster on Oka for a good near fall. The short DDT finishes it. Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi & Tomoyuki Oka @ 7:07 via pin [**] This was an ok opener, but really lacked the fire a lot of lions matches have.
Taichi, Lance Archer, & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Shota Umino, David Finlay, & Michael Elgin: Suzuki-gun attacks, bodies to the floor for brawling and Taichi uses his mic stand as a weapon. Back in and KES isolated Finlay, hitting the hart attack. Smith in and laying the boots to Finlay, Archer quickly tags back in and KES works double teams. Finlay tries to fire up but Finlay hits the pounce and tosses him to the floor. Taichi tags in, Finlay with uppercuts and the dropkick; the tag to Elgin follows. Elgin takes control, hitting a RANA on Archer. Clotheslines follow, but Smith makes the save. Elgin fights off the killer bomb, hits a German and then does the deal with the falcon arrow for 2. Elgin lays is clotheslines, but runs into a black hole slam, Taichi back in and looks for a powerbomb, Elgin fights that off and tags in Umino. He’s a house of fire, running wild on Taichi and it breaks down. The faces isolate and work over Taichi and Umino hits a missile dropkick for 2. The crab follows. Archer makes the save, but Elgin takes him out. Taichi cuts off Umino, the pants are off, and Umino gets a cradle for 2. Big lariat by Taichi gets 2. Taichi follows with kicks, and the superkick finishes it. Taichi, Lance Archer, & Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Shota Umino, David Finlay, & Michael Elgin @ 9:48 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good, with more intensity and a sense of urgency. Umino looked great here, taking over Kawato’s super fired up babyface lion spot.
– Post match, Archer chokeslams Narita and makes a small child cry.
Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toa Henare & Togi Makabe: Ishii & Henare start things off, continuing thier mini-rivalry. They immediately start beating the shit out of each other, leading to Makabe working over Yano. The action spills to the floor with everyone brawling. Henare gets tosses into the crowd. He makes it back in and Yano sends him to the exposed buckle. Ishii tags in and lights him up with chops. Yano back in as CHAOS work quick tags, isolating Henare. Henare fires up with a big clothesline, and tags in Makabe. He knocks Ishii to the floor, and hits a lariat on Yano for 2. Yano with the hair pull takedown, and we get wholesale changes to Ishii & Henare. They work back and forth; Henare hits a shoulder tackle and beats down Ishii in the corner. Ishii gets pissed and starts laying in chops and strikes; the Saito suplex follows for 2. It breaks down, with Makabe & Henare controlling and working double teams on Ishii. Henare hits the top rope shoulder tackle for 2. The Samoan drop follows. They trade head butts and Henare hits a lariat for 2. Ishii battles back, and drops Henare on his head with a powerbomb as Henare didn’t go up well for it. The lariat follows for 2. The brainbuster finishes it. Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Toa Henare & Togi Makabe @ 11:15 via pin [***] Yano & Ishii continue to pick up tag wins, making a case for a tag title shot down the line. The Henare & Ishii interactions continue to be wildly fun. Good match.
– David Finlay joins commentary.
Kota Ibushi, Chase Owens, & Bad Luck Fale vs. Chuckie T, YOSHI-HASHI, & Hiroki Goto: Owens & HASHI to begin. They work some back and forth to begin, HASHI hits the blockbuster and Fale tags in. CHAOS clears the ring, and triple team Fale after clearing Owens & Ibushi to he floor. Fale battles back, cutting off HASHI and tagging in Ibushi. He grounds the action, but HASHI makes the ropes and Owens tags in. They work double teams, and Owens covers for 2. Fale instructs Owens to repeatedly slam HASHI, he does and then Fale tags back in. Ibushi tags back in, he and HASHI trade strikes and chops. Ibushi hits kicks and the running shooting star press for 2. HASHI cuts him off with a neck breaker, and Chuckie gets the tag. The sitout powerbomb gets 2. The Michinoku driver follows for 2. Chuckie hits a big kick, but Ibushi cuts him off with a PELE. Tags to Goto & Owens, Owen shits a superkick and Bullet Club now triple teams Goto. Owens looks for a package piledriver, Goto counters out with a head butt. HASHI makes the save and takes out Ibushi. Owens & Goto trade, Goto hits ushigoroshi; the GTR finishes it. CHAOS defected Bullet Club @ 9:50 via pin [***] This was a good and fun tag, with everyone getting a chance to shine, and never really slowing at all.
Gedo & Kazuchika Okada vs. Takashi Iizuka & Minoru Suzuki: You’ll be shocked to head this, but Suzuki-gun attacked before the bell, leading to Gedo & Iizuka brawling on the floor. Gedo and Okada take control over Iizuka back in the ring, but Suzuki cuts off Gedo with the hanging arm bar in the ropes. Gedo to the floor for some more ass kicking. Suzuki now works over Okada on the floor. Gedo attacks Taichi, who is on Japanese commentary, but that just allowed Suzuki to attack and drag him back in the ring. Suzuki grounds Gedo, focusing on the leg. Iizuka tags in, biting the leg of Gedo. Suzuki kicks Okada to the floor, Gedo attacks, but Suzuki laughs off his attacks. Gedo hits a desperation dropkick and tags in Okada. Okada runs wild, hits the DDT and covers for 2. Okada follows with a slam, but Suzuki pulls a heel hook and grounds him. Okada escapes and they trade strikes. Suzuki fights off a tombstone and locks on a sleeper. Okada fights off the Gotch piledriver and hits a neck breaker. Wholesale changes to Gedo & Iizuka. Iizuka bites him repeatedly, and then chokes him out with his little rope. Gedo fights back, and gets a cradle with the ropes for 2. A small package follows for 2. Suzuki tags back in and Okada cuts him off with a dropkick; the Gedo clutch gets 2. Suzuki gets the sleeper and Gotch to finish Gedo. Takashi Iizuka & Minoru Suzuki defeated Gedo & Kazuchika Okada @ 13:25 via pin [**] This was ok at best, but in all honesty was too long and lethargic, with way too much Iizuka.
– Okada & Suzuki have a big stare down post match.
https://twitter.com/loveheartcore/status/974599649712660480
BUSHI, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr., & Taka Michinoku: Zack & BUSHI to begin. They work back and forth, BUSHI looks to overpower him, but Zack looks to use his grappling skills to escape that. He does, locking on an abdominal stretch. They work into a series of counters, make the ropes, and separate. Naito and Desperado in now. Taka sneaks in and attacks, but Naito fights then off and tags in BUSHI, and he chokes out Desperado with his shirt. Takahashi in and lays in chops on Desperado. Kanemaru takes him out and attacks on the floor. We get some mass floor brawling now. Back in and Suzuki-gun isolates and take the heat on Takahashi, working quick tags. Taka starts attacking the knee. Desperado tags in and looks for the stretch muffler, but Takahashi escapes. Takahashi hits a desperation RANA and lariat. Zack and SANADA tag in and start firing away on each other. SANADA hit the dropkick, but Zack locks on a hanging kimura, countered into skull end, but Zack transitions to an arm bar. Some really nice back and forth here, setting the stage for Sunday. Suzuki-gun clears the ring, isolating BUSHI, and triple teaming him. Taka locks on a crossface, but Naito makes the save. Takahashi back and LIJ clears things out and they isolate Taka, hitting double superkicks and a really rough looking doomsday MX for the win. BUSHI, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr., & Taka Michinoku @ 13:55 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good, giving us a preview of SANADA vs. Sabre, and also giving BUSHI & Takahashi momentum for a junior tag title shot.
– Post match, BUSHI & Takahashi brawl with Kanemaru & Desperado. Roppongi 3K arrives and attacks, clearing out the ring.
Juice Robinson vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi: Tanahashi refuses the handshake, there’s still issues from yesterday here. They work a friendly opening stretch, clean breaks, and both guys looking to outwrestle each other. They work into a test of strength, Juice overpowers at first, but Tanahashi powers up and takes control. Juice powers back out, working the arm. They pick up the pace, working back and forth, with Tanahashi then grounding the action. Tanahashi takes things to the corner, and Tanahashi lays in body strikes, refusing to break clean. Juice avoids the high cross, and Juice cradles him for 2. Tanahashi powders, clearly taking the slight heel role here. Back in and Tanahashi follows with more strikes, and even uses some hair pulls. Tanahashi then drags Juice down and posts his knee repeatedly. Back in and Tanahashi focuses on the knee, working an Indian death lock. Juice fights and makes the ropes. Tanahashi continues to work the knee, keeping Juice grounded; he fights and just barely makes the ropes. Tanahashi again attacks the knee in the ropes, and even backs off the ref, telling him to shut his mouth. Juice hits a desperation spinebuster and both are down. Juice fires up with jabs, but Tanahashi kicks out his knee. Juice cuts that off with a clothesline but misses the cannonball. They brawl to the floor, and Juice hits the cannonball on the floor. Back in and as Juice goes up top, Tanahashi crotches him. Tanahashi now looks for high fly flow, but Juice accidentally bumps the ref into the ropes and Tanahashi gets crotched. They trade strikes back and forth, both are fired up and Juice lays in chops but Tanahashi counters the gut buster, hitting a dragon screw leg whip. Juice fights off the cloverleaf, but Tanahashi again cuts him off with the dragon screw and then gets the cloverleaf. Juice makes the ropes, he then cuts off sling blade and hits a full nelson slam for 2. The lariat follows for 2. Juice looks for pulp friction, Tanahashi fights it off and hits sling blade for 2. The high fly flow is cut off, and Juice follows him up top. Tanahashi fights off the superplex and the high fly high cross is countered as Juice rolls through into a cradle for 2. Tanahashi now hits a series of neck breakers, but Juice counters with a gut buster for 2. Juice now heads up top, hits the high cross and then pulls a Tanahashi and heads up top again and hits a high fly flow for a great near fall! Juice now looks for pulp friction, but Tanahashi fights it off. They trade strikes, dragon suplex by Tanahashi! He heads up top and hits the high fly flow! Another high fly flow! Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Juice Robinson @ 29:55 via pin [****] This was a great main event, with Juice putting in an overall excellent babyface performance. That was made possible by Tanahashi’s willingness to play the subtle heel role. He’s so confident in his positioning that he knows he can do this, that it won’t hurt him, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s damn good at it. Juice had an extremely strong tournament, continuing his evolution as a performer, and loved babyface. Tanahashi winning made the most sense, because he’s doubly motivated to win at all; either to stop Okada from breaking all of his records, or to go for revenge against Suzuki.
– Thy shake hands and embrace post match
– Where we stand…
* Onto the finals: Hiroshi Tanahashi
* Semifinal Match: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA (on SUNDAY)
– End Scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
