Kevin’s NJPW New Japan Cup 3.6.21 Review

NJPW New Japan Cup
March 6th, 2021 | Ota City Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan

After a disappointing show, the New Japan Cup is back 24 hours or so later with three matches. These seem stronger on paper, so there’s potential.

New Japan Cup First Round: Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomoaki Honma
Is this like, Honma’s first relatively important match since 2016 or something? Also, apparently this is a first-time meeting which sounds nuts to me. It worked out that Honma doesn’t wrestle consistently in singles action anymore as he was able to save up energy and bring it here. He used to work so well with Tomohiro Ishii and Suzuki is in the same vein as a guy who will hit hard and bring the fight to him. This wans’t a mark on any of those classics but it had a similar vibe at points. Honma had some close calls early but he’s not the lovable underdog he was in 2014-2015, so they didn’t work nearly as well. Near the end, they were just slapping the hell out of each other. Honma nearly fell a few times, showing that he was indeed outmatched. Still, this is the New Japan Cup’s first round and upsets are possible so I bit a few times. Suzuki put him down for good with a Gotch Piledriver after 14:54. Quality match with some stiff moments. [***¼]

New Japan Cup First Round: Juice Robinson vs. KENTA
Remember when New Japan seemingly built up KENTA/Moxley forever and then it happened, Moxley retained, and it was super forgettable? Anyway, these two met in the G1 last year to lackluster results (**½) and had their Wrestle Kingdom match canceled due to an injury to Juice. I loved KENTA going after Juice’s fro. If he’s going to have a target like this, you might as well use it. The setup for this match was quite simple. KENTA would resort to any and all heel tactics, while Juice was the resilient and fiery babyface. It’s a tested formula and one that works well enough. I liked how KENTA kept going after the eye, referencing their past, but it did get a bit redundant. There was only so much he could do to work that body part. In the end, KENTA won with Game Over in 17:17. I liked this but was actually kind of disappointed by it. They should have something better in them. KENTA/Suzuki should rule in the next round. [***]

New Japan Cup First Round: Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo Takagi
Okada won their G1 match last year (****). From what I’ve seen online, Okada is dealing with some back issues, so working a style that fits him best makes sense. Plus, Shingo is a beast and fighting his style would be rough on the body. I appreciated that this wasn’t the totally boring and predictable Okada formula either. There were just enough changes to make it enjoyable. I couldn’t pinpoint every twist and turn, which I liked. It felt like Shingo had to do a fair bit of carrying here to help make sure Okada looked great. That’s not a slight on Okada, by the way. I loved the through line of Shingo mocking the Rainmaker pose and basically being better than him on this night. It was a nice change of pace for Okada, who is usually confident and in control. Okada’s offense came in spurts with fire except when he went for the Money Clip. I know it beat Shingo in the G1 but it’s such a lame move and it always kills the momentum of a match. Anytime he attempted it, things felt lackluster. Shingo won with Last of the Dragon in 23:59 in a very good but just shy of great match. [***¾]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Much better this time around. Each match was good with Juice/KENTA being the worst and that was still good. Suzuki/Honma was better than expected, while Okada/Shingo was about what I wanted. I dig it.