Kevin’s NJPW New Japan Cup 3.7.21 Review

NJPW New Japan Cup
March 7th, 2021 | Aimesse Yamanashi in Kofu-shi, Yamanashi

We got a welcome step up in quality for the second official night of the tournament, we’re back for two matches. This is the way to watch wrestling! Two or three match bursts baby.

New Japan Cup First Round: Gabriel Kidd vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
I am so pumped for this. Kidd is one of the most impressive Young Lions in a long time and his exchanges with Suzuki-Gun and Sabre Jr. have been great leading up to this. Right off the bat, Kidd showed that he could do his thing on the mat. He may not get a lot of moves his arsenal as a Young Lion but he can grapple on the mat. They have a history and it showed with Kidd being right here at almost every step. It seemed to frustrate Sabre at times, knowing he should put this guy away. That boiled over as they started throwing strikes at each other and again, Kidd was able to hang tough. That Shibata training was kicking in. Sabre Jr. began talking trash but Kidd refused to give in. I liked that Kidd did bust out some strong offense, including a brainbuster that got a near fall. The outcome was never in true doubt though, as Sabre Jr. won with a triangle armbar in a fantastic 17:21. Shoutout to Kidd for having a slightly better tourney match than the likes of Okada, Shingo, and Naito. [***¾]

New Japan Cup First Round: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Will Ospreay
I understand that Kidd is a Young Lion and trash person Willy is something of a draw but this really doesn’t feel like a main event. The winner of this (which is obvious) gets Sabre Jr. While Willy vs. Kojima worked wonderfully a bit ago, this didn’t have that magic. For one, there was no stipulation to help and for another, Tenzan is nowhere near as good as Kojima these days. They still did what they to, with Willy being the young prick and Tenzan as the fiery veteran. Tenzan still using a version of the Mongolian Chops remains odd. Ospreay scored the expected win with Storm Breaker in 13:36. It was a fine match but lacked something to make it stand out and it had next to no drama. [**¾]

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

You get a borderline great match and one that is okay but not bad at all. That makes for a quick watch if you’re only doing the tournament Kidd/Sabre Jr. might even be better on a second viewing.