wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW New Japan Cup 2022 Night Six Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW New Japan Cup 2022 Night Six
March 12th, 2022 | Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya, Aichi | Attendance: 1,722
So far, this tournament has been exactly what I expected. The guys who always deliver are continuing to do so, while the guys who miss the mark are still doing that. It’s a lot of lame stuff and a few great matches that will likely be forgotten in a week. By the way, this is a day late because I spent a large chunk of Saturday without any internet connection.
New Japan Cup Second Round: DOUKI vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
SUZUKI-GUN EXPLODES! I really liked that DOUKI jumped Sabre during his entrance. He’s not here for any faction loyalty. He was here to win. Commentary also harped on how he went from a no-name in Mexico into a guy with some NJPW success so this tournament would be the next step. Of course, Sabre is way higher on the card so he quickly recovered. Whenever DOUKI would get something going, Sabre could just catch him in a submission or something and put him in serious trouble. The DOUKI CHOUKI obviously failed because Sabre wasn’t going to let a submission be his downfall. This was also boosted by a solid crowd as they wanted to see an upset. Sabre survived the DOUKI CHOUKI and won with a vicious looking Cremation Lily in 15:03. He used that to beat Juice Robinson in the G1 a while back. That was a good match that played to their strengths. [***¼]
New Japan Cup Second Round: The Great-O-Khan vs. Taiji Ishimori
An interesting heavyweight vs. junior meeting. Commentary discussed O-Khan having more singles matches than anyone in New Japan this year due to scheduling and such. He beat a lot of the New Japan Dads. Knowing he was outmatched in size, Ishimori found a body part to target and did that, attacking the left arm. He even went as far as to use a steel chair to his advantage, leveling the playing field. To his credit, O-Khan sold it really well, using only his right arm for almost everything. That made it so some of what Ishimori did came across as more believable, including submissions. Still, nobody ever thought O-Khan would tap so it was kind of moot. The finish saw Ishimori try a low blow but O-Khan avoided and won with the Eliminator in 16:43. There was also a ref bump for no reason. A solid outing here though it had no drama. O-Khan vs. Sabre Jr. in the third round. [***]
New Japan Cup Second Round: El Phantasmo vs. Will Ospreay
Goddammit. They met in the G1 29 (***½), Super J-Cup 2019 (***), and King of Pro Wrestling 2019 (***¼). They’re two guys with similar styles but now Willy is all muscular. Although that’s the case, he still wrestles like a junior and this was more of the same from these two. High impact stuff, some flips, and a lot of stuff that I just don’t really like. It again felt like they were trying too hard to have an epic, which remains a big problem I have with Willy matches. Also, this suffered from the tournament’s biggest issue in that nobody can buy into upsets. Even though ELP beat Ospreay in the past, there was never a chance that he’d actually win this, no matter how much Kevin Kelly shouted that it was possible. Hidden Blade connected and Willy added a second to win in 17:31. It was a solid match and nothing more. I just don’t really like their style together. [***]
New Japan Cup Second Round: Aaron Henare vs. SANADA
I’m actually kind of intrigued by this one. SANADA can be hit or miss but it is Henare’s first main event and he could be looking to deliver a big performance. Plus, it’s relatively fresh. I liked the idea behind the match as it was a case of SANADA’s smooth wrestling acumen against Henare’s sheer size and strength. It allowed SANADA to work as the underdog of sorts and for Henare to be the aggressor, which are roles that fit them well enough. The Paradise Lock is still goofy as hell and looks more like something Toru Yano would do than SANADA. Henare started in with bigger moves like the Samoan Drop and a Blue Thunder Driver but neither were enough to put down the United States Champion. SANADA also survived a submission before they traded strikes. I appreciated that The Great-O-Khan showed up but didn’t really interfere. There’s too much of that in New Japan. The closing stretch saw Henare get a huge near fall on the Rampage Tackle in a rare case of this tournament actually making me believe in an upset. SANADA came back with a stunner and the moonsault to win after 25:07. This went a bit too long but was really good. I think Henare is very underrated and SANADA tends to live in this range for his match ratings. [***½]
