It’s time for the finals of the New Japan Cup! Tonight, four men vied for a shot at either the Heavyweight or IC Championship. Two of those men are Shelton Benjamin and Bad Luck Fale. Yes. The other two are Shinsuke Nakamura and Minoru Suzuki, two men who seem like they have a better shot of winning the whole thing. Let’s see what unfolds here tonight, shall we?
BUSHI and KUSHIDA vs Captain New Japan and Sho Tanaka
I guess Shelley isn’t on this tour. The all-caps crew are the subtle heels in this match. Tanaka seems to be getting over. Once he gets some seasoning, he’s going to be really good. Some chain-wrestling early by Tanaka and KUSHIDA. KUSHIDA eventually cuts him off, and both he and BUSHI work him over.
Tanaka cuts off KUSHIDA with a one-armed powerbomb and tags Captain New Japan. He tries to mount some momentum, but gets caught each time. However, he does manage to hit a chokeslam on KUSHIDA. Tanaka tags back in, but finds trouble with BUSHI. A Codebreaker by BUSHI gets only a 2-count, but after jumping off the top rope with a second Codebreaker to Tanaka, BUSHI gets the pinfall.
A very fun opener – ***
Tencozy, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV vs Killer Elite Squad, Taka Michinoku & Taichi
I thought Taka wasn’t going to be on New Japan shows much longer? I read about that somewhere. Oh well.
Taichi immediately tries to unmask Liger, but he evades it as he tags in Tiger Mask, who starts to fight Taka. Tag to Tenzan, who works over Taka with the Mongolian chops, but Archer tags him and soon he’s on the outside getting worked over by all the heels. Taichi starts doing both of Tencozy’s signature moves, which is pretty hilarious.
Tag to Archer who works over Tenzan until Tenzan finally makes the hot tag to Kojima who goes wild. Kojima goes for the lariat, but Archer hits the Full Nelson slam and tags in Taichi. He tries to do Kojima’s lariat, but Kojima hits a Diamond Cutter to counter and tags in Tiger Mask. Tiger Mask hits the Tiger Bomb, but can’t get the pinfall.
At this point, it turns into a wild brawl with everyone just everywhere. Tencozy tries to do their finishing move, but they’re evaded by KES. Tiger Mask tries to fight off the Killer Elite Squad, but is unable to do much as he’s cut off and the KES hit their finish to end the match.
Simple enough. It was by the numbers, but in a good way – **¾
Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka and Jado vs Kazushi Sakuraba, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
This month, the announcer (not the one who always gets bullied by Iizuka) held up a sign, and apparently this sign thwarted Iizuka, as he was at a loss.
Jado and Nagata start things off. Jado does the Flair mannerisms as eventually Sakuraba is tagged in. This leads to a brawl between him and Iizuka that ends up in the crowd. Yano has (what I think is) a gavel and uses it against Sakuraba. Iizuka tagged back in and uses a cord to choke out Sakuraba.
Yano fights a sleeper, but gets taken out with a crossbody of all things by Sakuraba. Nakanishi is tagged in, and he and Yano go at it. Nakanishi motions for the lariat and gets it. Nagata is tagged in but all the heels go after him. Yano did the lamest punches possible to get rid of the rest of the faces. Nakaniashi tried to make the save but was late several times, which made this match look weird. Nagata eventually hits a back suplex on Jado for the pinfall.
Boy have Nagata and Sakuraba fallen off the workrate scale this year. It wasn’t their fault, it’s just working with Yano, Iizuka and Nakanishi is dragging them down. Let’s not forget the Gracies as well. Not that good – *½
Bad Luck Fale vs Shelton Benjamin
The winner here goes on to the finals. Big slugfest to start things off. Benjamin tries to take Fale off his feet, but one punch sends him to the floor. Benjamin tries a Sleeper, but Fale fights out of that one as well. Fale is strong, you see. Fale tries for a Spike finisher, but Benjamin fights back with a jumping DDT. Fale cuts him off, hits the Spike finisher and the Border Toss to pin Shelton Benjamin.
Yes, Bad Luck Fale is in the finals. Wasn’t bad, but very short – **
I’m now rooting for Bad Luck Fale at this point, because I’m completely astounded he made it this far. My assumption at this point is that they want Fale to be the next Vader or Scott Norton as the big gajin main-event heel. Problem is they’re doing this way, way, way too soon.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Minoru Suzuki
The winner gets to face Bad Luck Fale in the finals.
Mat wrestling early. Suzuki brawls with Nakamura on the outside with Taichi helping. Suzuki works on Nakamura’s arm and waffles it with a steel chair shot as he laughs gleefully. From here, Suzuki begins to work on the arm. Armbar by Suzuki but Nakamura escapes. He rallies back with a spinning heel kick.
Suzuki cuts him off with more arm work. Suzuki puts on the Sleeper and then tries for the Piledriver, but Nakamura counters, only for Suzuki to go back to the arm. Nakamura breaks free and hits two Boma Ye’s for the pinfall.
An alright match, but it never really got going. I think that’s what I said about their last match – **¾
YOSHI-HASHI and Yujiro Takahashi vs Katsuyori Shibata and Hirooki Goto.
Early on it turns into a brawl with Goto and YH in the crowd. Yujiro takes care of Shibata on the outside. The heels are in control, working over Goto. Shibata tags in and does the running dropkick on Yujiro as well as a figure-4. Shibata eliminates an interfering YH only to be taken out by a Brainbuster by Yujiro as he mounts an offense, including taking down Shibata with a lariat.
Tag back to Goto who works over YH including a spinning dropkick to the corner. Reverse facebuster by YH as he and Yujiro work over Goto. Forearm contest between YH and Goto. The crowd are really getting into YOSHI-HASHI. YH hits a Powerbomb and bridge, but Shibata cuts him off. He and Goto isolate him while taking out Yujiro, then Goto hits a running knee to the chest of YOSHI-HASHI as he pins him for the victory.
Very good match; YOSHI-HASHI has a goofy gimmick, but could be really good if he’s able to break out as a singles star – ***¼
Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Doc Gallows, Prince Devitt and Karl Anderson) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryuskue Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe
Brawl initiated by the Bullet Club early. Tonga, sporting new face paint, works over Homna then tags in Gallows. Devitt is tagged in, but gets hit with a stall suplex by Homna. He tags in Taguchi who cleans house. Makabe and Gallows are tagged in and they do their big man battle. A bicycle kick takes out Makabe, followed by a spinebuster as Anderson is tagged in, but Makabe takes him out with a clothesline.
Tanahashi is tagged in and he starts his offensive. He gets cut off however, allowing all of Bullet Club to attack him in the corner with big splashes. Tonga hits a variation of a flapjack for a pinfall attempt. Things go crazy at this point. Tanahashi hits the Sling Blade and Homna goes for the headbutt on Tonga, but he ducks at the last minute. However, he doesn’t miss the High Fly Flow and he’s pinned by Tanahashi.
It was alright. Kinda short though – ***
Taguchi tries to get Devitt after the match, but he bails. Looks like there’s still unresolved issues between these two.
El Desperado, Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito vs Gedo, Tomohiro Ishi and Kazuchika Okada
Ishii and Naito trade punches early. Tags to Desperado and Gedo who do some lucha. Soon everyone winds up on the outside. Okada and Desperado are in the ring as soon everyone is working over Desperado, including Ishi who chops him in the corner. Gedo is tagged in and locks in a Sleeper. Desperado finally breaks free and tags in Ibushi, who immediately flies off with a dropkick. He and Okada go at it.
Okada cuts off Ibushi and hits the elbow, misses a Rainmaker, but does connect with the best dropkick in the business. Isii is tagged in as Ibushi tries a dropkick, but to no avail. Naito tagged in and hits an inverted DDT. He dominates, but it’s soon turned into another forearm battle. Naito slaps him and hits a tornado DDT. Naito tries to go for something off the top rope, but Okada drills him with a dropkick. Ishii with a Superplex for a nearfall.
Naito tries for a suplex, but hits a forearm instead. Naito hits a top-rope hurricanrana, but Okada and Gedo break it up. Desperado and Ibushi take out the heels as Naito grabs Isii, but Isii headbutts Naito and hits the lariat for a nearfall. Brainbuster attempt, but Naito pulls through, takes Ishii out with a German and connects with a sloppy looking Stardust Press for the victory.
The last 5 minutes were great – ****
Bad Luck Fale vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the New Japan Cup
Oh great, all the Bullet Club are here, so expect tons of interference.
The story of the match is that Nakamura’s arm is injured after that chair shot by Suzuki earlier. Lots of stalling. Fale throws him outside where Bullet Club stomp all over Nakamura. Fale works over Nakamura. Nakamura tries to fight back, but is overpowered. Fale misses a splash, but Anderson holds him, only for Fale to accidentally run into him. Nakamura fights back and kicks him in the corner.
Nakamura gains control and starts on an offensive. Fale tries to cut him off, but is taken down with a Backstabber. After some more Bullet Club interference, they’re thrown out. Fale starts a comeback with a suplex and big splash to get a nearfall. He goes to the top rope, but misses a big splash.
Nakamura strikes with the Boma Ye then tries to go for another, but Fale cuts him off and goes for the spike, which Nakamura counters into an armbar. Somehow Nakamura got busted wide open somewhere. There’s blood all over his face. Fale. Ah, looks like Fale’s head collided with Nakamura’s nose. It looks NASTY. Fale lays out Nakamura for a nearfall, goes for the Spike and hits it for another nearfall.
Fale goes for a Border Toss, but Nakamura counters with a hurricanrana and hits the Boma Ye. Crowd is into this. Dropsault followed by 3 more Boma Ye’s and Nakamura wins the New Japan Cup.
Way better than I expected. Also it seems like Fale never worked on the arm, unless I’m mistaken, so that’s pretty weird. Great match either way – ***3/4
Nakamura has a quick celebration after the match as the nose looked pretty bad. Confetti flies as he heads to the back. He goes backstage where he’s interviewed in a press conference-type deal. He challenges for the Intercontinental Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi, so that’s set for Invasion Attack.
I get that they want to make the IC Championship just as important as the Heavyweight, but I dunno. I like just having one title mean the most to everyone, so putting both titles on an equal footing is weird.
SUMMARY: I enjoyed the card. Yes, everyone made boo-boo faces when Fale advanced to the semi-finals, but I didn’t think he was all that bad here. In fact, the main-event was really good, especially towards the end. Not typical main-event great, but still way better than anyone expected.
I guess it does prove that New Japan at least kind of knows what they’re doing. They wanted to showcase Bad Luck Fale in this tournament and they did it in the best way possible. The rest of the card was solid to good, save for the Nakanishi match.
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