NJPW NEW JAPAN CUP 2019 [Finals Review]: March Madness.

The New Japan Cup is back, and the winner this year faces IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White on April 6th in Madison Square Garden. WrestleMania weekend. New York City. Yup, stakes is high.

To peep my recent Quarterfinal coverage, CLICK HERE. Either way, welcome to the Semifinals of the NJ Cup 2019! That said, there won’t be any reviews for the undercards/build-up mixed tags moving forward.

**NIGHT 12**

– IWGP US Championship: Juice Robinson v Chase Owens – This match was made as an attempt to beef up the card of the final night of the NJ Cup. While good, it lacked the electricity of Juice and Chase’s previous encounter, which led to arguably the tournament’s biggest upset. While Chase worked hard, and seeing Juice no-sell/”Macho”-up was both funny and nostalgic, the constant and utterly predictable interference and ref-bumpy shenanigans prevented this rematch from going to the next level. That’s not to say the match layout wasn’t well done, because it was. – 3/5

– New Japan Cup 2019 Finals: Kazuckika Okada v SANADA – With so many great matches in the Cup — Ishii/Nagata, Ishii/Taichi, Ibushi/Naito, Okada/Elgin, Okada/Ospreay, Okada/Ishii, Tanahashi/Sabre, Tanahashi/SANADA, etc. — this one had a lot to live up to. Thankfully, it did. While a major upset would have pleased the smarks, the right guy won. Okada is obviously the bigger star, and his grudge with Jay White/Gedo has been built-up since September’s Destruction in Kobe. They also had an outstanding match at Wrestle Kingdom, easily White’s best in NJPW at the time; and the Switchblade has also had nothing but terrific matches (v Tana, v Ospreay) since. But the coolest news about the New Japan Cup is that it made SANADA a huge babyface, one who felt like a big time star; a guy to be taken more seriously than an athletic, underachiever who won a few tag titles. No, SANADA is for real. Taking Okada to the limit, the Cold Skull recovered in this 33-minute match at many critical moments; SANADA would overcome a neckbreaker and top rope elbow, getting dumped onto the outside via corner dropkick, a hanging apron DDT, and a Tombstone. He was damned perseverant, and never gave up attempting the Skull End — be it counters, Rainmaker reversals, or even when Okada locked in a Skull End of his own. The match took a bit to get going, but once both they got to the danger/outside spots the match went to a whole new level in the final 10. SANADA even put Okada in that same swinging Skull End he locked on Tanahashi the previous night. The key to the battle here is that SANADA just couldn’t nail his Muta Moonsault — at least until one at the very end that transitioned to Skull End, which Okada reversed into a Tombstone. This came right after he destroyed SANADA with a wild top rope John Woo kick. So great. After the LIJ member fought off a closing Rainmaker, Okada would roll into his shortarm clothesline and complete the Cup win with one more for good measure. We all knew the result, but how we got there was far more remarkable. – 4.25/5

Night 12 Overall (the last 2 matches only) = 3.5-3.75/5 Bibles

**NIGHT 11**

– Kazuchika Okada v Tomohiro Ishii – You’ve got to give it to Gedo. No, not Gedo, the sometimes midcard wrestler or pesky Bullet Club manager, but Gedo, the genius booker. If his matchmaking  intent is to tell a long-term story, he’s sticking to it– no matter how predictable that road to the promised land may wind up. That’s the “issue” we have here. If the stakes were not a title match in the States, more specifically MSG, one could easily see Ishii or SANADA winning the Cup. But the clear title picture is and has always been Okada v. White. As the booker of New Japan Pro Wrestling, it’s the narrative climax you want to tell in front of the thousands of marks watching live in Manhattan during WrestleMania Weekend and on iPPV/PPV, NJPW World/Honor Club etc. around the world. That said, Ishii was outstanding last night, and not giving him a future rematch (or a shot against White) for the IWGP title somewhere down the line (King of Pro Wrestling?) would be a travesty. Okada/Ishii was yet another battle of CHAOS that carried over from the Quarterfinals, and the first 10-minutes or so saw a big-time brawl. Later, Ishii would reverse Okada’s signature tombstone into a powerbomb, throw him around in an array of suplexes and smash his buddy with multiple lariats — both standing and sliding. Arguably, Ishii’s biggest spot was tossing Okada halfway across the ring with a super brainbuster! He’d then reverse a Rainmaker clothesline with a big headbutt just under the chin. But throughout the stretch Okada valiantly took Ishii’s best, got to the ropes on a mean armbar, nailed a pair of perfect dropkicks, shotgunned Ishii with an absolute bonkers John Woo, and nailed a spinning tombstone and go-home Rainmaker for the win. Despite the predictability, this was OUT-STANDING — and the right call. – 4.5/5

– SANADA v Hiroshi Tanahashi – You gotta love the match-up, especially with SANADA in front of his hometown at the Ao-re Nagaoka in Niigata. I mean, you had the biggest babyface in the history of New Japan against the tournament homer. Great booking, and it was SANADA who eventually wound up this year’s breakout Cup star ala Sabre Jr. in 2018. And you knew this would take a minute to get going, seeing how Sabre and Suzuki, respectively, put Tana and SANADA through the ringer in the Quarterfinals. That said, both competitors got stronger the longer the match went. That’s the New Japan way! Before a hot stretch, we’d see several great counters (i.e. a slingbade reversal into a dragon screw, a hurricarana into a cloverlead, etc.), before the crowd got real wild once SANADA locked in his initial Skull End. Tanahashi got in a series of nearfalls from that point on, cradling SANADA numerous times before being placed in an incredible, swinging Skull End! Think Cesaro’s Swing but in a dragon sleeper. Nuts. The story leading to the eventual Skull End tap? Tana just couldn’t Dragon Suplex SANADA, with his third failed attempt leading to his demise. Very good match; excellent finish. – 4/5

Night 11 Overall = 4.25/5 Bibles.

-Travis Moody

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