#Trying to get as high a score as possible- and definitely overexerting himself in the process

[morimess]

I finally figured out what I want to do with the imposter wind waker for TBABS.

[hazyheel]

New Japan Cup 2019 Day 3 Review

On the undercard, there was only really one result of note, where Davey Boy Smith Jr pinned Toru Yano in a 6-man tag match, evening their record before their match at day 4. However, Mikey Nicholls did score a pin in his own 6-man tag over Toa Henare, so he is going to look strong in his next tournament match.

The first tournament match of the day was the heavyweight return (cuz I guess he has been in the New Japan cup before) of Ryusuke Taguchi against Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Taguchi tried to start the match out with his fist bumps, and Tenzan was apprehensive. Eventually he went for it, and Taguchi ambushed him, apologizing to the crowd as he did. The two stole each other’s offense as the match wore on, with Taguchi using Mongolian chops and Tenzan using hip attacks. Taguchi was pretty clearly at a strength disadvantage, but commentary played up the fact that he could go Heavyweight if he wanted to. The match was a battle of submissions, with Tenzan looking for his anoconda vice, and Taguchi looking for his ankle lock. It was a back and forth contest, until Taguchi scored a rollup out of nowhere and got the pin. After the match, Tenzan raised Taguchi’s hand, and even gave him the fist bumps. Taguchi also did a dance at the end.

Grade: D+. This grade has nothing to do with the comedy. Actually, I thought those beginning portions were the best part of the match. They just didn’t have much chemistry, and Tenzan can’t move that quickly. It was a fun match, but not quite fun enough to get a better grade. Happy that Taguchi won though!

Next was a very interesting matchup. The ace of New Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi against the ace of the young lions, Shota Umino. Commentary pointed out that Red Shoes, the ref for his match, is Umino’s father. Umino wasn’t giving Tanahashi any clean breaks and is doing his best to stay within grappling distance. Umino’s strategy seemed to be to not give Tanahashi any space. That was very evident in a spot where he and Tanahashi were in a striking contest, but Umino refused to go down, staggering but maintaining his base. He was also able to fight his way out of a Boston crab. Umino was going shot for shot with Tanahashi, and the crowd was behind him all the way. Umino even stole Tanahashi’s cloverleaf submission for a sequence. It even looked like Umino might have won after a long series of strikes, but Tanahashi reversed the fisherman buster into a twist and shout. Umino got a rollup that was so close I nearly jumped out of my seat. But right after that rollup, Tanahashi locked in the cloverleaf and Umino tapped out.

Grade: B-. Great showing for Umino. He had control for most of the match, to the point that Tanahashi’s win felt out of nowhere. It was another loss that just came down to experience. He was much younger, possibly stronger, and he had the will to win. However, he overexerted himself, to the point where Tanahashi’s limited offense was able to get the victory. Very good stuff from the both of them, and Umino proved once again that he is gonna be a star.

Next match was a rivalry that stretched back to last fall: Zack Sabre Jr vs EVIL. Evil only recently got his first win over Sabre, but that was also their most recent match. Evil has clearly gotten better at his technical wrestling, being able to go toe-to-toe with Sabre in the early going. Evil also was really capitalizing on his strength advantage, using it to escape several submissions. Evil also made several attempts at a rollup, but was not able to pick up the victory. However, Sabre’s technical skill allowed him to deal loads of damage using his various submissions, not focusing on any body part In particular. Evil even used the ref as an aid in hitting the magic killer. In a great sequence, Evil continuously went for everything is evil, but Sabre reversed it into a rollup, only for Evil to basically rewind and try for his finisher again. Zack then locked into Evil’s body in an octopus hold, bringing Evil to the mat and slowly trapping his limbs until Evil had to tap out.

Grade: B+. Very good match. It seemed like Evil had been working on ways to beat Sabre, but just wasn’t able to pull it off. Sabre had a reversal for just about everything Evil tried. It was an awesome strength vs submission contest, and I just can’t get enough of these guys. Great stuff. Happy to see Sabre move on, but bummed to see that Evil is out.

In the main event, Tetsuya Naito took on the returning Kota Ibushi. As usual for these types of high profile matches, the opening sequence featured a series of counters that ended in a stalemate. Naito hit his leg sweep and pendulum dropkick on the apron this time, rather than his usual in the corner. Naito began to target Ibushi’s neck, setting him up for his eventual finisher. At one point, Ibushi hit Naito with a dropkick, and when the two fell over their heads may have crashed together. Definitely scary. Naito hit a series of hangman’s neckbreakers, one on the apron and one out of the corner, for a near fall. The pace than began to pick up, as Ibushi caught Naito out of a flying forearm, straight into a German suplex. The two then began to beat each other down, with Naito coming out on top. The two then reversed each other’s high risk moves, with Ibushi chop blocking the knee to get out of a top rope reverse rana, and then Naito delivering several stiff shots to Ibushi’s head to get out of a deadlift German. Naito then landed a sitout tombstone on the apron, only for Ibushi to send it right back with a package piledriver. Ibushi was able to hit the last ride, but only a near fall. Naito then escaped from the Kamagoye and hit hit a twisting destino, only a near fall. He went for another, but Ibushi flipped out and hit a high roundhouse kick and the Bomaye for another near fall. And in the last sequence, Ibushi nailed a jay driller and a kamagoye for the win.

Grade: A. Phenomenal stuff. They always put on a great match, and this was no different. They still had the high impact striking and scary spots, with the added layers of their journey to the main event of G1 Supercard, along with the idea of a possible Intercontinental title match looming in the background. They destroyed each other’s heads and necks, especially with that Jay Driller in the finish, and this could easily be the match of the first round. Awesome match, and I really hope Ibushi goes to the main event of G1 Supercard. And if he wins, there could be a title for title match at Dominion. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Loved the match, and I will be rooting for Ibushi for the rest of the tournament.

Overall Grade: B+

Pros: Taguchi won; Umino looked great; Sabre vs Evil; Ibushi vs Naito

Cons: Tenzan vs Taguchi (the actual match)