NJPW New Japan Cup Night One Results and Analysis

Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi

Given that this match has Yujiro in it, I expected something that was only average. Juice and Yujiro delivered well beyond what I expected. A decent back and forth match that picked up quite a bit once the action spilled to the outside of the ring. Juice cut his back on the guardrail, and started bleeding. Yujiro hit a fisherman’s buster onto a chair, nearly knocking Juice out. Juice barely made it back into the ring on time.

Unfortunately for Juice, Yujiro hit a fisherman’s buster in the ring again. Juice managed to kick out. Juice went to the top rope, but Yujiro cut him off and Juice got caught. Yujiro hit a fisherman’s buster off the top rope! Holy cow! Juice kicked out. Somehow, despite eating kicks from Yujiro, Juice managed to hit a massive lariat. Juice hit a big corner cannonball on Yujiro, followed with a double knee gutbuster. Yujiro kicked out. Takahashi hit Juice with everything in this one, but Juice keeps kicking out. Yujiro did a Canadian Backbreaker into a Piledriver on Juice, but Juice still kicked out! That was crazy! Juice hit a massive powerbomb! Takahashi kicked out! Juice picked him up and finally hit Pulp Friction! Juice Robinson wins in an absolute war!

Result: Juice Robinson (1/1 on my first round predictions.)

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.

Wow. This match was only decent at the start, but goodness did it ever pick up. Juice and Yujiro really turned it up towards the end of the match. This was excellent.

Michael Elgin vs. Tomohiro Ishii

This is basically what you’d expect from both men. Lots and lots of hard forearms. Both men exchange some power shots, before Elgin hits a gorilla press on Ishii for a near fall. The strike exchanges continue with Elgin dropping Ishii. Ishii returns the favour a few minutes later. Elgin managed to hit a few big shots, followed by a Blue Thunder Bomb. Ishii kicked out. Elgin hit a big splash from the top rope, but that didn’t finish Ishii either.

Elgin hits a falcon arrow off the middle rope, but Ishii still manages to kick out. Elgin goes back to the top rope, and Ishii headbutts him to keep him there. Ishii hits a massive superplex off the top rope on Elgin. Elgin kicked out. Elgin hit a big blow, and followed with two huge lariats. Ishii barely kicks out. Elgin hit a massive top rope powerbomb and almost killed Ishii with a botch. Somehow, Ishii kicked out. Ishii ate a buckle bomb, and followed with a Frankensteiner. Ishii is the toughest man in wrestling. He hit a headbutt followed by a lariat. Elgin responded with a series of hard blows, and Ishii somehow still kicked out!

Ishii ate another buckle bomb, where Elgin almost dropped Ishii again. Elgin hit a burning hammer, and pinned Ishii. I am not pleased with this result. Elgin was the wrong guy to win here, and until the end of the match looked like he didn’t want to be there. Not to mention he almost killed Ishii with two botches. The match was still good though. I’m just really displeased with who won, especially because Ishii is one of the best in the world. Nonetheless, NJPW delivers a quality main event again.

Result: Michael Elgin (1/2 for my predictions on round one).

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

Again, this was a really good match. After the match, Elgin offers to help Ishii up, but Ishii refuses. He doesn’t want any help.

Final Thoughts

Other than the anti-climatic ending to Ishii vs. Elgin, this show was quite solid. Elgin was the wrong guy to win in the main event, but the match itself was excellent if I divorce myself from it emotionally, especially by the end. With that being said, the opening part of the match saw a very lethargic looking Elgin. The best parts of this match were totally because of Ishii. Let’s hope Elgin doesn’t make it past the second round. NJPW went with the wrong guy here, in my opinion.

Show rating: 3 out of 5.

Next: WWE Releases Abbey Laith; others

A mostly fun NJPW show that was soured quite a bit by Elgin winning. I would have given the rating an easy 3.5 or higher without that ending. With that being said. Juice Robinson vs Elgin in the second round should be a good match. I hope NJPW goes with the guy that has a better chance long term with the company in Juice.