NJPW New Japan Cup Night Two: Results and Analysis

Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) vs. Lance Archer (Suzuki-gun)

Either Archer or a fan threw their water on Fale as he came out. Fale no sold it, which was kind of awesome. The action spilled into the crowd very early on, and Fale sent Archer through 5 rows of chairs. Fale then picked up 3 or 4 guard rails and threw them on Archer. There was a mass of chairs and guardrails with Archer underneath it all. Archer got up and used the nearby Young Lions as weapons on Fale, picking them up and throwing them into Fale.

You know you’re a rookie in NJPW when you’re used as a weapon by Lance Archer. Fale got up, and sent Archer even further into the row of chairs. It looks like they took out a full 4 or 5 rows of chairs. Given the limits of both men in the ring, this is totally the best way to go about this match. Lots of shenanigans.

Once back in the ring, Archer went for a moonsault, but Fale cut him off. Fale tried to use his weight to his advantage by big splashing Archer, but Archer kicked out. Archer hit the ropes, but Fale grabbed him and hit the Grenade for the pinfall.

Result: Bad Luck Fale (2/3 on my predictions for round one).

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Solid match from the two big men. They knew to work with their own limitations and timed the match well. Everything was very enjoyable. Book to the strengths of who you got, and that happened here. NJPW always does an excellent job making sure that their talent are booked to their strengths. NJPW also continues their trend of making Bad Luck Fale look strong here in the New Japan Cup. I don’t think Fale will be getting to the finals this year, but I expect him to have a good showing. This was a good start.