NJPW New Japan Cup Night Five: Results, and Analysis

Round 2, and night five of the NJPW New Japan cup has begun. The main event sees Hiroshi Tanahashi challenging Bad Luck Fale, who has been the kryptonite to Tanahashi’s tournament runs the last few years.

Can Tanahashi finally overcome Bad Luck Fale? Night Five of the NJPW New Japan Cup will let us know.

Tetsuhiro Yagi & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Kanemaru)

This one actually went a bit longer than I expected it to. Not a bad match at all here, as far as opening tags go in NJPW. It ends basically how you expect it to, with El Desperado getting the win over Yagi wit ha stretch muffler. After the match ended, they beat down Taguchi. I’m guessing this is building to ACH’s return where him and Taguchi might take those Jr. Tag Titles.

Result: Suzuki-gun

Rating: 2.25 stars out of 5

Shota Umino, Tomoyuki Oka, & Yuji Nagata vs. Ren Narita, Toa Henare, & David Finlay

When looking at the lineup of this match, I was thinking about who would be the best one to get the pinfall. If Nagata’s team was winning, it’d clearly be Nagata. If the other team would win, it would be Henare or Finlay getting the win. I figured it would be best if Henare got the win here, as it’s about time he starts moving up a little bit. I’m glad to say that I was right, and Henare got the pinfall with a popup Samoan Drop.

Result: Narita, Henare, & Finlay

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

The Bullet Club (Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) (Suzuki-gun)

This was a surprisingly one sided affair, as Loa not teaming with Tama Tonga seemed to lead to both him and Takahashi having a poor performance. KES took most of the match here, and got the win after a few minutes.

Result: KES

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Chase Owens (Bullet Club) & Kota Ibushi (Bullet Club?) vs. Suzuki-gun (Taka Michinoku & Zack Sabre Jr.)

This one was lots of fun. There was a lot of great hints for ZSJ vs. Ibushi, including Sabre locking Ibushi into an octopus stretch after the bell. Ibushi vs. Sabre should be a really great match up as it’s a clash of styles. Chase Owens got the pinfall over Taka with a Package Piledriver.

Result: Chase Owens & Kota Ibushi

Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5