NJPW New Japan Cup Night Five: Results, and Analysis

Michael Elgin vs. Juice Robinson

The early portions of this match saw Elgin trying to overpower Juice, and Juice refusing to be defeated. It was a matter of letting the bigger man punch himself out, and absorbing punishment before enacting his own gameplan. Juice went for a piledriver but couldn’t get Elgin up. After blocking his attempt at hitting a half nelson suplex, Elgin hit a Death Valley Driver on Juice into the corner.

Juice kicked out from a superplex. Robinson blocked a powerbomb attempt but ate a forearm for doing so. Elgin then hit a tiger suplex, but Juice kicked out. Elgin went for a twisting senton but missed. After exchanging a series of lariats, Elgin managed to hit a German suplex. Juice countered with a lariat of his own, and both men were down. Robinson hit a powerbomb but couldn’t secure the pinfall. After avoiding a powerbomb, Juice hit a big left hand and dropped Elgin.

Juice went for Pulp Friction, but Elgin countered and hit a half nelson suplex. Elgin went for a powerbomb into the corner, but Juice countered, rolled Elgin up, and got the win!

Result: Juice Robinson (1/1 on my round 2 predictions)

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

This was a decent match, with the right ending. The right man advanced here, though I can’t help but think this match would have been incredible if it were Ishii against Juice. Hopefully we’ll see Ishii and Juice down the line. Maybe in the G1?

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club)

Fale goes back to chasing off the ring announcer. I wonder what his grudge is against them. It isn’t long before the action spilled to the outside of the ring, and Fale threw what had to be every guardrail in Japan onto Tanahashi. Tanahashi made it back before getting counted out but might have regretted not taking a few more seconds that he had left on the count. The reason is that Fale hit a big splash onto Tanahashi while both men were on the apron. Tanahashi, again, made it back before the count out.

Tanahashi finally manages to get some offense in by hitting a drop toe hold that drove Fale into the corner. Hiroshi Tanahashi followed up with a series of hard strikes that left the big man reeling. Tanahashi managed to slam Fale to the mat, in a spectacular show of strength. That was short lived though because as Tanahashi went for the sling blade, Fale countered. Tanahashi escaped the Grenade attempt but was caught with a Samoan Drop. Fale splashed Tanahashi but Tanahashi kicked out.

Fale hit a clothesline after Tanahashi hit the ropes and only got a two count. Fale went for the Bad Luck Fall, but Tanahashi countered into a sunset flip. Bad Luck Fale did not take kindly to this, hit a lariat, and then went for the Grenade. Tanahashi blocked it and hit a huge German suplex followed by the sling blade! Tanahashi dumped Fale to the outside with a clothesline then hit the High Fly Flow to the outside! That was incredible.

The finish of this match was rather clever. Fale went for the Bad Luck Fall over the guardrail into the crowd, but Tanahashi pushed off the ring post, driving Fale into the guardrail and front row. Tanahashi barely rolled back into the ring, and Fale was counted out. Great finish that you don’t see very often in NJPW.

Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi (2/2 on my round 2 predictions thus far)

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

After the match, Fale took out the referee and went for Tanahashi, but Tanahashi caught his foot and hit a dragon screw. The show closes with Tanahashi celebrating and playing air guitar. Great ending.

Final Thoughts

Show Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Next: ROH 16th Anniversary Show Results: Kenny Omega Attacks Cody!

This was an overall easy watch, with a really good main event. So far, this NJPW New Japan Cup has delivered in a big way. Night six kicks off as NJPW has Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr next as their main event.