NJPW New Japan Cup Night Six: Results and Analysis

SANADA (Los Ingobernables de Japon) vs. Toru Yano (CHAOS)

Within a few seconds of the match staring, I was already laughing as Yano had his shirt pulled over his face and SANADA did a rolling cradle. Yano yelled at every turn of the cradle, which just made me laugh. Yano got dumped to the outside and he finally got the shirt off his face. He almost got SANADA counted out, and SANADA returned the favour a few minutes later.

Yano continued with many of his shenanigans, and almost got the pinfall more than once. He even went for a Skull End himself, but SANADA reversed it. Yano hit a low blow on SANADA and rolled him up, but as the ref’s hand was coming down for the three count, SANADA caught the ref’s hand! That was a cool spot. It wasn’t long after that SANADA locked in Skull End and got the win. SANADA then locked Yano, the referee, and Yagi in the paradise lock as he left the ring.

Result: SANADA (3/3 on my predictions for round 2)

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

This was nothing special in terms of actual ring work, but it was a ton of fun.

Kota Ibushi (Bullet Club?) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Suzuki-gun) w/ Taka Michinoku

The last time these two faced off Ibushi was victorious. Since then, you can count on ZSJ having scouted Ibushi and came up with a strategy to counter. However, after a series of holds that resulted in Ibushi being on the mat, Ibushi managed to counter a surfboard into one of his own. Ibushi then started striking with forearms and kicks that ZSJ did not like. It’s clear that Ibushi has the big striking advantage.

With that being said, as soon as Ibushi left a kick in for too long, ZSJ took him down with a leg lock and started working over the leg. However, Ibushi’s other leg was free, and he nailed Sabre with a series of hard kicks. Ibushi then say down on the mat to let Sabre kick him, but ZSJ went after the neck and arm instead. That was a big mistake by Ibushi. Sabre doesn’t get to take advantage of it for too long though, as Ibushi hits a series of kicks and a standing moonsault.

After a striking exchange, Ibushi hit a half nelson suplex with a bridge, but ZSJ kicked out. Sabre manages to grab a limb and locks in an STF that puts John Cena to shame. Ibushi made it to the ropes. Both men began to exchange a series of near falls that had one of the closest falls I’ve ever seen with Ibushi kicking out at the last second. Soon thereafter, Ibushi just killed Sabre with a lariat, but was unable to capitalize. Sabre caught a kick from Ibushi and hit a kick of his own, but like Ibushi, it took him too long to capitalize. Sabre started slapping Ibushi, so Ibushi just hit him harder and dropped him to the mat.

Ibushi went for a springboard moonsault, but ZSJ caught him and locked in a triangle choke! Ibushi picked up ZSJ and went for the powerbomb, but ZSJ counted into an octopus stretch. ZSJ is able to counter the Kamigoye again, but Ibushi counters too, and hits an arm trapped suplex. He held on, and went for the Kamigoye again, but ZSJ dodged it again and locked in an incredible submission as the crowd chants his name. Unfortunately for Ibushi, his refusal to quit led to the referee stopping the match. Zack Sabre Jr. won by referee stoppage, giving Kota Ibushi his first ever NJPW New Japan Cup loss! Holy cow.

Result: Zack Sabre Jr. (3/4 on my predictions for round 2)

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Final Thoughts

Show Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Wow. This was an incredible card. The last two tag matches, and the main event were all awesome. Zack Sabre Jr. and Ibushi tore the house down in easily the best match of the tournament so far. This was excellent, start to finish. The main event was a technical wrestling spectacle, and NJPW does not mess around when putting someone over. Zack Sabre Jr. could very well win this whole thing and put Okada into serious trouble.

Next: Asuka Brings A More Dynamic Type Of Dominance To The Table

The story NJPW might be trying to tell here is found in how Okada has been finishing his matches. He has been winning with the cobra clutch, a submission. Zack Sabre Jr. is a submission expert. It is entirely possible that Zack Sabre Jr. will defeat SANADA and go on to meet Tanahashi in the finals. Either way, NJPW has a lot of interesting options going forward. NJPW could return to Okada vs. Tanahashi, or they could go with Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Okada. Either of these scenarios would prove to be quite interesting.