New Japan Cup 2019: Highlights and Quarterfinal Preview

Round 2: Tomohiro Ishii vs Taichi

Ishii did it again in round 2 by providing my favorite match of the 8 matches in this sprint. What’s even more remarkable is that he achieved this feat against Taichi.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it – I just don’t get Taichi. In the “Let’s go Taichi!”/”Taichi Go Home!” camp, I’m firmly on the side of “Taichi Go Home!”

The gimmick itself seems like it could be fine, but his lackadaisical singing and even more lackadaisical offense haven’t been enough for me. He has a great entrance and great outfit, looking like more of a Final Fantasy villain than a wrestler in the best ways possible.

That all changed for me on March 13.

I’m willing to put much of the credit on Ishii for pulling something amazing out of Taichi, but The Holy Emperor’s performance wasn’t without its own merits.

At one point, Taichi crawled to the corner and struggled with a choice between using one of two weapons – Iizuka’s iron glove or his own microphone stand. Taichi lingered on the pouch containing the glove for a moment before deciding on his usual foreign object.

For me, this was a beautiful character moment. Taichi seemed to be weighing the options between using the iron glove and taking a step closer to becoming the raving maniac that was Iizuka or saving that madness for another day.

Even when he did finally pick up the mic stand, he refused to use it against a waiting Ishii, instead throwing it to the arena floor. Suddenly, Taichi wanted to fight on his own without any chicanery! A low-blow later in the match would negate this a bit, but we can chalk that up to frustrating after not being able to keep Ishii down.

Ishii eventually put Taichi down with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster, but the performance from Taichi was enough to make me a believer. I’ll make this promise right now – if Taichi churns out more performances like this in 2019, I’ll show up to Wrestle Kingdom 14 in full Taichi gear.

Round 2: Colt Cabana vs Toru Yano

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum of literally any other match on this list is Colt Cabana versus Toru Yano. There were no surprises here in regards to what type of match we were going to get. While Cabana and Yano can absolutely go in the ring when it comes down to it, their ability to mix comedy into wrestling puts them in a category all their own.

This match wasn’t for everybody. There’s a fine line drawn between the Jim Cornettes of the world and the Colt Cabanas of the world when talking about comedy and silliness in wrestling. Of course, Cornette once wrestled a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles knockoff, so maybe we should stop taking everything he says with so much weight.

Much like he did in the first round of the tournament against Togi Makabe, Cabana used his comedic sensibilities and trickery to outsmart Yano and walk away with the victory. This wasn’t an Ishii wrestling classic, but will probably go down as one of my favorite matches of the New Japan Cup overall.

This is Cabana’s first tour with New Japan and I have a hard time believing it will be his last. He seems to have instantly connected with the live crowds and has a skill set which transcends language. Fingers crossed that we get more Colt Cabana by way of the G1.