NJPW: Can Chase Owens Upset Juice Robinson For US Title?
Chase Owens has been a thorn in the side of Juice Robinson in for the month of March. With a chance to claim his first championship in NJPW, could Owens be on the precipice of a new chapter in his career?
On March 8 in Korakuen Hall, Chase Owens pulled off one of the biggest surprise victories in his NJPW career thus far in the New Japan Cup when he defeated Juice Robinson in their first round encounter. Since then, Chase has been eager to remind the IWGP US Champion that he has a claim to being the number one contender his title.
For Juice, his second reign as US Champion has been a mixed bag. He has had one successful defense of the championship, against Beretta at NJPW New Beginning USA in North Carolina, and has found more success than failure in multi-man matches each month since regaining the championship at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13.
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However, while Robinson did pick up victories in January and February, he is flying without his ally and frequent tag team partner David Finlay who went down with a shoulder injury at Honor Rising. Juice’s first match back on the NJPW roster after Finlay’s injury was a disappointing loss against Chase Owens in the New Japan Cup.
Most felt it was a foregone conclusion that Juice would upend the Bullet Club regular and move onto the second round of the annual tournament, but Owens sealed his fate with one Package Piledriver for not only round two but a future shot at the US Title. If Owens can continue to capitalize on a Juice who may not be fully focused, another upset could be in his future.
With attacks after preliminary tag matches on the New Japan Cup tour, Owens planted the seeds for a championship match he himself continued to push off. When pressed by Kevin Kelly, Owens would simply tell him that the challenge was coming… sometime.
Following a brutal two-on-one beat down with the help of Jado on March 17, Owens officially laid out the challenge to Robinson which was quickly accepted. The two will go head to head on the final night of the New Japan Cup on March 24 in Niigata.
New Japan has made some interesting choices with Juice in the past, but coming off of the New Japan Cup loss it doesn’t seem sensible to take the title off of one of the most popular Western stars on the roster. As we’ve seen in the past, though, New Japan isn’t adverse to taking unexpected chances with new champions.
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Juice has a tumultuous history with the US Title. His first reign ended just under three months in his first defense against Cody in Long Beach. He’s already over the hurdle of his first defense, but can he roll on and break the record of 4 defenses held by inaugural champion Kenny Omega?
Is this the moment that Chase Owens proves that he’s the only Crown Jewel worth talking about in professional wrestling by securing his first title in NJPW? Or, is the month-long hot streak of Owens simply a flash in the pan to the flamboyant current champion?