NJPW: 5 Standout Performances From New Japan Cup 2019

#1: SANADA

Representing both the greatest joys and the harshest disappointments of the New Japan Cup is SANADA. While much of his New Japan run has been as a tag team alongside EVIL, there has been no shortage of standout singles encounters along the way. Despite only picking up a total of 8 points, his run in last year’s G1 was nothing short of impressive.

With a new IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the form of Jay White and a brave new era being carved out in New Japan, it doesn’t seem like a title change just a couple of months after the Switchblade’s crowning is all the sensible. Keeping that in mind, I figured we would get a New Japan Cup winner who would go on to challenge and lose to White in MSG.

My pick for that person was SANADA. While he and EVIL make a solid team, the New Japan tag team divisions are somewhat dire at the moment with just a handful of teams to make up both the Junior and Heavyweight divisions. It often feels like the same matches are recycled time and time again. The New Japan Cup seemed like the perfect time for a reset on SANADA’s trajectory.

Cold Skull started strong in the 32-man field by defeating CHAOS’ own Hirooki Goto. Goto is the only man to have won the Cup in back-to-back years defeating Giant Bernard in the finals of the 2009 tournament and Togi Makabe in 2010’s.

Like others with a storied past on the New Japan roster, Goto is someone who can be relied upon to have a solid match and become a believable challenger with the snap of a finger. He, unfortunately, suffers from the opposite syndrome of YOSHI-HASHI – he can go in the ring, but there’s not much there as far as personality goes.

That all said, picking up a win over the only person to win the tournament in consecutive years is nothing to sneeze at.

The round two victory for SANADA was unbelievably transcendent. Minoru Suzuki has been a thorn in the side of SANADA for years prior to New Japan. In NJPW specifically, the pair had shared the ring twice before with Suzuki taking the win in each of those encounters.

In this year’s New Japan Cup, though, SANADA turned it all around. After nearly 30 minutes of intense barbarism, SANADA wore Suzuki down to the point of no return. Suzuki could no longer fight back or move in his weakened state, his only recourse to scream at his adversary as he ascended the turnbuckles to close out the war with a Keiji Mutoh inspired moonsault.

The quarterfinals saw SANADA and Colt Cabana lock it up in the most serious affair of Cabana’s Cup run. Coming out on top, SANADA not only showed that he’s able to wrestle technical masterpieces but he can also go with someone whose style is the complete antithesis of his own.

The semifinals were a pivotal moment for SANADA. Battling Hiroshi Tanahashi on any night is a battle for survival, but in the New Japan Cup, both men had their own stories to tell. For Tana, it was the quest to get back on top and prove that he could still hang even when hobbled by a pair of bad knees.

For SANADA, a victory over Tanahashi would solidify his status as a main event wrestler. Defeating Goto, Suzuki, and Tanahashi all in the same tournament? His ticket would be all but punched to future main event glories in New Japan.

In a disappointing turn of events for Cold Skull, the path to glory would stop with Kazuchika Okada in the finals of the tournament. Although he came out on the losing end of the contest, SANADA silenced any doubters that may have existed (are SANADA doubters actually a thing?)  to question his potential.

SANADA returns to the tag team ranks to team with EVIL in a double-title match for the ROH and IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles at G1 Supercard. The journey to championship gold for SANADA may be through tag team wrestling for now, but the coming months could paint a wholly different picture.

If Okada goes on to Madison Square Garden to defeat Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight Title, he’ll likely head to Wrestle Kingdom 14 as the champion. With the G1 Climax set to start in just a few short months, SANADA could have the most to prove of anyone on the New Japan roster.

After all, what could be a sweeter bit of revenge than winning the G1 and going on to Wrestle Kingdom to dethrone the man who ended your championship dreams in the New Japan Cup?