NJPW: Results, Highlights, and Review from New Japan Cup 2020 Night 1

Toru Yano vs. Jado

This fight is fun, honestly.

Both Jado and Yano have a similar style of wrestling which consists mostly of cheating and heckling each other. There are a lot of illegal objects in the ring, roll-ups, and interactions with an imaginary crowd, all coalescing into a match that’s not as hair-pullingly stressful or exciting as others in the same block, but still easy to stay glued to.

You can miss it, but if you do take some time to watch it, they both genuinely have good comedic chemistry and it’s a good breather before the next match.

Team New Japan vs. Suzuki-Gun

I usually don’t have anything of value to say about matches involving more than four people because I have a pretty poor attention span, but SZG really brings out the worst in people and it’s fun to watch. This match also does a good job of laying out and building up the one-on-one matches that we’ll be seeing within the next show or two and their respective personal rivalries.

Tanahashi and Taichi have already sized each other up (both literally and figuratively) during the Together show, Ibushi and ZSJ have a noted history with one another, Suzuki and Nagata have a rapport like the grandpas who play chess in Central Park, and Kanemaru is a bit notorious for his poor treatment of young lions — so, business as usual.

This match is well worth it especially if you’ve missed watching Kota and Zack fight each other (I have) and you’ve missed a young lion trying to go absolutely ham on Minoru Suzuki (I have.)