NJPW New Japan Cup 2020
Night 4 – Round 1
Event Date: June 23, 2020 (19:00 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
#njcup
City: Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
Venue: Korakuen Hall
Attendance: empty arena
Series: New Japan Cup 2020
Commentary (English, recorded remotely): Kevin Kelly
Commentary (Japanese): Milano Collection AT, Soichi Shibata, Shinpei Nogami (1, 3), Shunpei Terakawa (2, 4), Yohei Onishi (5)
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (1 – 3), Makoto Abe (4 – 5)
Video
A brief look at this year’s New Japan Cup featuring heavyweights, juniors, and young lions.
Ring Area
Kimihiko Ozaki is in the ring, and he announces tonight’s matches.
Match 1
New Japan Cup First Round Match
BUSHI (NEVER 6-Man Champ) vs Yoh (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: BUSHI wins via pinfall after MX
Time: 15:42
Match Thoughts
Good match. With two junior heavyweights, I kind of expected this match to be more fast-paced, but it really game down to strikes and a few high-impact moves. I think that was a good decision to focus on strikes and slams, because I really enjoyed the match. There was a nice buildup towards the end with BUSHI and Yoh both striking and staggering each other. Before the match I figured Yoh would win, but by the end I could realistically see either man winning. This was well done.
Match 2
New Japan Cup First Round Match
YOSHI-HASHI vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: YOSHI-HASHI wins via submission with the butterfly lock
Time: 17:35
Match Thoughts
Very good match. I didn’t expect much from this, but I ended up liking it quite a lot. YOSHI-HASHI stood up to the power of Tenzan very well throughout this match. I guess I expected YOSHI-HASHI to try to avoid Tenzan more and attack with his greater speed, but this was a hard-hitting bout from both men. This was another well done match on a night that’s already turning out a bit better than I expected.
Match 3
Sho (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ) & Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada vs Hiromu Takahashi (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ) & Shingo Takagi (NEVER Openweight & 6-Man Champ) & SANADA & Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC & Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Double Count Out (after Yano chases Takahashi out to the concourse, tapes his legs together, and threatens to shave Takahashi’s head)
Time: 12:28
Match Thoughts
This was one of the stranger matches I’ve seen in NJPW in a very long time. As soon as Hiromu Takahashi came out from behind the entrance curtain, he looked terrified. After some theatrics with Takahashi refusing to start the match against Toru Yano, it became clear that Takahashi was afraid that Yano was going to shave his head. Yano had hair clippers with him, and that kept Takahashi afraid the entire match. Everyone else had some back and forth action, but after a while Yano ended up chasing Takahashi all around the venue with clippers in his hands. This was a strange one, but it definitely makes me want to see the Yano versusu Takahashi tournament match!
Video
Once again, Way to the Grand Master is coming.
Ring Area
The commentators talk as the ring is sanitized during a brief intermission.
Match 4
New Japan Cup First Round Match
Yujiro Takahashi w/ Jado vs Hirooki Goto
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Hirooki Goto wins via pinfall after GTR
Time: 16:40
Match Thoughts
Good match. Goto started strong, and it felt like it might be an easy night for him at first. But with Jado hanging around, it was only a matter of time before the shenanigans started. Takahashi cheated with the help of Jado for huge portions of the match, and that has facilitated by a reverse DDT Takahashi hit Goto with on the floor. Goto was stunned, and he had a hard time coming back from that. Takahashi had trouble putting Goto away though, so Goto was able to build up a comeback as the minutes passed by. That led to a nice, if somewhat unsurprising finish.
Match 5
New Japan Cup First Round Match
EVIL (NEVER 6-Man Champ) vs Satoshi Kojima
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: EVIL wins via pinfall after EVIL
Time: 20:08
Match Thoughts
Very good match. This was a very hard-hitting affair with some good lariat psychology. Kojima’s lariat is dangerous, so EVIL was wise to hurt Kojima’s arm early in the match. Kojima struggled to come back from that, but he gave EVIL a good fight as he tried to recover. The hits got bigger as the match went on, and that led to a pretty exciting finish. Going in, I was pretty sure EVIL was going to win this match, but with Nagata getting an upset earlier in the New Japan Cup, I wasn’t completely writing Kojima off. That helped put some excitement into the final few minutes of the match.
Show Impressions
This was a good show, but it wasn’t as good as last night. There was nothing wring with tonight though. I enjoyed all the matches, and I think they will lead to even better matches in the next round.
Match of the Night
YOSHI-HASHI vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan
I never would’ve guessed that I’d pick this match as my favorite of the night, but I think it was good enough to surprise, and that surprise helped push it to the top for me.
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/248165?showResult=1