NJPW New Japan Cup 2020
Night 3 – Round 1
Event Date: June 22, 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 (Japanese): Milano Collection AT, Kazuo Yamazaki, Shunpei Terakawa (1, 3), Yuichi Tabata (2, 4), Shinji Yoshino (5)
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (1, 2), Makoto Abe (3 – 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 Naoki Sugabayashi
Kimihiko Ozaki then returns to announce tonight’s matches.
Match 1
New Japan Cup First Round Match
Douki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki vs Gabriel Kidd & Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji & Yuji Nagata
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: El Desperado pins Yota Tsuji after Pinche Loco
Time: 10:33
Match Thoughts
Very good match. I got a little excited for this match before the bell even rang. I wasn’t really paying attention when Ozaki was announcing tonight’s matches, so I wasn’t sure who would be facing Suzuki Gun tonight. Then when I saw Nagata walk out flanked by three young lions, I smiled a little (though I bet Minoru Suzuki smiled a whole lot). I never would have guessed that Nagata versus Suzuki would be one of my favorite feuds this summer, but here we are. Their match last week was great, and tonight they picked up where they left off. Nagata and Suzuki hit each other in the face a whole lot, but Suzuki also had time to bloody Uemura’s mouth after Uemura caught him with a kick in the mouth at ringside. This was a whole lot of fun all around, though I doubt Uemura would feel the same way.
Match 2
New Japan Cup First Round Match
SANADA vs Ryusuke Taguchi
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: SANADA wins via pinfall with a bridging O’Connor Roll
Time: 15:47
Match Thoughts
Very good match. It seemed like Taguchi was taking this match very seriously at first. Taguchi walked out to the ring without a smile on his face, and he just got ready for a fight. Taguchi and SANADA grappled a bit, but this was all to lull SANADA into a false sense of security. Taguchi started in with some trickery and comedy, and that started to open the match up. SANADA responded with some very deadpan comedy of his own, and all of this built up to a fast-paced and exciting finish that had lots of pin attempts and some submission psychology. This was a lot of fun.
Match 3
New Japan Cup First Round Match
Sho (IWGP Jr. Tag Champ) vs Shingo Takagi (NEVER Openweight & 6-Man Tag Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Sho wins via pinfall after Shock Arrow
Time: 17:06
Match Thoughts
Great match! Sho came into this match ready for a fight. It’s been about a year since Sho and Takagi met in the Best of the Super Junior tournament, and it really felt like Sho wanted to make up for his disappointing loss back then. Sho surprised Tagaki with his attacks, and Sho didn’t give Takagi time to breathe. Takagi eventually started to come back, and that led to multiple sequences of extremely hard-hitting action. In the later stages, momentum went back and forth, and both men seemed like they were headed to victory at different times. I remember their match in the Super Jr. tournament fondly, and I think this match is going to go right alongside it as one of the more memorable matches of this tournament.
Video
Again we see the “Wat to the Grand Master video. Coming soon.
Ring Area
The commentators talk while the ring is sanitized during a brief intermission.
Match 4
New Japan Cup First Round Match
Zack Sabre Jr. vs Kota Ibushi (IWGP Tag Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Kota Ibushi wins via pinfall after Kamigoye
Time: 15:15
Match Thoughts
Great match. The match started with an extended period of grappling and mat wrestling. Ibushi did well, but ZSJ made it seem effortless. ZSJ was going for hold after hold, and he was gradually chipping away at the legs and feet of Ibushi. The pain was building for Ibushi, so he had to change the way the match was going if he wanted to stand any chance of winning. Ibushi tried to open things up with some strikes, but ZSJ was able to counter a lot of what Ibushi attempted. Eventually, Ibushi started to hit some strikes that hurt ZSJ, and by the end of the match the strikes were adding up to some substantial damage. I liked this match a lot. It had a gradual build without a while lot of explosive moments, and I thought it was really well done. I would’ve even been fine with it going another five to ten minutes.
Match 5
New Japan Cup First Round Match
Taichi vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (IWGP Tag Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Taichi wins via pinfall after Black Mephisto
Time: 21:51
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Taichi started by hitting Tanahashi with a powerbomb off as Tanahashi had his back turned during the ring entrances. The surprise attack hurt Tanahashi, and there was doubt that the match would even happne. After a while the match did start, but Tanahshi was in a bad way for a long time. Tiachi also had Douki come to the ring to help attack Tanahashi, so this was basically a handicap match for Tanahashi in multiple ways. The fight went on for a decent length of time, and the longer Tanahashi hung around, the more it felt like he might make a comeback. It was a difficult build for Tanahashi, but he did start getting some good offense in the later stages of the match. This was a very strong match to end night three on.
Ring Area
After the match, Taichi attacks Tanahashi. Ibushi comes out and faces off with Taichi, but Douki blindsides Ibushi. Douki and Taichi then proceed to beat up Tanahashi and Ibushi before Taichi says he’s going to take over NJPW.
Show Impressions
This was a really good show. I’ve been looking forward to this night since I first saw the tournament bracket, and it didn’t disappoint me. There were a few nice surprises to tonight, but really, I would have been okay with any of the eight people who wrestled tonight moving on to the next round.
Match of the Night
Sho vs Shingo Takagi
The final two matches were great, but if I had to choose, I’d pick Shingo versus Sho to watch again before anything else on this show.
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/248164?showResult=1