{"id":18268,"date":"2015-03-27T10:34:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-27T14:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/?p=18268"},"modified":"2015-03-27T10:34:04","modified_gmt":"2015-03-27T14:34:04","slug":"fighting-spirit-review-new-japan-new-japan-cup-2015-3515","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/reviews\/fighting-spirit-review-new-japan-new-japan-cup-2015-3515\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Spirit Review: New Japan “New Japan Cup 2015” 3\/5\/15"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin Wilson of Puroresu Central<\/a><\/p>\n

Date:\u00a0 March 5th, 2015
\nLocation:\u00a0 Ota Ward Gymnasium
\nAnnounced Attendance:\u00a0 4,500 fans<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It is that time of the year again for the New Japan Cup!\u00a0 This year as slightly different, as the winner of the tournament will choose to challenge for either the IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental, or the NEVER Openweight Championship.\u00a0 Since different wrestlers are in feuds with different champions, that really opens up the possibilities of who will win the tournament.\u00a0 Here is the full card:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0 Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, \u00a0Komatsu, and Jay White vs. Tiger Mask, Taguchi, M\u00e1scara Dorada, and Sho Tanaka
\n–\u00a0 New Japan Cup – Round 1: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yujiro Takahashi
\n–\u00a0 New Japan Cup – Round 1: Togi Makabe vs. Tomoaki Honma
\n–\u00a0 New Japan Cup – Round 1: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Satoshi Kojima
\n–\u00a0 New Japan Cup – Round 1: Hirooki Goto vs. Yuji Nagata
\n–\u00a0 Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Nakanishi, and Captain New Japan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Sakuraba, and Tomohiro Ishii
\n–\u00a0 New Japan Cup – Round 1: Doc Gallows vs. Kota Ibushi
\n–\u00a0 New Japan Cup – Round 1: Karl Anderson vs. Tetsuya Naito
\n–\u00a0 New Japan Cup – Round 1: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano
\n–\u00a0 New Japan Cup – Round 1: Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lots of matches, let\u2019s get to it.<\/p>\n

Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, Komatsu, and White vs. Tiger Mask, Taguchi, Dorada, and Sho Tanaka<\/strong><\/span>
\nTiger Mask and Liger start off and Tiger Mask works the headlock.\u00a0 Backbreaker by Liger and he applies a surfboard.\u00a0 Liger tags in Komatsu and Komatsu hits an elbow on Tiger Mask.\u00a0 Tiger Mask drills Komatsu with a back kick and tags in Tanaka.\u00a0 Tanaka and Komatsu trade elbows and Komatsu tags in KUSHIDA.\u00a0 Cartwheel dropkick by KUSHIDA to Tanaka and Liger is tagged back in.\u00a0 Liger assaults Tanaka and tags in KUSHIDA.\u00a0 Scoop slam by KUSHIDA and he tags in Komatsu.\u00a0 This continues for a bit until Tanaka makes the hot tag to Taguchi.\u00a0 KUSHIDA is also tagged in and KUSHIDA hits a swandive chop followed by a standing moonsault.\u00a0 Taguchi clears the ring with hip attacks and tags in Dorada.\u00a0 Crossbody by Dorada to KUSHIDA but KUSHIDA tags in White.\u00a0 Elbow by White to Dorada, and Dorada is attacked by everyone in the corner.\u00a0 White picks up Dorada but Dorada kicks White and hits a missile dropkick out of the corner.\u00a0 Dorada slams White in front of the corner, he goes up top and hits a Tornillo for the three count.\u00a0 This was non-offensive but also void of anything particularly interesting.\u00a0 A decent opening match but nothing beyond that.\u00a0 Score: 5.5<\/span><\/p>\n

YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yujiro Takahashi<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis match is part of the New Japan Cup.\u00a0 They begin with a tie-up but the action picks up as Takahashi beats YOSHI-HASHI onto the mat.\u00a0 YOSHI-HASHI comes back with a hurricanrana but Takahashi leaves the ring.\u00a0 YOSHI-HASHI goes out after him but Takahashi drops YOSHI-HASHI on the guardrail.\u00a0 Takahashi snaps YOSHI-HASHI\u2019s neck into the ropes and chops him into the corner.\u00a0 Big boot by Takahashi but YOSHI-HASHI hits a neckbreaker.\u00a0 Lariat by YOSHI-HASHI and he dropkicks Takahashi in the back for a two count.\u00a0 Neckbreaker by YOSHI-HASHI, he goes up top but Takahashi throws him off.\u00a0 Takahashi picks up YOSHI-HASHI and he hits a Fisherman Buster.\u00a0 Jawbreaker by YOSHI-HASHI and he hits a lariat.\u00a0 Chakram by YOSHI-HASHI, he picks up Takahashi but Takahashi grabs the referee to get away.\u00a0 Takahashi drops YOSHI-HASHI with the Tokyo Pimps, and he picks up the three count.\u00a0 Takahashi isn\u2019t overly entertaining but it wasn\u2019t awful, it was just too short to be offensive.\u00a0 Score:\u00a0 4.0<\/span><\/p>\n

Togi Makabe vs. Tomoaki Honma<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis match is part of the New Japan Cup.\u00a0 Shoulderblock by Makabe, Honma bodyslams him but he misses the Kokeshi.\u00a0 Makabe throws Honma out of the ring and goes out after him, throwing Honma into the railing.\u00a0 Back in the ring, Makabe twists on Honma\u2019s leg but he gets to the ropes.\u00a0 Back up, Honma elbows Makabe to the mat but again misses the Kokeshi.\u00a0 Vertical suplex by Honma and he hits a face crusher, but again Makabe avoids the Kokeshi.\u00a0 I\u2019m really tired of that spot, maybe I\u2019m the only one.\u00a0 Lariat by Honma and he finally hits the Kokeshi.\u00a0 Makabe bodyslams Honma and he lariats him in the corner.\u00a0 Mounted punches by Makabe in the corner and he hits a Northern Lights Suplex.\u00a0 Back up they trade elbows, a battle that Makabe wins.\u00a0 Makabe Irish whips Honma but Honma collapses to the mat.\u00a0 Jumping headbutt by Honma and he hits a second one.\u00a0 Scoop slam by Honma, he goes up top but Makabe avoids the diving Kokeshi.\u00a0 Makabe hits Honma with a backfist and hits a lariat, but Honma stays up.\u00a0 The second lariat does the trick and Makabe hits a Polish Hammer.\u00a0 Makabe puts Honma up top and joins him, and they trade elbows up top.\u00a0 Honma gets Makabe in the tree of woe, he goes for the Kokeshi but Makabe pulls himself back up.\u00a0 Makabe drops a knee on the back of Honma\u2019s head, Makabe goes up top and he nails the King Kong Kneedrop for the three count.\u00a0 People love Honma\u2019s act, but to me he is starting to get stale.\u00a0 I like his fire, but his entire offense is based around hitting a falling\/jumping headbutt.\u00a0 When he isn\u2019t against someone awesome like Ishii, it just shines through that every one of his matches is formulaic and it seems to be getting worse.\u00a0 The crowd enjoys it, but Honma will always be a loser in the ring unless he takes himself more seriously.\u00a0 Score: 4.5\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Satoshi Kojima<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis match is part of the New Japan Cup.\u00a0 They immediately start trading elbows and Kojima shoulderblocks Shibata to the mat.\u00a0 Shibata falls out of the ring and Kojima throws him into the railing before they start trading elbows again.\u00a0 They barely make it back in the ring in time and Shibata boots Kojima in the head.\u00a0 Shibata starts working on Kojima\u2019s leg but Kojima gets out of it and elbows Shibata into the corner.\u00a0 Rapid fire chops by Kojima but Shibata switches positions with him and elbows Kojima down in the corner.\u00a0 Dropkick by Shibata and he hits a single arm suplex for a two count.\u00a0 Kojima chops Shibata into the corner again, he hits the elbow smash followed by the diving elbow drop.\u00a0 Roaring elbow by Kojima and he hits a snap DDT.\u00a0 Shibata gets on the apron and he applies a sleeper over the top rope, but Kojima gets out of it and lariats Shibata, sending him to the floor.\u00a0 The referee starts the count, but Kojima goes out and gets Shibata before he can be counted out.\u00a0 Such a good guy move.\u00a0 Koji Cutter by Kojima and he hits a backdrop suplex, but Shibata springs up and hits his own backdrop suplex.\u00a0 Kojima elbows Shibata and both wrestlers fall to the mat.\u00a0 Brainbuster by Kojima and he levels Shibata with a lariat.\u00a0 Sleeper by Shibata, he picks up Kojima and he hits the Go 2 Sleep followed by the PK.\u00a0 Cover, and Shibata picks up the three count.\u00a0 This was generally a good heavyweight sprint-style match but along the way they just really threw selling out the window.\u00a0 Also the leg work portion didn\u2019t match the rest of the narrative at all and could have been safely skipped.\u00a0 I enjoyed it for what it was, but the structure was all over the place.\u00a0 Score:\u00a0 6.0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Hirooki Goto vs. Yuji Nagata<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis match is part of the New Japan Cup.\u00a0 They trade wristlocks to start, seated armbar by Goto but Nagata gets to the ropes.\u00a0 Shoulderblocks by Goto and he goes back to Nagata\u2019s arm.\u00a0 Nagata kicks Goto and he slaps on a cross armbreaker before Goto gets in the ropes.\u00a0 Armbreaker by Nagata and they trade elbows back up. \u00a0Nagata kicks Goto into the corner and hits a big boot.\u00a0 Lariat by Goto and he kicks Nagata into the corner and he hits a heel kick in the corner.\u00a0 Backdrop suplex by Goto and they trade elbows again.\u00a0 Knee to the stomach by Nagata and they go back to an elbow exchange.\u00a0 Lots of elbows.\u00a0 Slap by Nagata and he applies a seated armbar.\u00a0 Big boot by Nagata and he hits a brainbuster.\u00a0 Knee by Nagata in the corner, he puts Goto on the top turnbuckle and he hits an exploder.\u00a0 Nagata elbows Goto and he hits an enzigieri.\u00a0 Goto drops Nagata onto his knee and he hits a roaring lariat.\u00a0 Shouten Kai by Goto, and he picks up the three count.\u00a0 This was a really fun match but it felt like it ended too suddenly.\u00a0 Nagata went out pretty quick for someone that dominated the match and he is no jobber.\u00a0 Felt like it could have used a few more minutes but what they did worked very well.\u00a0 Score:\u00a0 7.0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Nakanishi, and Captain New Japan vs.\u00a0 Nakamura, Sakuraba, and Tomohiro Ishii<\/strong><\/span>
\nWhat in the world is New Japan doing with Sakuraba, what a waste of a legend.\u00a0 Use him for something special or don\u2019t use him at all.\u00a0 Big question \u2013 who will pin Captain New Japan?\u00a0 Captain New Japan and Sakuraba start off but they don\u2019t do a whole lot before Tenzan and Nakamura tag in.\u00a0 They get into the ropes and Tenzan stomps Nakamura down in the corner.\u00a0 Nakamura knees Tenzan and hits a running knee to the ribs in the corner.\u00a0 Nakamura tags in Ishii, and Ishii trades chops with Tenzan which Ishii gets the better of.\u00a0 Vertical suplex by Ishii and he tags in Sakuraba so they can double team Tenzan.\u00a0 Sakuraba kicks Tenzan but Tenzan hits Mongolian Chops.\u00a0 Sakuraba applies a sleeper and gives Tenzan some chops of his own.\u00a0 Nakamura is tagged in and he chokes Tenzan in the corner with his boot.\u00a0 Tenzan headbutts Nakamura in the stomach however and hits a series of Mongolian Chops.\u00a0 Heel kick by Tenzan but Ishii runs in.\u00a0 Tenzan lariats Ishii and makes the hot tag to Nakanishi.\u00a0 Nakanishi chops Nakamura into the corner and then hits a lariat.\u00a0 Another lariat by Nakanishi and he lariats Nakamura to the mat.\u00a0 Another lariat by Nakanishi but the cover gets two.<\/p>\n

Nakanishi puts Nakamura in the Argentine Backbreaker, Sakuraba tries to break it up but Nakanishi throws Nakamura at him.\u00a0 Nakamura fights back with a heel kick and both Captain New Japan and Ishii are tagged in.\u00a0 Shoulderblock by Captain New Japan, he goes up top but Captain New Japan misses the diving headbutt.\u00a0 Jumping knee in the corner by Nakamura to Captain New Japan and Ishii knocks him down with a lariat.\u00a0 Nakanishi and Tenzan come in to help, and Tenzan hits a diving headbutt onto Ishii.\u00a0 Captain New Japan goes up top and hits one as well, but Nakamura breaks up the cover.\u00a0 Ishii elbows Captain New Japan back but Captain New Japan hits the Hirai End for a two count.\u00a0 Elbows by Ishii, Sakuraba applies a sleeper to Captain New Japan and then Nakamura hits a sliding knee.\u00a0 Sliding lariat by Ishii, cover, but Tenzan breaks it up.\u00a0 Ishii picks up Captain New Japan and he nails a brainbuster for the three count.\u00a0 Just mid-card filler, even though it did have some of the bigger wrestlers in the promotion.\u00a0 If they cut out Captain New Japan and Sakuraba this may have worked, but aside from the finishing stretch there just wasn\u2019t much here.\u00a0 Not bad, just nothing significant in any way.\u00a0 Score:\u00a0 5.5<\/span><\/p>\n

Doc Gallows vs. Kota Ibushi<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis match is part of the New Japan Cup.\u00a0 Gallows pushes Ibushi around to start things off as Ibushi bumps like a mad man.\u00a0 Gallows dumps Ibushi out of the ring and punches him around the floor.\u00a0 Gallows hits Ibushi with a steel chair but finally they return to the ring.\u00a0 Headbutt by Gallows and he stretches Ibushi in the ropes.\u00a0 Gallows punches Ibushi in the corner and he hits a vertical suplex.\u00a0 Ibushi finally kicks Gallows, he goes off the ropes but Gallows boots him to the mat.\u00a0 Gallows elbows Ibushi in the chest and applies a reverse chinlock.\u00a0 Gallows goes for a body press, but Ibushi rolls out of the way.\u00a0 Ibushi dropkicks Gallows out of the ring, he charges the corner and hits a moonsault out of the ring.\u00a0 Ibushi goes up top as Gallows gets in the ring, and he hits a missile dropkick.\u00a0 Ibushi goes for a suplex but Gallows blocks it. \u00a0Elbows by Gallows but Ibushi hits the German suplex hold for a two count.\u00a0 High kick by Gallows and he hits the front full nelson slam for a two count.\u00a0 Gallows picks up Ibushi but Ibushi reverses the chokebomb into a hurricanrana and he picks up the three count!\u00a0 This was smartly worked, Gallows is the monster gaijin and Ibushi treated him as such, only occasionally getting in any offense and winning with a flash pin.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t go too long and it was logically done, even if they didn\u2019t break any new ground and Ibushi is capable of having better matches with others.\u00a0 But it was entertaining, so a good match overall.\u00a0 Score:\u00a0 6.5<\/span><\/p>\n

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Karl Anderson vs. Tetsuya Naito<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis match is part of the New Japan Cup.\u00a0 Anderson attacks Naito outside the ring and powerbombs him onto the apron. Anderson rams Naito’s head into the ring post, Naito gets on the apron and Anderson boots him in the head. Anderson boots Naito again, and he falls back to the floor. Naito still hasn’t made it in the ring yet. Finally Naito manages to get in and Anderson hits a series of mounted punches. Scoop slam by Anderson but Naito avoids the elbow drop. Kick combination by Naito and he hits a somersault senton. Naito hits hurricanrana and does his kick thing in the corner that I don’t like. Naito goes off the ropes but Anderson catches him with a spinebuster. Big boot by Anderson in the corner and he delivers a jumping kick to the face. Fireman’s carry into a cutter by Anderson, but Naito kicks out of the pin attempt. Jumping elbow by Naito, he puts Anderson up on the top turnbuckle and he goes for a Frankensteiner, but Anderson catches him with a powerbomb for a two count. Anderson and Naito trade elbows, Anderson goes for an uppercut but Naito sneaks in a backslide for two. Tornado DDT by Naito and he kicks Anderson in the head. German suplex hold by Naito, but it gets a two count. Scoop slam by Naito and he nails the Stardust Press for the three count. I liked this one quite a bit, I don’t think that Anderson gets enough credit. He has been in New Japan for a long time now and has good chemistry with just about everyone. His offense was very on point and Naito kept up just fine. This is what I want to see in the tournament, matches that get right to the point and entertain. Score: 7.5<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis match is part of the New Japan Cup.\u00a0 They trade waistlocks to start and then go to the mat, but they return to their feet after a moment. Yano quickly removes a turnbuckle pad and then throws Tanahashi into the other one, but Tanahashi hits a rebound crossbody which Yano rolls through for a two count. Yano hits Tanahashi low and he covers him for a quick two count. Tanahashi catches Yano’s kick but Yano again rolls him up for two. Yano yanks Tanahashi’s leg out from under him and covers him, but Tanahashi kicks out. Jumping elbow smash by Tanahashi, he goes off the ropes and applies a waistlock before spinning Yano around. Tanahashi goes to run off the ropes but Yano pulls him down by his hair and covers him for the three count! Well I guess that counts as the upset of the tournament, and the crowd certainly seemed to enjoy it. I have no issue with it, these things need to happen in tournaments so that every match is important. Plus Yano is Yano, what can ya do. Short obviously but it served its purpose. Score: 6.0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis match is part of the New Japan Cup. They go back and forth to start, Fale tries to sit on Okada but Okada moves and hits a sliding kick. Fale rolls out of the ring, Okada goes off the ropes but Fale grabs Okada and dumps him out of the ring. Okada is stomped on by various people at ringside, then Fale throws him into the guardrail. Fale slides Okada back in and stands on his back while using the ropes. Fale punches Okada into the corner and hits clubbing blows before hitting an elbow drop. Back up, punches by Fale and he hits a scoop slam. Fale goes for a body press but Okada rolls out of the way, but of course he goes for a body slam which doesn’t work. Fale runs into the corner and now Okada is able to hit the body slam, even though he hurts himself in the process. Elbows by Okada and he hits a DDT. Big boot by Okada and he lariats Fale out of the ring. Okada follows him out and kicks Fale over the guardrail, he then gets a running start and dives at Fale, but Fale catches him and slams him back to ringside. Fale returns to the ring with Okada slowly following, and Fale drives Okada into the corner. Body avalanche by Fale and he hits a body press for two. Fale throws Okada into the corner, he picks him up but Okada hits a back bodydrop. Running uppercut by Okada and he hits a few elbows, but Fale hits him back. Dropkick by Okada, he goes up top and hits a diving elbow drop. Okada goes for the Rainmaker but Fale ducks it and hits a Samoan Drop. Spear by Fale, and he gets a two count. Fale picks up Okada but Okada hits the reverse neckbreaker. Okada goes for a tombstone but Fale blocks it, he picks up Okada but Okada wiggles out of the Bad Luck Fall. Dropkick by Okada to the back and then one to the front, he goes for the Rainmaker but Fale blocks it. Lariat by Fale, he picks up Okada and he hits the Grenade. Cover, but it gets a two count. Fale goes up top and he hits a diving body press for a two count. Fale picks up Okada, he nails the Bad Luck Fall and he picks up the three count. Fale doesn’t do a lot for me, his offense doesn’t look hurt-y for someone his size and Okada was limited here due to Fale being a bit of a lug at times. It wasn’t bad, I was just hoping for a bit more from the main event of the show. Score: 6.0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Final Thoughts:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As is not uncommon in the first round of a tournament, the matches ranged from average to really good, but none really blew me away. The match-ups didn’t do them a lot of favors as wrestlers such as Honma, Tanahashi, and Okada can have fantastic matches but none were put in a situation to really do so on this show. Some of the big dude vs. little dude matches worked (particularly the two American matches), but some of the others fell flat. It was still an above average event overall, it just didn’t quite reach the level of the previous couple New Japan events.<\/p>\n

Grade: B<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Karl Anderson vs. Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano, Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada, Doc Gallows vs. Kota Ibushi, more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":18271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[399,40],"tags":[234,233],"class_list":["post-18268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fsreview","category-reviews","tag-new-japan","tag-puroresu"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18273,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18268\/revisions\/18273"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}