We are in full blown New Japan Cup right meow as the sixteen-man field has been cut down to just six after this morning’s show. After a really solid top to bottom first round that included an early MOTY contender Zach Sabre, Jr./Naito and a singles main event with Chuck Taylor. How surreal is it to say that Chuckie fucking T main evented a NJPW show?!?! Wrestling in 2018 is a beautiful thing. So back to the bracket the quarterfinal round opened up this morning with match-ups between Michael Elgin/Juice Robinson and Hiroshi Tanahashi/Bad Luck Fale.
Juice has really been coming into his own the last couple of years in NJPW and had a barn-burner against Kenny Omega for the IWGP U.S. Title back in September. Because of all this I totally expected him to get the win over Elgin and he did. This was a solid match with great storytelling even if it did involve a guy so easy to root for in Juice. The finish comes when Juice reverses the Elgin Bomb into a small package. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if we see Juice make a run to the finals.
The second quarterfinal told a similar story with a smaller guy withstanding a beating from a brute between Tanahashi and Fale. Fale used his size and strength to throw Tanahashi around inside and outside of the ring. Tanahashi fights back before sending Fale into the crowd and moving on thanks to a count out victory. The two eventually battle to the outside with Tanahashi getting the win via count out after sending Fale into the crowd. Totally fine match with Fale still looking strong but it just didn’t do it for me like the co-main had. Juice and Tanahashi will square off in the first semifinal matchup on March 16.
Night 2 of the quarterfinal matchups will be tomorrow morning (fucking Japan) with Kota Ibushi meeting Zach Sabre, Jr. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and Yano going toe to toe with SANADA.
John Mosley is the independent wrestling and TV aficionado of the SoBros Network. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor – Follow on Twitter: @CoupleOfJobbers
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