Raziel Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 New Japan Cup brackets announced, format is different this year, instead of a 2 day tourny, it's run over 8 days, with only one Quarterfinal match run a day during the 13th to 17th. Winner of the tourny gets a Title Shot of their choice at Sakura Genesis on 4/9. Left Bracket: (1st Round, 3/11, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Aichi) 1. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. "King of Darkness" EVIL (Los Ingobernables de Japon) 2. Yuji Nagata vs. Tanga Roa (Bullet Club) 3. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) 4. Toru Yano (CHAOS) vs. Tama Tonga (Bullet Club) Right Bracket: (1st Round, 3/12, Baycom Gymnasium, Hyogo) 5. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-gun) 6. Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) 7. Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. Kenny Omega (Bullet Club) 8. YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS) vs. SANADA (Los Ingobernables de Japon) Quarters: 3/13 9: "King of Darkness" EVIL (L.I.J.) vs. Yuji Nagata 3/14 10: Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) vs. Toru Yano (CHAOS) 3/15 11: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Juice Robinson 3/17 12: Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. SANADA (L.I.J.) Semis: 3/19, Act City Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 13. "King of Darkness" EVIL (L.I.J.) vs. Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) 14. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) Final: 3/20 Ao-re Nagaoka, Niigata 15. Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) vs. Katsuyori Shibata Katsuyori Shibata wins the 2016 New Japan Cup, and named his match. He challenges Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Saukra Genesis on April 9th. I'll update brackets as they go. Shibata/MiSu and Ishii/Omega are the big matches in round 1. Left bracket looks pretty weak though. I'd wager one of the 4 out of Shibata/MiSu/Ishii/Omega is going to win the whole thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Those two matches are going to be great, particularly Ishii/Omega. Kenny said in his WOR interview that Ishii is somebody he's wanting to work with. Shibata/Suzuki could be a bust if neither is willing to give the other much, but it could be a MOTYC if they click. Also looking forward to watching Big Mike ("CANADIAN GRIZZLY"!) huck around Fale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyanide Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Part of me feels like there could really be an upset by somebody like SANADA and I'll hate it. But if it ends up being one of the "Right Bracket" Big Four: Omega and especially Suzuki I feel like they missed the boat if there was gonna be a move there for the time being (but of course for Omega it might have been contractual stuff being up in the air, and it's a whole new ballgame now. Who knows.) Shibata's a real wildcard who could come back out of bolstering the midcard/international title scene. But... stables be damned... there is one man with an unavenged singles victory over Okada... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zev Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 I would like to see an Elgin-Suzuki final. Doubt it'll happen, but Big Mike powerbombing all the Suzuki Gun run ins would amuse me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Yeah, there was no way they were giving Kenny the strap when he was a free agent later that month. Dave was predicting back when he was a free agent that he'd likely have the title by Dominion, so we'll see if they pull the trigger early or wait a little bit but I would be shocked if he doesn't have at least one run with the title this year. SANADA is pretty fucking good and will almost certainly be a main eventer in the near future. His G1 match with Tanahashi proved to me he can not just fit in but thrive in the main event slot. He's got the look, size, and skills to be a top guy imo. His incredible troll job of Milano Collection AT the last few shows has been outstanding but I'm not sure what the end game is, similar to the Miz/DB stuff on Smackdown. The way he just stares with a COLD STONE (lol) impression while he drags a young lion in front of the desk and slaps them in the Paradise Lock is outstanding, 10/10 trolling that even Milo and his ilk would be proud of. I guess Big Mike's rehab coming off his (amazing) loss to Naito could be Fale, Yano and Tanahashi or EVIL. But it would look a little funky for him to fail in his challenge for the secondary title then go on to immediately be a threat for the big boy title. I wouldn't complain too much though because he's the fucking man in New Japan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 I'm not sure what you guys are smoking, it must be better than mine because now is Tanga Roa's time to shine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 "OH SHIT!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Omega/Ishii and Shibata/Suzuki are Must Watch for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beech27 Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Stoked for Suzuki/Shibata as well. Though I can talk myself in to a couple other scenarios, it does feel like Omega is winning (and probably should). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoeCristyV.1.6 Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Okada isn't even in the tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beech27 Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 26 minutes ago, MoeCristyV.1.6 said: Okada isn't even in the tournament. Ugh. Edited to reflect what I meant/reality. I'd just watched Suzuki/Okada again last night, so... who knows what I was thinking. What I get for posting in a mostly hidden window in my office, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Haven't kept up with all the rumors after Kenny's re-signing, but is it pretty much a lock that they're gonna make Kenny the champ heading into those US G1 Climax shows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 Da Meltz seemed to think that's how it would play out but that was likelier him using logic than a source telling him that from what I gather, though I've missed this past week of shows and the latest observer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 Maybe Gedo's reached the Dusty Finish period of his booking and we'll get like 19 of those soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Makabe will end up being Honma's replacement. Press Conference today so that's when they'll likely do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 Ok, I was wrong, Yuji Nagata officially announced as Honma's replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 More than fair replacement but I can see them throwing Roa a bone unless they wanna do that with Tonga instead. I wish we could see some inter-faction battles but those would probably end with guys laying down for each other or just more cheating. Jim Ross already has enough reason to bitch and moan on the air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Brackets updated. I give up ever trying to predict this tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Props to Honma for breaking his neck instead of having to wrestle a 10+ minute singles match with Roa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted March 12, 2017 Author Share Posted March 12, 2017 I'm wondering if this is finally Shibata's year, as there's pretty much no one else I can see winning this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 This is Fale's year, bro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyanide Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 First Round - 3/11: Spoiler Watched the last three NJ Cup bouts, and the closing minutes of Nagata/Tanga Loa. Holy shit I bet this thing was a trainwreck all the way through. Tanga Loa looked like aimless dead weight as usual (outside of a handful of solid GOD tags over the last year), and Nagata did not look motivated to try and salvage this thing too much. Good array of matches the rest of the way. Yano and one of the other better "characters" in NJPW in Tama Tonga put on the fun bout you'd expect from the pairing, with the requisite Yano finish. I really feel like a cinderella run of foul -> roll-ups could take Yano all the way over Okada and the crowd would still be eating out of his hand. Fale/Elgin was a nice battle-of-the-bulls match-up you don't see too much of in NJPW. I really think Fale is underutilized as a hoss/power foil for the high-end worker types, especially given how good he looked against Okada/Tanahashi/Marufuji in Block A last year, before giving Okada his win back and returning to the dregs of Bullet Club's undercard squad. EVIL/Tanahashi was more in the established NJPW main event mold for a mid-tour card. Pretty sloppy early on I thought, but it picked up steam late. EVIL is really growing on as someone who should be making more noise as a singles competitor moving forward. One random thought I had was that I kinda wish he was aligned with Suzuki-gun, as he could use a little more Minoru Suzuki to his game and be set up as a clear-cut #2, while SANADA would benefit from being the true chief lieutenant of LIJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Shibata definitely has a lot of momentum coming into this year, and I will be extremely surprised if he doesn't end up with one of the big belts this year. I think he probably gets blocked from the IWGP title by the inevitable Omega run, unless Gedo tries to play Omega by holding off until WK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beech27 Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 30 minutes ago, EVA said: Shibata definitely has a lot of momentum coming into this year, and I will be extremely surprised if he doesn't end up with one of the big belts this year. I think he probably gets blocked from the IWGP title by the inevitable Omega run, unless Gedo tries to play Omega by holding off until WK. I could see a scenario where Shibata goes over SANADA and Evil on his way to winning the Cup, then challenges Naito to restore ~strong style respect~ to the belt Naito casually flings around. Someone else would thus have to step up and challenge Okada. Maybe Omega; maybe Ishii, who has that unavenged G1 win. But, I mean, I have no idea. I've basically been wrong about everything so far. Regarding the matches: I thought SANADA impressed; Suzuki looked pretty bored; Omega/Ishii was nuts. Like, I don't think there was a single hold, no limb work, just bombs. (Only one finisher actually hit, though.) I was really, really into it live, but I'm not really sure how good I'd say it was yet, or how well it'll hold up without the "who's gonna win?" thrill. Overkill at times, some goofy selling, some no selling, but a total spectacle. Very much an Omega main event, with everything that implies. How you feel about that is probably how you'll feel about this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 The first ten minutes of Omega and Ishii I could have done without but it ended up being a very good match and crazy finish, the crowd was hyped for the final ten. I wasn't surprised at the upsets of course but I was surprised that Omega and Tanahashi both went out early. I was happy to see EVIL catch Tanahashi with the mist. I love his entrance and theme music, he's getting pretty good in the ring too. Ishii is always a favorite of mine. Suzuki and Shibata was decent but didn't live up to what I expected 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now