New Japan Cup 2019

[Beech27]

It’s weird to me that New Japan gives DBS so little in the way of singles opportunities. He’s not some revelation, but he’s good enough, huge, credible, and theoretically has some name appeal in the US, England, and Canada. I might like to see what he could do in an All Japan or NOAH. (Same for Goto. But I always say that.) 

I also still really like Kojima. I hope he gets a proper “last G1” run this year. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by Beech27

[Archibald]

DBS also looked a bit like he didn't care any more and it would be understandable. I think that if given a bit of a push he could easily become rival for Juice or Ospreay, but nah, always gets booked like a moron.

They could have easily swapped those matches and did Makabe/DBS and Colt/Yano for first round. I think both matches would have been better in that case and I'm way more interested in seeing DBS/Sanada or DBS/Suzuki than another Yano/Sanada or Yano/Suzuki match. Yano/Sanada is still fun, but Yano/Suzuki at this point has lost whatever appeal it had years ago. Now thinking about it, imagine if we get Ibushi/Yano for semi-finals? Ugh.

[Jenalysis]

Imagine a Taichi/Yano finals.

 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

8 hours ago, alstein said:

Imagine a Taichi/Yano finals.

 

I'd rather not, and not because of Taichi.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Nice Guy Eddie

[Brian Fowler]

21 hours ago, alstein said:

Imagine a Taichi/Yano finals.

 

Suddenly I'm imagining saving ten bucks a month.

[EVA]

Dammit, they keep teasing us with Taichi/Yoshi and snatching it away.

[Ryan]

Okada beat Nicholls. Ospreay beat Archer.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

I'll get caught up and watch the latest show later on tonight.

[Gordi the BJW fan]

I was at night 6, since Nara Centennial Hall is about a four-minute walk from my place. It is a great building to watch wrestling in. It was the first time NJPW has been to Nara in 15 years. I hope they come back soon. It was pretty nice to be able to walk to a show.

Ospreay vs Archer was a GREAT big man vs little man match. I really hope it comes across on video. They had the crowd in the palm of their hands and told a great story in there. Best Archer performance I have seen. Ospreay's selling and story-telling have come a long way in the past couple of years. Loved it. They had me legit marking out at some of the near-falls.

It was a fun show overall with a great crowd. Lots of little kids who were super into everything, A handful of other gaijin in the crowd, too. People screaming out taunts for Nakanishi and Kojima in the early matches... Just a good time. Really glad I was able to be there.

Edited March 16, 2019 by gordi

[Archibald]

So left side of the bracket ends up being about Chaos vs Chaos matches. Cool idea I guess, but Taichi/Yoshi feels like a match that should happen yet doesn't. It is also a bit weird how Taichi is carrying iron fingers all the time, but they have yet to come into play.

[Hagan]

The Goto story is pretty fascinating. I HOPE it leads to something but maybe he's just meant to be a mid-card nobody. 

[Curt McGirt]

Looking it up... Christ, Goto's won the cup THREE TIMES? And lost his heavyweight challenge all three times, too. If they finally pull the trigger on him this time, it'll definitely be a Nakanishi-style gold watch move.

[Beech27]

Goto already got eliminated by Sanada.

[Curt McGirt]

Then what is "the Goto story" in that case? 

[Raziel]

That he's the biggest choker in NJPW, if not all of wrestling, history.  He's won multiple NJ Cups, a Young Lions Cup, and a G1, but has never converted any of his title shots (he's had 8).  And the few times he has converted and won the lesser belts, they haven't really been memorable.  

[Beech27]

Beyond that context, I think the story now is that he's not even really a choker anymore--to be a choker, you have to at least get in position to contend for important things. Now, he's going sub-.500 in the G1, losing the first round of the cup after standing in the ring with the presumed favorites, promising that he would win. Maybe the story will be that he changes something in response to this, but I think it's also possible that he just keeps trundling down the card, happy enough with his secure spot. (This is where, for the second time in one page, I'll note that I'd be down for a NOAH/AJPW run from him, or at least a heel turn. Doesn't White still need that Chaos mole? Or maybe that won't ever pay off.)

Edited March 15, 2019 by Beech27

[Raziel]

I'm thinking it won't pay off, since it seemed to be heading to being either Beretta or Chuckie and well, we know how that turned out.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

I don't think the Chaos mole angle gets a pay off, which pretty much confirms to me it was Trent? and/or Chuckie T.

Edited March 15, 2019 by Nice Guy Eddie

[Archibald]

We had lots of those "maybe Goto is going to change something now" moments in the past so honestly I don't expect anything to change now either. And I'm not even sure how could they do "Goto finally wins the title" story now since IGWP title matches usually happen only in big buildings and I don't see Goto moving many tickets with how his career is going.

[CSC]

20 hours ago, gordi said:

 

Ospreay vs Archer was a GREAT big man vs little man match. I really hope it comes across on video. They had the crowd in the palm of their hands and told a great story in there. Best Archer performance I have seen. Ospreay's selling and story-telling have come a long way in the past couple of years. Loved it. They had me legit marking out at some of the near-falls.

 

Oh it did - everything Archer did looked BRUTAL.  That Oscutter/Pounce combo  literally made me jump off my couch watching it.  

Edited March 15, 2019 by CSC

[Gordi the BJW fan]

I'm glad to hear that. I marked out hard for that particular spot live. The split-second timing on that was unbelievable.

Ospreay took some insane bumps to put over Archer as a monster. It seems like a strange thing to say but I am happy that the brutality of that match comes across well on video. I'd be sad if only the relatively small Nara crowd got to appreciate the hard work those guys put in. 

[Gordi the BJW fan]

w/r/t Goto, I have only seen him live three times as far as I can remember (In 2009 at Dominion and at the G1 and then again on Thursday) and that is a small sample size but my take on him is this: He's a big, talented guy with a good look but he just flat-out lacks that elusive star quality. When Naito, MiSu, Ibushi, Ishii, or Okada are n the ring, you simply can't take your eyes off of them. Regardless of whether they are among my favourite wrestlers or not, there is just not denying that they have a very compelling presence in person. Enough charisma, or whatever, to fill an arena. Even Kojima, in his pro wrestling dotage, still clearly has it. Goto, for whatever reason, simply does not. He's talented, for sure. I though his match with MiSu at WK two years ago was amazing. But... I think that champions need to have that star quality. So, "versatile upper mid card puzzle piece" is the right role for Goto, in my opinion. 

[Ryan]

I think the bigger story is gordi is still around. Ghosts of the past reappear....

[Evil Otto]

25 minutes ago, Ryan said:

I think the bigger story is gordi is still around. Ghosts of the past reappear....

Indeed!  Hey there, gordi!  He may be semi-retired, but man, he can still go!  

[Brian Fowler]

Goto is a guy I never ever care about, and I'm never excited for him or looking forward to his matches... But a lot of times once the match gets going I have the same reaction over and over "oh yeah, this guy is really good"