NWK Reviews Super J Cup 2016 Round 1 (LIGER VS. EITA and KUSHIDA VS TAIJI)

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NWK2000
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NWK Reviews Super J Cup 2016 Round 1 (LIGER VS. EITA and KUSHIDA VS TAIJI)

Post by NWK2000 » Jun 5th, '19, 15:56

July 20 2016, Tokyo Japan
Intro


I thought we would jump ahead in our review of the J-Cups and look at the most recent one, 2016. There's also sorts of representation, NJPW, K-Dojo, All Japan, NOAH, and Dragon Gate! This looks like a fun one!


Opening video package: Weird. NJPW video packages are nothing extravagant anyway, but this one particularly looks like it was hastily made in Powerpoint. Also all the New Japan guys in factions get their faction logo in the background while New Japan guys not tied to factions get the regular New Japan logo which is super dumb. The guys in Suzuki Gun also get this treatment.


Round 1 match
"Reborn" Matt Sydal (ROH) vs Kaiji Tomato (K-Jojo


Tomato has a gimmick that I can only describe as, "Cheerleader dressed as a tomato" which might be the best gimmick ever. This dude is 5000 percent into his dance routine and even has plush tomatoes he unfolds in the ring.

Fun lucha to start which sees Tomato get the upper hand but Sydal regains control with a strange looking Reverse DDT/Hog Tie Legdrop move for a 2. We get a Buddah praying inverted Indian Deathlock which looks cool. Tomato tries to fight back but we get a spinning wheel kick and a wacky half bow and arrow submission. The briefest of striking exchanges occur before Matt gets the upper hand and gets a big ass Standing Moonsault for a two. Tomato gets a springboard missile dropkick and it shocks the crowd. Tomato hits a Tito Santana forearm after like six rope runs which Matt sells like he got hit by a car. Sydal gets his leaping Frankensteiner in for a two. Tomato stands up and gets clutching Tiger Suplexes off when Sydal goes to meet him.Sydal prevents more with a gnarly sounding kick, and gets rolled up mid run for a two count. Tomato gets to kick out of Sydal's meteora, but gets Shooting Star Pressed to give Sydal the win.

This match started off a bit basic but really picked up towards the end. Tomato made believers out of everyone, and that's what's important
6.75/10
Post match: Tomato gives Sydal one of the plushes which he accepts, and they clash tomato plushes as everyone makes their exits. This was wholesome, and worked for the two characters involved.

Round 1 Match
Gurukun Mask (Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling) vs Kenoh (NOAH)


Kenoh's power metal theme is editted out, which is disappointing.. Gurukun's is as well, but it sounds like an anime theme so I'm okay with that.

We get the fake martial arts standoff where you trade kicks to the hamstring with your opponent, which Gurukun wins. We get some choreographed sequences, and Gurukun hits an impressive dropkick from a squatting position. Gurukun goes for a dive but Kenoh's cornerman wacks him with the kendo stick Kenoh brought to the ring. The cornerman pantomimes his head hurting and then heelish "who me?" gestures. Kenoh works over the neck. Gurukun hulks up but Kenoh puts a stop to that Gurukun does the Kurt Angle run up the turnbuckle spot and hits a kick, almost falling out of the ring in the process. Top rope Frankensteiner by Gurukun! Gurukun attacks Kenoh's corner man and does a dive. Gurukun makes a comeback, even getting a two count, but Kenoh makes a comeback with some impressive, gnarly sounding kicks. Cool spot where Gurukun counters out of an ankle lock by booting Kenoh off, but Kenoh does a rolling leg snap on the rebound and goes right back to the Ankle Lock. Very dramatic crawl to the ropes, and we get a strongstyle kick exchange despite Gurukun having his leg worked over. At one point Kenoh just lets Gurukun shush the crowd to hit a particularly big kick. This goes on for entirely too long, but Gurukun hits a running Kenoh with a lariat for a near fall. Body slam out of the corner and moonsault for a two. Kenoh fires back and hits some generic puro moves, and hits a wacky arm trapping crucifix Hellavator for the win.

This match had some fun flourishes, but the interference of Kenoh's cornerman and some transparently choreographed puro make this feel just a bit above average.
5.75/10
Post match: Kenoh scowls like a badass and Gurukun looks frustrated when he realizes he's lost. He chides happily with the camera though so he isn't too upset
Yuma Aoyagi (AJPW) vs Taichi (w/Miho Abe and El Desperado) (NOAH)
Taichi's entrance is long to the point of ridiculousness. He also stalls taking his gear off. First thing that happens is Yuma dropkicks him out of the ring and they brawl outside the ring. More stalling by Tachi after he bails out of the ring to avoid a top rope move. which allows Taichi to use a chair while the ref is dealing with Despey Taichi godes Yuma into firing up in the ring, but he no sells all of his offense and immediately knocks him down. Despey and Miho distract the ref while Taichi smacks Yuma with a hammer. He then gets thrown out into some chairs and stomped by Despy. Yuma hits some weak forearms and an uppercut but Super Taichi just has his way with him some more. Yuma gets his comeback with a springboard crossbody and a snappy dropkick. He no sells from big strikes from Taichi as he's running but eventually has his way with a big Tito Santana forearm Despy tries to interfere but he gets booted and hit with a spinning crossbody to the outside along with Taichi. Slam, springboard rolling senton, and a running Shooting Star Press that looked like it about killed them both for a nearfall. Taichi fires off some big kicks for a nearfall but Yuma fires back. Yuma gets a Fisherman's Suplex for a 2. Taichi grabs the ref to avoid a German Suplex, and hits a running Yuma with an Axe Bomber that legitimately doesn't connect. Rollups a plenty by Yuma including a bridging pin that gets the crowd thinks is the finish. Yuma argues with the ref which allows Taichi to recover with some big kicks and some near falls. Taichi hits the Last Ride to win.

I feel like they're trying to give Suzuki Gun (or maybe NOAH period because Kenoh cheated) that Bullet Club energy, and it works to a degree, but it's what saved this match from a 1 or 2 rating.

3.25/10

Post match: Despy stomps on Yuma because he can

Round 1 Match
Eita (Dragon Gate) vs Jushin Thunder Liger (NJPW)


Eita dropkicks Liger before the bell and does a tope to the outside. Eita whips Liger into the turnbuckle, but it's reversed, but Liger hits his palm strike on the same turnbuckle when Eita ducks. It's all Eita until Liger hits a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Liger suplexes Eita on the outside At some point Eita got busted open, and barely answers the count in time. Liger gets a big Jacknife powerbomb and the surfboard stretch in. Eita tries to fire back but Liger chops him so hard he hurts his own arm. Eita gets some big moves including a sick rolling dropkick. Eita goes back to working the injured arm. Liger fights out of it and hits the Shoetei, but Eita sucks Liger in for a rollup that he turns into a Fujiwara. Eita has it cranked so far back at certain pont he could turn it into a Cross Armbreaker. This unfortunately causes him to breifly lose the hold before the big rope break spot. Thesz Press, nearfall palm strike and Brainbuster for the three count. Liger wins.

This was SHOCKINGLY great! It's the only match so far where it felt like there was any urgency or consequences, and it retold the story of Liger vs Togo from Skydiving J, where the young kid pissed off the old veteran and had to fight way harder after. I really hope Liger has put some time in teaching guys at the dojo or will be a trainer later on, because his experience is both shockingly noticeable in this cavalcade of indy nerds, and a treasure in this show.

8.25/10

Post match: Liger raises Eita's hand and they shake hands because Liger is a great veteran.
Round 1 Match
Titan (CMLL) vs Will Ospreay (NJPW)
The story here is that Will outclasses Titan, so Titan has to be tricky and utilize counters to get the momentum . But he's no match for Will who wins with the OsCutter
Now this is what J-Cup is supposed to feel like, lots of crazy moves and flips. I really liked this match
7.5/10
Post match: Great! Titan waves a Mexican flag while they're both draped in Will's Union Jack cape.

Round 1 Match
Bushi (NJPW) vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH) (w/El Desperado)

Bushi looks baller in his suit in matching entrance mask. Bushi dropkicks Kanemaru at the bell but gets a chair to the head for his trouble when he goes for a suicide dive, and DDTed on exposed concrete! At least Taichi made it a point to cheat when the ref was distracted, how is Kanemaru choking Bushi with the chair not a DQ? Oh now Despey remembers to distract the ref for a head into the corner post, but stops just as Bushi's head makes impact. They go up to the very top of the arena and Bushi gets a DDT for his trouble Bushi gets a big dive off of a railing once he DDTs Kanemaru and almost throws Bushi down a flight of stairs, at which point he just casually walks back to the ring like nothing happened. I'm calling it, Kanemaru wins because Bushi distracts the ref which allows Kanemaru to kick him in the dick and hit the Touch Out for the win

DUD

Post match: Our boys from Suzuki Gun throws Bushi out because they're Rudos
Round 1 Match
Daisuke Harada (NOAH) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW)

The lads are even until Taguchi misses a butt splash to counter a sunset flip, disabling his main weapon, his booty, until it doesn't and we get a hip attack anyway. I feel like Taguchi's life would be simpler if even his most basic offense didn't involve his ass.Any offense not related to his ass looks super weak which poor Harada has to job for. Harada finally gets some offense in and moves like a force of nature. Taguchi does some wacky poses which allows Harada to get a low dropkick to Taguchi's ass. Taguchi does a cool block of a GTS into an ankle lock which Harada breaks the rope for More butt stuff, and a Drive By kick that beautifully gets countered into a Diving Stomp! Daisuke also gets an apron DVD for his trouble! Strong Style grapple exchange leads to some finisher teases, big moves, and near falls. The guys trade ankle locks and attempts to work out of it are blocked in cool ways because that's one of Taguchi's moves. Harada going for a rope break ends in him getting the Dodon for the three

This was a pretty hum drum match that rests almost entirely on the closing sequence, but it was one hell of a sequence.
6.25/10
Post match: Harads grabs Taguchi's wrist instead of shaking his hand. Weird

Round 1 Match
Taiji Ishimori (NOAH) vs KUSHIDA (NJPW)

This is Juniorweight wrestling at its finest. The story is that both guys are so badass they're evenly matched on every level, just throwing anything and everything to put away the other These two have, in kayfabe studied each other's stuff to the letter, and Taijji is decidedly more ruthless, but KUSHIDA has to activate his mean streak to win. KUSHIDA hits big moves on the arm to win.

This was GREAT, I can see what all the KUSHIDA hype is about, but the only problem with this match was that Taiji sold a lot for KUSHIDA but not vice versa. It felt like KUSHIDA was never in trouble. That said, a great match.
9.25/10
Conclusion
Only Liger/Eita and KUSHIDA/Taiji were anything to write home about. Everything else was meh, and seeing as only two guys not under NJPW contract go to the finals (Sydal, but he only kinda counts, because of the ROH working agreement and Kenoh) this is clearly a storyline tournament built by NJPW to get over Kushida, and considering the Suzuki Gun guys go to the semis, I won't be reviewing the finals.
NWK Reviews is closed for business for now.

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