Four decisive tournament matches live on NJPW World July 2.
Watch all the New Japan Cup action LIVE and on-demand on NJPW World!
We are now down to just eight in the New Japan Cup, with quarter final action taking place tonight on NJPW World. Four matches are part of the official lineup, all hotly anticipated, to say the least!
Hiromu Takahashi vs Tomohiro Ishii
First singles meeting
Both matches in the left side of the bracket see junior heavyweights face heavyweights, and we start with Tomohiro ishii against Hiromu Takahashi.
Last year’s semi-final defeat to Kazuchika Okada in the New Japan Cup will still be stinging for Ishii as he looks to set up the perfect situation for revenge over his CHAOS teammate. For Hiromu Takahashi though, his motivation will come from the semi-final stage; the chance to wear the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to a live prime-time broadcast. Not just that, but were he successful, he would be just one more match away from facing Tetsuya Naito, not just in he singles match denied him when Anniversary was cancelled, but to do it with all the gold and glory on the line.
Nobody will beat Ishii in a blow for blow battle, and it’s likely Hiromu will pull out all the stops to instead hurl himself bodily at Ishii, if need be staying with the Takahashi maxim of ‘take five shots to deliver one’. Ishii’s impressive acceleration and occasional bouts of death defying high flying on his own right however, make this an unmissable bout.
Kazuchika Okada vs Taiji Ishimori
First singles meeting
Kazuchika Okada takes on Taiji Ishimori in the second quarter final matchup. Perhaps the most unique contest in the entire New Japan Cup tournament, this will be a fantastic showcase of junior heavyweight speed and heavyweight power, but don’t discount Ishimori’s own phenomenal strength and Okada’s ability to bring the pace.
After Ishimori moved past Gabriel Kidd and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Okada defeated Gedo and Yuji Nagata to make it to the quarter finals, this will be a very different change of pace for both men. Okada will likely be the bookmaker’s favourite, but Ishimori is not to be discounted as one of the pre-eminent wrestlers in his weight class over the last decade and a half. Could there be a huge surprise tonight?
Taichi vs SANADA
First singles meeting
The third of our four quarter finals is yet another first time matchup; Taichi faces SANADA. With no prior singles record to go on, we must instead look to the story so far in the tournament for both men; a pair of stories of incredible toughness, but significant damage.
SANADA got past Ryusuke Taguchi and SHO to get this far. A pair of classical, largely mat based battles will certainly give way to a dirtier fight against Taichi tonight, and the Holy Emperor will likely look to further punish the arm that SHO managed to aggressively target in the second round.
Taichi has beaten big players in both the IWGP Tag Team Champions, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi in the first two rounds, but did so by making heavy use of tag team partners. DOUKI would intervene from the early goings against Tanahashi, while Zack Sabre Junior got involved with Ibushi. That said, Taichi was far from incapable on his own merits, striking hard and effectively on his way to Black Mephisto induced victory. Momentum, devious tactics, and a damaged opponent may be all Taichi needs to move on.
YOSHI-HASHI vs EVIL
Overall singles record 1-1
The only match in this quarter final lineup that we have seen before, YOSHI-HASHI and EVIL’s record against one another still doesn’t give us too much to go on, even at 1-1 after a pair of G1 matches since the first pareja joined LIJ.
What is evident though is a will to win from both sides. In YOSHI-HASHI’s case, that has led to gutsy performances against the hard hits of Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and against heavy knee damage opposite BUSHI. For EVIL, that has meant more rule bending than we usually see from the King of Darkness, with a low blow to Hirooki Goto resulting in victory.
EVIL’s mantra has been ‘victory whatever happens’, as he remains intent on using the New Japan Cup to prove that he is the new number one in NJPW, and one has to wonder whether he will choose to exploit the injured leg of YOSHI-HASHI, especially with the Scorpion Deathlock as one of his key submission moves. yet YOSHI-HASHI’s heart has won out so far, and the potential for a fairytale run in the cup is there in the fourth of four hard to call matchups.
