THE 2019 NEW JAPAN CUP: A LOOK BACK
By Jasmine Olan
The New Japan Cup is one of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest singles tournaments. Since 2005 its primary purposes have been to help keep its main event picture fresh and further showcase the incredible talent of NJPW’s roster. New Japan Cup season is always a highly anticipated time for the promotion and its legion of loyal fans. This year NJPW announced that the New Japan Cup would be bigger than ever as the field was going to be doubled from its usual number of 16 competitors to 32. Seven of those 32 would be making their tournament debut including a young lion for the first time ever.
At stake for all of them was the opportunity to challenge IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Switchblade Jay White for the title at the G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden. The wrestling world was buzzing before the tournament was even set to start. When it was all said and done, New Japan delivered in spades with breakout performances and matches that very often left fans on the edge of their seats, wanting more. The 2019 New Japan Cup gave fans so many memorable moments.
Of the seven New Japan Cup debuts that took place this year, one of the most talked about and highly anticipated was that of twenty-one year old young lion, Shota Umino. The talented rookie had his work cut out for him as his first round opponent would be the Once In A Century Talent, Hiroshi Tanahashi. The passionate young lion went one on one with the Ace Of The Universe in one of the most emotionally charged matches and best told stories of the entire tournament. Not only was he up against one of his greatest mentors, the person officiating the match was none other than his dad, “Red Shoes Unno”.
Despite the fact that he didn’t win the match, the entire industry got a glimpse of the star Shota Umino is destined to become in the future. He not only held his own against Tanahashi but came so close to winning the match more than once. This match also showed how much faith New Japan has in Shota as well as how much they are willing to invest in him. This could easily lead to a rise to greatness very similar to that of the Rainmaker, Kazuchika Okada. The fun part will be seeing how it all plays out.
This year’s New Japan Cup also saw the continuation of a long simmering rivalry between the Golden Star, Kota Ibushi and the Ingobernable one, Tetsuya Naito. The two went to war in the first round in one of the hardest hitting and best paced matches of the tournament, Ibushi and Naito pushed each other to the absolute limit with the Independent Genius emerging victorious. These two never cease to amaze and now find themselves set to go to war once again, this time for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at the G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden in New York. Given their track record of amazing matches, Ibushi and Naito are no doubt going to blow the roof off the world’s most famous arena.
If looking to name the MVP of the 2019 New Japan Cup, look no further than the Stone Pitbull, Tomohiro Ishii. From the first round all the way through to the semi finals, Ishii had one of the most consistently great runs in the tournament. He had absolutely outstanding showings against the likes of The Cold Skull, SANADA as well as long time friend and CHAOS stablemate, Yoshi-Hashi. In their match, he even managed to bring a fire out of Yoshi-Hashi that fans and critics alike have been waiting years to see. This further shows why Ishii is one of the true gatekeepers of the main event picture in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
The 2019 New Japan Cup also saw outstanding performances from SANADA and current NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay. SANADA is truly one of New Japan’s best pure athletes, and Will Ospreay had one of the strongest showings in the tournament before being eliminated by Kazuchika Okada in the quarter finals. This year also saw of the strongest tournament debuts come from Ring Of Honor’s Colt Cabana who made it all the way to the quarter finals. His second round match against Toru Yano was comedy wrestling at its finest. As the newest addition to CHAOS, Mikey Nicholls also stood out in his New Japan Cup debut. Bullet Club’s Chase Owens also stepped up his game in his debut which saw him advance to the second round. Fans also got to see the beginnings of a great turnaround for Yoshi-Hashi who brought the heat in a way fans have always been wanting to see.
In the end it would be SANADA and Okada going head to head in the finals with the Rainmaker getting the win. Both men delivered rock solid performances in that match, earning more of each other’s respect in the process. After getting that win, Okada bowed to 2017 New Japan Cup Winner, Katsuyori Shibata in a show of respect. When asked about it, Okada got emotional as he was Shibata’s last opponent before his fateful injury at SAKURA GENESIS 2017.
The 2019 New Japan Cup stands as another example of the high quality of NJPW’s product. From the story telling to match quality each night of the tournament gave fans a series of absolute barn burners. Even the current class of young lions looked amazing during the tag team preview matches they were in. It was a fabulous set up for the second half of another banner year for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Fans are excited, and NJPW’s finest are ready to why they are the industry’s best. This pattern is without a doubt sure to continue for a long time to come.
