It is time for the final of the New Japan Cup as EVIL takes on Kazuchika Okada in the main event. More importantly, Master Wato makes his in-ring debut against DOUKI in what is sure to be a show-stealer.
Results:
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma Def. Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji// Makabe pinned Uemura following a German Suplex
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan Def. Hirooki Goto & Gabriel Kidd// Kojima pinned Kidd following a lariat
Master Wato vs DOUKI
Wato off to a hot start showing off his high flying abilities. DOUKI takes back control and uses his pipe to illegally gain the upper hand. The crowd was into Wato’s comebacks and were behind him all the way against DOUKI. Down the stretch, Wato showed off some more of his skills including more kicks before putting DOUKI away with something being called the RPP (a spiral tap). This was a good match as it showcased Wato’s skills and allowed him to get the crowd behind him during DOUKI’s heat segment
Winner: Master Wato Rating: 6 out of 10
Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori) Def. LIJ (SANADA & BUSHI)// Takahashi beat BUSHI with Pimp Juice
Suzuki Gun (Taichi, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Silent Jr) Def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata & Tyusuke Taguchi// Desperado beat Taguchi with Pinche Loco
LIJ (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi) Def. CHAOS (Sho, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii)// Naito defeated Yano with a Jackknife Hold
New Japan Cup Final: EVIL vs Kazuchika Okada
EVIL spends a lot of time working over the arm of Okada. One assumes this will be forgotten later in the match. When EVIL is allowed to get going he is good and his offence looks great but he’s stuck in the Okada formula. 20 minutes in and they decide to pull off some cool reversals that show the talent both possess. Okada looked to have it one after a series of short rainmakers when Bullet Club interfered. EYYY a second ref bump and some more cheating….this is some attitude era WWF BS. EVIL wins with Everything is EVIL. This was ok I guess until all the interference and ref bumps. Mixing the Okada formula with the WWF fetishism of Bullet Club and you have a waste of 30 minutes.
Winner: EVIL Rating: 2 out of 10
Post Match: EVIL asks Naito down to the ring, Naito cuts a promo and offers a fist bump. EVIL responds with a Two Sweet and hits Everything Is EVIL on Naito. Bullet Club makes its way out as EVIL steps on an LIJ hat. BULLET CLUB IS EVILLLLLL.
This show was really saved by Master Wato delivering and the huge-angle at the end. NJPW needed a shot in the arm and LIJ needed a freshening up so giving them a goal will make them more interesting going forward. The tag matches were standard tag matches only diehards will watch them but avoid the main event if possible it was a steaming pile.
All images courtesy of NJPW1972.com