Autistic Dragon Posted October 19, 2023 Report Share Posted October 19, 2023 New Japan initially planned to hold it's annual New Japan Cup from March 4th to the 21st. Alas the pandemic struck and New Japan temporarily closed it's doors. After reopening, it held the tournament with an altered bracket as some talent couldn't return to Japan. As the name suggests, for this project I'll be using the original bracket planned for March 2020. With the out of the way, Let's get to it! March 4, 2020 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo. The Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) w/"Master Heater" Jado defeat Taguchi Japan (David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi) with the "Superbomb" on Taguchi. "The Flamboyant" Juice Robinson & Tomoaki Honma defeat New Japan Young Lions (Alex Coughlin & Clark Conners) when Robinson KO'd Connors with the "Left Hand of God". Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki and El Desperado) defeat "Blue Justice" Yuji Nagata and Tiger Mask IV when Despy pinned Tiger with "Guitarra de la Muerte". Chaos (Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero) defeat Bullet Club International Mastermind (Jay White & Gedo) when Okada pinned Gedo with the "Rainmaker". New Japan Cup round 1 matches. "Rogue General" Bad Luck Fake defeats Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana with the "Bad Luck Fall". "Sublime Master Thief" Toru Yano defeats "Crown Jewel" Chase Owens after Owens ran into turnbuckles that Yano exposed allowing Yano to roll him up. "Hawaiian Juggernaut" Jeff Cobb defeats "Unchained Gorilla" Togi Makabe with the "Tour of the Islands" in a absolute hoss fight. "Stone Pitbull" Tomohiro Ishii defeats "Maori Fighter" Toa Henare with the Avalanche style Brainbuster. Henare gave a highly impressive performance and even seemed that he might pull of the upset on a number of occasions. Ishii seemed impressed and helped Henare up after the match. The Stone Pitbull keeps his end-of-show promo characteristically short, saying that 2020 will be the year he finally breaks through to the top of New Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control21 Posted October 21, 2023 Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 Interesting idea. I think one of the big what-ifs for NJPW is if COVID-19 never happened and they had a normal 2020. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted October 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 March 7, 2020 Dolphins Arena, Nagoya. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Sanada & Bushi) defeat New Japan Young Lions (Mikey Nicholas & Yuya Umera) when Bushi pinned Umera with the "MX". Taguchi Japan (Hiroshi Tanhashi & Ryusuke Taguchi) defeat Suzuki-Gun (Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) when Tanahashi pinned Kanemaru with the "High Fly Flow". Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi) defeat Chaos (Will Osprey & Yoh) when Takagi pinned Yoh with the "Pumping Bomber". Suzuki-Gun (Zach Saber Jr & Taka Michinoku) defeat "Gold Star" Kota Ibushi & Tiger Mask IV when Tiger submitted to "Hurrah, Another year! Surely this one will be better than the last. The inexorable march of progress will lead us all to happiness". 2020 New Japan Cup Round 1 matches. "The Flamboyant" Juice Robinson defeats Alex Coughlin with "Pulp Fiction". "The Silverback" Tanga Los w/"Master Heater" Jado with "Apeshit". Minoru Suzuki defeats "Blue Justice" Yuji Nigata with the Gotch-style Piledriver. "Switchblade" Jay White w/Gedo defeats "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada after a distraction by Gedo -which saw the obnoxious second eat a "Rainmaker" lariat- led to White hitting the "Blade Runner". White takes the mic and tells the crowd -those who aren't already leaving in protest- that after a brief hiccup, the "Switchblade" era is set to resume and his winning this tournament is just step 1 to reclaiming his rightful place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted October 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 March 8 2020 Baycom Gymnasium, Hyogo. New Japan Cup Round 1 matches "Cold Skull" Sanada defeats Mikey Nicholas with "Skull End". "Aerial Assassin" Will Osprey defeats "The Dragon" Shingo Takagi with "Hidden Blade". "Black Emperor" Taichi w/Miho Abe defeats "The Ace of the Universe" Hiroshi Tanhashi with "Black Mephisto". Main Event "Gold Star" Kota Ibushi defeats Zach Saber Jr w/Taka Michinoku with "Kamigoya". March 9 2020 Kochi Perfectural Gymnasium, Kochi Kenta defeats Karl Fredericks "Go to sleep". "Head Hunter" Yoshi-Hashi defeats Hiroyoshi Tenzan with "Karma". "King of Darkness" Evil defeats Satoshi Kojima with "Everything is Evil". "Fierce Warrior of Chaos" Hirooki Goto defeats "Tokyo Pimp" Yujiro Takahashi with "GTR". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted October 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 Hey everyone. Wanted to ask how y'all liked the tweaked format I used here. Are you ok with me skipping the undercard tag matches? In the meantime, here's the bracket for Round 2. 3.10 ZIP Arena, Okayama Jeff Cobb vs Tomohiro Ishii Bad Luck Fale vs Toru Yano 3.12 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo Jay White vs Minoru Suzuki Juice Robinson vs Tanga Loa 3. 13 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo Kota Ibushi vs Taichi Will Osprey vs Sanada 3.14 Makuhari Meese, Chiba Evil vs Hirooki Goto Kenta vs Yoshi-Hashi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control21 Posted October 25, 2023 Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 Skipping the undercard matches is fine with me. Eager to see how this tournament continues to shape up, although I'm a bit sad to see ZSJ exit early. I wonder if SANADA can make a run? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted October 26, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2023 March 10, 2020 ZIP Arena Okayama "Rouge General" Bad Luck Fale w/"Master Heater" Jado defeats "Sublime Master Thief" Toru Yano after Jado hits Yano with his Singapore cane allowing Fale to hit the "Grenade". "Stone Pitbull" Tomohiro Ishii defeats "Hawaiian Juggernaut" Jeff Cobb with the Brainbuster. March 12, 2020 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo "The Flamboyant" Juice Robinson defeats Tanga Loa w/"Master Heater" Jado after escaping "Apeshit" and hitting "Pulp Fiction". "Switchblade" Jay White w/Gedo defeats Minoru Suzuki after Gedo slipped White the brass knuckles. March 13, 2020 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo "Cold Skull" Sanada defeats "Aerial Assassin" Will Osprey after choking him out with "Skull End" followed by a Moonsault. "Gold Star" Kota Ibushi defeats "Black Emperor" Taichi w/Miho Abe "Kamigoya" March 14, 2020 Makuhari Meese, Chiba Kenta defeats "Head Hunter" Yoshi-Hashi with "Game Over". "King of Darkness" Evil defeats "Fierce Warrior of Chaos" Hirooki Goto with "Everything is Evil". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted October 26, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2023 Here are the quarterfinal matches for the New Japan Cup. I can't find the specific venues planned so I've just listened the cities. 3.16 Toyama Bad Luck Fale vs Toru Yano 3.17 Saitama Jey White vs Juice Robinson 3.18 Shizuoka Evil vs Kenta Kota Ibushi vs Sanada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted October 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2023 3.16 Toyama "Stone Pitbull" Tomohiro Ishii defeats "Rouge General" Bad Luck Fale w/"Master Heater" Jado with the Avalanche Brainbuster. 3.17 Saitama "Switchblade" Jey White w/Gedo defeats "The Flamboyant" Juice Robinson by countering "Pulp Fiction" into "Blade Runner". 3.18 Shizuoka Kenta defeats "King of Darkness" Evil "Cold Skull" Sanada defeats "Gold Star" Kota Ibushi by avoiding the "Phoenix Splash" and hitting the Moonsault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted October 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2023 Semifinals for the 2020 New Japan Cup. 3.20 City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka, Nagaoka Jey White vs Tomohiro Ishii Kenta vs Sanada Frinals for the 2020 New Japan Cup 3.21 City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka, Nagaoka Jey White/Tomohiro Ishii vs Kenta/Sanada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control21 Posted October 29, 2023 Report Share Posted October 29, 2023 Both semi-finals look really good! I wonder if KENTA can finally get his hands on a trophy in NJPW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted November 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2023 March 20, 2020 City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka, Nagaoka 2020 New Japan Cup Semifinals. Kenta defeats "Cold Skull" Sanada with the "Go to sleep" "Stone Pittbull" Tomohiro Ishii defeats "Switchblade" Jey White w/Gedo after Gdo accidentally hit White with brass knuckles. March 21,2020 2020 New Japan Cup Finals. City Hall Plaza Aore Nagaoka, Nagaoka "Stone Pitbull" Tomohiro Ishii defeats Kenta with a Brainbuster. Winner of the 2020 New Japan Cup: Tomohiro Ishii! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted November 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2023 Thanks to all of you who followed along. If there's interest i'd be willing to write a Sakura Genesis 2020 card as a sort of epilogue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control21 Posted November 4, 2023 Report Share Posted November 4, 2023 On 11/1/2023 at 12:24 PM, Autistic Dragon said: Thanks to all of you who followed along. If there's interest i'd be willing to write a Sakura Genesis 2020 card as a sort of epilogue. That would be awesome! Ishii vs Naito would have been an interesting match in 2020. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted November 6, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2023 On 11/4/2023 at 5:25 PM, Control21 said: That would be awesome! Ishii vs Naito would have been an interesting match in 2020. My sole commenter wants to see it? That's enough for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted November 6, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2023 New Japan Pro Wrestling presents Sakura Genesis 2020 Full Card. March 3rd, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo Japan. IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championship match. Tetsuya Naito(c) vs "Stone Pitbull" Tomohiro Ishii Triple Threat IWGP Tag Team Titles Match Golden Aces (Hirosho Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi) vs Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zach Sabre Jr) vs Cold Darkness* (Evil & Sanada) Never Openweight Championship Match "The Dragon" Shingo Takagi(c) vs "Aerial Assassin" Will Ospereay IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship Match Roppongi 3K (Yoh & Sho)(c) w/Rocky Romero vs Drunken Outlaws* (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Bushi) vs Bullet Club's Cutest Tag Team (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) Bullet Club (jay White, Kenta, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo) w/"Master Heater" Jado & Gedo vs Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi, Toru Yano & Robbie Eagles) Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) vs Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Douki & Taka Michinoku) Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi) vs Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) & Yuji Nagata * Neither of these names were ever used, i just think they fit their respective teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted November 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 March 31, 2020 Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo "Blue Justice" Yuji Nigata and Tencozy (Hiroshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) defeat Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi) when Owens tapped to the Nagata Lock III. Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Douki & Taka Michinoku) defeat Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) when Suzuki pinned Makabe with the Gotch-style Piledriver. Bullet Club (Jay White, Kenta, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo) w/"Master Heater" Jado & Gedo defeat Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi, Toru Yano & Robbie Eagles) when Kenta pinned Yano with "Go to Sleep" Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Bushi) defeat Bullet Club's Cutest Tag Team (Taiji Ishimori & EL Phantasamo) when Takahashi pinned Phantasamo with the "Time Bomb" IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match Drunken Outlaws (EL Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeat Roppongi 3k (Yoh & Sho)(c) w/Rocky Romero after Kanemaru caught Yoh with the "Satoshi surprise" then pinning him with "Deep Impact". NEW CHAMPIONS!!! After the match, Takahashi Bushi came to the ring and had a staredown with the new title holders. Never Openweight Championship match "The Dragon" Shingo Takagi(c) defeats "Aerial Assassin" Will Osprey with a "Pumping Bomber" followed by the "Dance of the Dragon". IWGP Tag Team Championship match Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr) defeat Golden Aces (Hiroshi Tanhashi & Kota Ibushi(c) and Cold Darkness (Evil & Sanada) when a miscommunication between the LIJ members allowed Sabre to pin Evil with the "Zack Driver" NEW CHAMPIONS!!! IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Championship match Tetsuya Naito(c) defeats "Stone Pitbull" Tomohiro Ishii with the third "Destino" of the match! After the bell, Kenta tried to recreate his Wrestle Kingdom stunt and ambush Naito again. The double champ saw him coming this time and a brawl breaks out between the two. Members of LIJ come out (with Evil noticably trailing behind) which summon Bullet Club reinforcements. Eventually security is able to separate the two groups. Naito gives the LIJ role call to send the fans home happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted November 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 And.... done! This has been a fun side game for me. Questions and comments are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control21 Posted November 8, 2023 Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 Good stuff! I like how the main event aftermath sets everything up for the EVIL heel turn we all loved back in 2020.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autistic Dragon Posted November 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 34 minutes ago, Control21 said: Good stuff! I like how the main event aftermath sets everything up for the EVIL heel turn we all loved back in 2020.... I'm glad you noticed that! YouTuber Karen Watches Wrestling had a video detailing EVIL's heel run. Sadly her channel seems to have fallen victim to Bushiroad's merciless copyright enforcement but I remember her pointing out how his turn was actually being set up before the pandemic caused NJPW to shut down for a while. So I decided to keep that thread going because it's actually not a bad idea. Evil was the first to join Naito, a founding member of LIJ and what does he have to show for it? A Never title run that lasted as long as a cup of tea, he's a three time holder of the least valued belt in the company (the six man titles) and he's viewed as the third best Heavyweight at best within his own faction. The turn itself made sense, but the execution was bungled and Gedo seemed to try and make him too much like Jay as a smiley cheater instead of the brute he was built to be. I've been considering a post describing how I'd book heel EVIL and House of Torture where i'd go into more detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control21 Posted November 8, 2023 Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 1 hour ago, Autistic Dragon said: I'm glad you noticed that! YouTuber Karen Watches Wrestling had a video detailing EVIL's heel run. Sadly her channel seems to have fallen victim to Bushiroad's merciless copyright enforcement but I remember her pointing out how his turn was actually being set up before the pandemic caused NJPW to shut down for a while. So I decided to keep that thread going because it's actually not a bad idea. Evil was the first to join Naito, a founding member of LIJ and what does he have to show for it? A Never title run that lasted as long as a cup of tea, he's a three time holder of the least valued belt in the company (the six man titles) and he's viewed as the third best Heavyweight at best within his own faction. The turn itself made sense, but the execution was bungled and Gedo seemed to try and make him too much like Jay as a smiley cheater instead of the brute he was built to be. I've been considering a post describing how I'd book heel EVIL and House of Torture where i'd go into more detail. Yeah, I always liked EVIL as a brawler type, which seemed to be his style in LIJ. When he turned heel, he resorted to Bullet Club-esque tactics which weren't particularly interesting because that was something we had already seen before. I've never been big on House of Torture because of that. I think they were going to go for a Bullet Club civil war with House of Torture splitting off from the "gaijin" group, but maybe they got cold feet over that. I think Bullet Club either needs to be disbanded or broken up, so it's too bad we didn't get that outcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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