{"id":13210,"date":"2019-08-14T17:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T16:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=13210"},"modified":"2019-08-14T18:39:14","modified_gmt":"2019-08-14T17:39:14","slug":"njpw-super-j-cup-2019-and-royal-quest-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/14\/njpw-super-j-cup-2019-and-royal-quest-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"NJPW: Super J-Cup 2019 and Royal Quest Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo (c) njpw1972.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

By Jhester Metchado@<\/strong>SuperMastodon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G1 Climax may be over but the action never stops\nwith New Japan Pro Wrestling! This month alone we will be getting two big\nevents outside of the border with the return of the Super J-Cup Tournament\ntaking place in the US and New Japan’s first official event in the UK: Royal\nQuest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll be taking a look at all the matches and other\ninteresting stuff going on in these upcoming shows and possibly fill you in\nwith some information if you’re going to be watching for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History\nof the Super J-Cup<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Super J-Cup tournament was founded by the greatest junior heavyweight of all time Jushin “Thunder” Liger in hopes of showcasing the best junior wrestlers around the world. Originally established in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1994, other wrestlers from different promotions mainly in the US and Mexico could also participate. NJPW has hosted four different Super J-Cup tournaments including this year’s which is returning after a 3 year hiatus. Tenryu’s promotion WAR, Great Sasuke’s Michinoku Pro, and Super Delfin’s Osaka Pro also hosted the J-Cup in three different occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the participants through the years went on to become legends and icons themselves of the professional wrestling industry. With Liger nearing retirement comes next year at Wrestle Kingdom, it has been announced couple of months ago that the J-Cup will be returning to honor the man himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s\nthe difference of J-Cup and BOSJ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The format is the main difference of the two. J-Cup\nis a single elimination tournament compromised of 16 wrestlers while the BOSJ\nis a round robin tournament similar to the G1, compromised of 20 wrestlers\ndivided into two blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out the official tournament bracket here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Past\nWinners:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1994 – Wild Pegasus (aka Chris Benoit)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1995, 2000 – Jushin “Thunder” Liger<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2004, 2009 – Naomichi Marufuji<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2016 – KUSHIDA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019 1st Round Matches Previews & Predictions:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will\nOspreay vs. Amazing Red<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first matchup that we will cover is a pretty big one. Will Ospreay as we know is the reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion and since the beginning has had an amazing year! Arguably the “Wrestler of the Year” in terms of match quality alone. From Wrestle Kingdom up until the recently concluded G1, Ospreay has continued to amaze the fans. Also Ospreay makes history at being the first wrestler to participate in the G1, NJ Cup, BOSJ, and Super J-Cup! But he is going up against someone equally amazing that is of course the Amazing Red. To younger fans who may not be familiar of him, I have personally followed Red since his TNA days. He is a “trail blazer” of the indie scene in America and would become influential in the careers of many that came after him. He has wrestled all over the world and held different championships as well, one of the few unsung heroes I feel like of independent wrestling during the 2000’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red has already announced his retirement from active\ncompetition this year but it seems like he has one more match left in him and\nit is against someone who always viewed him as a “dream opponent.” It\nshould be a great battle of the past vs. present, despite his age, Red is still\na pretty good wrestler, check out some of his latest work at House of Glory.\nShould be a great match between these two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prediction: Will Ospreay Wins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SHO\nvs. Taiji Ishimori<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever since making his debut in New Japan, “The Bone Soldier” Taiji Ishimori has become one of the staples of the junior heavyweights division. In Wrestle Kingdom earlier this year he defeated KUSHIDA in his final match in Tokyo Dome and captured the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career, which he would lose later on at Madison Square Garden at the G1 Supercard event. Now Ishimori is still a champion, reigning as 1\/2 of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag-Team Champions with fellow Bullet Club member El Phantasmo. They defeated the team of Roppongi 3K. SHO had a fantastic showing at this year’s BOSJ especially in his opening match against Shingo Takagi. Despite on the losing end, he has shown a heart that fans could get behind and when the time comes, he can potentially be at the top of the division himself. These two will meet again but this time it’s just 1 on 1 action. Ishimori is a favorite of many to win the whole thing but SHO could easily just upset those fans as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prediction: Taiji Ishimori Wins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clark\nConnors vs. TJP<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most surprising entrant in this year’s J-Cup is TJP (aka TJ Perkins) former WWE Cruiserweight Champion and the winner of the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic. TJP has been around for a while now, being a veteran of 2 decades in professional wrestling. He has wrestled everywhere around the world and was even a part of the original LA Dojo way back. Things didn’t go smoothly in his WWE run but he is now back in the independents and has recently returned to IMPACT. When he was announced I was appalled by some of the backlash online. TJP may have been hindered in the WWE, but he is still one of the best wrestlers out there and admittedly I’ll always be bias and rooting for him because of his Filipino roots but I digress. Speaking of LA Dojo, one of the top young prospects of Katsuyori Shibata is Clark Connors. He is still a young lion but clearly has a lot of potential and could one day be one of the top gaijins of the main junior heavyweights.  He should gain plenty of knowledge wrestling against a proven veteran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prediction: TJP Wins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robbie\nEagles vs. El Phantasmo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A revenge match that’s been brewing for quite a while. Robbie Eagles, easily one of the top Australian wrestlers in the world right now has become a great part of New Japan’s junior heavyweight division ever since joining the Bullet Club. However another member turned up joining the group and sort of “overshadowing” Eagles and that is El Phantasmo. Some fans were intrigued on why would Eagles join BC in the first place? After all he is a good guy at heart and that proved true in the end. Phantasmo would exploit that kindness of Eagles and it got to the point where he was over the edge and ended up betraying BC to join CHAOS and be with one of his rivals\/friends Will Ospreay at New Japan’s latest Australian tour. Now the two will faceoff once again with their last encounter, Phantasmo winning in the BOSJ. Should be one of the best matches on the entire first round considering the caliber of their match months earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prediction: Robbie Eagles Wins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryusuke\nTaguchi vs. Jonathan Gresham<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An odd match on paper but should be a fun clash of\nstyles. Taguchi at this point of his career is a veteran of the junior\nheavyweights, having an already accomplished and decorated career. He is going\nup against a young up and coming star in Jonathan Gresham, representing ROH.\nI’ve been really impressed with the body of work of Gresham in 2019 both in\nNJPW and ROH. I think he’s one of the most underrated wrestlers going on today,\nhe wrestles an old school style which is heavily influenced by the World of Sport.\nThink of him as like a mini Zack Sabre Jr. The only knack most people have on\nhim is his lack of attitude but recently if you’ve been watching his progress\n(honestly he’s one of the few good things remaining in ROH) he has gained that\nespecially after the match with Silas Young and Dragon Lee which I recommend by\nthe way. Taguchi on the other hand, may be a comedic wrestler mostly nowadays\nbut if he wants to go serious mode, he could still go at it with the very best\nthe world has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prediction: Jonathan Gresham Wins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOH\nvs. Dragon Lee<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a lot of history here, just two babyfaces who\nI’m sure will have a fantastic match. YOH is 1\/2 of the Roppongi 3K tag-team,\nwhile SHO is seen as the workhorse of the two, YOH is the “pretty\nboy” if you will, the Ricky Morton to his partner’s Robert Gibson. But he\nain’t no slouch himself and could go just as well in the ring. Meanwhile Dragon\nLee has become one of the top rising stars of this year, gaining bookings\nacross the world. The biggest highlight of his career yet is becoming IWGP Jr.\nHeavyweight Champion on Madison Square Garden winning a triple threat match\nwith Ishimori and Bandido. He entered this year’s BOSJ as champion and while he\nhad a nice run, wasn’t enough to win the whole thing. The eventual winner Will\nOspreay would defeat Dragon Lee in Dominion in what was easily an instant\nclassic! There are many great second and third generation luchadors today, but\nDragon Lee is certainly above a lot of them in terms of skill. He’s probably\nthe favorite to win his entire block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prediction: Dragon Lee Wins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caristico\nvs. BUSHI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jushin “Thunder” Liger’s final match in\nArena Mexico was in a four way with legends as well: Ultimo Guerrero, Negro\nCasas, and Caristico. For the unaware, Caristico is the original Sin Cara in\nthe WWE. Before that he was Mistico, arguably the greatest luchador during his\ntime. As we know things didn’t pan out for him in the WWE but most fans only\nremember him from that run which is sad because Caristico is actually a great\nwrestler. For some, their careers isn’t just made for the WWE and found success\nelsewhere, which he did upon returning to Mexico. He is now one of the top\nstars in CMLL and remains a respected big name there. I’m an LIJ fan through\nand through so of course, I’m bias in saying that BUSHI is one of my favorites\nright now. I know he’s a polarizing wrestler but if motivated enough and pitted\nagainst the right opponents, BUSHI can easily be a top tier performer! He’s\nactually been around for a while now, wrestling since 2007 and was originally a\ngraduate of the All Japan dojo but since returning from Mexico decided to\nbecome a part of New Japan. Two masked wrestlers going at it, we could very\nwell witness some good lucha things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prediction: BUSHI Wins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rocky\nRomero vs. Soberano Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this year’s BOSJ, Rocky really solidified himself\nas one of the greatest juniors in New Japan history with solid performances one\nafter another! Some fans were surprised, but I wasn’t since I always knew if\ngiven the right platform, Rocky could always go and show what he truly is made\nof. Yes he is a decorated junior tag-team champion but we must not discount his\nsolo work as well going all the way back to his Black Tiger days. While Rocky\nmay be a respected veteran of the locker room now, Soberano Jr. is still on the\nrise as one of the young prospects of CMLL. He is the reigning Mexican National\nWelterweight Champion and has competed in New Japan before already mainly in\nFantasticaMania events and also just recently in the junior heavyweight tag\nleague tournament. I like Soberano but I am personally rooting for Rocky as if\nhe wins and BUSHI on the other side, the long awaited grudge match between the\ntwo will finally take place!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prediction: Rocky Romero Wins<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Photo (c) njpw1972.com<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Royal\nQuest 2019 Full Card:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undercard:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roppongi 3K vs. Taguchi, Umino, & Narita<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kota Ibushi & Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro\nTakahashi & Hikuleo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles vs. El Phantasmo\n& Taiji Ishimori<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Jay White & Chase\nOwens<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Match #5 – IWGP Heavyweight Tag-Team Championships:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guerrillas\nof Desiny (c) vs. TBD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On their fifth reign as IWGP Heavyweight Tag-Team\nChampions, GoD have been dominant with the belts and at one point even held\nthem with the ROH World Tag-Team Championships at the same time! For 172 days\nand counting, they will be facing the winner of the eventual No. 1 Contender’s\ntournament at RevPro. Many fans are betting on Aussie Open to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Match #6 – NEVER Openweight Championship:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomohiro\nIshii (c) vs. KENTA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the G1 Climax 29 Finals, KENTA was booked in a\nsix man tag-team match with CHAOS members Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI. As we all know\nby this point he would end up betraying them and become the newest member of\nBullet Club. Due to this, KENTA quickly got into front of the line as the no. 1\ncontender for Ishii’s NEVER Openweight title. He’d likely win it to keep his\nmomentum going. If you like devastating matches like myself, then highly look\nforward to this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Match #7 – RevPro British Heavyweight Championship:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zack\nSabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The re-match at Madison Square Garden will now take\nplace at the Copper Box with ZSJ defending his RevPro British title against an\nold nemesis in Hiroshi Tanahashi. In the past, ZSJ would always have Tana’s\nnumber, getting advantage of The Ace’s broken down body. However in their\nrecent faceoff in the G1, Tana managed to outsmart the Submission Master and\nnow they will take on each other again. RevPro isn’t shy on putting their World\nTitle to New Japan stars with guys like Ishii, Suzuki, and Shibata holding it\nin the past, so don’t be surprised if Tanahashi were to beat ZSJ here, it would\ndefinitely add to the prestige of the belt but ZSJ could very well be\nvictorious as well, taking back the loss he got at the G1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Match #8 – IWGP Heavyweight Championship:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kazuchika\nOkada (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okada and Suzuki have been long rivals for a while now. The Rainmaker is the young brash top star while Suzuki is the menacing veteran of the Puroresu scene. It was Okada who fought Suzuki in his 30th Anniversary Match, where we got the now famous shots of them wrestling under the pour of rain. Both leaders of their respective factions, these two will meet once again this time in the UK. Suzuki is not new to the British wrestling fans, being a frequent competitor there and was recently just RevPro British Tag-Team Champions with ZSJ for 475 days. Suzuki challenged him at the G1 Finals after pinning Okada with the Gotch Style Piledriver. Whenever these two are always pitted against one another, they never fail to deliver. Despite his age, Suzuki is still one of the excellent performers in the entire roster and Okada as we know is pretty much a 5 star machine. While a lot of fans want Suzuki to win so he’ll finally gain the belt has always alluded him his entire career, I don’t think we’ll be seeing that title away from Okada anytime soon though. To all the fans watching live, you’re lucky to witness such a high profile and historic match so enjoy it all you can!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All information you need can be viewed on New Japan’s official English website at njpw1972.com<\/a><\/em> and if you’re unable to watch in person, check out njpwworld.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo (c) njpw1972.com By Jhester Metchado@SuperMastodon The G1 Climax may be over but the action never stops with New Japan Pro Wrestling! This month alone we will be getting two [...]","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":13219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[204],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-13210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-njpw","tag-njpw"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jnWd-3r4","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/045031cfb5bd71e5-600x338.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13210"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13218,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13210\/revisions\/13218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}