14 Ups & 4 Downs From NJPW's New Japan Cup 2019

7. When Two Dads Go To War (Night 1)

Tomohiro Ishii Yuji Nagata
NJPW

Tomohiro Ishii and Yuji Nagata are 43 and 50 years old respectively. These two New Japan dads have no business hitting each other as hard as they did on their opening night clash, but we're glad they did: their main event was a beautiful rendition of Strong Style pro-wrestling.

These two rivals went all-out before a molten Korakuen Hall crowd, knocking the p*ss out of each with slaps and chops one minute, then dropping big bombs the next. This was always going to be the case. Ishii and Nagata had been doing this for months in multi-man tag matches, and while visa issues robbed NJPW's recent US tour of this bout, the payoff was immense, with the two hard-nosed veterans leaving nothing in the tank (especially Nagata, who looked exhausted by the end).

This was no one-match card, either, as Chase Owens shocked Juice Robinson to knock him out of the New Japan Cup and jumpstart their IWGP United States Championship rivalry. It was the Canadian's best performance in the promotion to date, and another fiery display of underdog grit from the former CJ Parker.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.