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

1. Neck Sturf

Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito are two of the ten best wrestlers in the world.

The former is an athletic dynamo blessed with all the power, speed, and agility in the world. He’s model-level good-looking, marketable, and works with just the right amount of craziness in his eyes and former partner Kenny Omega’s creativity in his offence. The latter, meanwhile, is the most charismatic performer on the planet, and a man capable of enrapturing an entire arena with a simple fist in the air.

… they’re also completely insane, both of them.

Naito vs. Ibushi was one of the year’s best matches so far. It was a brutal kill-or-be-killed clash between two Strong Style savants with no regard for their own health, and therein lies the problem. The neck bumps were gross. Your writer has a higher tolerance for such things than most, but still found himself recoiling as Naito Tombstoned Ibushi on the apron and ‘The Golden Star’ crushed the former IWGP Intercontinental Champion with the match-ending Tiger Driver. The worst part? These were only two of many.

The risks these guys take enhances their matches, taking them to new levels of violence and brutality. They’re also objectively bad for their health, particularly Ibushi, who’s lengthy history of neck and concussion problems makes every big bump wince-inducing.

Far be it for us to tell grown men what they can and can’t do with their own bodies, but these bump-heavy bouts are getting harder and harder to watch. These guys don’t need to do this.