SANADA vs. Tomohiro Ishii

"I really like babyface SANADA and he is doing it here, even though he is in control. This match was asking for you to take a nap. It just would not end..."

[7.0] "This match had a few things going against it. There wasn't a flaming hot crowd like their G1 28 match and not much of a story being told here. They also didn't up the pace until late in the match. I still dug this one quite a bit though. We had some of the usual Ishii awesomeness of him just bullying SANADA with hard strikes and power moves. SANADA did a very good job here with his smooth attacks and transitions throughout the match. There was intensity in the closing stretch and the finish was exciting. ***1/2"

[8.0] "It's SANADA matches like this that give me that foolish hope that he'll one day be a star. Very occasionally we see those glimpses of fire and real effort from him that give me encouragement, only for him to follow it up with his usual athletically impressive but emotionally lacking performances. Ishii really got the best out of him here, much like Okada does. Not much needs to be said about Ishii, he's great. ****1/4"

[10.0] "Binging New Japan, catching up on these matches, don't know what the hate on SANADA is all about, came to the match knowing nothing beforehand, came in excited, and got rewarded with a classic(yes I said it). Beginning to end, honestly nothing to complain about, started slow as all njpw main events do, picked up pace as it went on and ending in a big finish, Ishii selling that back after the moonsault will haunt me in my dreams(it was a split second on screen and it looked fuckin terrrible)."

[8.0] "A very good main event but failed to capitalize on a few minor components which led it to being restricted to an 8 . These problems were how much the match was being plodded and dragged for the third half of the match with not much to offer to the bout. Sanada was very slow during that time period . The second complaint is the booking choice of Sanada over Ishii . Ishii deserves better than this . However , the upside of the match does compensate a lot for these flaws. Reminds me of saying when a wise man once said that Ishii could draw even with a lifeless broomstick and he did that with a life less Sanada who has not looked this good in months . He brought the emotion out of Sanada and incorporated into the match to build a good story and psychology . The power vs speed was a minor dynamic being played to some extent and towards the finish as well where Sanada? s speed was the determining factor that led to Sanada winning. The hard hitting and heavy exchanges depict the mutual disrespect between the two individuals that was being hyped up for the past few weeks in tag team matches. Ishii bullying Sanada was a nice touch and further strengthened the story and the heat and enmity that was boiling . The match was hard hitting and a brutal battle at times with a good crowd atmosphere as well . It had very good momentum and fiery intensity to it. Some very good sequences to elevate quality like the repetitive back body drops and Ishii dropping Sanada to the mat for a good amount of time after Sanada was chopping on Ishii who was effortlessly absorbing it only to throw a barrage of strikes at Sanada . A fantastic home stretch and luckily Sanada connected perfectly with the TKO? s however the sleeper still feels weak only if he covered the whole face instead of the eyes like what the hell are you trying to achieve Sanada-san. A nice home stretch with Sanada winning in a match with marvelous quality wrestling content. ****1/4"

[6.0] "Not very interesting, truth be told. This felt like a typical Sanada big match, which to me means that it lacks intensity, excitement, and urgency. Ishii tried but there's only so much you can do with Sanada, and the result was deflating because it means more Sanada matches in the cup."

[7.0] "I usually avoid New Japan shows that take place in venues like this, but decided to watch this match due to the rating. It was a very good match where Sanada actually showed up for once, but, like a lot of New Japan main events, would've been better served if it was 5-7 minutes shorter. I didn't love the end result but the match was quite good."

[8.0] "Just as good as I expected. It was totally a main even quality match. Both Ishii and SANADA performed great, however not at the peak of their abilities. It was a very satistying fight. That crazy headbutt by Ishii near the end gave me goosebumps..."

[5.0] "This match was so boring and so long for nothing. A basical NJPW main event, epic without any need of it and Sanada is one of the worsts performers in NJPW. Ishii was very good, I liked his selling but I feel sorry for him to have to sell the awful Dropkicks of Sanada. Sanada is so bad that I thought he broke his neck on his fall after Ishii's Superplex. Ishii was really good and this is really not against him. **1/2"

[7.0] "The first 10 minutes of this were great, with some nice story telling that carried on from their face off on the preview tag. The aloof Sanada started with his usual chain wrestling, trying to out wrestle Ishii and show off his superior technical chops in an effort to humiliate him but that angered the Stone Pitbull who just wanted to fight. He proceeded to beat Sanada senseless with chops, strikes and a mean headbutt, displaying his usual intensity, needing the ref to pull him away. Sanada stood up to him and fought back, showing real grit, but from then on the match became a little listless and seemed to drift into the closing stretch."

[1.0] "This match was a total waste of time. Through most of the 25 minutes this was just boring with pretty much nothing to get hooked on, no emotion, in the final stretch some things worked but it was too late to get into anything they were doing."

[7.0] "Some part were really slow, some really well paced, but it always looked intense and both shows a lot of will to advance in the tournament. Good match and certainly the best of the day."

[8.0] "Wasn't sure if Ishii could drag some strong style out of SANADA, but he absolutely did. They are not each other's best opponents, but they worked very well together to make a strong main event."

[8.0] "Not the best New Japan Cup 2021 match so far 'cause of Shingo vs Okada on Day 2, but man, this was great! SANADA playing the same game as Ishii and fucking winning was amazing as hell! Of course I'm sad that Cinder Block Tom has been eliminated from the Cup in the very first round, but dude this was simply great, so it's a 50/50 for me, lol. ****1/4"

[7.0] "Very good match, maybe the best until now of the New Japan Cup tourney. Very good intensity and nice spots."

[8.0] "While I wasn't thrilled with the fact that Ishii lost, I don't think that should disqualify it as a great match."

[2.0] "My desire for Ishii to get the win somewhat elevated the finishing stretch but everything that led upto it was mind bogglingly boring, with no real hook to the action whatsoever. I literally had a blank expression for the entirety of the match, and it only changed to disappointment when SANADA won. They're never gonna push Ishii, are they."

[9.0] "Ishii was great in this match like always. SANADA put on one of his best performances I've seen. They always had a great chem in their matches and this was one of their best together. I would have put Ishii over but NJPW is high on SANADA so I'm okey with it. The NJ Cup is really good. (**** 1/4)"