The 2019 Super J-Cup began Thursday night from the sold-out Temple Theatre in Tacoma, Washington with the opening round matches.
The show is scheduled to run next month on New Japan World along with Saturday’s card in San Francisco and the final night on Sunday from the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.
Below are the results from Thursday’s show:
*Jushin Thunder Liger & Karl Fredericks over Ren Narita & Shota Umino in a non-tournament match
*Soberano Jr. over Rocky Romero
*TJP over Clark Connors
*Caristico over Bushi
*Ryusuke Taguchi over Jonathan Gresham
*El Phantasmo over Robbie Eagles
*Dragon Lee over YOH
*SHO over Taiji Ishimori
*Will Ospreay over Amazing Red
The following second-round matches are scheduled for Saturday’s show in San Francisco:
*Will Ospreay vs. SHO
*TJP vs. El Phantasmo
*Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Dragon Lee
*Caristico vs. Soberano Jr.
Just walking out of this now. Holy carp was it fantastic. The crowd was electric all night, Liger got a huge ovation, but the main event was something else. I’ve never experienced such an ovation for both Ospreay and Red, you couldn’t hear anything it was so loud. Red Shoes got a ton of love, Sho really stood out in his match, the Grisham/Taguchi was a really fun comedy match and a great break. I was shocked at how small Grisham was in person. Connors seemed to get a home town advantage on TJP, which explains his inclusion. I know it should be obvious, but having Ren Narita & Shota Umino 2 feet away from us all night was crazy.
I had wondered if sitting front row we’d be seen on camera, but both ELP & Ospreay landed in my lap, so I figure you won’t be able to miss me. Haha I am shocked that not once did anyone tell us to get out of the way.
Oh, and after the match Ospreay really put Ref over huge, at one point Red teared up, it was really emotional. Will pointed out what a crime it was Red wasn’t on the jr heavyweight belt. You could really feel the importance in the main event.
Pretty much dittoing everything Chris said. One of the best main events I’ve ever seen in person, with neither man leaving anything in the tank. Ospreay’s speech and the emotion on both men’s faces was completely genuine and just made for the perfect ending.
Apart from the main event, highlights were Sho/Ishimori and Yoh/Lee (during which Shibata very quietly appeared at the side entrance). Taguchi/Gresham was everything you’d want in a Taguchi style comedy match. Soberano impressed by the end of his match, Eagles/El-P very much continued in the vein of their feud. The crowd LOVED all the Young Lions, from both countries, and everything that we’ve seen from Fredricks in the last few G1 prelims came across super well in person. I saw Connors & Coughlin’s first NJPW match at Long Beach last year, and it was great to see how far they’ve come (and to have the context provided by the California Dreaming vids). Caristico was a non-factor, and seemed pretty uninspired. You’d never have guessed he was one of the most highly touted luchadors just five years back.