NEW JAPAN CUP 2020, NIGHT THREE (6/22/20) STATISTICS, RESEARCH AND NOTES • Sport of Pro Wrestling

Round 1 Match: Zack Sabre Jr v. Kota Ibushi

This will be this year’s only first round matchup between former New Japan Cup winners (Ibushi: 2015, Sabre: 2018)
Statisically, this is the closest matchup of the first round. Both competitors have six New Japan Cup wins. Zack Sabre Jr only has one loss in the tournament. Ibushi has two losses, both to Zack Sabre Jr.
Zack Sabre Jr’s successful New Japan Cup strategy has been to wear down his opponents, his 22:40 average winning match length is the longest of any competitor with more than 1 win in New Japan Cup history.
Kota Ibushi’s only two losses in the New Japan Cup have been at the hands of Zack Sabre Jr (2018, 2019).
Zack Sabre Jr’s five submission vicories are most in New Japan Cup history, ahead of SANADA’s four, and now Kazuchika Okada and Hiroyoshi Tenzan’s three.

ZSJ and Ibushi had opposite experiences to begin 2020 with Zack Sabre Jr going 2-0 in a New Japan Ring (SANADA at Wrestle Kingdom, Ospreay at New Beginning in Sapporo) and Kota Ibushi going 0-2 in a New Japan Ring (Okada at Wrestle Kingdom, Jay White at Wrestle Kingdom).
Zack Sabre Jr did, however, lose the RevPro Undisputed Heavyweight Championship to Will Ospreay on February 14^th at their High Stakes event.
Kota Ibushi had been riding a nine match winning streak in singles competition into 2020, but this will be Kota Ibushi’s first singles match since his two losses at Wrestle Kingdom.

This will be ZSJ and Ibushi’s seventh overall singles match. Ibushi holds the series lead 4-2 winning two of their three matchups in 2019. Ibushi holds three G1 victories and a successful IWGP Intercontinental Championship defence over Sabre. Sabre’s two wins were both in the New Japan Cup (2018, 2019)

Hiroshi Tanahashi enters the 2020 New Japan Cup with as much experience as just about anybody, with 28 New Japan Cup matches under his belt (second only to Hirooki Goto’s 30).
Tanahashi’s total match length of 8:07:45 is the most in New Japan Cup history, with an average match length of 17:25, an average winning match length of 16:46 and an average losing match length of 19:04.
This will be Hiroshi Tanahashi’s 11th New Japan Cup. He has gotten out of the first round of the tournament 7 times, including his two New Japan Cup victories (2005, 2008)
This will be Taichi’s third total and third consecutive New Japan Cup. In 2018, Tanahashi eliminated The Holy Emperor in the first round.

Hiroshi Tanahshi is 1-1 in singles matches in 2020. He defeated Yujiro Takahashi during the New Beginning USA tour and he was defeated at Wrestle Kingdom by Chris Jericho.
Taichi’s was defeated by Kazuchika Okada in 30:53 during his only singles match in 2020 was against Kazuchika Okada at New Beginning in Sapporo.

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Taichi have only met once in singles action. This was in the first round of the the 2018 New Japan Cup when Tanahashi defeated Taichi in 23:53

This will be Ryuske Taguchi’s third New Japan Cup, SANADA’s fourth. Neither competitor has ever been eliminated in the first round.
SANADA has been putting together building blocks of success through his New Japan Cup experience. He lost in the quarterfinals in 2017, the semi finals in 2018, and the finals last year in a classic vs. Kazuchika Okada
SANADA’s four submission victories in the New Japan Cup are second only to Zack Sabre Jr

Ryuske Taguchi holds a 2-0 record in 2020, though his two victories are both over Young Lions (Gabriel Kidd, Yota Tsuji).
SANADA’s two losses in 2020 came with higher stakes than Taguchi’s victories. He lost a RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship Match at Wretle Kingdom and he was defeated by Jay White at New Beginning in Osaka.
SANADA is riding a four match losing streak in NJPW singles matches. His last victory was during the G1 on August 7^th vs. Lance Archer.

Shingo Takagi enters the New Japan Cup riding a three match winning streak in NJPW singles matches. His last singles loss came at the hands of Hirooki Goto in September of 2019 at Destruction in Kobe.
Shingo Takagi is 13-6 in singles tournamanet matches since joining New Japan at the end of 2018 (9-1 in Best of The Super Juniors, 4-5 in the G1 Climax)
This will be SHO’s first singles match since his RevPro Cruiserweight Title match against El Phantasmo on November 9^th 2019.

Shingo Takagi defeated SHO on May 13^th, 2019 in their first match of Best of The Super Juniors 26.