NEW JAPAN CUP 2020, QUARTER FINALS (7/2/20) STATISTICS, RESEARCH AND NOTES

Quarter Final Match: Kazuchika Okada v. Taiji Ishimori

Kazuchika Okada has defeated both of his New Japan Cup opponents this year by submission, his last singles victory via submission before this year’s tournament was on February 10th 2018 when he defeated SANADA at New Beginning in Osaka. He had no submission victories in singles OR tag matches in 2019.
Okada is, without a doubt, the competitor with the best track record left in the New Japan Cup. At 11-1, with two victories in three attempts, Okada’s abilities in New Japan Cup action is unrivaled.
Okada has benefitted from a vastly reduced strength of schedule during this year’s tournament. Okada’s first round opponent, Gedo and his second round opponent, Yuji Nagata represent the easiest path to the quarter finals of any New Japan Cup competitor this year. Ishimori will undoubtedly be Okada’s toughest opponent yet in this year’s tournament.
Taiji Ishimori is undoubtedly riding the high of finally defeating Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a singles match for the first time in 13 tries.
Both competitors enter tonight’s match well rested, having last wrestled over a week ago on June 24th.
Ishimori has been the most efficient wrestler to advance to the quarter finals in this year’s tournament, defeating Gabriel Kidd and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a two-match total of 18:11.

Kazuchika Okada’s 13 victories in singles matches over the last 365 days tops NJPW.
Ishimori has also been strong in singles action, albeit in a series of lower stakes matches.

By tapping out SHO in last night’s second round matchup, SANADA is now tied for the most submission victories (5) in New Japan Cup history.
Taichi’s 20:00 average match length in this year’s New Japan Cup is the highest in the tournament. His 21:51 victory over Hiroshi Tanahashi has been the longest match of the tournament so far.
This will be SANADA’s second trip to the quarter finals, Taichi’s First.
Taichi’s 23:24 average losing match time is the longest in New Japan Cup History and his Average overall match length of 20:56 is also the longest for competitors with more than one match.

These two have proven to be pretty evenly matched both in 2020 and over the last 365 days. Taichi’s tends to draw out his matches longer, but those long matches have no bearing on whether he comes out victorious.

This will be both competitor’s second New Japan Cup to pass the second round. YOSHI-HASHI lost in the quarter finals to Tomohiro Ishii last year, and EVIL lost in the semi-finals to Bad Luck Fale in 2017.
EVIL enters tonight’s competition just 24 hours removed from a grueling 18:25 battle with Hirooki Goto. YOSHI-HASHI is 24 hours removed from defeating BUSHI in 10:22.
EVIL’s average match length in this year’s tournament (19:17) is second in the tournament and over five minutes longer than YOSHI-HASHI’s (13:58). Time will tell whether EVIL is seasoned or worn out by a much tougher strength of schedule thus far.

YOSHI-HASHI’s 4-1 singles record in 2020 may be deceiving. His victories include Karl Fredericks, Misterioso Jr, the aging Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and BUSHI. EVIL will undoubtedly be his toughest test yet in this year.

EVIL and YOSHI-HASHI have met twice in singles action since EVIL returned from excursion. They are split at 1-1 with YOSHI-HASHI defeating EVIL during the 2016 G1 Climax Tournament and EVIL defeating YOSHI-HASHI during the 2018 G1 Climax Tournament

Tomohiro Ishii’s 10 New Japan Cup victories is second only to Okada amongst competitors remaining in this year’s tournament.
Ishii’s 5:24:11 total match length is, by far, the longest amongst competitors remaining in this year’s tournament, SANADA’s 2:56:51 comes in a distant second.
Both competitors enter tonight’s match well rested, having last wrestled over a week ago on June 24th.

Hiromu has gone unbeaten in singles matches since returning from injury in December of 2019. It’s tough to say whether Ishii will be his toughest competitor to date, as Will Ospreay and Ryu Lee definitely put Hiromu to the test upon his return.
Hiromu Takahshi’s most recent victory over a Heavyweight before the New Japan Cup came on October 13th, 2017 when he defeated mark Briscoe during the Ring Of Honor Global Wars Tour. Before this year’s New Japan Cup, Hiromu had never faced a heavyweight in a New Japan ring.