The Young Lion Cup is charging towards the finish line as it becomes clearer who is likely to win this thing. There’s still plenty of lovely cub action to go before we get there, so sit back and enjoy the trip.
Ren Narita (5-1) defeated Yuya Uemura (1-5)
Two of the standouts of the tournament kicked us off as Ren and Yuya got straight into some grappling with Narita getting the upper hand. His mistake was letting Uemura up as when they got to their feet he was able to find his way back into the action.
What followed was a solid and well-worked Young Lion match. Perhaps I’m beginning to burn out on these, but I don’t have much to say about it. Narita and Uemura are good, and there is no hot take here. I liked it when they slapped the shit out of each other at the end, is that enough?
Verdict: Three Stars
Alex Coughlin (3-3) defeated Clark Connors (3-3)
If I’m correct, both of these guys are now out of the Cup as they can’t catch Narita. They at least bowed out on a high, kicking things off with some nice chain wrestling before resorting to chopping the fuck out of each other.
As good as Connors is, and he is good, it’s Coughlin who is coming out of this tournament having impressed me the most. That kid is already standing out between the ropes and just needs to work on the more emotive aspects of his game to be something truly special. I mean, look at the way he set up the finish to this match, rolling away from the ropes while in an Indian Deathlock to slip seamlessly into the bridge, it was beautiful.
I’d put this slightly above the opener, but it was once again a solid match. That’s what this tournament delivers, and if that’s what you want, you’ll have a lovely time.
Verdict: Three And A Quarter Stars
Overall Show
I feel like I already summed this up above. If you’re not watching by this point, nothing I say will change your mind.
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