10 Takeaways From NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2018

#3. Juice Needs A Boost

That must have really hurt, at the precipice of the G1 Climax tournament Juice Robinson was on an all-time high. He'd captured the IWGP US championship on home soil and was set to partake in the greatest wrestling tournament for his second time, having beat world champion Kenny Omega the previous year.

Then the tournament happened, Juice lost quite a few matches setting him up with new challenges. He could have gone on to maintain an intriguing streak of defenses, instead, a missing Cody returned to question if Juice had truly become as great as claimed. It set up an impromptu US title match for Fighting Spirit.

In it, Juice has once more failed to live up to the hype, falling prey to a sneaky and ruthless Cody. This puts Cody as a double champion vying a third while Juice is forced to question what is next for him. Either a redemptive arc is in order, or he needs an attitude adjustment (not the Cena kind).

About the author

A filmmaker and wrestling buff, who merges his passion for storytelling into his writing of pro-wrestling. The art (and it is an art) of pro-wrestling is one of the greatest devices of cinematic storytelling from soap opera in WWE to even the hard-hitting competitiveness of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Watches all forms and brands of wrestling and for the past few years has been a huge fan of NJPW to the point he finally made his way to Japan and the Tokyo Dome to enjoy Wrestle Kingdom 13 live!

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Edited by Rohit Nath