By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “New Japan Cup”
March 15, 2023 in Okayama, Japan at ZIP Arena Okayama
Streamed on New Japan World
This is show eight of the tournament, featuring the final two second-round matches. So far, Tetsuya Naito, Sanada, Hirooki Goto, Tama Tonga, EVIL and Will Ospreay have advanced to the quarterfinals.
HOWEVER… we have major news! Will Ospreay is injured and is bowing out of the tournament. Mark Davis (who lost to Ospreay) will advance instead. Hopefully this is a relatively minor injury and not something that puts him out for months. (I am really hoping this is a kayfabe injury to get him out of the tournament without getting pinned.) Either way, EVIL will now face Mark Davis in the quarterfinals.
Kevin Kelly provided live commentary from ringside. This seems to be a large gym; I’ll put the crowd in the 800 range; there is an upper deck with four rows, with the majority of the crowd seated on the floor.
1. Aaron Henare defeated Yuto Nakashima at 9:06. Henare dominated with some kicks and a senton at 3:00. Yuto hit some forearms and a bodyslam for a nearfall. Henare set up for the Full Nelson, but Yuto fought free. Henare later got the Full Nelson locked in, dropped to the mat, and Yuto tapped out. What you’d expect from a Young Lion match against a veteran.
2. Jeff Cobb and “Aussie Open” Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis defeated Ryohei Oiwa and “Bishamon” Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto at 9:07. We are clearly on a path of Aussie Open getting a tag title shot at Bishamon. Yoshi-Hashi and Cobb opened, and Cobb overpowered him early and ‘surfed’ on his back. Cobb tagged out and ran over to commentary, where he briefly talked with Kelly about Ospreay bowing out and being replaced by Davis. Oiwa tried to put Davis in a Boston Crab, but Davis broke free. Davis put Oiwa on his shoulders spun him down to the mat, and pinned him.
3. Taka Michinoku, Douki, Taichi, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated “House of Torture” EVIL, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi, and Dick Togo at 8:06. All eight brawled at the bell, then Sho and Kanemaru started off. The HoT began working over Taka. Taichi made the hot tag at 5:00 and cleared the ring, and was fired up. Everyone from both teams passed around a bottle of whiskey and took swigs.
The ref got blinded by whiskey sprayed in his face. Douki nailed a dive through the ropes on two guys at 7:00. Taka nailed a Michinoku Driver! Togo choked Taichi with his metal wire. Taichi put Togo in a Dragon Sleeper, and Togo tapped out. Wow, Taka actually is on the winning side of a match!
* Taka spoke on the mic to the crowd. Obviously I don’t speak Japanese, but he reiterated their team name is “Just Four Guys.”
* Chase Owens stopped to talk with Kevin Kelly during introductions for the next match; Kelly informed Owens about Mark Davis taking Ospreay’s slot in the tournament and Owens hadn’t heard that yet. Apparently Owens and Davis once lived together and are good friends.
4. “The Bullet Club” Kenta, El Phantasmo, and Chase Owens defeated Ren Narita, Tama Tonga, and Jado at 9:10. Phantasmo and Narita opened with good standing switches, then switched to trading forearm shots. The BC worked over Narita. Tama made the hot tag at 6:00 and leveled Chase with a clothesline; he ripped off his vest and was fired up. Tama nailed a Stinger Splash and an Exploder Suplex for a nearfall. Jado entered and traded offense with Kenta. Kenta applied a crossface, and Jado tapped out. Fairly basic and a bit underwhelming. Tama looked great as always but his partners barely got in any offense.
* Kyle Fletcher joined Kevin Kelly on commentary for the rest of the show. Kelly reiterated that Ospreay was flying back to England to get his injured shoulder examined and he would miss the rest of the tournament.
5. Tomohiro Ishii, Lio Rush, Yoh, Toru Yano, and Tomoaki Honma defeated “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Tetsuya Naito, Sanada, Shingo Takagi, Bushi, and Hiromu Takahashi at 10:23. Once again, Ishii and Shingo opened and traded big shoulder tackles with neither man going down, then switching to stiff forearms. Honma entered at 2:00 to battle Sanada. Sanada put Honma in the Paradise Lock, but Honma is so greasy, so oily, he broke free! Funny. Naito tied up Honma with a leglock around the head and shoulders.
Lio entered at 5:30 and traded quick offense with Hiromu; this match feels like a replay of Monday’s action as Lio nailed a dive through the ropes on Hiromu. Hiromu hit a pop-up powerbomb. Lio hit a spear, and they were both down. Yoh entered and fought Hiromu, with Hiromu hitting a dragon screw leg whip. Bushi hit a top-rope missile dropkick on Yoh. Honma hit a flying headbutt on Sanada. Yoh hit a dropkick on Naito at 9:30, then Yoh hit a neckbreaker over his knee on Bushi and a double-arm DDT for the pin on Bushi. A fun sprint of a match.
6. David Finlay (w/Gedo) defeated Great-O-Khan in a second-round New Japan Cup tournament match at 13:05. They immediately traded stiff forearm shots. O-Khan hit a deep armdrag at 4:30 and they were both down. Finlay hit a chop block to the back of O-Khan’s left knee at 7:00, and he ripped at O-Khan’s face. The crowd was fairly quiet, as neither are really babyfaces. Finlay hit a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall. O-Khan applied the Sheepkiller submission hold over his knee at 10:30, and Finlay was close to passing out. Finlay hit a stunner to escape, and they were both down.
Finlay hit a clothesline to the back of the head for a believable nearfall. GOK hit a modified piledriver for a nearfall at 12:30. Finlay nailed the Trash Panda neckbreaker over his knee for the pin. Good match but it struggled without much crowd interaction. Gedo spoke on the mic afterward, first in Japanese then in English, saying “The rebel is taking over f**king everything!”
7. Shota Umino defeated Zack Sabre Jr. in a second-round New Japan Cup tournament match at 26:12. They opened with standing switches. Shota was in charge early, as he hit elbows to the back of the neck and top of the shoulder. Sabre applied a cross-armbreaker in the ropes at 4:30, and he immediately began working on the left arm. Shot hit a diving forearm at 8:00 but was selling the arm injury. Shota hit a Northern Lights Suplex, and he tied Sabre in a cravat. Sabre went back to twisting the left arm, applying a Fujiwara Armbar at 10:30.
Shota was able to slam Sabre face-first on the ring apron at 12:00 while twisting Sabre’s left arm, and now Shota focused on the left arm. They brawled on the floor. Shota has a bloody nose now. They got in the ring, and Shota pushed the ref back out of frustration. Sabre hit some European Uppercuts with the right while protecting the left arm. Shota hit a DDT at 16:00. Sabre locked in a cross-armbreaker, and he turned it into a Triangle Choke. Shota hit a spinning neckbreaker and a Bloody Sunday sideslam for a nearfall at 18:00.
Shota hit a running neckbreaker for a nearfall and he was fired up. Shota got an O’Connor Roll for a nearfall. Sabre applied a double armbar, but Shota got a foot on the ropes at 20:00. Shota hit a dropkick and they were both down. They began trading forearm shots while on their knees, then while standing. They traded European Uppercuts. Shota hit a tornado DDT and a snap DDT for a believable nearfall at 24:00. Sabre applied a mid-ring Octopus submission hold, but Shota got a suplex to escape it. Shota nailed the Death Rider double-arm DDT for the clean pin. Kelly shouted in excitement about how Shota just defeated a two-time tournament winner.
* Shota handed Sabre his TV title belt and Sabre left with it. Shota got on the mic and spoke in Japanese.
Final Thoughts: The Ospreay news was startling. I literally just wrote on Monday that he has to be seen as the tournament favorite. Now, the field feels more wide open than ever. If Sanada gets past Naito, I see him in the finals, as Mark Davis should be focused on the tag titles and EVIL is ice cold and doesn’t deserve to go that far. On the other side of the bracket, I just feel that Tama Tonga has worked so hard to get in great shape and had a fantastic 2022, he deserves to reach the finals to face Sanada.
The main event was fantastic. I had predicted Sabre to win here, so to me, this was a mild upset. If anyone has read my reviews in the past year, I first begged for NJPW to bring Shota back home, and then to push him into the top tier. With this win, I now am wondering if Shota wins the tournament to get a title shot against Kazuchika Okada. Again, the Great-O-Khan vs. Finlay match was fine, but it just had no crowd interaction.
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