By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Anniversary Show”
March 6, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan at Ota City General Gymnasium
Streamed live on New Japan World
This is a small arena. Chris Charlton, Walker Stewart, and Gino Gambino provided commentary. Charlton said it was a “capacity crowd.”
This show kicks off the New Japan Cup. This year’s field is a 28-man, single-elimination tournament featuring four first-round byes. Wrestling historian/statistician Chris Samsa is running an online bracket tournament, and 78 percent of voters have picked either Zack Sabre Jr., Yota Tsuji, David Finlay, or Shingo Takagi to win. There are three others that have polled between three percent and five percent each. I picked Shingo to win it all, with Sabre my backup choice.
1. “United Empire” Great-O-Khan andJeff Cobb defeated Tomoaki Honma and Tanga Loa at 3:56. All four brawled at the bell. Honma missed a Kokeshi on Cobb; Cobb missed a Kokeshi on Honma. Stewart said Honma has been in the tournament 10 times but isn’t in this year’s field. Honma finally hit the Kokeshi for a nearfall at 2:00. Loa clotheslined O-Khan to the floor. Cobb hit the Spin Cycle swinging back suplex on Honma for a nearfall. O-Khan hit some Mongolian Chops on Honma, and Cobb immediately nailed the Tour of the Islands swinging powerslam for the pin. That was quick. O-Khan kept beating up Loa after the bell; they are first-round opponents.
2. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr. and Mikey Nicholls defeated “Guerrillas of Destiny” El Phantasmo and Hikuleo at 8:16. Sabre and Phantasmo opened with some great mat reversals. Walker Stewart congratulated Matt Riddle for making his first successful title defense of the NJPW TV Title on the MLW show last week. Nicholls and Hikuleo tagged in at 2:00 and traded shoulder tackles with neither man going down. TMDK hit stereo basement dropkicks on Hikuleo’s knees to take the big man off his feet, and Zack immediately began twisting his left ankle. Hikulo hit a brainbuster, and he made the hot tag to Phantasmo at 5:30.
ELP hit a Lionsault on Sabre, then a plancha on Nicholls. He went for another Lionsault, but Sabre caught him and applied a cross-armbreaker! Nice! ELP immediately got to the ropes. ELP hit a faceplant move on Nicholls, and Hikuleo made the cover for a nearfall, as the GoD now began working over Mikey. Hikuleo went for a powerslam but Sabre somehow blocked it and applied an Octopus Stretch! Nicholls hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a clean pin on Phantasmo. That was fast and fun.
3. Boltin Oleg, El Desperado, Tomohiro Ishii, and Hirooki Goto defeated “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Bushi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, and Hiromu Takahashi at 7:45. Yota and Ishii opened with a chop exchange. Boltin entered at 1:30 and easily flipped Yota around in his arms before getting a nearfall. Hiromu tried to Irishi whip Oleg, but Boltin didn’t budge. Oleg hit a double shoulder tackle at 4:00 and he tagged in Goto. Goto hit a spin kick in the corner on Shingo, then a back suplex. They traded forearm strikes.
Shingo hit a clothesine and they were both down. Desperado and Bushi tagged in for the first time at 5:30, and Desperado hit a back suplex for a nearfall. Charlton congratulated Sting on his retirement. Ishii knocked Bushi down with a shoulder tackle. Oleg dropped Shingo with a shoulder tackle. Bushi hit a rewind kick on Desperado. Desperado got a rollup out of nowhere to pin Bushi. After the match, Ishii shook Desperado’s hand nd the crowd popped for that, as factions are clearly re-aligning.
* Out of nowhere, Chase Owens attacked Ishii from behind! The commentators shouted that Chase isn’t even in today’s lineup! Chase hit his package piledriver on Ishii and left him lying in the ring. Chase and Ishii will meet in first-round action on Thursday!
4. “United Empire” TJP, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, and Gedo at 8:03. All six brawled at the bell. Kidd was a last-minute scratch recently in England due to injury, so glad to see he’s cleared and healthy. TJP hit a Facewash on Kidd. Finlay beat up Newman on the floor. In the ring, the BCWD worked over Newman in their corner. Kidd dragged him back to the floor and whipped him into the guardrail at 4:00. Akira made the hot tag and he hit a flying dropkick on Kidd. Akira hit a top-rope crossbody block on Kidd for a nearfall at 6:00. Kidd dropped Akira with some hard open-hand slaps. Gedo hit a buzzsaw kick on Akira for a nearfall. Akira hit a swinging neckbreaker on Gedo. Akira and TJP hit front-and-back kneestrikes on Gedo, and Akira made the pin.
5. “Just 5 Guys” Sanada, Yuya Uemura, Taichi, and Douki defeated “House of Torture” EVIL, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Dick Togo at 8:51. Uemura (who lost his hair in a match two weeks ago!) wore a towel over his head; when his name was introduced, he removed the towel and he has a short buzzcut that is lightly tinged red. Kanemaru and Douki opened. Sanada tied Kanemaru in the Paradise Lock. EVIL choked Sanada with a shirt and got a nearfall. The bell rang at 3:00 but it was just Togo ringing it; EVIL tried to celebrate anyway. Taichi hit a Helluva Kick on Ren. He caught a hard heel hook kick to Ren’s face!
Ren and Taichi traded Mafia Kicks, and Ren hit an Exploder Suplex. Togo tagged in at 5:30 and hit some blows on Taichi. Uemura entered and hit a dropkick on Togo. The HoT took turns hitting clotheslines in the corner on Yuya, and Dick hit his knife-edge chop on Yuya’s groin for a nearfall at 7:30. Taichi hit a double clothesline. Sanada hit a plancha to the floor on EVIL. Yuya hit a top-rope crossbody block on Togo, then the Deadbolt head-capture suplex with a bridge to pin Togo. Good action.
6. Toru Yano defeated Yujiro Takahashi via count-out in a first-round New Japan Cup match at 3:14. These are probably my two least favorite tournament competitors in the field. Yujiro attacked Yano from behind to start the match. They brawled to the floor, where Yujiro whipped Yano into the guardrail. Yujiro handcuffed Yano to the guardrail, and he got back into the ring. Yano somehow escaped by breaking the guardrail and he got back into the ring before being counted out at 2:00. Yano handcuffed Yujiro on the floor to another man as they were hugging. Yano hit a low blow, and got back into the ring. The referee kept counting and Yujiro never got to his feet before being counted out. (They announced it at 2:56 but I started my stopwatch when Yujiro first struck Yano.) The shenanigans we all knew were coming.
7. Yoshi-Hashi defeated Kenta in a first-round New Japan Cup match at 10:57. Kenta attacked from behind and they immediately brawled to the floor. They got back into the ring at 4:00 with Kenta in charge. Kenta hit some stiff kicks to the spine and got a nearfall. Yoshi-Hashi hit a suplex and they were both down; Walker reiterated that Y-H has never beaten Kenta in a singles match. Yoshi-Hashi hit his Headhunter flipping neckbreaker, then a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall at 8:00.
Yoshi-Hashi nailed a superkick and two clotheslines for a nearfall and he was fired up. Kenta hit a DDT out of the ropes and they were both down. Kenta hit a top-rope doublestomp to the chest for a nearfall. They traded forearm chops. Kenta put a ref in the middle, then he hit a hard slap to the face and a running knee for a believable nearfall at 10:30. Yoshi-Hashi got a Crucifix Driver out of nowhere for the pin! Yoshi-Hashi has finally pinned Kenta, and he beat one-half of the tag champions! “I can see Gino tearing up his bracket already!” Charlton shouted. They shook hands and the crowd registered their surprise! But of course, Kenta then attacked him from behind and beat up Yoshi-Hashi.
8. Jack Perry defeated Shota Umino in a first-round New Japan Cup match at 12:25. This feud began at an NJPW show in the U.S., when “Scapegoat” Perry leapt over the guardrail and attacked Umino. Perry came out first in a scary goat mask (think Black Taurus’ outfit), and he wore all black, and his hair is more frazzled than in the past. Considering how much the announcers said Umino wanted to get his hands on Perry, he sure took his time walking through the crowd first. Umino finally got in the ring and they immediately traded punches and forearm strikes. Charlton reiterated how Perry “tore up his AEW contract” and is appearing here “as a freelancer.”
Perry kept Shota grounded; I believe this is his first match in roughly seven months. Perry hit a Rude Awakening standing neckbreaker for a nearfall at 3:00. Perry tied Shota up in a snare-trap leglock on the mat but Shota reached the ropes at 4:30. With Umino’s feet on the ring apron, Perry hit a DDT onto the thin mat on the floor; he made a cocky one-footed cover in the ring for a nearfall. Shota hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a nearfall at 7:00. Perry nailed a Dragon Suplex for a nearfall. Umino nailed a DDT out of the ropes onto the ring apron at 8:30, and Perry crashed to the floor.
In the ring, Shota hit a springboard dropkick, then an inverted DDT for a nearfall. Perry hit a Superkick and a Poison Rana; Shota immediately hit a Hidden Blade and they were both down at 10:30, and this crowd was hot. Shota hit a running neckbreaker for a nearfall. He hit a DDT for a nearfall. Suddenly, Yoshinobu Kanemaru was at ringside and distracting the referee! Ren Narita snuck into the ring and hit Shota with his pushup bar! Perry hit a running knee to pin Shota. A good match until the cheap finish. But, it sets up a rematch as nothing was decided here. (Hopefully I get that Perry-Shota match in Chicago next month.)
* The entire House of Torture entered the ring! EVIL handed Jack Perry a HoT T-Shirt, and Perry put it on! Perry put one foot on the knocked-out Shota Umino and he posed with the other five members of the House of Torture. The six of them left together.
9. IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito defeated IWGP Jr. Hvt. Champion Sho in a non-title match at 23:06. Sho just defeated El Desperado to win the juniors title, which robbed us fans of Naito-Desperado; this matchup just doesn’t excite me as much as that possibility did. The cameras show Desperado sitting on commentary, sulking that he’s not in this match. Sho attacked from behind as Naito walked to ringside; he shoved Naito into the ring post, and of course, Naito has all his ring gear still on. Naito whipped Sho into a guardrail at 2:30 and he was finally able to remove his button-down shirt. Sho snapped Naito’s arm across the top rope at 4:30, then he slammed the left leg across Sho’s shoulder; Naito rolled to the floor and sold the pain in his knee.
Sho mockingly did the tranquilo pose in the ring and was loudly booed. In the ring, he grapevined Naito’s left leg and kept him grounded. Naito hit a headscissors takedown at 7:00. He hit a deep armdrag and a flying knee to the back. Naito hit a backbreaker over his knee out of the ropes. Naito hit a standing neckbreaker for a nearfall. Sho hit a chop block to the back of the knee at 10:30. He got a chair and struck Naito in the back. He wrapped Naito’s legs around the ring post, and he struck his knee with the chair. He hit him across the knee a few more times on the floor; Naito rolled back into the ring at 13:30. Sho tied up the legs again and grapevined the left leg.
Sho hit a double knees strike to the back at 16:00, then a clothesline. He hit a piledriver for a nearfall. Sho set up for the Shock Arrow cross-armed piledriver, but Naito escaped, hit an enzuigiri, then a Destino, and both men were down at 18:00. Sho hit some kicks on the knee. Naito hit a Frankensteiner. Naito hit a springboard tornado DDT. The ref got bumped in the corner, and Sho immediately hit a low blow uppercut, then he pushed Naito into the ref again. The House of Torture hopped in the ring and they stomped on Naito! LIJ ran in and made the save. EVIL swung at Naito with the title belt but missed; Shingo hit a clothesline on EVIL. Sho got his wrench, but he missed hitting Naito with it. Naito popped Sho up in the air and hit a low blow punt kick. Naito tossed the wrench aside and hit a modified brainbuster, then the Destino for the pin.
* Naito, surrounded by LIJ, got on the mic and thanked the fans for packing the building for the 52nd anniversary show. He talked about facing the winner of the New Japan Cup with the title on the line. He said he’s waiting to see if it will be against Shingo Takagi or Yota Tsuji.
Final Thoughts: An okay show. Yoshi-Hashi winning is a mild upset (59% of brackets on Samsa’s board had Kenta winning). I predicted Perry would win his match, just to extend the feud with Umino (and 67% of bracketologists picked correctly.) The ELP-Sabre stuff was predictably good, and the groundwork was laid for TJP to upset Finlay later in the first round. Ishii should beat Chase Owens, but they did a good job preparing us for an Owens upset. I like that nothing has been decided yet between Perry and Umino. And if you are going to lean in on Perry being the heel, no better way to make sure that happens than having him join the House of Torture.
My first glance at the tournament brackets noted that we had Mikey Nicholls but no Shane Haste. We also have Gabe Kidd but no Alex Coughlin. Injuries have sidelined both Henare and Hiroshi Tanahashi. I guess I’m just a bit disappointed in the field, as the only surprise is Jack Perry. NJPW easily could have grabbed some other stars from other Japanese promotions to make it a 32-man field, or replace guys like Yujiro Takahashi. As I noted above, my pick is Shingo Takagi, with a backup choice of Zack Sabre Jr.
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