By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “New Japan Cup 2024”
March 10, 2024 in Hyogo, Japan at Baycom Gymnasium
Streamed live on New Japan World
This year’s New Japan Cup tournament is a 28-man field featuring four first-round byes. This show features the final three first-round matches. So, after today we will have our field of 16 set. Walker Stewart and Gino Gambino provided commentary. This is a small arena and the lights are low. HIroshi Tanahashi is seen in a nice suit seated at ringside.
1. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Kenta, Chase Owens, and Taiji Ishimori defeated Tomoaki Honma and “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi at 8:58. Goto and Ishimori opened, but Chase attacked Goto from behind, and the heels worked Goto over early. Yoshi-Hashi made the hot tag at 4:30 and cleared the ring. Honma tagged in and hit some chops on Kenta. Yoshi-Hashi hit the Headhunter overhead neckbreaker on Kenta, and Honma hit his Kokeshi falling headbutt on Kenta for a nearfall. Kenta got a rollup with his feet on the ropes for leverage for the pin on Honma.
2. “Just 5 Guys” Sanada, Yuya Uemura, and Douki defeated Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, and Ryusuke Taguchi at 8:26. Ugh, Yano and Taguchi on the same team? Taguchi and Douki opened. Yano entered and he pulled Douki by his hair down to the mat. Ishii and Douki traded forearm strikes at 3:30. Uemura tagged in and hit some deep armdrags and a dropkick on Ishii. Ishii fired back with a Saito Suplex at 6:00. Yuya hit a swinging uranage and they were both down. Taguchi tagged in to face Sanada, who was in the match for the first time. Taguchi hit his buttbumps on all of J5G. Taguchi and Sanada traded rollups, with Sanada scoring the three-count. Good when Ishii was in.
3. “Guerrillas of Destiny” Hikuleo, Tanga Loa, and Jado defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, and Gedo at 9:11. All six brawled at the bell. Stewart on Twitter pointed out that the four men in this match who are in the tournament have all advanced to the second round. In the ring, Hikuleo hit a shoulder tackle that dropped Kidd at 1:30, and he hit a double clothesline. The heels began working over Jado. Finlay hit a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 4:00. Loa finally got the hot tag at 6:30 and he hit his knife-edge jabs to the stomach and throat on Finlay. Hikuleo hit a Stinger Splash on Finlay. Loa hit a top-rope missile dropkick on Finlay for a nearfall. Loa hit a double spear on Finlay and Kidd, then a brainbuster on Gedo. Loa nailed a Kamigoye kneestrike on Gedo for the pin.
* Once again, Jack Perry is replacing the “injured” Sho in the next match.
4. Yoh, Boltin Oleg, El Desperado, and Shota Umino defeated “House of Torture” EVIL, Jack Perry, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Yujiro Takahashi (w/Dick Togo) at 10:53. The HoT came out first. The babyfaces slid into the ring and all eight brawled. Perry and Shota brawled into the crowd. In the ring, EVIL was tying up Oleg. Desperado and EVIL traded some good offense. Perry entered at 4:00 and he hit a stiff kick to Desperado’s spine. Yoh got the hot tag at 6:00 and he hit a flying forearm on Kanemaru, then his Vader Bomb-style elbow drop for a nearfall.
Perry and Shota got back in for their teams, and Umino hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall at 7:30. Yujiro hit a fisherman’s suplex on Umino for a nearfall. Umino hit a dropkick. Togo distracted the ref. Kanemaru took a swig of whiskey but Yoh blocked it. Oleg hit a splash on EVIL for a nearfall. Shota hit a tornado DDT on Yujiro, then a sideslam for a nearfall at 10:00. Shota hit a pop-up kneestrike and a running neckbreaker for a nearfall. He tied Yujiro in a Snare-Trap (Perry’s move!) and Yujiro tapped out.
5. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Tetsuya Naito, Bushi, Shingo Takagi, and Hiromu Takahashi defeated “United Empire” Great-O-Khan, TJP, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman at 9:38. The UE attacked to start the match and all eight brawled. TJP hit his Facewash kicks on Bushi. Newman tied Hiromu up on the mat. O-Khan entered and hit his Mongolian Chops on Hiromu at 4:30; Hiromu hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip. Naito entered and hit a dropkick to O-Khan’s back. Naito hit an enzuigiri. O-Khan hit a release suplex and they were both down at 6:30. Shingo and Callum entered, with Newman hitting a dropkick. They traded forearm strikes and chops. Newman hit a running Penalty Kick for a nearfall. Naito hit a swinging neckbreaker on Callum. Bushi dove through the ropes onto TJP at 8:30. Shingo hit a Pumping Bomber clothesline on Newman for a nearfall, then the Chasing the Dragon pump-handle powerbomb for the pin. Good match.
* Wrestling historian/statistician Chris Samsa is running a bracket tournament on his Twitter page. Nearly 86% of participants have picked Yota Tsuji to beat Jeff Cobb, 86% also picked El Phantasmo to beat Mikey Nicholls, while Taichi is favored over Ren Narita on a narrow 51-49% split. Let’s see how voters did!
6. El Phantasmo (w/Jado) defeated Mikey Nicholls (w/Zack Sabre Jr.) in a New Japan Cup first-round match at 13:20. An intense lockup to open and Mikey shoved him to the mat. Nicholls hit some chops and he was in charge. He hit a delayed vertical suplex for a nearfall at 5:00. ELP hit a dropkick and they were both down. ELP hit a springboard crossbody block and a Lionsault for a nearfall at 8:30. Phantasmo hit a tornado DDT and they were both down. Phantasmo hit an Asai Moonsault to the floor.
In the ring, Nicholls hit a German Suplex and a clothesline for a nearfall at 10:30. Nicholls hit a DDT. He hit a second-rope superplex and a sliding clothesline for a nearfall. Nicholls missed a top-rope moonsault. ELP hit a Burning Hammer and a Superkick for a believable nearfall at 12:30. They traded rollup attempts, and ELP got the three-count! Good match that definitely could have gone either way.
7. Ren Narita (w/Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Taichi in a New Japan Cup first-round match at 19:36. Both Kanemaru and Narita attacked Taichi, as the bell hasn’t rang yet. (I start my stopwatch at first contact.) Boltin Oleg was at ringside and he carried Kanemaru to the back! So, the bell rang just before 1:00, and Ren whipped Taichi into the guardrail, and they brawled into the crowd. Back in the ring, Ren kept Taichi grounded, and he did a slingshot, sending Taichi’s throat into the bottom rope at 5:30. He applied a leglock around Taichi’s neck.
They got up and traded forearm strikes. They went back to the floor and Taichi whipped Narita into the guardrail at 9:30. In the ring, Taichi hit a Buzzsaw Kick to the head and he ripped off his tearaway pants. Ren hit a suplex and went to a rear-naked choke. He applied a Cobra Twist/abdominal stretch at 12:30. Ren hit a German Suplex with a bridge for a believable nearfall. Taichi hit a low blow kick! He applied a Stretch Plum submission hold. Dick Togo hopped on the ring apron and distracted the ref; Ren tapped out but the ref didn’t see it. The ref got bumped and more of the House of Torture came to the ring.
Togo hit his knife-edge chop to Taichi’s groin. Just 5 Guys hit the ring to even the odds. Taichi hit a Saito Suplex on Ren at 17:00. Everyone on the floor brawled to the back so we’re back to just these two in the ring. Taichi hit an enzuigiri to the ear (that’s how he beat Will Ospreay last year!) He hit a high back suplex with a bridge for a nearfall, but Jack Perry pulled the ref to the floor! (We didn’t see him two minutes earlier). Taichi hit a clothesline on Perry. Ren went to hit Taichi with the push-up bar but Taichi kicked it away, but that hurt Taichi’s leg. Kanemaru sprayed alcohol in Taichi’s eyes! Ren nailed an X-Factor faceplant for the tainted pin. Not only does Ren advance, but it deprives us of a Taichi-Zack Sabre Jr. matchup of former teammates.
8. Yota Tsuji defeated Jeff Cobb in a New Japan Cup first-round match at 21:40. The crowd was HOT as they opened with an intense lockup. They switched to overhand chops and forearm strikes. Cobb dropped him with a shoulder tackle at 2:30. Yota dove through the ropes, but Cobb caught him and slammed Tsuji on the ring apron. They brawled at ringside with Cobb in charge. In the ring, he hit a bodyslam and made a cocky one-hand cover for a nearfall at 5:30. Cobb set Yota on the top turnbuckle and he hit a dropkick. He hit a second-rope gut-wrench suplex, and they were both down at 7:30.
Tsuji fired back with a head-scissors takedown, sending Cobb to the floor. Yota then dove through the ropes and barreled into Cobb at 10:30. In the ring, Yota hit a splash for a nearfall, then a suplex for a nearfall. They got up and traded more forearm strikes. Yota hit a backbreaker over his knee then a stomp on the head, then a Flatliner at 14:00, and they were both down. Cobb nailed a diving forearm, but he missed a standing moonsault. Yota missed a Stomp, and this time, Cobb hit the standing moonsault for a nearfall at 15:30. Cobb hit a superkick; Yota hit his own superkick, and they traded more forearm strikes.
Cobb went for Tour of the Islands but Tsuji escaped. Yota went for a spear, but Cobb caught him, lifted him up and hit a Razor’s Edge, and they were both down at 17:00. This crowd is hot! Cobb nailed the Spin Cycle for a nearfall. He put Yota on his shoulders and spun him to the mat for a nearfall. Cobb again set up for Tour of the Islands but Tsuji hit a Mafia Kick to avoid it. Cobb cut Yota in half with a spear for a believable nearfall at 19:00, and they were both down. Yota hit a jumping knee to the chin, then a headbutt; the 20:00 call is right on. He hit a running Stomp on Cobb’s head. Yota hit a top-rope missile dropkick, then he swung Cobb to the mat for a believable nearfall. Yota nailed a spear for the pin. That was excellent.
* Yota spoke on the mic to close the show. Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi came to the ring. So, both Shingo and Tsuji have advanced to the second round… will Naito wind up facing either of them? (Again, I have predicted Shingo to win the tournament.)
Final Thoughts: An excellent main event. Yes, a super-majority of voters (including me) picked Yota to win, but there were some close moments where Cobb almost pulled it out. That’s definitely a top five match of the 12 first-round matches. The other two matches were fine, and I’m not surprised that Jack Perry caused Taichi’s loss, giving him an out. This is a grueling tournament. Our first two second-round matches will headline Monday’s show.
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