By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “New Japan Cup 2024”
March 11, 2024 in Ehime, Japan at Item Ehime
Streamed live on New Japan World
This year’s New Japan Cup tournament is a 28-man field featuring four first-round byes. We are down to the “Sweet 16” so this show features two second-round matches. This is a large gym with all patrons seated on the floor. Attendance is probably 700 but appears to be at capacity. Walker Stewart and Gino Gambino provided commentary.
1. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr. and Mikey Nicholls defeated Boltin Oleg and Shoma Kato at 6:13. I’ve written this before, but Kato has the size and overall look of Taka Michinoku, and he opened against Sabre. Zack tied him in a knot on the mat. Oleg tagged in at 3:00, and he flipped Sabre over his head. He hit a gutwrench suplex on Nicholls. Nicholls hit a hard clothesline on Kato for a nearfall. He hit a second clothesline for the pin. Okay opener; Kato is really under-sized.
2. “Just 5 Guys” Taichi, Yuya Uemura, and Douki defeated Tomoaki Honma, El Desperado, and Tomohiro Ishii at 9:51. Desperado and Taichi opened and they traded kicks to the thighs. Douki hit a springboard back elbow on Ishii at 5:30. Yuya entered and hit a deep armdrag on Honma. Honma missed the Kokeshi falling headbutt, but he hit a flying headbutt for a nearfall at 9:00. Uemura applied a crossarm breaker and Honma tapped out.
3. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Kenta and Chase Owens defeated Hirooki Goto and Togi Makabe at 7:25. Goto and Kenta opened. Goto and Makabe hit a team shoulder tackle. Owens whipped Goto into the guardrail. In the ring, the heels grounded Goto. Goto hit a clothesline on Owens at 4:30. Kenta and Makabe tagged in for their teams. Goto suplexed Owens. Then the babyfaces hit a team suplex on Kenta at 7:00. Owens hit Makabe in the head with the title belt, and Kenta covered the prone Togi for the cheap pin. Blah. Owens beat up Goto (his second-round opponent) some more after the bell.
4. Tanga Loa, Jado, and Shota Umino defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, and Gedo at 9:03. The BCWD slid into the ring and all six brawled. Loa and Finlay brawled over near a wall, far from the ring. In the ring, Jado and Gedo traded blows. In the ring, Finlay hit a backbreaker over his knee on Jado at 3:30 and the heels worked him over. Kidd bit Jado on top of his head. Loa made the hot tag and he battled Kidd. Finlay hit a series of clotheslines in the corner on Loa at 6:30. Shota tagged in for the first time, but Finlay hit a backbreaker over his knee on Umino. Gedo tagged in. Shota hit a shotgun dropkick on Kidd. Shota nailed the Death Rider double-arm DDT on Gedo for the pin.
5. “House of Torture” EVIL, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikuleo, and El Phantasmo at 9:16. The HoT attacked and all eight brawled on the floor. ELP and Yujiro opened. The heels beat up Yoh in their corner. Yoh hit a swinging neckbreaker on EVIL at 5:00 and he tagged in Hikuleo. Hikuleo hit a snake-eyes on Narita, then a Mafia Kick. EVIL hit Hikuleo in the back of the leg with a chair! The heels began hitting kicks in the corner on Hikuleo. Hikuleo hit a suplex but sold the pain in his leg. Taguchi entered at 7:30 and hit a flying buttbump on Narita. Ren hit Taguchi with his push-up bar, then he hit an X-Factor faceplant for the cheap pin. The heels attacked Hikuleo’s knee some more, in hopes of damaging him before his second-round match.
6. “United Empire” Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, TJP, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman defeated “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, HIromu Takahashi, Bushi, and Tetsuya Naito at 10:12. Cobb and Yota opened. Akira and Hiromu entered at 2:00 and traded faster reversals. Naito entered and traded forearm strikes with Akira. TJP entered and he tied up Naito’s legs on the mat at 4:00, then he hit a Facewash. Shingo made the hot tag at 6:30 and he cleared the ring. He hit an Exploder Suplex on Cobb. Newman hit a running boot on Shingo and they were both down. O-Khan entered and hit his Mongolian Chops on Shingo at 8:30. Bushi hit a top-rope missile dropkick on O-Khan. Cobb clotheslined Yota. Hiromu hit a shotgun dropkick on Cobb. TJP hit a spin kick on Naito. O-Khan dropped Bushi with a punch, then he applied the Sheepkiller hold to the throat, and Bushi tapped out. Good action.
7. Jack Perry (w/Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Toru Yano in a New Japan Cup second-round match at 8:32. Perry attacked during the ring introductions. Yano sprayed a canister in Jack’s eyes and got a rollup for a nearfall. On the floor, Yujiro Takahashi shoved Yano into a guardrail at 1:30. Back in the ring, Perry hit some shoulder blocks to the ribs in the corner and was in charge. He tied Yano in the Snare-trap submission hold on the mat, but Yano reached the ropes at 4:00.
On the floor, Yano whipped Jack into the guardrails. Yano handcuffed Yujiro to the guardrail. In the ring, Yano hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Perry. Yano flipped Perry into the top turnbuckle and he got a rollup for a nearfall at 7:00. Kanemaru came to ringside. The ref got bumped; Perry and Kanemaru beat up Yano. Yano hit a low blow and got a nearfall, but Yujiro pulled the ref to the floor. Perry hit his own low blow and a running knee to Yano’s head for the pin. The expected outcome, as Perry is the first man to advance to the quarterfinals.
8. Sanada defeated Yoshi-Hashi in a New Japan Cup second-round match at 23:51. Standing switches and a feeling-out process. Sanada tied him in the Paradise Lock at 2:30, then hit a dropkick to his butt, and he tied up Yoshi-Hashi on the mat. Y-H hit some chops at 6:30. Sanada hit a side Russian Legsweep at 8:30; this has been methodical early on. Sanada hit a dropkick, then a plancha to the floor. Yoshi-Hashi hit a Headhunter flipping neckbreaker and they were both down at 10:30. He hit a running powerbomb for a nearfall, and he tied up Sanada’s arms. Sanada went for Skull End but Yoshi-Hashi rolled through it. Sanada then locked in Skull End at 13:30, and dropped to the mat.
Sanada went for a moonsault but Yoshi-Hashi got his knees up, then a rollup for a nearfall at 15:30, and they were both down. They traded forearm strikes while on their knees, then while standing, and this went on for more than a minute. Sanada placed Y-H’s feet on the top rope and hit a swinging neckbreaker at 19:00. He hit a Shining Wizard to the jaw, and he set up for Deadfall, but Yoshi-Hashi blocked it. Sanada hit a second Shining Wizard. He nailed a top-rope moonsault for a believable nearfall. He again couldn’t hit Deadfall, and Yoshi-Hashi hit a Dragon Suplex and a clothesline, and they were both down at 20:30.
Sanada hit an enzuigiri, and he got a rollup for a nearfall. He missed a Shining Wizard, and Yoshi-Hashi hit a buzzsaw kick, then a running double knees for a nearfall. He hit a clothesline and he was fired up. He hit a brainbuster for a nearfall at 23:00. He hit a superkick. Sanada hit the Deadfall (Jay White’s Blade Runner) swinging faceplant to score the pin. A really strong back half of the match; you could sense they were going long based on the slower-paced first half. Sanada will now face Jack Perry in the quarterfinals. Sanada spoke on the mic to close the show.
Final Thoughts: I don’t think anyone who looked at the brackets before the tournament started would be surprised that Sanada and Jack Perry have reached the quarterfinals; these two matches were probably the easiest of the tournament to predict. The tournament continues on Tuesday with two more second-round matches, as Tanga Loa faces David Finlay, and Chase Owens faces Hirooki Goto.
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