By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “New Japan Cup 2024”
March 12, 2024 in Ehime, Japan at Uwajima City Overall Gymnasium
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” round, so this show features two second-round matches. Walker Stewart and Gino Gambino provided commentary. The venue is a large theater with a stage against one wall. Attendance was maybe 800, including a handful of people seated in a second deck.
1. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, and Hirooki Goto defeated Katsuya Murashima, Tomoaki Honma, and Boltin Oleg at 8:08. Yano beat up Young Lion Murashima early on. Katsuya tried some forearm strikes on Ishii, who no-sold them, and of course, Ishii dropped him with a hard chop. Welcome to the big leagues, kid! Katsuya hit a dropkick on Yoshi-Hashi and he made the hot tag to Oleg at 4:00. Oleg flipped Yoshi-Hashi around in his arms before hitting a gut0wrench suplex for a nearfall. Ishii applied a Boston Crab on Katsuya and sat down on his lower back, but Murashima reached the ropes. Honma entered and hit some chops on Ishii. Honma hit a DDT on Yoshi-Hashi. Katsuya hit a dropkick on Ishii! Ishii re-applied a Boston Crab, and this time, Katsuya tapped out.
2. “Catch 2/2” Francesco Akira and TJP defeated Ryusuke Taguchi and El Desperado at 10:46. Akira and Taguchi opened, and they did some comedy with Taguchi running the ropes until he was winded. Desperado and TJP tagged in at 3:00 and traded quicker reversals. Desperado hit a back suplex. TJP tied Desperado in an Octopus at 5:30. Akira hit a huracanrana on Desperado, then a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall. Desperado hit a spinebuster on Akira at 7:30. Taguchi and TJP both tagged back in, with Taguchi hitting his buttbumps. C2/2 hit their team X-Factor Faceplant on Taguchi. Desperado tied Akira in a Stretch Muffler while Taguchi had an anklelock on TJP. C2/2 hit their front-and-back kneestrikes on Taguchi, and TJP made the cover for the pin. Good action
3. “Just 5 Guys” Sanada, Taichi, and Yuya Uemura defeated “United Empire” Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, and Callum Newman at 10:51. Of these six, only Sanada remains in the tournament Taichi and O-Khan opened, with Taichi hitting some spin kicks to the thighs and O-Khan hitting his Mongolian Chops. Sanada and Cobb traded some good offense, with Sanada hitting a bodyslam at 7:30. Cobb hit a running crossbody block on Yuya. Newman hit a running Penalty Kick on Yuya. Uemura hit the Deadbolt double-arm suplex on Newman for the pin. Good match.
4. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr. and Mikey Nicholls defeated “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Yota Tsuji and Bushi at 7:38. Sabre and Tsuji opened and they traded offense while tied in a knucklelock. Nicholls entered and hit a delayed vertical suplex at 4:30. Bushi entered for the first time but TMDK began working him over. Sabre applied an anklelock on Bushi and turned it into some type of Figure Four leglock, and Bushi tapped out. Good while it lasted! Sabre and Yota kept brawling after the match.
5. “House of Torture” EVIL, Ren Narita, Jack Perry , Yujiro Takahashi, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (w/Dick Togo) defeated Hikuleo, El Phantasmo, Shota Umino, Yoh, and Togi Makabe at 10:02. Sho was on commentary and he’s angry that Yoh still has his (stolen) Juniors title. All ten brawled at the bell. ELP and Ren opened in the ring. HoT whipped Yoh into a guardrail at 3:00 and began working him over. Perry hit a dropkick to the lower back for a nearfall at 5:30. Shota finally made the hot tag and he hit several dropkicks on the HoT members, then a fisherman’s suplex on Perry for a nearfall at 7:00.
Perry hit a clothesline and they were both down. EVIL and Hikuleo, who will be second-round opponents, tagged in and traded offense. Togi hit some punches on EVIL. Togo tripped Togi and wrapped a chain around his throat. Togi hit a double clothesline at 9:30, then he bodyslammed EVIL. Kanemaru sprayed alcohol in Togi’s eyes. EVIL hit the Everything is Evil uranage on Togi for the pin. Exactly what you’d expect here. Sho once again chased Yoh to the back, with Yoh clutching the stolen title. (Why doesn’t Sho go and grab it when Yoh is in the ring?)
6. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Gabe Kidd, Taiji Ishimori, and Kenta defeated “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, and Hiromu Takahashi at 7:06. Shingo and Kidd, who will be second-round opponents, charged at each other at the bell and immediately traded forearm strikes.. (These two were supposed to have a match in the UK two weeks ago but Kidd wasn’t medically cleared, so this will be a big match.) Kidd bit the top of Naito’s head at 1:30. Ishimori entered and also helped beat down Naito. Hiromu hit a huracanrana on Ishimori at 5:00, then a basement dropkick, then a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. The ref got bumped. Ishimori hit a pop-up low blow kick, got a rollup out of nowhere, and pinned HIromu! That felt like it came out of nowhere. (I rewound 30 seconds after initially missing the low blow because it happened so quickly, so the result now makes more sense.)
7. David Finlay defeated Tanga Loa in a New Japan Cup second-round match at 17:16. Loa came out first but he stood by the curtain so he could brawl with Finlay the second he emerged. They got in the ring at 0:30 and the bell sounded to officially begin but they immediately rolled back to the floor to keep brawling. Loa whipped Finlay into some empty chairs. They returned to the ring and Loa remained in charge. Finlay clotheslined them both to the floor at 5:00. It was now Finlay’s turn to whip Loa into rows of empty chairs. Back in the ring, Finlay kept Loa grounded. Loa hit a back suplex at 8:30. Back to the floor and Loa again whipped Finlay into the guardrails several times, and he dropped Finlay back-first on the apron at 10:00.
Back in the ring, Loa remained in charge; he botched a 619 attempt but the crowd was forgiving. Loa hit a better 619. He went for a slingshot senton but Finlay got his knees up at 12:00. They got up and traded forearm strikes and Finlay hit a uranage over his knee for a nearfall. Loa slammed Finlay back-first into a corner at 14:00, then he hit a short-arm clothesline and a twisting uranage for a nearfall, then a standing powerbomb with a folding press for a nearfall. Finlay nailed the Oblivion neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 16:00. Loa hit a Rikishi Driver piledriver for a nearfall. Finlay hit a powerbomb for a nearfall. He hit his pop-up kneestrike to the chest for the pin. Solid brawl; not a must-see but not terrible, either.
8. Hirooki Goto defeated Chase Owens in a New Japan Cup second-round match at 21:32. I am perplexed and baffled that NJPW has put Owens in a main event slot. Owens immediately rolled to the floor. Back in the ring, Goto hit some punches and Owens went right back to the floor. They got back into the ring with Owens in charge. Goto hit a clothesline and they were both down at 7:00. He hit a back suplex for a nearfall. Chase hit a Flatliner into the top turnbuckle then a senton. They hit double clotheslines. Goto hit a Death Valley Driver at 10:00. They traded forearm strikes. Goto applied a sleeper. He hit another Death Valley Driver for a nearfall at 12:30.
Chase hit a baseball slide dropkick to the floor, then a swinging neckbreaker on the thin mat, and they were both down at ringside. Chase set up for a package piledriver on the ring apron but Goto escaped. He tried another one on the floor, but Goto escaped and hit a backbody drop onto the exposed floor at 16:00. Back in the ring, Chase hit a running neckbreaker for a nearfall. He hit a DDT out of the ropes for a nearfall. Goto hit an inverted DDT out of the ropes for a nearfall at 19:30. Chase hit an enzuigiri and a running knee to the head, then a V-Trigger kneestrike to the side of the head. However, he again couldn’t hit the package piledriver. Goto hit a headbutt that dropped Owens. Goto then hit a neckbreaker over his knee for the pin.
Final Thoughts: No one wants to see Chase Owens in a main event. Ishii got a good match out of Chase in the first round. I don’t doubt that Will Ospreay could get a good match out of Chase Owens. But 2024 Hirooki Goto is just unable to get a good match out of Chase Owens. It wasn’t a “bad” match, but it certainly wasn’t “good” either.
I have previously mentioned that wrestling historian/statistician Chris Samsa is running an online bracket challenge. Roughly 78% of voters picked among four men to win the tournament, and all four are still in the field. David Finlay advanced to the quarterfinals here and we’ll see if Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji and Zack Sabre Jr.also advance in coming days. The tournament resumes Wednesday.
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