By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “New Japan Cup 2024”
March 13, 2024 in Okayama, Japan at ZIP Arena Okayama
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 gym. Most people are seated on the floor with just a handful seated in risers and a second deck. Attendance is maybe 700.
1. “United Empire” Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan defeated Toru Yano and Tomoaki Honma at 5:45. Cobb and Yano opened, and Toru removed a corner pad. Cobb surfed on Yano’s chest, then hit a standing moonsault. Mongolian hit his Mongolian Chops. Honma tagged in at 3:00 and dropped O-Khan with a shoulder tackle. O-Khan accidentally punched Cobb! Honma hit a double DDT. Honma hit a Kokeshi for a nearfall at 5:00. However, O-Khan applied the Sheepkiller submission hold to the throat while Honma was bent over his knee, and Honma tapped out. Basic.
2. Tomohiro Ishii and “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi defeated “United Empire” Callum Newman, TJP, and Francesco Akira at 8:48. Goto and Newman opened. Bishamon hit some quick offense on Akira, then on TJP. Ishii hit some stiff chops on Akira at 4:00; Akira’s chops on Ishii had little effect. Akira hit an enzuigiri. TJP tagged in and hit a top-rope flying forearm on Ishii, then a double dropkick on Bishamon. Ishii dropped TJP with a punch. Ishii hit a brainbuster and they were both down at 6:30.
Newman and Yoshi-Hashi tagged in, and Callum hit a doublestomp on the back and a running penalty kick for a nearfall. Newman hit a running knee for a nearfall. Goto hit a clothesline. Stewart confirmed that Newman has cleared over 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and is not a junior. Goto hit a neckbreaker over his knee on Newman. Bishamon then hit the Shoto team slam on Newman for the pin. This was among the best undercard matches of this tour. It appears TJP has an issue with Ishii, as they kept barking at each other. Interesting.
3. “House of Torture” Jack Perry and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Shota Umino and Ryusuke Taguchi at 6:34. Shota and Perry opened, but Kanemaru attacked from behind before they could lock up. Shota hit a dropkick on Perry. Kanemaru hooked Shota’s arm behind his back and hit a bodyslam, and Umino sold pain in his arm. Umino hit a standing neckbreaker at 4:00, and he tagged in Taguchi for the first time. He hit a flying buttbump on Kanemaru. Perry hit a Tiger Driver for a nearfall at 6:00 but Shota made the save. Kanemaru whipped Shota into the guardrail. Perry hit a running knee to the side of Taguchi’s head for the pin.
4. “Just 5 Guys” Sanada, Taichi, Douki, and Yuya Uemura defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” David Finlay, Kenta, Chase Owens, and Gedo at 9:49. Finlay mockingly rubbed Uemura’s nearly bald head (he lost a hair-vs.-hair match a couple weeks ago.) Kenta showed off his Defy World Title belt; Taichi pointed at it and indicated he wants a title shot! (Defy is a Seattle-based promotion.) Kenta attacked Taichi to start the match. Finlay used his shillelagh to beat up Taichi on the floor; Kenta got a nearfall in the ring at 2:00, and the heels took turns working over Taichi.
Sanada got the hot tag, and he tied Chase Owens in a Paradise Lock at 5:00. Yuya entered and hit a flying forearm and a deep armdrag on Chase, then a dropkick, and he was fired up. Chase hit a senton at 8:00. Douki applied the Douki Chokey triangle choke on Gedo. J5G hit big boots on Finlay. Douki again got the Douki Chokey locked in, and this time, Gedo submitted. Gino Gambino goes nuts when the hold is applied, and he was thrilled to see it get a win. Funny. It now appears Yuya and Taichi want tag title shots against Kenta and Chase! That’s a nice shifting of gears.
5. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr. and Mikey Nicholls defeated “House of Torture” Ren Narita and Yujiro Takahashi at 9:04. Ren and Sabre opened, but Yujiro tagged in. Sabre hit some European Uppercuts on Yujiro. Ren whipped Sabre into a guardrail, then he hit a boot to the face. The HoT began working over Nicholls in the ring. Nicholls hit a DDT on Ren at 5:00. Sabre tagged in and hit more European Uppercuts, then a Mafia Kick. (Sabre and Ren will meet in tournament action on Friday.) Sabre tied him in a bow-and-arrow, then he hit a basement dropkick to the back of the head.
Ren applied a Cobra Twist, but Sabre escaped and applied his own. Yujiro entered and hit an inverted DDT on Sabre for a nearfall at 7:30. Yujior hit a fisherman’s brainbuster for a nearfall. He got his cane but the ref confiscated it. Ren got his push-up bar but Sabre avoided being hit by it. Sabre hit a running Penalty Kick to Yujiro’s chest for the pin.
6. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, Bushi, and Yota Tsuji defeated Togi Makabe, El Desperado, El Phantasmo, and Tanga Loa at 10:04. Yota and Phantasmo will meet in a second-round match on Friday, and they opened the match. Desperado tagged in and traded offense with Naito. Tanga hit a slingshot senton at 2:00, then his knife-edge jabs to the chest and throat on Naito. Bushi hit a basement dropkick on Desperado’s knee. Naito tugged on Desperado’s mask! The commentators talked about how Sho has missed most of this tour, and Walker Stewart was doubtful about Sho’s “injuries.” Hiromu hit a dropkick for a nearfall on Desperado at 4:30.
Desperado fired back with a spinebuster and they were both down. Tsuji and ELP squared off again with Phantasmo hitting a huracanrana. He hit a Lionsault for a nearfall. Togi tagged in for the first time at 7:00 and he hit a series of punches on Yota in the corner. He hit a clothesline for a nearfall. Yota fired back with a Flatliner faceplant. Loa suplexed Naito. Desperado hit a back suplex on Hiromu. Togi hit a double clothesline at 9:30. Togi missed a top-rope kneedrop, and Yota immediately hit a spear on Makabe for the pin.
* I’ll be the first to admit that none of the four second-round matches so far have been really good yet, and I don’t have high hopes for EVIL-Hikuleo. We had some really good first-round matches, and the main event should be a barnburner. Let’s see!
7. EVIL (w/Dick Togo) defeated Hikuleo (w/Jado) in a New Japan Cup second-round match at 14:36. EVIL attacked before the bell and kicked at Hikuleo’s damaged knee; the House of Torture had attacked that leg on Tuesday. They went to the floor, where Hikuleo whipped EVIL into a guardrail. Togo hit a chairshot across Hikuleo’s knee at 2:30. Back in the ring, EVIL twisted the damaged left leg and worked it over. Togo hit another chairshot on the floor; EVIL got another nearfall in the ring at 5:30. Hikuleo hit a hard clothesline and they were both down. Hikuleo hit a brainbuster for a neafall at 7:30. EVIL went for a low blow but Hikuleo blocked it.
The ref got bumped and EVIL hit a chop block to the back of the knee. The rest of the House of Torture ran to the ring and they took turns hitting Hikuleo in the corner. Togo hit his knife-edge chop to Hikuleo’s groin, and EVIL got a nearfall at 9:30. EVIL applied a Sharpshooter, applying more pressure on the injured knees, but Hikuleo reached the ropes. Hikuleo hit a Tongan Twist swinging faceplant at 11:00. He rolled to the floor and beat up several members of HoT.
In the ring, Hikuleo hit a TKO stunner but the bell rang and the ref stopped counting! Of course, one of the HoT struck the bel. Ren hit a flying knee on Hikuleo, and all the HoT beat up Hikuleo. Loa and ELP hit the ring to try to even the sides. ELP hit a superkick on Perry. He hit a top-rope moonsault to the floor on five HoT members. So, we are back to just Hikuleo and EVIL, and Hikuleo hit a full nelson slam, but he couldn’t hit a chokeslam. EVIL hit another chop block at 14:00. He hit the Everything is Evil uranage for the pin. What you expected here.
8. Shingo Takagi defeated Gabe Kidd in a New Japan Cup second-round match at 21:19. Again this match had been slated for a huge Rev Pro show in the UK on Feb. 18, but Kidd was pulled because he hadn’t recovered from his injuries in an NJPW cage match. Kidd kicked Shingo as he tried to enter the ring, and he whipped Shingo into the guardrail. I started my stopwatch at first contact but the bell hasn’t rung. Kidd threw a chair at his head and he swore at the crowd. He choked Shingo with his T-shirt and jawed at the ref. They brawled over the guardrail and near the fans. They traded forearms at ringside and Kidd bit his head. Stewart reiterated we haven’t had a bell yet. They got in the ring at 3:00 even to officially begin.
They went right back to the floor, where Shingo slammed Kidd head-first into the ring post. They tore part the guardrails, and Kidd tossed them on Shingo, who was down on the floor. Kidd hit a piledriver onto a pile of folded chairs at 6:00. Shingo barely got back into the ring before being counted out; Kidd grabbed him and hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 7:30, and Shingo tumbled to the floor and collapsed. (I love the selling here by Shingo.) Shingo got back in at the 16-count this time. Kidd kept Shingo grounded and was in charge; he tossed the ref aside and was booed. Shingo fired up and hit a back elbow and a short-arm clothesline at 11:30. He hit a suplex. Kidd nailed an Exploder Suplex and they were both down at 13:30.
They traded headbutts, then chops. Gabe hit a clothesline but only got a one-count; Shingo hit a clothesline but only got a one-count. They hit simultaneous clotheslines and both collapsed and were down at 16:30. They got up; Kidd spit on him and hit some forearm strikes. Shingo hit a back suplex, then the Made in Japan powerbomb for a nearfall at 18:00. (The 15-minute call is right-on.) Kidd hit a jumping Tombstone Piledriver for a believable nearfall! “I have no idea how Shingo Takagi is still in this,” Stewart said. They hit more headbutts. Shingo got a backslide for a nearfall, then a sliding forearm for a nearfall at 20:30. He hit the Last of the Dragon pump-handle powerbomb for the clean pin. That was really good. Again, official time is about 18:18.
* Shingo spoke on the mic to close the show. He set the mic down and appeared the show was over, but Naito and Tsuji came to the ring. They are doing a great job of setting up the possibility that Naito could be facing one of his LIJ faction partners.
Final Thoughts: We’ve had six second-round matches, and I doubt anyone would disagree that Kidd-Shingo was the best of them. A hard-hitting match from the second they touched. I’ve noted several times that Shingo Takagi was my pick to win the tournament, but this was a big obstacle for him, as Kidd is so improved. Hikuleo-EVIL was what you’d expect; the House of Torture chicanery gets old. Hikuleo has definitely benefitted from teaming with ELP; his singles matches still aren’t quite there.
I will reiterate that wrestling historian/statistician Chris Samsa is running an online bracket challenge. Roughly 82% of voters had EVIL reaching the quarterfinals, and 68% had Shingo in the quarterfinals. Of the other qualifier, Jack Perry had 62% of the vote, Sanada had 95%, David Finlay had 86%, and Hirooki Goto had just 63% of the vote. The tournament takes an off-day on Thursday. Friday will conclude the second-round matches with Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita and Yota Tsuji vs. El Phantasmo.
Be the first to comment