New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/14/2022 - New Japan Cup Day 8

New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/14/2022- New Japan Cup Day 8

I'm only doing 4 matches here. Just not a great looking card.

YOH and YOSHI-HASHI vs Jeff Cobb and Will Opseray

Yoshi and Jeff trade forearms to start. Yoshi dropkicks Jeff in the knee then he and Yoh get some free shots on him. Will gets double hiptossed and Jeff is tripped onto Will. Yoh hits some forearms on Jeff and Jeff hits a great crotch hold into a suplex. Will hits some elbows on Yoh's neck then flurries on him with shots.

Yoh comes back with forearms and then is thrown into the buckles hard. Cobb hits Yoh with a shot to the back then stands on his back. Yoh rolls into a tag. Yoshi gets the hot tag, knocking Will off the apron and hitting a nice corner lariat on Cobb. Yoshi then misses a running blockbuster but it is sold anyway.

Jeff and Yoshi trade shots then Jeff hits a great dropkick on him. Yoh and Will get in and they pick up the pace with Yoh hitting a sling blade. Yoh dragon screws him then falcon arrows Will for a close 2. Jeff gets in and knocks over Yoh then lariats him after a Will flip kick. Jeff then does a tour of the islands backdrop for 2. Will then hits a running back elbow and wins it.

I didn't have any problem with this. It was sub 10 minutes and totally fine. The pace was good.

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Master Wato vs BUSHI and Tetsuya Naito

Tana and Naito fight over an armlock and pull each others hair out of a headlock. Tana twisting springboard crossbodies him off the 2nd rope then Wato gets in. He hits his back elbow and spin kick combo on Naito then knocks Bushi off the the apron.

Wato hits some chest kicks on Naito and tries to springboard but Bushi pulls him down. Bushi hits some chops on Wato then Naito gets in and hits his leg sweep > slingshot dropkick on Wato for 2. Wato misses a dropkick and Naito does a nice roll into a pin attempt. They get back up and Wato leg lariats him.

Tana gets in and flying forearms Naito. He thinks about a swanton from the 2nd rope but Naito poses and laughs at him. Tana then dropkicks him in the knee and dragon screws him. Tana then texas cloverleafs him. Naito then comes back with a neckbreaker.

Bushi top rope dropkicks Tana and ddt's him for 2. Bushi then sunset flips Tana into a Naito baseball slide. Wato springboard euro's Bushi then Naito dropkicks him in the knee. Naito and Tana trade forearms and Tana twists and shouts Bushi. Tana then hits him with a sling blade and hits a high fly flow for the win.

This wasn't too bad. Nothing special and they didn't do anything wild but it was fast paced and it was fine for a quick 10 minute battle.

New Japan Cup 2022 3rd Round - CIMA vs Hirooki Goto

They go to the mat early and Goto shoulder blocks him. Cima comes back with a nice dropkick. Goto gets whipped in the rails outside then as his neck is over the rail, Cima snapmares it. Cima legdrops him and twists his neck inside then catapults him into the bottom rope. Cima does a nice hold where he figure fours his legs and sits on his neck and rolls back for a pin attempt.

Cima charges into him and gets a big lariat. Goto hits a nice spin kick then a bulldog for 2. Cima rolls out after a shoulder block then Goto planchas him. Goto then top rope elbow drops him for 2. Cima rolls out of a lariat then backcrackers him from behind.

They try to trick each other by running the ropes in odd ways then Cima takes a ujigiroshi. Cima gets stuck on the top rope then Goto bridging neckbreakers him from it. Cima powerbombs him and misses a top rope double knee. Goto lariats him from behind then hits an F-U into an elbow drop for 2. Cima then backslides him for 2.

Cima hits a superkick then hits the schwein for a close 2. Cima does springboard meteoras to Goto and then wins it in a surprise.

This could have had a few minutes shaved off of it. It was cool to see Cima win but I think they could have upped the pace a little.

New Japan Cup 2022 3rd Round - Kazuchika Okada vs Taichi

Okada hits a big boot early and takes a high kick from Taichi. They go outside and Okada gets pushed into the post. Taichi continues to take over and cobra twists him. Taichi hits some face kicks and Okada fights back with forearms before taking an eye rake.  Okada then comes back with a flapjack and some back elbows.

He puts Taichi up top and dropkicks him down to the floor. Okada goes after him and gets his back rammed into the rails, but he then ddt's him. Back in the ring and Taichi hits him with a side kick. Taichi hits some chest kicks and Okada starts making a comeback before taking a another kick.

Okada catches him with a tombstone then goes for the money clip but Taichi hits the ropes. Okada elbow drops him from the top then hits his nice dropkick. He then goes for the money clip. Taichi gets out by grabbing him on the throat then hits a lariat. Taichi hits a gammengiri/enzugiri then counters his short arm lariat with his own. He then hits a saito suplex for 2.

Okada goes for a big dropkick but Taichi does a cool counter with a chokeslam. He then hits a last ride powerbomb for 2. Taichi hits an Alabama slam and they fight up top. Taichi goes for something but ends up getting last ride when Okada gets down. Okada hits a spinning lariat then a big dropkick. Taichi gets up from both then gets a fire thunder driver. Okada then rainmakers him for the win.

This was a little long at 22 minutes or so. It really wasn't bad but despite Taichi getting so much in, you just knew there was no chance he was winning and he didn't. So it was just kind of a long waste of time as you waited for the inevitable.