New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/13/2024 New Japan Cup 2024 Day 7

New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/13/2024 New Japan Cup 2024 Day 7

I skipped two matches:

Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino vs. House Of Torture (Jack Perry & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

Kanemaru hits Shota from behind to start then Jack joins in. Shota escapes a 2v1, dropping Kanemaru on his chest then hitting a basement dropkick on him. Shota dropkicks Jack. Jack eye rakes Shota then foot chokes him. Kanemaru then sends Shota's arm into the rails.

Kanemaru slams Shota then Jack tries pin attempts on Shota. Jack chinlocks Shota. Kanemaru eye rakes Shota then back elbows him in the corner. Shota neckbreakers Kanemaru.

Taguchi gets the tag in. He hip attacks Kanemaru then bulldogs him. Kanemaru eye rakes Taguchi then Taguchi pulls Kanemaru's head into his butt. Taguchi 2nd rope hip attacks Kanemaru for 2. Kanemar dropkicks Taguchi in the knee while he charges at him. Taguchi is sandwiched with kicks then Taguchi does a jack knife on Jack for 2. Jack tiger drivers him and Shota breaks the pin up.

Shota is pulled out by Kanemaru and sent into the rails. Jack flying knees Taguchi in the head and wins it.

It was short and nothing special. Shota got sent into the rails something like 4 times in 6 minutes and Taguchi mostly did hip attacks.

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, David Finlay, Gedo & KENTA) vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura)

 

Kenta gives Taichi his belt for some reason and tells him to put it on. Kenta then hits him from behind. Taichi hits leg kicks then hits Kawada kicks. Gedo hits Taichi's knee with a hammer outside and DF uses his shillelah on it. Taichi's legs get wishboned then DF works on him.

Taichi enzugiri's DF in the corner. Sanada gets in and dropkicks Kenta, then takes a 2v1. Chase is pushed into Gedo then Sanada puts Chase in a paradise lock. Sanada dropkicks DF then DF uranage backbreakers him. Chase tries to paradise lock Sanada but can't figure out how to do it. Sanada then russian legsweeps him.

Yuya hits punches on Chase then flying forearms him. Yuya armdrags and dropkicks him. Yuya backdrops DF for 2. Chase STO's Yuya then sentons him. Gedo and Douki go at it. Douki armdrags him then springboard srmdrags him. Douki then puts him in the douki chokey and DF breaks it up. DF hits shots on Yuya then takes a flying crossbody.

Gedo eye rakes Douki then hits punches. Gedo jawbreakers him then Douki puts him in the douki chokey. Douki then taps him out.

They worked on Taichi's leg here for the 2nd time in a row. I didn't think it was that great and it didn't get a ton of time.

DF and Yuya have words after.

House Of Torture (Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Yujiro and Mikey start us off. Mikey shoulders him over then Yujiro takes a double back elbow. Yujiro takes a senton + fist drop combo for 2. Mikey hits chops on Yujiro then corner lariats him. Yujiro bites Mikey's hand then Zack is sent into the rails. Zack is also sent into the rails and face kicked over them.

Ren stomps on Mikey then back elbows him. Yujiro snapmares, legdrops and headbutt drops him. Ren eyerakes Mikey then Mikey ddt's him. Zack running face kicks Ren then gets some stuff in on Yujiro. Zack rolls up Ren for 2 then bow and arrows him. Zack dropkicks him in the back of the head.

Zack cobra twists Ren then Ren grabs him by the face. Ren puts the ref in the way then face kicks Zack. Yujiro face kicks Zack then reverse ddt's him for 2. Yujiro bites Zack's foot then Ren pulls Mikey over the top. Yujiro fisherman suplexes Zack for 2. Ren brings a weapon in but doesn't get to use it. Yujiro's neck is twisted then he takes a sliding lariat and PK for the pin.

It was nothing of note. HoT were just basic heels here and got put down in under 10 minutes.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Tanga Loa), El Desperado & Togi Makabe

Bushi hits ELP From behind to start. ELP fights off a 3v1 and sends bushi into Togi's shoulderblock. Hiromu takes a double shoulderblock. Naito takes an atomic drop into a manhattan drop then a double russian legsweep. Loa then slingshot swantons Naito. Loa hits shots on Naito. Loa slams Despy onto Naito.

Despy takes an atomic drop into baseball slides and takes back elbows. Hiromu corner lariats and basement dropkicks Despy. Despy spinebusters Hiromu then ELP hits punches on Yota. ELP flying headscissors him then 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him into the asai moonsault.

ELP step up enzugiri's Yota then Togi hits corner punches on Yota. Togi lariats Yota then Yota takes corner lariats. Togi lariats Yota for 2. Yota flatliners Togi then Loa suplexes Naito. Everyone starts getting a move in then Togi hits a double lariat on Yota and Bushi. Yota spears Togi and gets the win.

It was your usual throwaway multi-man match. I was surprised Naito took more than get put to dish out in this one. It was fast paced and okay for what it was but nothing special.

ELP stares down Yota after.

New Japan Cup 2024 Second Round Match - EVIL vs. Hikuleo

Hiku grabs Togo on the apron then Evil clips him from behind. Hiku back elbows him and elbow drops him. Evil is thrown into the rails multiple times. Hiku gets his legs caught on the rails while trying to boot Evil then Togo chairs Hiku. Hiku's knees are banged off the floor then Togo chairs Hiku's knees.

Evil works on Hiku's leg and locks it up. Hiku is thrown out and Togo chairs Hiku's leg again. Hiku takes an eye rake then comes back with a flying lariat. Hiku hits chops then big boots him from the side. Hiku splashes him and suplexes him. Evil goes out and Jado throws Evil back in.

Hiku uppercuts Evil then Evil swings Hiku's leg into the ref, taking the ref out. Hiku is chopblocked then HoT comes in. HoT beat up Hiku and Hiku takes the chop to the crotch. Evil sharpshooters Hiku.

Hiku twisting neckbreakers Evil then Hiku TKO's Evil. HoT ring the bell early. HoT then GoD start fighting in the ring. They eventually leave and Hiku chokeslams Evil. Evil clips him then hits everything is Evil to win it.

It was somewhat logical with Evil working the knee, but it had the usual House of Torture shenanigans. A full on brawl broke out in the ring between many people that the ref didn't know or care about and then they just went back to the match before the finish. House of Torture's shenanigans ruined what would have been a perfectly acceptable match otherwise here. Hiku did show some flashes of brillance as a face and I hope he keeps his jumping, flashing elbow and criss-cross big boot.

New Japan Cup 2024 Second Round Match - Shingo Takagi vs. Gabe Kidd

 

Kidd boots Shingo off the apron as he enters then throws him into the rails. Kidd throws a chair at Shingo's head then hits uppercuts. Shingo's head is banged off a table then Kidd gets on the mic and talks trash. Shingo bangs Kidd's head off the mat. Both get thrown into the rails then they trade forearms outside.

Shingo shoulders him over inside. Shingo knees Kidd on the ropes then Kidd is thrown into the post. Kidd is thrown into the post then Kidd throws a rail at Shingo. Kidd piledrivers Shingo on chairs. Kidd backdrops Shingo for 2 then throws him into the rails again.

Kidd foot chokes him then Shingo hits punches and chops. Shingo suplexes him then sliding lariats him. Kidd no sells it and exploders Shingo on his head. They trade headbutts and chops. Kidd suplexes him then Shingo holds on and suplexes him.

They lariat each other at the same time and go down. Shingo hits forearms then is dropped with a slap. Kidd slaps him and hits forearms. Shingo fires back, hits lariats then backdrops him. Shingo hits made in Japan for 2. Kidd rebound lariats him and tombstones him for 2. Shingo backslides him off a lariat attempt then sliding d's him. Shingo running lariats him then hits a last of the dragon to win it.

The first half was so-so with brawling around the ring. The second half picked up when they started exchanging blows and doing more high impact moves. I'd like to see them do this again and just go blow for blow in a sprint to start. I thought the selling could have been better in the second half here as well. The two obviously match up well together, just it's a matter of putting the pieces in the right order. I did like it overall, but the ceiling for this was being one of the best matches of the year and they didn't get there.

Overall thoughts: The main could have been great but they slowed things down with brawling outside. The semi-main was looking good but then had the usual HoT shenanigans. None of the undercard stuff was worth seeing. The show wasn't good and I wouldn't recommend this.