New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/15/2024 New Japan Cup 2024 Day 8

New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/15/2024 New Japan Cup 2024 Day 8

I saw all but 1 match:

Shoma Kato vs. Katsuya Murashima

They do some amateur wrestling and stand off. Kato does a nice takedown and they stand off. KM ties up his legs then armlocks him. KM headlock takeovers him then Kato headscissors him. KM side headlocks him. Kato leglocks him  then puts it back on again.

Kato stomps on and they trade shots. KM dropkicks him then goes for the armbar. KM rolls him into a kimura then Kato hits a nice dropkick. Kato slams him and does a single leg crab. Kato hiptosses KM then slams him. Kato single leg crabs him and the time runs out.

It wasn't a bad young lions match at all. They did some nice amateur wrestling and did their best trying to make the basics look good. I still can't say I see anything in these guys so far that would suggest they are going to be big deals.

KM shoves him after and Kato pushes him away. 

Mikey Nicholls vs. Callum Newman

 

They lock up and Mikey grabs an arm. CN flips out of it using the ropes and armdrags him. Mikey shoulders CN over then CN hits forearms. Mikey shoulders him over then takes a running boot to the chest. Mikey hits shots in the corner, then lariats him in the back of the head on the apron. CN takes a nasty roll to the floor off of it.

Mikey backdrops CN on the apron then suplexes him inside. CN hits forearms then takes a knee to the gut. CN suplexes Mikey. CN trips him into a double stomp on the back. CN flying dropkicks him in the corner then PK's him for 2. Mikey death valley drivers him then sliding lariats him. CN flying headscissors Mikey then rolls him up for 2.

CN spinning forearms him then Mikey lariats him in the back of the head. Mikey does a fire thunder variation and wins it.

It was a different kind of matchup than we usually get with two foreigners and no specific face/heel rules. I thought it was fine for what it was with Newman putting in some effort and Mikey doing a few different moves than usual.

Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma), El Desperado & Oleg Boltin vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura)

Oleg shoulders over Douki then pushes him over. Douki hits chops on Oleg that do no damage then Douki kicks him in the knee. Douki step up enzugiri's him then Oleg shoulders him over hard. Douki's 2nd rope crossbody is caught. Oleg throws him around the karelin's lifts him.

Despy blocks Douki's uppercut then Douki springboard back elbows him. Douki and Yuya trade chops. Sanada trips Despy then puts him in a paradise lock. Sanada then basement dropkicks him out of it. Taichi hits Kawada kicks on Despy then face kicks him.

Togi shoulders over Taichi then hits corner punches on him. Togi lariats him for 2 then Taichi spin kicks him in the gut. They lariat each other then Taichi side kicks him. Yuya and Honma get in. Yuya hits an armdrag and dropkick. Yuya backdrops him for 2 then takes a ddt. Despy spinebusters Yuya then Honma headbutt drops Yuya. Everyone brawls then Honma running lariats Yuya for 2.

Yuya dropkicks him then top rope crossbodies him. Yuya front suplexes him and wins it.

It was your basic tag with nothing too interesting about it. Everyone got their little section in before the finish. Honma surprisingly got to look strong against Yuya here. Togi was in this for maybe a minute tops.

House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, Jack Perry, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny (Hikuleo, Jado & Tanga Loa), Shota Umino & YOH

The faces attack before the bell this time. Hiku chokes and pounds on Evil. Evil eye rakes him then Hiku hits a jumping elbow drop for 2. Hiku stands on Evil's neck and tags in Loa.

Loa hits boots on Evil then hits a double lariat on Yujiro and Jack. Hiku hits a face kick and Evil take a 5v1. Jado takes double axe handles off the 2nd rope on his arm. Jack neckbreakers Jado. Jado takes shots from Jack then shoulderblocks him. Shota armdrags and dropkicks Evil. Shota shotgun dropkicks Yujiro. He slams Kanemaru on his chest and basement dropkicks him.

Shota fisherman suplexes Jack for 2. Shota exploders Jack. Jack no sells it and tiger drivers him. Yoh takes running corner attacks then takes a chop to the crotch for 2. Togo chokes Sho with a weapon. Hiku knocks over Loa on accident then chest kicks Kanemaru. Togo pulls Hiku over the top then eye rakes Yoh. Yoh rolls up Togo with a bridge and wins it.

It was a simple face vs heel match. Thankfully, it was one of HoT's more tolerable outings here. It was average though and everyone only got a little bit of time except for Hikuleo.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. United Empire (Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & TJP)

LIJ gets jumped before the bell. Everyone goes outside and fights. Hiromu hits a hurricanrana on Akira off a double team attempt. Hiromu makes Akira hurricanrana TJP. Akira takes a double team then a basement dropkick from Hiromu.

Naito takes low dropkicks. TJP and Naito trade boots to the gut. Naito gets monkey flipped by Khan then shoulder thrown. Khan hits forearms on Naito then TJP slingshot swantons Naito. TJP facewash kicks Naito. TJP spin kicks him then is sunset flipped into a basement dropkick by Naito.

Cobb and Shingo go at it. Shingo lariats and forearms him. Khan hits mongolian chops then takes a double chop. Shino back elbows and lariats Cobb. Cobb yanks Shingo into an overhead belly to belly then Cobb flying back elbows him. Cobb misses a standing moonsault on Shingo then Shingo exploders Cobb.

Bushi takes a 3d facebuster for 2. Akira does his STO variation on Hiromu and takes a neckbreaker from Naito. TJP totally misses a spin kick on Shino but it is sold anyway. Bushi is caught off the 2nd rope by Cobb then hurricanrana's him. Bushi rewind kicks him then Cobb tour of the islands powerslams him and wins it.

It was a short multi-person tag match. Nothing of note here for the most part and it's similar to what we have been seeing. It needed a lot more time and/or less people to be good.

New Japan Cup 2024 Second Round Match - El Phantasmo vs. Yota Tsuji

 

Yota wristlocks him then ELP headlock takeovers him. ELP headscissors him then they stnd off. Yota shoulders him over then botches a flying headscissors on him. ELP grabs his arm, walks the ropes and hurricanrana's him. ELP goes for a dive on Yota but gets kicked. ELP is sent into the rails.

ELP's head is banged off the buckles. Yota snapmares him and bodyscissors him. Yota slams him then splashes him. ELP does a nice spinning ddt. ELP springboard crossbodies him then misses the asai moonsault off of it. ELP rolls out to the apron and tornado ddt's Yota on the floor. ELP then does a springboard swanton into an asai moonsault.

Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers ELP. Yota superkicks him while he's down. Yota backdrops ELP on the apron. Yota pumping knees him. ELP misses a moonsault off the ropes then Yota curb stomps him on the floor. ELP beats the count in and is curbstomped.

Yota corner splashes him then ELP gets stuck on the buckles. Yota hits a top rope spanish fly for 2. ELP jumps over a spear then superkicks Yota. Yota crucifixes him then hits an orange crush for 2. ELP blocks a spear then hits a CR2 for 2.

They trade forearms on their knees then get up and trade. ELP hits a slap combo then enzugiri's him. Yot headbutts him in the chest, blue thunders him then knees him in the chest. Yota then curbstomps him then double jump springboard curbstomps him to win it.

It was long and they did too much. They had some cool ideas but not enough of a foundation here to really get the best out of them. I also didn't think the selling was that great.

New Japan Cup 2024 Second Round Match - Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita

Zack headlock takeovers him, misses a PK then Ren goes out to stall. Ren stomps on Zack then hits euros. Ren knees him in the gut then throws him out. Zack is sent into the rails. Zack is sent into the wall but jumps off of it and cobra twists Ren. Zack euros Ren then hits kicks to his back. Zack is then sent into the rails, landing on the announcer's table. Ren then flying neckbreakers Zack against the rails.

Ren elbows Zack's neck then running boots him in the head. Ren catapults Zack's throat into the bottom rope. Ren back elbows Zack and they battle over a cobra twist. Ren face kicks him then Zack face kicks him. Zack rolls him up and bow and arrows Ren. Zack armwhips Ren down. Zack hits kicks to the chest then surfboards him.

Zack armbars Ren then double armbars him. Ren slaps him then hits a neckbreaker. Ren forearms him and they trade forearms. They trade shots and double boot each other. Ren exploders him for 2. Ren then does a knee press to him. Ren hits kicks to the face. Zack back rolls him into a bridge then dragon suplexes him. Zack drops him with a slap then Ren cobra twists him.

Ren top rope knee presses him then they fight over an armbar. Zack triangles him and House of Torture comes out. Mikey Nicholls fights some of them off then Kanemaru spits whiskey in Zack's eyes. House of Torture then come back into the ring and push the ref. Mikey lariats them. Zack fights off more HoT members then Ren hits him with the push up bar. Ren facebusters him and wins.

These two were having a good match up until the interference. It was aggressive, they really felt like they were trying and the two really matched up well. Then House of Torture had to get involved. The ref got pushed and didn't care. People came in the ring to fight and he didn't care and then we had weapons usage. Maybe you can excuse some of it as they put Ren over here and needed some kind of dirty finish to explain it. But, they could have done that without HoT. It's just a shame because this was way better than I had expected and it still got ruined in the end.

Overall thoughts: The main was on track to being a good one then HoT got involved, ruining it. Phantasmo and Yota had some good ideas but went too long and overdid it. I liked Nicholls/Newman and the young lions match was acceptable. I wouldn't recommend this one.