New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/16/2024 New Japan Cup 2024 Day 9

New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/16/2024 New Japan Cup 2024 Day 9

I skipped one match here:

El Desperado, Katsuya Murashima & Togi Makabe vs. Oleg Boltin, Shoma Kato & YOH

Kato and KM mat wrestle then back off. KM hammerlocks him and rolls into a wristlock on him. KM shoulders over Kato then stomps him. Kato and Despy trade shots then Despy clubs his neck. Kato takes a double shoulderblock. Despy chops Kato then Kato hits a nice dropkick on him.

Yoh forearms Despy then flying forearms him. Yoh 2nd rope corkscrew elbow drops him. Despy blue thunders Yoh then spinebusters him. Oleg and Togi trade shoulders then Oleg knocks him over. Oleg slams him then splashes him for 2. Togi corner lariats Oleg then hits corner punches.

Togi shoulders him over then KM asks to get in. KM dropkicks Oleg three times. Oleg takes corner attacks then another dropkick from KM. KM hits forearms on Oleg then Oleg powerslams him for 2. Kato dropkicks Despy then Oleg finlay rolls KM to win it.

It was a quick throwaway. Murashima got some shine here with dropkicks and I think Oleg's finlay roll move is new.

Ryusuke Taguchi, Tanga Loa and Tomohiro Ishii vs Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb

Taguchi is wearing normal black trunks here. Taguchi wristlocks Akira then Akira armdrags him. Taguchi side headlocks him. Taguchi runs the ropes many times for no real reason. He misses a lariat then is rolled up. Akira is rolled backwards and basement dropkicks him off of it.

Akira face kicks Taguchi then takes a dropkick. Loa lariats Akira and tries to knock Cobb off the apron but is stopped. Loa argues with Cobb then takes a sleeper from Khan from behind. Khan bites Loa then mongolian chops him. Khan forearms Loa in the corner then Khan sits on Loa's neck in the corner.

Cobb hits back elbows on Loa in the corner. Cobb double axe handles Loa then Cobb hits corner spears on him. Loa fights out of the corner then 2nd rope lariats him. Akira dropkicks Cobb then Ishii shoulders Akira obver. Ishii sends Khan into Cobb then shoulders Khan over. Ishii shoulders Cobb over. Cobb tour of the islands backdrops Ishii then Ishii suplexes him.

Taguchi hits dropkicks on Cobb then Cobb whips him into the buckles hard. Taguchi takes an atomic drop off a hip attack then Cobb hip attacks him. Taguchi running hip attacks him then hip attacks him over the bottom rope outside. Loa enzugiri's Khan then hits a big spear. Taguchi springboard hip attacks Cobb for 2. Taguchi goes for a hip attack but is rolled up into a backdrop.  Akira plancha's Ishii outside then Cobb tour of the islands slams Taguchi to win it.

It wasn't anything special. It didn't have enough time and was a mix of the limited Loa and the comedy of Taguchi. I did like Cobb's hip attack roll up into a backdrop here though.

Mikey Nicholls and Zack Sabre Jr. vs Callum Newman and TJP

Zack and TJP start us off. TJP grabs the arm and takes him down by it. Zack then takes him down by the leg. TJP headscissors Zack down then Zack headscissors him. TJP handstands out of it. Zack cravates him, TJP snapmares him, Zack holds on and they both back off.

CN and Mikey go at it. CN hits forearms. Mikey knocks him down then CN kips back up, hitting an armdrag. CN flying headscissors him then hits a dropkick. Mikey takes low dropkicks for 2. CN and Mikey go at it. Mikey corner lariats him. Zack grabs CN's leg on the apron and Mikey lariats CN in the back of the head. Zack pulls CN out into the aisle and works his ankle.

Zack works CN's legs inside and does a neat stf variation. Mikey slaps CN around then takes forearms. CN sweeps the leg and double stomps his back. TJP diving top rope forearms Mikey. He running face kicks Mikey then facewash kicks him.

TJP final cuts Mikey then face kicks him. Mikey death valley drivers TJP. TJP and Zack both go for backslides at the same time then they fight for submissions. Zack cradles him for 2 and they back off. TJP puts him in an octopus then Zack twists his neck with his feet. TJP backdrops Zack then CN running boots Zack.

CN takes a corner lariat. TJP helps out CN then crossbodies Mikey over the top. CN flying kicks Zack in the corner then CN bridges him for 2. CN hits a big forearm on Zack. Zack catches a corkscrew kick then Zack taps him out with an ankle lock.

It was a fun match. It was pretty heavy focused on submissions here and there was a lot of focus on Newman's leg. TJP and Zack really went at it at times at a fast speed and it really made me want to see them have a match at some point. Good stuff here with everyone trying when they didn't have to.

Shota Umino and YOSHI-HASHI vs Taichi and Yuya Uemura

Yuya and Shota go at it. Shota cravates him then headscissors him. Yuya headstands out of it. Shota shoulders him over then Yuyta hits a hiptoss and armdrag. Shota then basement dropkicks Yuya.

Yoshi gets in and trades chops with Yuya. Yoshi neckbreakers Yuya then Yuy slams and flipping sentons him. Shota hits euros on Yuya and foot slaps him.  Yuya fights back and takes a shot to the gut. Shota basement dropkicks him then Yuya dropkicks him.

Taichi hits Kawada kicks on Shota then face kicks him. Taichi side kicks him then Shota running forearms him. Shota fisherman suplexes Taichi then hits foot slaps. Shota slaps him around then hits forearms. Shota and Taichi trade shots then Taichi spin kicks him in the gut. Shota spinning forearms Taichi then Taichi lariats him. Shota shotgun dropkicks him.

Yuya and Yoshi go at it. Yuya armdrags him and hits a dropkick. Yuya backdrops him then Yoshi dropkicks him in the knee. Yuya takes corner attacks, a pop-up knee then a Yoshi headhunter for 2. Yoshi backcrackers Yuya then butterfly locks him. Shota hits a nice dropkick on Taichi while Yuya is in the hold.

Yoshi superkicks Yuya then flips him with a lariat for 2. Yuya armdrags Yoshi then crucifixes him to win it.

I thought this was interesting and a different kind of a match than NJPW usually books. It got enough time but they didn't have them go for a classic here. We didn't really get any double teams or special moves, but it was interesting to see Shota and Yuya kind of being treated as equals with Yoshi and Taichi. I would have loved to have seen them get a chance to steal the show in this spot as we might have really got a good one out of this. I thought Yuya had a good showing here and he's really stepping his game up post-hair loss.

BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito vs Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita and EVIL

The House of Torture attack before the bell. Ren and Yota go at it. Yota shoulders him over and splashes him. Shingo and Yujiro get in and Shingo gets the advantage. Evil knees Shingi's back from the apron then Shingo takes a 2v1. Shingo hits corner lariats on both then throws Yujiro into Evil. He then double lariats them.

Bushi hits a double hurricanrana on the heels then Hiromu baseball slides Kanemaru. Hiromu is thrown into the exposed buckle. Kanemaru back body drops Hiromu then Hiromu goes into the exposed buckle. Evil chokes Hiromu with a towel and pulls on his face. Hiromu hits chops on Ren then is eye raked. Hiromu goes into the exposed buckle again then Ren crabs him. Hiromu's neck is catapulted into the bottom rope then Togo first drops him. Hiromu tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him.

Hiromu dragon screws Kanemaru and tags in Naito. Naito armdrags and baseball slides Kanemaru. He kicks the middle rope into Evil's crotch then hits combinacion cabron in the corner on Kanemaru. Naito neckbreakers Sho then step up enzugiri's Ren. Yota running face kicks Ren then Ren face kicks him. Ren knees him in the gut.

Ren takes corner lariats and a 4 person basement dropkick. Ren flying neckbreakers Yota after putting the ref in the way then Yota takes running corner attacks. Togo chops Yota in the chops from the 2nd rope. Everyone starts coming in and out to hit moves. Kanemaru grabs whiskey and Yota superkicks it out of his mouth. Yota then spears Yujiro and wins it.

Togo chairs Shingo after the match. Shingo is sent into the rails then holds his arm. Yota and Ren square off.

This sounds stupid but I almost prefer HoT in a 5 man like this because then they can't do run-in's since everyone is there. Stuff like the ref getting knocked over also ends up not applying either, getting rid of a lot of the worst parts of HoT. It was an average match. Acceptable I suppose but nothing we haven't seen many times.

New Japan Cup 2024 Quarter Final - Jack Perry vs SANADA

Jack Perry said he's been waiting for this one for over a year. He claimed Sanada pretended he didn't know him at Forbidden Door. He then jumps him. Sanada armdrags and dropkicks him then Jack throws him into the rails. Jack hits shots to the back of the head then baseball slides his back.  

Jack corner lariats and nekcbreakers him. Sanada russian legsweeps him. Sanada then hits a dropkick and plancha. Sanada TKO's him then flips over him into a dragon sleeper. Jack gets his knees up on a Sanada top rope moonsault. Jack trips him and puts the snare trap on.

Jack bridging ddt's him on the floor then tiger drivers him inside for 2. Sanada backrolls him but Jack pulls the ref down with them. House of Torture then come out and beat up Sanada. LIJ comes out to help and Sanada fends off the heels. Sanada poisonrana's him, Jack no sells it and knees him.

Sana enzugiri's him then bridiging twisting neckbreakers him over the top rope. Sanada shining wizards him then top rope moonsaults him. Ren Narita pulls the ref out, Togo hits Sanada then Jack hits a running knee for 2. Sanada backrolls him with a bridge and wins it.

It was an average match with the usual HoT BS that added nothing.

Sanada did a speech after.

Overall thoughts:  I didn't care for the main. The semi-main was more tolerable since all of HoT was involved, meaning they couldn't really interfere. I liked the Umino/Yoshi vs Uemura/Taichi tag and wish it would have been the main event as it looked to be on track to being something very interesting. I also liked the TMDK vs Newman and TJP tag. I thought it was average overall.