New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/18/2024 New Japan Cup 2024 Day 11
I skipped 2 matches here.
Oleg Boltin & Shoma Kato vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.)
Oleg and Zack go at it. Oleg trips him then grabs his back. Zack kimura's Oleg. Mikey and Kato go at it. Kato is pushed down then hits forearms. Mikey shoulders him over then chops him. Zack drops Kato with euros. Mikey cranks Kato's neck and bites him.
Mikey chops him up then knee drops his head. Mikey misses a corner move and Oleg gets in. Oleg shoulders Mikey and Zack over then slams Mikey. Oleg splashes Mikey for 2. Mikey ddt's Oleg then works his arm. Oleg hits a big chop on Zack then Zack sleepers him. Oleg rolls him off.
Kato dropkicks Zack then slams him. Kato running dropkicks Mikey and Mikey takes a big bump for it outside. Kato flying forearms Zack. They forearm each other at the same time and Zack guillotines him. Zack then taps him out with it.
It was a vets vs rookies match. Not great or anything but Kato showed some good face work here and it was nice to see Oleg get to do a little more than usual. I'm interested to see what a Zack vs Oleg match might look like someday.
El Desperado, Togi Makabe & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, Taichi & Yuya Uemura)
Despy trips Douki then Douki shoulders him over. Douki headlock takeovers him and they stand off. Despy and Douki trade hammerlocks then Douki snapmares him over. Douki springboard armdrags him. Despy spinebusters Douki.
Yuya hits chops on Despy and Ishii tries to help. Yuya takes a double shoulderblock. Togi slams Douki then Douki hits forearms on Ishii then step up enzugiri's him. Douki springboard back elbows him. Taichi hits Kawada kicks on Ishii and Despy. Taichi then side kicks Ishii for 2.
Taichi and Ishii trade forearms for chops and they do spinning strikes on each other. Taichi enzugiri's him then Ishii suplexes him. Taichi running lariats him. Yuya armdrags and dropkicks Togi. Yuya armdrags and double chops Douki.
Togi hits corner punches on Yuya then Togi shoulders him over. Yuya huricanrana's Togi into an armbar and taps him out.
It was too short. Taichi's strikes weren't good here and the finish was random.
Ishii and Taichi fight after.
House Of Torture (Jack Perry, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo), Shota Umino & YOH
ELP is thrown into the exposed buckle then Ren chokes ELP. ELP is backed up into the exposed buckle. Jack double axe handles ELP's arm then ELP is sent into the buckles hard. ELP is choked and chaired in the gut outside. Kanemaru works ELP's back then dropkicks his knee. ELP goes head first into the mat from this.
ELP step up enzugiri's Kanemaru then Yoh flying forearms Kanemaru. Yoh hits dragon screws on his opponents. Yoh double underhook suplexes Kanemaru for 2. Kanemaru step up enzugiri's him then Yoh dropkicks him. Shota gets in and running forearms Jack. Jack lariats Shota.
Shota takes corner attacks then Ren knee presses Shota. Shota takes a sandwich kick in the corner then is fisherman suplexed. Yujiro face kicks Shota on the ropes then ELP hits knee dropkicks. Jack avoids a Hiku chokeslam then Shota hits a nice dropkick on Jack. Yujiro takes a double face kick then Shota STF's Yujiro to win it.
Sho takes Kanemaru's whiskey and the IWGP Jr. title after.
It was a basic heel vs face tag match could have been a little shorter.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. United Empire (Francesco Akira, Jeff Cobb & TJP)
Naito and Bushi go at it and then Bushi runs out. Hiromu tries to go at it with Cobb but also runs for it. Naito and Cobb go at it. Cobb teases punching him on the ropes then does Naito's pose. Naito does it with him then stomps his foot.
Cobb blocks a tornado ddt then catches Naito flying move off the ropes. Cobb hits corner spears. Cobb then does his own version of Naito's combinacion cabron. Bushi boots TJP then TJP spin kicks him. TJP handstands in the corner and headscissors Bushi off of it.
Bushi dropkicks TJP in the knee then flying headscissors him out. Bushi topes him. Hiromu basement dropkicks TJP. Naito hits combinacion cabron on TJP in the corner. TJP hits a reverse ddt + flatliner combo. Akira flying headscissors Hiromu then step up enzugiri's Naito. Akira hits corner attacks on Hiromu then top rope crossbodies him.
Hiromu takes corner attacks then a 3D facebuster. Akira does an sto variation on Hiromu then Hiromu rolls him up and pins him.
It was your usual short muliti-man undercard tag. Nothing too memorable about it other than them featuring Jeff Cobb a little more than usual here.
New Japan Cup 2024 Semi Final Match - EVIL vs. Yota Tsuji
Yota topes Evil before it starts. Togo jumps Yota then Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. Yota is sent into the rails. The ref is knocked over and HoT group stomps Yota. Some of LIJ come out to help and they call it a no contest. I don't know why though considering this stuff happens every show and is allowed.
They eventually restart it and all of the people not in it are kicked out. Evil eye rakes him and is shouldered over and splashed. Yota is thrown into the rails and knocks the timekeeper over. Yota is thrown into the exposed buckle.
Evil eye rakes him then Yota drives his head into the mat. Yota curb stomps him. Evil uses the ref to hit a magic killer on Yota. Yota is sent into the exposed buckle, lariated and suplexed. Evil hits darkness falls for 2. Evil goes into the exposed buckle and is superkicked.
Evil hits lariats then Yota pumping knees him. Yota orange crushes him for 2. Yota goes for double springboard double stomp and ends up nailing the ref with it. House of Torture then comes out and beats up Evil. The ref looks right at them and doesn't see them doing it of course.
LIJ come out to help and get beaten up. Another ref comes out, who somehow saw the ref was down but saw nothing else. Evil hits a lariat on Yota. Yota hits a reverse sitout slam. Togo interferes, Evil hits a low blow and another ref is taken out. Shingo comes out to save Yota. Yota hits a spear on Evil and wins it.
This was a fraud of a match and a total circus with little to no wrestling. There's no explanation for some of the stuff that went down here. How could the second ref see the first ref go down but not see Yota get group stomped? This was a total waste of a semifinal where we should have gotten a good match. Awful stuff.
New Japan Cup 2024 Semi Final Match - Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA
They clean break early. Sanada goes for wristlocks then Goto takes him down. Goto side headlocks him then shoulders him over. Goto hiptosses Sanada then lariats him over the top to the floor. Goto is tripped into the rails outside then Sanada piledrivers him on the floor.
Goto slaps him then Sanada russian legsweeps him. Goto lariats him then backdrops him. Sanada hits leapfrogs and dropkicks him out. Sanada then plancha's him. Sanada TKO's him then Goto hits a ushigoroshi.
They trade forearms and Sanada goes down. Sanada bridging twisting neckbreakers Goto then shining wizards him. Sanada dragon sleepers him then top rope moonsaults him. Goto PK's him then Sanada backslides him. Sanada bridge pins him for 2 then shining wizards. Goto hits a GTR for 2 then slices him over the knee to win it.
It was an okay main event. They didn't go all out here but they had a mostly safe match without getting too crazy. I didn't like the piledriver on the floor spot early not really meaning a whole lot. While I'm not the biggest Sanada fan, him losing another one after losing to Naito twice isn't a good look for him, especially to Goto.
Overall thoughts: Not one of NJPW's better shows. The main was an okay main event with Sanada taking another big match loss. Evil vs Yota was a joke and the rest were throwaway meaningless tags. I don't recommend this one.
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