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

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

I skipped the first two matches:

El Desperado, Shota Umino & YOH vs. House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL & Jack Perry)

The fight starts as the faces enter the ring. The heels take stereo forearms, getting knocked over. Jack works over Shota. Shota slams him on his chest then basement dropkicks him. Jack dropkicks Shota then suplexes him. Jack neckbreakers him and hits mounted forearms.

Togo hits Shota in the gut then fist drops him. Evil tags in and beats up Shota and Despy. Shota is thrown into the exposed buckle for 2. Evil slaps Shota around then Shota hits forearms. Shota hits a nice dropkick.

Despy gets in and beats up on the heels. Despy backdrops Evil for 2. Evil throws Despy down by the hair then Despy is stomped by Evil and Togo. Despy spinebusters Togo.

Yoh is tagged in and hits a vader bomb corkscrew elbow on Togo for 2. Yoh takes corner attacks then Togo 2nd rope chops Yoh in the nuts. Togo chokes Yoh with a weapon and Despy eye rakes him. Evil is thrown into the exposed buckle and Shota dropkicks Jack. Yoh dropkicks Togo then falcon arrows him for 2.

Sho superkicks Togo then does a double underhook suplex to win it.

It was another quick multi-man tag here. HoT cheated like usual but at least Despy was man enough to do something about it and give it back to them. There was nothing special about this and nobody really got much in.

House Of Torture (Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA & Taichi)

YK and Douki go at it. Douki flying headscissors YK then springboard back elbows him. Ren eye rakes Taichi and Taichi is sent into the cement walls. YK knees Bushi in the gut. Taichi tries to bring a chair in and the ref takes it away.

Yujiro does headbutts on Douki. Douki's neck is catapulted into the bottom rope. Douki flying headbutts Ren then Taichi hits Kawada kicks on Ren. Taichi face kicks Ren then hits Kawada kicks on YK.

Taichi side kicks Ren then Ren flying neckbreakers Taichi. Ren exploders Taichi. Sanada dropkicks Yujiro in the knee then Yujiro bites his hand. Yujiro lariats Sanada over then suplexes him for 2.

Sanada bites Yujiro's hand then Yujiro rakes his face. YK tries to spit whiskey at Sanada but misses. Taichi hit s a double clothesline and Douki plancha's outside. Sanada then shining wizards Yujiro and dragon sleepers him to win it.

It was a quick, throwaway tag with the usual HoT shenanigans and the faces fighting back some.

Taichi throws Ren into the seats after. 

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

All 8 fight to start. Cobb and Yota go out Akira is lifted for a headscissors, but ends up doing a takeover on his partner for it. Hiromu basement dropkicks him. Khan is put in a camel clutch by Naito then takes a low dropkick. TJP throws Akira to dropkick Naito then LIJ is sent into the rails outside.

Naito takes kicks then a basement dropkick from Akira. TJP facewash kicks Naito in the corner then Khan sits on Naito's head in the corner. Naito tornado ddt's him. Cobb and Yota get in and trade forearms. Yota flying headscissors him. Cobb dropkicks him, shoulders him over and hits a standing moonsault. Yota hits his combo on him that ends in a curbstomp.

Bushi dropkicks Cobb in the knee then Khan stops Bushi's dive. Bushi is lifted into a facebuster. Yota shoulders Cobb over. Everyone runs in to get a move in. Bushi rewind kicks Cobb then he tour of the islands slams him to win it.

It was your usual tag with these guys. It was under 10 minutes and everyone gets a little in before the finish. It was fine for what it was but nothing special.

Khan holds up his KOPW belt and Naito's IWGP belt after. Cobb and Yota go face to face.

New Japan Cup 2024 First Round Match - Hikuleo vs. Oleg Boltin

A student from Kazhakstan gave flowers to Oleg.

They lock up. Hiku side headlocks him and Oleg side headlocks him. They shoulder battle and Oleg shoulders him over. Oleg splashes him for 1 then stomps on him. Hiku hits a big boot to the face. Hiku hits a corner splash then hits a world's strongest slam for 2.

They trade forearms then Hiku slams him. Hiku elbow drops him for 2. They trade chops. Hiku misses a corner charge then takes shots to the back. Oleg hits forearms then hits a belly to belly suplex for 2. Oleg crabs him and Hiku ropebreaks.

Hiku lariats him over and is rolled up on the chokeslam attempt. Oleg suplexes him then hits a german for 2. Hiku powerslams him then chokeslams him for the win.

It was a basic hoss match with them suplexing and slamming each other along with some chops and shoulderblocks. Not bad at all and it's nice to see someone who can work with Hiku's style for a change.

New Japan Cup 2024 First Round Match - Gabe Kidd vs. Callum Newman

CN rolls him up to start. Kidd shoulders him over, CN kips up then CN slaps him. Kidd chops him. CN flips over him and face kicks him. They go out and CN shotgun dropkicks him outside. CN slaps him and goes for a 2nd rope moonsault but is hit on his way down. Kidd throws him into the seats.

CN hits forearms then CN is pushed over the top to the floor. CN beats the count back in then is chopped. Kidd hits chops and CN upkicks him. CN suplexes him then topes him. CN top rope forearms him in the back of the neck. CN hits PK's for 2. CN dropkicks him in the knee then backdrops him.

They trade shots then CN spanish flies him. Gabe spits on him then CN superkicks him. CN hits a corner dropkick then CN springboard corkscew kicks him. CN hits a corkscrew kick for 2. CN misses a top rope SSP then Kidd lariats him for 1. Kidd brainbusters him for 2 then half package piledrivers him and wins it.

It was a good and fiery match. These two really worked well together. This is the kind of stuff you watch NJPW fo.

New Japan Cup 2024 1st Round - Shingo Takagi vs Yuya Uemura

 

They do some basic holds early and Yuya takes him down. Shingo armdrags him but Yuya holds on and armdrags him. Shingo shoulders him over. They criss cross each other on the ropes. Yuya hiptosses and armdrags him. Yuya bangs Shingo's arm off his shoulders. Shingo hits a back elbow and a lariat then Yuya goes out.

Yuya is sent into the rails then his head is banged off the apron. Yuya's head is banged off the apron. Shingo shoulders him over inside then suplexes him. Shingo sentons him then hits an STF.

Yuya hits amrdrags and a dropkick. Yuya arm throws him then bangs his arm off the mat. Shingo armdrags him then ddt's him. Shingo corner lariats him then hits a superplex. They trade chops for forearms then Yuya germans him. Shingo no sells it and Yuya dragon suplexes him. Yuya corner dropkicks him then uranage's him.

Shingo belly to belly suplexes him then hits a lariat. Shingo hits a made in Japan for 2. Yuya enzugiri's him then hurricanrana's him into an armbar. Yuya hits a headbutt and a pele kick, then hits a sliding lariat. Shingo counters a hurricanrana with a powerbomb. Shingo lariats him for 2. Shingo hits a last of the dragon and wins it.

It was one of Yuya's better matches since his return. It went a little longer than it should have but in the last few minutes of it, the match really started to break out and reached a certain level of quality. Yuya showed some spirit here and he busted out some things he doesn't always do like the pele kick. In return, Shingo busted out last of the dragon. I thought they could have made better use of their time as it felt like there wasn't enough time by the end, but it was a good taste of what's maybe to come. If I'm New Japan, I'm running this match a few more times as I think Yuya can grow a lot from it. 

Shingo got on the mic after. He wants to hold a show in Yamanashi. He said he will win the NJ Cup and the IWGP Title. LIJ then come out and pose after.

Overall thoughts: The three NJPW Cup matches were good. Yuya had one of his best performances against Shingo here and they showed potential to maybe have a great one down the line. Oleg did good against Hiku and it was nice to see Hiku against someone who knew how to work his size. Kidd vs Newman was good stuff. They were fiery and vicious against each other and what they were doing is the stuff I watch NJPW for. The three undercard matches I saw were average and nothing too special.