New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/11/2025 New Japan Cup 2025 Day 3

New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/11/2025 New Japan Cup 2025 Day 3

Day 2 is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/new-japan-pro-wrestling-392025-new.html

Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuya Murashima vs. Daiki Nagai, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata

Tana and Koji go at it. Koji side headlocks him and they fight over wrist control. Koji side headlocks him then shoulders him over. Koji hits machine gun chops in the corner then does a corner forearm. Koji then dragon screws him. Nagai comes in and he shoulders over Tana with Koji. Tana 2nd rope twisting crossbodies Nagai. KM gets in. He helps Tana double soulder Nagai.

KM stomps on Nagai then hits forearms. KM throws him for 2. KM back elbows him then chinlocks him. KM chinlocks Nagai. Nagai gets his legs split. Goto stomps Nagai then suplexes him for 2. Goto chinlocks Nagai. Nagai hits back with forearms. Nagai misses a dropkick. Nagai then ends up hitting a dropkick.

Yuji gets in and hits chest kicks on Goto. Yuji corner facekicks him and exploders him for 2. Yuji and Goto trade forearms. Yuji facekicks him and Goto lariats him off the orpes. KM gets in and dropkicks Yuji.  KM hits forearms on Yuji then corner forearms him. KM slaps and powerslams Yuji for 2. Yuji front facelocks him. Yuji evades a double team then crossfaces KM. Yuji then taps him out with it.

Thoughts: It was under 10 minutes and not much of note. Everyone got their section in and then we headed to the finish.

Yuji and Goto stare down after.

BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Drilla Moloney) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman, Jeff Cobb & TJP)

Fale and Cobb stare down and shove each other. Cobb hits forearms. Fale misses a corner charge. Fale slams Cobb. Cobb dropkicks him. Fale takes a corner splash and dropkicks to the knees. CN basement dropkicks him from behind.

CN hits forearms on Fale then Fale throws him out. Chase then sends CN into the rails twice. CN's team is beaten up outside. Fale clubs on CN then stands on his back with Chase. Chase forearms CN in the lower back then backbreakers him.

Drilla gets in and hits CN in the gut. Drilla chops and kicks CN around. CN hits headbutts. They trade forearms.  CN step up enzugiri's him. TJP gets in. He and Drilla trade fast forearms. Drilla forearms him. TJP jumps at him and takes a fallaway slam.

Drilla hits a forearm and chop combo on TJP. TJP is sat on the top rope and is enzugiri'd. TJP slides under Drilla's legs and spin kicks him. TJP flying back elbows him in the corner then does facewash kicks. TJP misses a top rope move then takes a rolling spear from Drilla.

Chase and Cobb get in. Cobb shoulders him over then flying shoulders him. Cobb backdrops him. Chase gets his knees up Cobb's standind moonsault. Fale shoulders Cobb over then lariats him over for 2. CN saves Cobb from a double team.

CN superkicks Fale from the apron. Chase is pulled down on the buckles by Cobb. Chase pumping knees Cobb twice. Chase then runs into a tour of the islands backdrop. Cobb then hits a spinning slam on him and pins him.

Thoughts: It was your usual midcard tag. It wasn't anything of note but it was fine.

El Phantasmo, Jado, Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji)

Oleg and Shingo go at it. Oleg takes him down and they grab each other. Shingo ropebreaks on a waistlock. They shoulder battle and trade forearms. Shingo hits punches then Oleg chops him. Oleg misses a corner splash and is hiptossed. Oleg shoulders Shingo over. Yano gets in. He takes a turnbuckle pad off and throws it at Shingo. The ref sees Shingo with it and they fight over it. Yano hits Shingo in the back of the head.

Shingo throws the pad at Yano and lariats him. Bushi tries to hit Yano with the pad but is stopped and rolled up. Yano goes into the exposed buckle and is cradled. Yano takes down Bushi maybe by the mask.

ELP and Yota get in. ELP throws a shirt at him and they trade forearms. Yota facekicks him and hits him in the gut. ELP flips over Yota's back then headscissors him. ELP spinning back elbows Yota. ELP 2nd rope twisting crossbodies Yota.

Yota backbreakers ELP into a curbstomp. ELP is sunset flipped into a baseball slide from Naito. Naito hits forearms on ELP. ELP dropkicks him. Jado is tagged in. 

Naito takes kicks from Jado and ELP and goes down. Jado bridging ddt's Naito over the 2nd rope. Yota breaks the count up. LIJ take a double shoulderblock from Oleg. Jado takes shots to the knee then Naito submits him with a leglock.

Thoughts: It was short and wasn't that good. Jado lost here like he always does and the finish was far from anything exciting. I think they were supposed to tease Oleg vs Shingo here but they didn't get enough time for that.

Just 4 Guys (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gabe Kidd & SANADA)

The heels attack early as usual and Taka is sent out. Gabe and Tai trade shots for a bit. Gabe hits a big slap then Tai facekicks him over. Tai snapmares him and kicks him in the back. Gabe chops him.

Tai hits Kawada kicks and Gabe comes back with headbutts. Tai hits more Kawada kicks then takes a chop and headbutt combo. Tai facekicks Gabe then Gabe exploders him. Tai side kicks him and they trade shots. Gabe lariats him on the ropes and Tai lariats him down.

Taka and Sanada get in. Taka step up knees him in the corner and running knees him. Sanada tries to bridghe pin him but is caught. Sanada then catches him with a dragon sleeper and wins.

Thoughts: This was a short waste of time that didn't accomplish much. Sanada and Taka barely even got in this and weren't really even needed for this.

Gabe and Tai have words after.

Shota Umino & Tomohiro Ishii vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young)

Shota is bald now after cutting his own hair after a loss a few shows ago. I have no idea what the plan is for this but I think it's stupid.

Khan pounds on Shota to start. He stomps him and slaps him in the back of the head. Shoulder shoulders him over and stomps on him. Shota euros him. Ishii hits chops on Khan. Khan takes a double shoulderblock. Khan trips Ishii and Jake basbeall slides Ishii. Khan slams Ishii for 2.

Jake hits knees on Ishii then knee drops him. Khan hits mongolian chops on Ishii then uppercuts him. Khan sits on Ishii's neck on the buckles. Khan head and arm chokes Ishii. Ishii then brainbusters him. Shota gets in and knocks over Khan. He sends Khan into Jake and shoulders Khan over.

Shota corner euros him and fisherman suplexes him for 2. Khan shoulder throws Shota. Khan does a fireman's carry takedown and monkey flips him. Shota tornado ddt's him. Jake and Ishii get in. Jake dropkicks him then is shouldered over. Ishii corner lariats him. Jake boots him out of the corner and 2nd rope dropkicks him. Jake sliding leg lariats him.

Ishii forearms Jake down. Khan pump kicks Ishii. Khan and Shota trade forearms. Shota germans Khan. Jake enzugiri's Shota then jake is dropkicked into an Ishii german. Jake cradles Ishii for 2. Jake jumping knees him and superkicks him for 2.

Shota hits a hard lariat on Jake then lariats Khan over. Ishii brainbusters Jake and wins.

Thoughts: It was alright but still pretty much the usual fare here. Shota hit some nice lariats and Jake/Ishii matched up well. The Shota/Khan feud will continue on 3/12 at the NJPW Cup, so maybe we'll learn more about this one there. 

New Japan Cup 2025 Second Round Match - YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yuya Uemura

Yuya takes him down and they stand off. Yoshi shoulders him over then Yuya armdrags him. Yuya arnlocks him. Yuya hits chops on Yoshi and drops him with them. Yoshi takes him down by the hair then bangs his head off the buckles. Yoshi hits chops. Yuya chops back then Yoshi chops back.

Yuya is laid on the top rope and Yoshi dropkicks him as he hangs. Yuya hits more chops and is chopped in return.  Yuya hits a flying shot on him. Yuya chops him. Yuya armdrags him and chops him. Yuya backdrops him.

Yoshi dropkicks him in the knee then neckbreakers him. Yoshi holds his arm and hits chops and forearms. Yuya armbars him and Yoshi ropebreaks.

Yuya bangs Yoshi's arm off his shoulder. Yuya shoulder throws him. Yuya hits chops and Yoshi chops him. Yuya hits chops and hurricanrana's him into an armbar. Yoshi ropebreaks. Yuya hits a muso for 2.

Yoshi codebreakers him then hits a suplex. Yoshi hits 2 superkicks then sitout powerbombs him for 2. Yoshi backbreakers Yuya then superkicks him in the head. Yoshi then hits a meteora for 2. Yoshi running lariats him. Yuya hits a front suplex on Yoshi and pins him.

Thoughts: I didn't like this that much. They did way too many chops here and it just got old after a while. Yoshi busted out the sitout powerbomb and a meteora here which I haven't seen him do that much. I didn't think the finishing stretch was that good either.

New Japan Cup 2025 Second Round Match - Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ryohei Oiwa

Zack trips him and Oiwa goes for the keylock. Zack trips him and grabs the leg. Oiwa rolls out. Oiwa does an armbar to Zack and Zack headscissors him. Zack goes for the armbar. Oiwa wristlock throws Zack then Zack upkicks him.

Zack snapmares him then Oiwa slams him. Oiwa facelocks him and does a sleeper but Zack ropebreaks. Oiwa goes for a falling splash and Zack gets his knees up. Zack backbreakers Oiwa then does a bow and arrow.

Zack euros Oiwa several times then suplexes him. Zack headscissors Oiwa and Oiwa ropebreaks. Zack hits kicks on a downed Oiwa. Oiwa chops back and is dropped with a euro. Oiwa then karelin's lifts him.

Oiwa shoulders him over then hits a dropkick. Oiwa corner back elbows him. Oiwa whips Zack and yanks his arm but Zack slips and takes a bad looking fall down. Oiwa armdrags Zack. Zack headscissors him and twists his neck with his feet. 

They trade shots at 10 minutes. Zack flying headscissors him into an armlock. Zack chest kicks him. Oiwa does an armdrag from the slam position then sits on Zack's back an armlock. Zack euros him over and is shouldered over. Zack lariats him then Oiwa backdrops him.

Oiwa stomps on him then Zack euros him. Oiwa arm whips Zack down. Zack pele kicks Oiwa in the arm then michinoku drivers him for 2. Zack hits forearmed and gets forearmed. Oiwa flips him with a lariat. Oiwa doctor bombs him for 2. Oiwa goes for a cutter and is thrown off. Oiwa sits on his back with an armlock.

Zack escapes him and tries a bridge pin for 2. Zack gets a 2 count on him and high kicks him. Oiwa hits a big lariat and sleepers him. Oiwa germans him. Zack hits a big slap and crucifixes him to win.

Thoughts: Both guys did submissions here but neither really worked on anything specifically. They did your usual wrestling in between. It was alright but what they were doing needed more time and the submission work they did should have played into the finish.

New Japan Cup 2025 Second Round Match - Evil vs David Finlay

The two and all of their buddies fight inside and outside of the ring to start. DF is sent into the seats. Evil chokes DF with a chair. DF pulls on Evil's nose. Evil hits DF with a magazine and DF rakes his face. DF is hit from behind and goes into the rail. DF chokes Evil.

Evil chops DF then DF double throat thurst him outside. DF chokes Evil with his knee outside. Evil leglocks him on the floor and is driven into the apron edge.

The match then officially starts and DF backbreakers him. DF russian legsweeps him. DF hits forearms and boots on Evil. Evil boots DF out of the corner. DF misses a charge and goes into the exposed buckle.

They go back out. DF's head is banged off the apron. Evil puts a chair around DF's neck and hits it with another chair. Evil ties up DF's leg again inside the ring. Evil stomps on DF's leg and slaps him around. Evil eye rakes DF. DF hits forearms. Togo trips DF and nails him outside.

DF is thrown into the rails and knocks the timekeeper over. Evil then talks trash on the mic as he foot chokes him. Togo saves Evil from going through a table outside. Gedo then eye rakes Togo.

DF uranage backbreakers Evil. DF hits corner lariats on Evil then release suplexes him. Evil is sent into the rails. Evil eye rakes DF outside then DF spears him into a table against the rails.

DF hits a dominator in the ring for 2. DF hits crossface shots on him. Evil back body drops him. DF gets hit by Togo as he runs the ropes and Evil lariats DF for 2. Evil sharpshooters DF and DF ropebreaks.

DF eye rakes Evil. Evil sends DF's leg into the ref. Evil low blows DF. Gedo and Togo go at it on the apron. Togo tries to throw powder and ends up hitting the ref with it. DF low blows Evil.

Sanada comes out and dropkicks DF. He then hits Gedo. Evil sends DF into Sanada. DF takes a magic killer from Togo and Evil for 2. Evil forearms him then DF lariats him on the ropes. Both go over the top.

They fight on the floor and Evil is sent into the rails.  Evil is sent into the post. DF rams Togi into Evil and wins via countout.

Thoughts: It was all shenanigans as expected with a full on gang fight breaking out before the match. It had ref bumps, interference and other stuff that didn't help this one. It also went long and just wasn't that good.

DF gets on the mic after. He says Bullet Club, War Dogs and the New Japan Cup is his. He says the IWGP Title is also his. Gedo then translates for him.

Overall thoughts: It wasn't that good of a show. The main was what you would expect. Oiwa vs Zack was okay but not that great and Yuya/Yoshi was a chop fest. Shota has shaved his head and looks bad with the new hairdo. The underdcard wasn't much either. I'd give this a 4 out of 10 and wouldn't recommend it.