New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/12/2025 New Japan Cup 2025 Day 4

New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/12/2025 New Japan Cup 2025 Day 4

Daiki Nagai & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Just 4 Guys (TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)

Taka and Nagai go at it. Taka wristlocks him, Nagai rolls out and reverses it. Taka does the same then side headlock takeovers him. Nagai headscissors him. Taka side headlocks him then shoulders him over. Nagai hiposses Taka and shoulders him over.

Yoshi gets in and elbows Taka in the back of the neck. Yuya gets in and is chopped up by Yoshi. Yuya goes up and over, armdrags him and chops him down. They tade chops. Yoshi superkicks him then Yuya dropkciks him.

Nagai and Taka get in. Nagai hits forearms and misses a dropkick. Nagai then hits one for 2. Nagai crabs him. Taka facelocks him.

Yuya throws Yoshi out and Taka running knees Nagai for 2. Taka pump kicks Yoshi for 2. Taka facelocks Nagai and taps him out.

Thoughts: It was short with a mix of the vets and rookies. Yuya and Yoshi mostly just traded chops here. It was fine for an opener.

Yuya talks on the mic after. 

Satoshi Kojima, Tomohiro Ishii & Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuya Murashima

Goto and Yuji go at it. Yuji wristlocks him. Goto rolls out and is put in a front facelock. Yuji boots him in the gut and side headlocks him. Goto shoulders Yuji over and misses a senton. Goto hits forearms then Yuji facekicks him. They grab each other and Tana tags in.

Koji and Tana go at it. Koji side headlocks him then shoulders him over. KM takes triple boots from his opponents and hits forearms on them. He then gets stomped down again. Tana hits forearms on Ishii and is chopped.

Ishii shoulders Tana over. Goto takes a facekick from Yuji thne Tana takes a suplex from Ishii. Yuji boots Tana in the gut then kicks him in the back. Yuji chest kicks Tana down and KM saves Yuji. Yuji drops KM with a forearm.

Tana dragon screws Yuji. Goto hits forearms on Yuji then spinning heel kicks him in the corner. Goto backdrops Yuji. Yuji and Goto trade forearms. Goto takes an exploder. KM gets in. He flying forearms Koji and dropkicks him.

KM misses a corner charge. Koji hits machine gun chops then corner forearms him. Tana slaps Koji then KM powerslams Koji for 2. KM hits forearms on Koji and slaps him. Koji then drops KM with a lariat for the win.

Thoughts: It was short and okay. KM was fun and fiery here and paid for it. 

United Empire (Callum Newman, Jeff Cobb & TJP) vs. TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)

CN = Callum Newman

The 6 stare at each other in the ring.

CN and Oiwa start us off. Oiwa backs him up on the ropes then shoulders him over. CN runs the ropes fast and facekicks him for 2. Oiwa takes double shoulder then a standing moonsault from Cobb. Cobb hits shots on Oiwa in the corner. TJP then comes in and indian deathlocks Oiwa.

Oiwa trips CN then bangs his knee off the mat. Oiwa does a reverse heel hook on CN and CN ropebreaks. Zack twists CN's ankle then stomps his leg. Hart chops and suplexes CN. Oiwa gets back in and takes forearms from CN. Oiwa boots CN in the knee. CN avoids a basement dropkick to the knee and hits his own basement dropkick.

Zach and TJP go at it, evading each others shots. TJP does an octopus on him. Zack ankle locks him. Zack gets a 2 count on him and pele kicks him in the arm. TJP spin kicks him.

Hart and Cobb come in. They lariat battle. Cobb dropkicks him then takes a crossbody. Cobb is whipped into an Oiwa dropkick. Oiwa splashes Cobb and Hart sentons Cobb for 2.

CN flying knees Hart then CN high kicks Oiwa into an atomic drop. Hart hits a double lariat then takes a german from Cobb. Cobb flying euros Hart in the corner then does a suplex on him. Cobb running lariats Hart and spinning slams him for the win.

Thoughts: I was fine with this. Everyone got their little segment in here and CN got his knee worked on some. The Cobb vs Hart sections were fun.

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

Everyone fights to start. Shingo sends Oleg into the apron edge and they stare down outside. Shingo then sends Oleg into the rails. ELP rolls out of a double lariat and hits Bushi and Naito with an asai moonsault. ELP atomics drops the two then makes Bushi headscissors Naito.

Yano pulls the turnbuckle pad off. He throws it at Naito and Naito throws it back. Yano throws it back and Naito throws it away. Yano eye rakes him then is atomic dropped. Shingo sends Oleg into the post. Yano grabs Bushi by the mask.

Naito goes into the exposed buckle and Yano pulls Bushi down by the mask. Oleg and Shingo get in and shoulder battle. Shingo hits forearms and takes chops. Oleg goes into the exposed buckle then belly to belly suplexes Shingo. Oleg shoulders Shingo over. 

Oleg is sent into the exposed buckle and Shingo hits a big lariat on him for 2. Oleg karelin's lifts Shingo. Oleg corner splashes Shingo then slams him. Shingo gets his knees up to block Oleg's vader bomb. Shingo shoulders Oleg over.

Yota knees Oleg in the gut then Oleg slams him down. ELP superkicks Yota in the gut then step up enzugiri's him. Jado get a boot in in between. Jado then bridging ddt's Yota for 2.

Yota forearms Jado in the gut then ELP pump kicks Yota. ELP is back body dropped over the top by Shingo. Shingo and Oleg lariat each other at the same time. Oleg takes an enzugiri then a running lariat from Shingo. Jado is dropkicked in the knee then takes a curb stomp from Yota. Yota picks up the win.

Thoughts: It was a decent tag. They had a good pace to it. ELP took a nice back body drop to the outside and they got me interested in seeing Shingo vs Oleg. 

BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, David Finlay, Drilla Moloney & SANADA) vs. House Of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)

DF = David Finlay, YK = Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

Sho tlaks on the mic beforehand. The two teams fight before everyone even enters. DF is sent into the chairs and Sho goes into them as well. Drilla headbutts YK then Chase is kicked in the gut by Ren.

The match officially starts and YK eye rakes Drilla. Drilla dropkicks YK. Drilla chops him then dropkicks him in the knee. Drilla is sent into the exposed buckle. Evil chokes Drilla with a string.

Yujiro knees Drilla in the gut and hits shots on him. Yujiro facekicks him on the ropes. So eye rakes Drilla. Drilla spinebusters him. DF hits a corner lariat flurry on Sho then release suplexes him. DF blocks a low blow but then gets hit from one by behind. Sho then spears DF.

Chase comes in, throat thrusts Ren then hiptoss neckbreakers him. Ren facekicks Chase. Chase takes corner attacks then is chopped in the crotch by Togo. Chase avoids a wrench shot by Sho and pumping knees him. Chase avoids a facebuster by Ren and knees him in the face. YK spits whiskey in Chase's face. Ren facebusters Chase and wins.

Thoughts: It was what you would expect with lots of cheating and a ref bump. None of it was too unbelievable though and I guess it was acceptable. But this was exactly what you think it would be. It was more one sided with Fale and Sanada never really even tagging in. 

New Japan Cup 2025 Second Round Match - Taichi vs. Gabe Kidd

 

They lock up. Gabe hits forearms and Tai head chops him back. Gabe hits forearms and hits a slap. Tai facekicks him then gets nailed with a lariat. Gabe stomps him and chops him down. Gabe corner chops him then boots him in the head. Gabe sends him into the buckle and gets a 2 count.

Gabe foot slaps Tai around. Tai hits chops then Gabe slaps him. Gabe hits a corner lariat then hits an oklahoma stampede. Gabe crabs him and Tai ropebreaks. Gabe hits boots on Tai then Tai russian legsweeps him.

Tai hits a corner facekick then side kicks him. Tai hits Kawada kicks and is slapped. Tai corner enzugiri's him and drops him. Tai pulls his pants off. Tai hits leg kicks and is chopped in return. Gabe hits headbutts and slaps him. Gabe foot slaps him then takes a hard chest kick. 

Tai drops him with chest kicks. Gabe enzugiri's him then does an abdominal stretch. Tai back body drops him. Tai then hits an enzugiri. Tai does a stretch plum. Tai drops him with Kawada kicks then ganso bombs him. Gabe goes for a rebound lariat and takes a lariat. Tai then backdrop holds him for 2.

Tai drops Gabe with a spinning forearm then Gabe piledrivers him. Gabe pulls his knee pad down and runs into a superkick. They sell for a bit and lariat battle. Tai facekicks him then flying neckbreakers him for 1. Tai high kicks him then Gabe rebound lariats him for 1. Gabe hits a big punch to the face and brainbusters him for 2.

Gabe running knees him and knees him in the gut. Gabe piledrivers him. Gabe goes for the pin but Ren Narita pulls the ref out. Gabe hits Ren outside. Sho and Yujiro come out to help then Ren hits Gabe with his push-up board. Ren's crew then leaves. Gabe then gets counted out.

Thoughts: This represented what NJPW is about in 2025. They were having an inspired match with them stiffing each other and putting on a good performance then House of Torture ruined it and caused a countout. I didn't like the ganso bomb not meaning anything and I didn't like the finish but I liked the rest of this one.

Tai is mad about winning via countout and Gabe is helped to the back.

New Japan Cup 2025 Second Round Match - Great-O-Khan vs. Shota Umino

 

They lock up. Shota forearms him on the ropes. They lock up again and Khan takes another forearm. Khan takes him down and hits mounted forearms. Khan then stomps on him.  Khan mongolian chops him and gets dropkicked.

Shota stomps his back then euros him multiple times. Khan trips him then shoulders him over. Khan chinlocks him then pulls his arms back. Khan side headlocks him. Khan double underhook suplexes him. Khan shoves him and takes forearms. Khan slams him and mongolian chops him. Khan then sits on his neck in the corner.

Shota shoulders him over. Shota fisherman suplexes him. Khan pump kicks him. Khan head and armlocks Shota. Khan firemn's carry takeovers him. Khan then monkey flips him and shoulder throws him.

Khan does another head and arm choke and turns it into an anaconda vice variation. Shota ropebreaks. Khan sends Shota into the rail outside then spinebusters him on the apron. Khan is sent into the rail then dropkicked over it. Khan then TTD's Shota on the floor.

Shota barely gets in before the 20 count. Khan hits forearms to the back of the neck while Shota is down. Khan faceplants Shota for 2. Shota hits forearms on Khan and Khan allows him to. Khan slaps him in the back of the head. Shota hits more forearms then lariats him.

They lariat battle and Shota drops him on a double lariat. They lariat each other on the ropes and Khan lariats him for 1. Khan hits a sheep killer suplex for 2. Khan then hard and arm chokes Shota. Khan switches to the sheep killer then does a spinning drop with it for 2.

Shota ddt's him. They both go down and butt heads as they get back up. They trade forearms on their knees. Khan forearms him and they trade forearms. Shota hits forearms then Khan forearms him back. Khan drops him with forearms several times. Shota gets up twice then can't get back up.

Khan sheep killers him. Shota escapes and hits an enzugiri. Khan straight punches him then takes a half-nelson suplex. Shota lariats him. Shota running lariats him for 2. 

Shota flying knees him in the face and hits a northern lights bomb to win.

Thoughts: It got a lot of time, had a slower pace to it and wasn't that great. Shota needed to be more fiery here and they needed more direction. Khan beating up on Shota and Shota making comebacks would have made for a better match here than what we got. I feel like Khan is a better wrestler than his gimmick lets him be and I don't think anyone knows what they are going for with Shota now, but it's not working.

Shota goes to talk on the mic, just breathes into it and leaves.

Overall thoughts: The undercard was fine. The heel 10 man tag was what you would expect but I guess it was acceptable as they didn't get too clever. Sanada and Fale never really got involved in it though. Gabe vs Shota would have been good if booking didn't get in the way of it and the main had the platform but the match was nothing special. It was an average NJPW show unfortunately and I would just barely give it a 6 out of 10 due to Gabe/Taichi having some good stuff in it.