New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/8/2025 New Japan Cup 2025 Day 1

New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/8/2025 New Japan Cup 2025 Day 1

Katsuya Murashima vs. Daiki Nagai

KM = Katsuya Murashima

They mat wrestle. KM armlocks him. Nagai rolls out and trips him. KM side headlock takeovers him, Nagai headscissors him and they stand off. Nagai chops him and takes orearms. Nagai shoulders him over.

KM armdrags him and goes for an armbar. KM kimura takedowns him then does a kimura. KM armbars him. They trade forearms and Nagai dropkicks him. Nagai hiptoses him. Nagai hits a dropkick then crabs him.

They trade forearms. KM flying forearms him. KM hits a back body drop for 2. Nagai dropkicks him from behind. KM powerslams him then crabs him. Nagai then submits.

Thoughts: It was your usual young lions match. It was nothing but the basics and it was fine for what it was.

Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma & Toru Yano vs. TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima), Tiger Mask & Yuji Nagata

Goto and Yuji go at it. They trade wristlocks. Goto hammerlocks him and Yuji front facelocks him. Yuji slaps him. They trade forearms. Goto shoulders him over. Yuji facekicks him out of the corner. Tiger gets in and hits kicks on Goto.

Tiger spin kicks him then takes a lariat from Goto. Tiger takes a double shoulderblock then has his legs split. Honma hits forearms on Tiger and throws him.

Yano gets in and takes off a turnbuckle pad. Yano sends Tiger into it. Tana slams Tiger then elbow drops him. Tiger hits chops on Tana. Tiger flips and double kicks him. Koji gets in. He hits machine gun chops on Tana. Koji corner forearms Tana. Koji goes up top and Yano knocks him off the top.

Tana takes shots from TenKoji then Koji cutters Tana. Koji runs at Tana and takes a slingblade. Honma hits chops on Koji then bulldogs him. Honma misses a headbutt drop. Honma takes corner attacks. Yuji exploders him for 2.

Goto and Yuji trade forearms. Goto hits a GTR then lariats hin. Honma falling headbutt drops Yuji. Honma headbutts Yuji then rocket headbutts him for 2. Yuji backdrops Honma and wins.

Thoughts: It was a short tag with all the vets getting a segment in or so and tagging out to the next guy. There wasn't anything too notable about it but it was fine.

El Desperado, El Phantasmo & Jado vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jakob Austin Young & Jeff Cobb)

Khan and ELP go at it. Khan takes him down and they get back up. ELP grabs Khan by the beard and the nipples. Khan takes a spear from Despy for 2.

Jake and Khan stomp on Jado then Jake knee drops Jado for 2. Cobb stands and surfs on Jado. Cobb then standing moonsaults him. Khan hits mongolian chops on Jado then uppercuts him. Khan throws Despy out. Jado lariats Khan.

ELP gets in and hits punches on Khan. ELP hits corner punches. ELP flying headscissors Khan then lariats him over the top. Cobb gets in and ELP pulls him over the top. ELP back body drops Jake onto Cobb then top rope plancha's both outside.

ELP hits a springboard swanton and asai moonsault. Khan shoulder throws ELP. Khan pump kicks ELP then ELP step up enzugiri's him. Despy and Jake go at it. Jake knees Despy in the gut then Despy spinebusters him.

Jake hits forearms then flying leg lariats Despy. Despy takes corner attacks then Cobb spin cycle backdrops Despy. Jake flying knees Despy. Despy rolls up Jake for 2 then Jake gamengiri's him. Jake does a la escalera on Despy. Despy escapes it and puts him in the stretch muffler. Jake then submits.

Thoughts: It was alright. Everyone got their segment in and then we went to the finish. Despy and Jake's section was alright and ELP/Khan were fine together.

Clark Connors does a video on the screen. He says he heard Despy wants a match with him. He says let's do it in a hardcore match. He says he will take his life.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman & Francesco Akira)

CN = Callum Newman

CN and Naito lock up. CN slaps him around on the break. Naito spits at him. CN runs the ropes and running facekicks him. CN flips Akira onto Naito for 2. Akira basement dropkicks Naito. Akira takes an atomic drop into a Bushi flying headscissors. CN is thrown into the rials outside and Akira is sent into the post.

Naito facerakes Akira. Bushi dropkicks Akira's leg in the ropes. Akira hits forearms on Naito. Naito back elbows him. Akira step up enzugiri's him. CN gets in and sweeps Naito into a double stomp. CN does a hiptoss + knee to the back of the head to Bushi. CN then PK's Naito for 2.

Naito basement dropkicks CN in the knee. Naito step up enzugiri's him the CN enzugiri's him back. Akira superkicks Bushi then Akira is thrown out. Akira gets back in and flying headscissors Bushi.

Bushi spinning neckbreakers Akira. Akira rolls Bushi into a double stomp for 2. Bushi cradles Akira for 2 then dropkicks him in the knee. They trade pin attempts and Akira gets the win.

Thoughts: It was a quicker paced match and I had no issue s with it. They limited Naito here and the let the fast wrestler wrestle fast. It didn't get a ton of time or a chance to develop into an epic but it was fine. 

New Japan Cup 2025 First Round Match - SANADA vs Yuya Uemura

Yuya hammerlocks him and grounds him with it. Yuya headstands with it. Sanada side headlock takeovers him, Yuya headscissors him and they stand off. Yuya armdrags Sanada out. Yuya chases Sanada then Sanada kicks the rope into his crotch.

Yuya is thrown into the rails. They go into the stands and Sanada hits Yuya with something. Sanada hits punches on Yuya in the ring. Yuya hits chops on Sanada. Sanada dropkicks him in the knee.

Yuya flying forearms him then hits chops. Yuya armdrags and chops him. Yuya rips off Sanada's shirt. Yuya backdrops him for 2. Sanada dropkicks him in the knee then dropkicks him off the apron. Sanada plancha's outside onto him.

Sanada boots him out of the corner and moonsaults into skull end. Sanada then grounds him with it. Sanada top rope moonsaults and Yuya gets his knees up. Yuya slams him and goes up top. Sanada pulls the ref onto him and Taiji Ishimori pushes Yuya off the top. Taka and Taichi come out to help.

Sanada flips out of a Yuya german. Yuya muso's Sanada for 2. Yuya enzugiri's him then Sanada shining wizard's him. Yuya germans and dropkicks him. Yuya then pins him.

Thoughts: As it often does, the outside brawling got things off to a weak start. Sanada then did heel stuff which brought it down more and it just wasn't enough at the end of the day. These two could have had a good match if they just got to do a straight match but they had to do the heel Sanada shtick and that brought this down.

New Japan Cup 2025 First Round Match - EVIL vs. Yota Tsuji

Togo hits Yota before it starts and the ref doesn't care. Evil sends Yota into the rail and bangs Yota's knee off of it. Tana is stomped on by Evil and Togo in the ring. Yota slams Evil then drops Togo onto him. Yota then splashes both. The match then officially starts.

Yota corner splashes Evil then suplexes him for 2. Evil hits a big lariat and sharpshooters him. Evil hits darkness falls. Yota superkicks and headbutts Evil. Yota hits a corner lariat then running lariats Evil. 

Yota goes for a spear but Evil moves and the ref gets hit. Togo throws salt in Yota's eyes. Evil low blows Yota. Evil hits an STO on Yota and wins.

Thoughts: It was a total joke from the start and never got better. It was just the typical HoT crap.

Evil then talks trash after.

New Japan Cup 2025 First Round Match - Chase Owens vs. Ryohei Oiwa

Chase is backed up on the ropes. He piefaces Oiwa then heads out. Oiwa legsweeps Chase then armdrags him. Oiwa then armlocks him. Oiwa shoulders Chase over then hiptosses him. Oiwa dropkicks him. Oiwa armdrags Chase. 

Chase throws Oiwa out then goes out after him. Chase back elbows him. Chase russian legsweeps Oiwa into the rails. Chase lifts Oiwa for an elbow slice. Chase then pepsi twists Oiwa for 2. Chase forearms Oiwa on the apron. Oiwa pulls Chase's shoulder down onto the apron.

Oiwa bangs Chase's arm off the post. Oiwa twists Chase's arm and flying euros him. Oiwa corner euros Chase. Oiwa back body drops Chase. Oiwa back elbows Chase. Chase spin kicks him then sunset bombs him into the buckles.

Chase knees Oiwa in the face and suplexes him. Oiwa hits a big lariat. Oiwa sleepers Chase and is sent into the ropes. Chase rolls him up for 2 and pumping knees him.

Chase hits a hard knee to the face. Oiwa throws him over by the arm and sits on his back with an armlock. Chase then taps out.

Thoughts: It wasn't great but it wasn't that bad. Chase moved better than usual and seemed more inspired than usual. Oiwa worked the arm some before winning with a submission on it.  

New Japan Cup 2025 First Round Match - Gabe Kidd vs. Ren Narita

Gabe pump kicks Ren as he enters. Ren is sent into the rails. Gabe gets on the mic. He says this is NJPW wrestling and says something in Japanese.

Gabe hits Ren outside then 2nd rope moonsaults him. Gabe hits forearms on Ren in the corner then corner dropkicks him. Gabe is sent into the rails outside then Ren is sent into the rails outside. Gabe chops him outside. Gabe is sent into another set of rails then has his head banged off the wall. Ren is sent into the post then is sent into rails. Gabe hits Ren outside. Sho interrupts Gabe and Gabe chases him away. Gabe runs at Ren and is overhead suplexed onto chairs.

Ren exploders Gabe onto chairs. Ren flying neckbreakers him in the ring then headscissors him. Gabe ropebreaks. Gabe is sent out. Gabe is sent into the rails and facekicked. Gabe's head is banged off a commentary table. Ren chokes him with a chair. 

Ren suplexes Gabe for 2. Ren stomps on him and eye rakes him. Gabe overhead belly to belly suplexes him. Gabe puts Ren's shirt over his face and chops him. Gabe exploders him. Gabe moonsaults him off the buckles for 2. The fight on the buckles. Ren hits a top rope flying knee drop for 2. Ren grounded guillotines Gabe.

Gabe blocks a facebuster and PK's Ren. Gabe suplexes him then release backdrops him. Gabe goes for a rebound lariat but Ren puts the ref in the way. Ren then hits Gabe with the push-up bar. House of Torture then come out to help. Gabe is held by HoT outside and chaired.

Gabe's buddies Drilla and Ishimori come out to help. Ren hits shots and Gabe is busted open. Gabe drops Ren with a shot. Gabe running knees Ren then piledrivers him. Gabe then hits a half-package piledriver and wins.

Thoughts: This got a lot of time at 22:16. I didn't like Gabe attacking Ren before the bell and the ref not caring. It's stupid because Gabe could just hit him with a baseball bat, knock him out and win in seconds. If you can get past that, the HoT interference and the ref bumps, they did alright with the match. It was all brawling here from start to finish. 

Gabe says f--k House of Torture after. He says lots of people are saying they will lead the company forward but he says it's him. Gabe says he bleeds NJPW and says it's his life.

Overall thoughts: The NJ Cup matches didn't really deliver as you would hope. Yuya/Sanada was disappointed. Gabe/Ren had a lot of issues and I'm 50/50 on it. Chase vs Oiwa was okay. Yota/Evil was a joke. The undercard was fine but none of it was anything great or memorable. I would just give this a 5 out of 10 as it was a pretty average NJPW show when it should have been really good. I wouldn't recommend this one.