New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/9/2025 New Japan Cup 2025 Day 2

New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/9/2025 New Japan Cup 2025 Day 2

Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Daiki Nagai & Katsuya Murashima

The young lion attack before the bell. The club and stomp their opponents. Yoshi takes a double shoulderblock. Yano takes a double back elbow. KM flying forearms Yoshi then stomps him. Yoshi hits a slam on him then chops him. Yano hiptosses KM and pulls a turnbuckle pad off.

Yano eye rakes KM then sends him into the exposed buckle. Yoshi hits chops on KM for 2. Yoshi suplexes KM for 2. Yoshi half-crabs KM and KM ropebreaks.

Yoshi clubs on KM. KM hits chops. KM dropkicks Yoshi. Nagai comes in and dropkicks Yoshi. Nagai crabs Yoshi. Yoshi takes corner attacks and a double suplex for 2. Yoshi back elbows Nagai then hits a neckbreaker for 2. Yoshi does a butterfly lock variation on Nagai and wins.

Thoughts: It was a short rookie vs vets match. I would have liked to have seen it gone longer than it did as it ended before it got really exciting. 

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & SANADA) vs. Just 4 Guys (TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)

Yuya and Sanada go at it. Yuya wristlocks him. Sanada reverses it then Yuya reverses it. Yuya side headlock takeovers him. Sanada side headlock takeovers him and they stand off.

Yuya side headlocks him then hits an armdrag on both opponents. Yuya chops over Sanada. Yuya chops Sanada. Chase trips Yuya from the outside and Yuya has the rope kicked into his crotch. Sanada takes Yuya into the crowd and bangs his head off a seat. Chase bangs Taka's head off the apron. Sanada hits Yuya with a bottle.

Chase hits shots to Yuya's back then backbreakers him. Sanada punches Yuya. Yuya chops him back. Sanada dropkicks Yuya in the knee. Yuya flying lariats Sanada.

Yuya hits a dropkick on Chase. Taka gets in and slaps Chase. He hits a step up knee in the corner and running knees him. Taka pump kicks him for 2. Taka rolls him up then Chase hits a pumping knee for the win.

Thoughts: It was a waste of time here with Taka getting put down with a simple pumping knee.

United Empire (Jakob Austin Young, Jeff Cobb & TJP) vs. TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)

TJP and Zack go at it. They trade some holds and TJP armdrag trips him. Zack twists TJP's ankle then TJP twists Zack's ankle. TJP headstand corkscrew headscissors him. TJP surfboards Zack and Zack goes for the armbar.

TJP ducks a headkick and they stand off. Hart and Cobb go at it. They should battle. Cobb chops him then Hart shoulders him over. Cobb suplexes him. Hart then crossbodies Jake off a double team attempt. 

Oiwa and Jake get in. Oiwa back elbows him then shoulders him over. Zack stomps Oiwa's arm into the mat. Hart slams Jake for 2. Jake flying headscissors Oiwa into a russian legsweep. Cobb comes in and flying shoulders Oiwa. Cobb backdrops him and standing moonsaults him for 2.

Oiwa low dropkicks him then splashes him. Cobb superkicks Oiwa. Oiwa takes corner attacks and Jake flying knees Oiwa. TJP gets on Cobb's back and they splash Oiwa. Jake 2nd rope dropkicks Oiwa then is pulled over the top. Oiwa shoulders Jake over and everyone starts getting a move in. Hart hits a double clothesline.

Jake hits a dropkick on Oiwa and running knees him. Oiwa backdrops Jake for 2. Oiwa spinning lariats Jake and wins.

Thoughts: Everyone got their section in on this one and not much else. The TJP/Zack section was nice and made me want to see that match. We also got to see the heavies in Hart and Cobb go at it here. It was an average match. 

House Of Torture (Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd & Gedo)

YK = Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DF = David Finlay

The two sides fight as Gabe's crew enters the ring. They fight then goes outside. Gabe and Ren fight in the seats as does DF and Yujiro. Gabe's head is banged off part of the seating structure and DF is sent into a rail. Ren hits Gabe with a chair.

YK elbows Gedo in the back then bangs his head off a buckle. Ren foot chokes Gedo. Yujiro chokes Gedo then does headbutt drops on him. Yujiro back elbows Gedo in the corner then boots him out of the corner. Gedo hits a punch and both go down.

DF gets in. He running back elbows Yujiro in the corner then 2nd rope euros him for 2. DF is hit in the back form the apron then takes a lariat. DF takes a kneebraker and has both knees banged off the mat. YK figure fours DF and Gabe breaks it up.

YK grabs the ref to avoid a hold. He sends the ref into DF then step up enzugiri's him. YK grabs a mouthful of whiskey. Gedo interrupts YK and DF hits YK in the gut. DF lariats YK then hits overkill for the win.

Thoughts: This was average and rather mailed in here. They didn't get a lot of time and I'm not even sure if everyone even officially got in here.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji) vs. House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL & SHO)

LIJ attacks before the bell and sends HoT out. Evil is sent into the rails by Yota. Yota hits forearms on Evil. Evil eye rakes Yota. Yota running facekicks him. Yota is tripped by Togo from the outide. Evil then sends Yota into the rails. Evil chokes Yota with a chair.

Togo stomps on Yota and foot chokes him. Togo hits a fist drop for 2. Yota's arm is double axe handled off the 2nd rope then Yota's arm is wrapped around the ropes and pulled on. Sho footslaps Yota. Yota hits forearms on him. Sho eye rakes him then takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

Shingo gets in. He slams Sho and misses a senton. Singo hits corner lariats on Sho and Evil. Shingo uranges Sho into a senton for 2. Shingo ddt's Sho. Sho throws the ref into Shingo then ends up hitting a spear.

Shingo's legs are split. Shingo hits a dragon screw on Evil with help from the ref. Bushi dropkicks Evil in the knee then does it to Sho. Bushi then topes Evil into the rails. Evil eye rakes Bushi. Togo 2nd rope chops Bushi in the crotch for 2. Sho low blows Yota then kicks the ropes into Shingo's crotch. Sho hits Bushi with a wrench. Evil sharpshooters Bushi and submits him.

Thoughts: It was the usual HoT garbage with refs being used, weapons being used and the heels doing low blows. It wasn't much of note and we've seen this hundreds of times. 

David Finlay's crew goes after HoT after and HoT leaves.

New Japan Cup 2025 First Round Match - Bad Luck Fale vs. Oleg Boltin

They shoulder battle and Oleg shoulders him out of the ring. Oleg is sent into the rails. Fale hits him in the gut outside then rams him hard into the rails, knocking over a table.

Oleg get back in and is stomped then stood on. Fale stomps on him then bangs his head off the buckles. They trade chops and Oleg goes down. Fale hits him in the throat and punches him down. Fale stands on him.

Oleg hits forearms. Fale hits a corner lariat flurry. Fale misses a corner charge then he slams him. Fale misses an elbow drop. Oleg slams Fale then splashes him for 2. Oleg tries to do a karelin's lift but can't get it. Fale samoan drops him then elbow drops him for 2.

Oleg dropkicks him then hits a finlay roll. Oleg the pins him.

Thoughts: It wasn't the fasted paced match ever but I thought they got the idea of this one down and did okay with it. Fale really only took one bump here and it was at the end.  

New Japan Cup 2025 First Round Match - El Phantasmo vs. Great-O-Khan

They do some amateur wrestling. Khan side headlocks him. then shoulders him over. ELP dropkicks him. ELP goes over Khan in the corner. Khan catches ELP's springboard then backbreakers him. Khan headscissors him and pulls on the arm.

ELP hits chops and forearms. Khan running forearms him from behind. Khan hits mounted forearms on ELP. Khan sits on ELP's neck in the corner then mongolian chops him. ELP hits lariats then flying headscissors him. ELP lariats him over the top. ELP then topes him.

Khan is sent into the rails and then dropped with a shot. ELP bangs Khan's face off the apron. ELP misses a top rope moonsault to the outside. Khan tombstones ELP on the floor. ELP gets super close to being counted out. Khan then pump kicks him.

ELP does pin attempts on Khan then backslides him. Khan pump kicks him and takes a step up enzugiri. Khan straight punches ELP then does a sheep killer. ELP 2nd rope tornado ddt's Khan for 2. ELP superkicks him for 2.  Khan flatliners him then hits a chokeslam for the win.

Thoughts: It didn't quite reach its full potential here and slowed down in the 2nd half when it needed to speed up. It just ended up being an average match in front of a so-so crowd who wasn't that interested. There was always going to be a styles clash here and they weren't able to make the most of it.

New Japan Cup 2025 First Round Match - Tomohiro Ishii vs. Drilla Moloney

They each hit forearms. Ishii hits more forearms and shoulders him over. DM kips up then dropkicks him. DM foot chokes him then stomps on him in the corner. DM kicks him in the back for 2. DM hits chops and forearms.

DM boots him out of the corner then powerslams him for 2. Ishii powerslams him. Ishii suplexes him. Ishii hits chops and forearms in the corner. Ishii drops him with a forearm. Ishii 2nd rope superplexes him. DM no sells it then germans him. Ishii shoulders him over. DM pump kicks him then hits a hard rolling spear.

DM superkicks him then Ishii spinning lariats him. DM enzugiri's him. Ishii blocks a spear and headbutts him. Ishii running lariats him then DM lariats him back. Ishii hits forearms and DM spinebusters him for 2. 

DM hits a piledriver then hits a rolling spear for 2. Ishii germans him for 2. Ishii headbutts him and DM spinning forearms him. DM hits snake eyes on him then is lariated. Ishii sliding lariats him for 2. Ishii flips out of a dominator and hits a running headbutt. Ishii hits a running lariat for 2.

DM superkikcs him then brianbusters him for 1. Ishii spears him. They slap each other and Ishii enzugiri's him. DM hits an over the shoulder piledriver and wins.

Thoughts: I didn't like some of the no selling here but I liked it otherwise. It was a good hoss match with lariats and headbutts. DM got his mouth busted open. I think it's a bit soon to have Drilla taking out Ishii since he just turned heavyweight though. 

New Japan Cup 2025 First Round Match - Tetsuya Naito vs. Callum Newman

CN tries some pins to start then running boots Naito. They trade forearms. Naito spits at him. Naito boots him out of the corner then pulls his neck down over the top rope.

CN is sent into the rails outside. Naito stomps CN's knee. Naito atomic drops him then does a figure four variation. CN ropebreaks. Naito hits elbows and is backdropped with his legs hitting the ropes. CN basement dropkicks him and PK's him.

Naito hiptosses him and baseball slides him. CN is irish whipped but his leg gives out. Naito baseball slides him in the knee then does a leglock on him. CN ropebreaks.

Naito stomps on the knee and hits back elbows. Naito then hits a diamond dust. Naito step up enzugiri's him. CN PK's him then pump kicks him. CN goes for a suplex and Naito hits a bad diamond dust off of it.

Naito spinebusters him then has his destino blocked. Naito tornado ddt's him. CN no sells it then Naito cradles him off a destino and wins.

Thoughts: They both worked each others knees here then just went to their normal finishing stretch, forgetting everything that came before it. This wasn't that interesting and Naito's destino looked bad here.

Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto & Hiroshi Tanahashi

This feels out of place in the main since a version of this was in the second match the day before, but it is what it is.

Yuji wristlocks Goto. Goto rolls out of it and backs him up on the ropes. Yuji slaps him. They trade forearms. Goto shoulders him over. Goto avoids a PK. Koji and Tana get in. Tana side headlock takeovers him and is put in a headlock.

Tana and Koji trade chest chops. Koji shoulders him over. Tana 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. Koji ddt's Goto and Tana. Yuji and Goto trade. Yuji hits chest kicks and forearms. Yuji corner facekicks him. Goto takes a double shoulderblock. Koji stomps on Goto.

Goto and Koji trade forearms. Koji knee chokes Goto. Yuji armbreakers Goto then hits chest kicks. Yuji facekicks Goto then Goto lariats him off the ropes.

Tana gets in and flying forearms Yuji. Tana hits shots on Yuji then slams him. Tana 2nd rope swantons Yuji for 2. Yuji exploders Tana. Koji hits machine gun chops on Tana.

Koji corner forearms Tana then 2nd rope elbow drops him.  Tana slaps Koji. Goto gets in and spinning heel kicks Koji. He then backdrops him. Koji hits a cutter on Goto. Goto lariats Koji. They lariat each other at the same time but only Goto goes down.

All four men get in the ring. Tana and Goto hit stereo ushigoroshi's. Goto GTW's Koji then lariats him. Goto chest kicks Koji then hits a GTR. Goto then wins.

Thoughts: It was a shorter tag here and not quite the main it should have been. We didn't even get killer Nata here. It was mostly just forearms and lariats and it wasn't anyone's best effort. It was average.

Goto and Tana talk on the mic after to close the show. 

Overall thoughts: Drilla/Ishii was the best thing on here by far. Oleg/Fale wasn't bad. The main was average and really shouldn't have been in the main event slot. ELP/Khan didn't quite work and Naito/Newman wasn't that good. I was okay with the opener though. I wouldn't really recommend this one as it wasn't NJPW's best work and only Drilla was really at this best here. I'd give this a 5 out of 10 overall.