Tag: njcup

New Japan 3/7/24 Results

New Japan officially began the New Japan Cup tour today with Day 2 of the tournament.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World FOR FREE! (Mobile/tablet/TV users will need to download the New Japan World app to watch, it is a free download and a paid subscription is not required to use the app or access free content. PC users can watch via a web browser) This was an ABEMA simulcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1324.

Match 1: Boltin Oleg, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Jado, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. Goto pinned Jado after Shoto.

Match 2: Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Toru Yano & Togi Makabe. Nicholls pinned Makabe after a sliding lariat.

Match 3: Callum Newman, Francesco Akira & Jeff Cobb beat Taiji Ishimori, Gabriel Kidd & KENTA. Cobb pinned Ishimori after Tour of the Islands.

Match 4: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Ren Narita, EVIL & Jack Perry beat Yoh, El Desperado, Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino. Narita pinned Honma after Double Cross. This was to have had Sho as part of the match but he weaseled his way out last-second in favor of Perry.

Match 5: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Taichi, Yuya Uemura & SANADA. Tsuji pinned TAKA after Gene Blaster. For those curious about Uemura sans hair, it’s now a short buzz cut painted in a shade of red.

New Japan Cup:
Match 6: Chase Owens beat Tomohiro Ishii.
Match 7: Tanga Loa beat Great-O-Khan.
Main Event: David Finlay beat TJP.
As a result, Owens will face Goto in Round 2 and Loa will face Finlay. The other left side matches will be SANADA vs. YOSHI-HASHI and Perry vs. Yano.

The next event is tomorrow at Aimesse Yamanashi in Yamanashi. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. This is the last event before the spring time change in the US, meaning events after (and including on the east coast) Sunday will start 1 hour later again.

In other news, the promotion announced this year’s installment of my favorite annual event, Best Of The Super Junior. The 31st installment of the prestigious Junior Heavyweight showcase will be in its usual May spot on the schedule, with the following schedule:
5/11-Yoha S Arena, Chiba
5/13-Korakuen
5/15-Legion Plaza Joetsu, Niigata
5/16-G Messe Gunma, Gunma
5/18-Esforta Arena Hachioji, Tokyo
5/19-Aichi Prefectural Gym, Nagoya
5/21-Atelier Himeji, Hyogo
5/22-Osaka Prefectural Gym B (2?), Osaka
5/26-Yoyogi National Stadium Gym 2, Tokyo
5/28-Kira Messe Numazu, SHizuoka
5/20-Korakuen
5/31-Korakuen
6/2-Korakuen (Semifinals)
6/9-Osaka-jo Hall, Osaka (Finals) (DOMINION)
The Finals this year will be at the annual June Osaka blowout event, DOMINION. Participants TBA at a later date.

New Japan 3/6/24 Results

March 6 is “Flag Raising Day” for New Japan, the date on which the promotion held their very first event in 1972. As they normally do today, they held their annual Anniversary Event to celebrate, today returning to where it all began-the site of that inaugural event. The event also kicked off the 2024 New Japan Cup Tournament.

Today’s event was held at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 3008.

Match 1: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb beat Tomoaki Honma & Yanga Loa. Cobb pinned Honma after Tour of the Islands.

Match 2: Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. Nicholls pinned Phantasmo.

Match 3: Boltin Oleg, El Desperado, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi. Desperado pinned BUSHI after El Es Claro.

Match 4: Callum Newman, Francesco Akira & TJP beat Gedo, Gabriel Kidd & David Finlay. Akira pinned Gedo after 2/2.

Match 5: DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA beat Dock Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Ren Narita & EVIL. Uemura pinned Togo with a Kannuki suplex hold.

Match 6: New Japan Cup: Toru Yano beat Yujiro Takahashi by countout.

Match 7: New Japan Cup: YOSHI-HASHI beat KENTA.

Match 8: New Japan Cup: Jack Perry beat Shota Umino. Afterwards, Perry joined House Of Torture.

Main Event: Tetsuya Naito beat Sho. This was the traditional NON-TITLE match between the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion.

The next event is tomorrow at Korakuen Hall. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET and you can watch live & on demand FOR FREE! This will be an ABEMA simulcast in Japan.

New Japan News: New Japan Cup Set, SAKURA GENESIS Updates, More

With another major event and tour now in the books, it’s time for a big New Japan news dump to get ready for what’s next:

The entire New Japan Cup field has been unveiled. Traditionally a single-elimination bracket format tournament, that is again the case, this year with a field of 28 (down slightly from the last couple years). That means 4 will get a free pass to Round 2, and those 4 are prior Cup winners (SANADA, Hirooki Goto, EVIL and Zack Sabre Jr.). This is also an openweight tournament meaning Junior Heavyweights are entered as well. Not entered are the current IWGP Champions-World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito, Junior Heavyweight Champion Sho, and Global Champion Nic Nemeth. Also not in it this year is Hiroshi Tanahashi, possibly due to injury. SANADA is the defending tournament champion. NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL is in the field though. Also note the inclusion of (former?) All Elite Wrestling member Jack Perry, who hasn’t been seen in AEW since a backstage incident at their England event in August. He & Shota Umino have traded comments on the socials lately following Perry attacking Umino at Battle In The Valley in the US in January, and that’s led to a Round 1 match.

This year’s tournament begins on 3/6 and ends on 3/20, with every event available live and on demand on New Japan World. Below is a look at the entire bracket:

The winner will face Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at SAKURA GENESIS on 4/6 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, so if SANADA goes all the way we could very well get a trilogy match following Tokyo Dome and this past weekend, both won by Naito. In first looking at the bracket, scratch Boltin Oleg as the Young Lion entrant and Callum Newman has he’s mainly been a jobber for United Empire, otherwise everyone at least has a chance.

Besides Naito vs. the Cup winner, Nemeth-Tanahashi for the IWGP Global Championship is also set for SAKURA GENESIS. Tanahashi is expected to be back from injury by then, which is a sprained ankle suffered on Day 1 of THE NEW BEGINNING in SAPPORO. In fact, right now it sounds like he’ll be out less than 2 weeks based on below.

Finally, the full card has been announced for the traditional Anniversary Event on 3/6 at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo, returning to the venue where it all began-the site of New Japan’s very first event on March 6, 1972. Here’s the full lineup announced today:
Tomoaki Honma & Tanga Loa vs. Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb
Hikuleo & El Phantasmo vs. Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.
El Desperado, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. BUSHI, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi
Callum Newman, Francesco Akira 7& TJP vs. Gedo, Favid Finlay & Gabriel Kidd
Yuya Uemura, Taichi, DOUKI & SANADA vs. Dick Togo, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & EVIL (the new-look Uemura following losing his hair last weekend)
New Japan Cup Round 1:
Toru Yano vs. Yujiro Takahashi
YOSHI-HASHI vs. KENTA
Shota Umino vs. Jack Perry
Champion vs. Champion Anniversary Match: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito vs. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Sho in a NON-TITLE match. This is an Anniversary Event tradition that was paused after 2020 due to the pandemic, but returns this year

New Japan 3/21/23 Results (Updated)

New Japan wrapped up the 2023 New Japan Cup tournament today with the Finals, which would decide who would get sn IWGP World Heavyweight Championship shot in just over 2 weeks.

Today’s event was held at Aore Nagaoka in Niigata and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This event aired as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2023 on TV Asahi in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 3384, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: DOUKI & Taichi beat Yuto Nakashima & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Taichi pinned Nakashima after Dangerous Backdrop.

Match 2: Ryohei Oiwa & Shota Umino beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. Umino pinned Fujita after Death Slider.

Match 3: El Phantasmo, Chase Owens & KENTA beat Tomoaki Honma, Tomohiro Ishii & Tama Tonga. Phantasmo pinned Honma after CR 2.

Match 4: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, Ren Narita & El Desperado. Takahashi pinned Taguchi after Big Juice. Borderline squash. Afterwards, House Of Torture demanded a rematch for the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Titles.

A cryptic video played…

Match 5: Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan. Naito pinned Khan.

Match 6: Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open beat YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada. Mark Davis pinned YOSHI-HASHI after Corealis.

Match 7: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi beat Lio Rush to retain the title. V2 for Takahashi. Next up: Possibly Robbie Eagles, who made the challenge by video via Zack Sabre Jr. Eagles has defected from Chaos to TMDK. It could happen on 4/8 at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Main Event: New Japan Cup Finals: SANADA beat David Finlay to win the tournament. As a result, SANADA will face IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada for the title on 4/8.

The next event is MULTIVERSE UNITED: Only The STRONG Survive, a joint event with Impact Wrestling, on 3/30 at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, CA. The event will be a live PPV only on FITE and is available now for pre-order for $24.99. Live streaming will begin at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET. Live results updates are scheduled.

UPDATE: Will Osprey is now officially off 3/31. Shoulder injury. He was to have faced Mike Bailey. Hiroshi Tanahashi is the replacement.

New Japan 3/19/23 Results

New Japan ran the penultimate day of the New Japan Cup today with the Semifinals, which would set up a very unlikely Finals regardless of the matchup.

Today’s event was held at G Messe Gunma in Gunma and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1396.

Match 1; Oskar Leube & Shota Umino beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. Umino beat Fujita with STF.

Match 2: El Phantasmo, Chase Owens & KENTA beat Ryohei Oiwa, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii. Phantasmo pinned Oiwa.

Match 3: Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & RVIL beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki. Sho pinned Taguchi.

Match 4: Jeff Cobb & Kyle Fletcher beat Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI. Cobb pinned Honma after Tour of the Islands.

Match 5: Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan beat BUSHI & Shingo Takagi. Henare beat BUSHI with Ultima. Afterwards, Henare made a KOPW 2023 Title challenge to Takagi.

Match 6: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat Lio Rush & Yoh. Naito pinned Yoh after Destino.

Match 7: New Japan Cup Semifinals: David Finlay beat Mark Davis.

Main Event: New Japan Cup Semifinals: SANADA beat Tama Tonga.

As a result, the Finals will be Finlay vs. SANADA with the winner facing IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada for the title at SAKURA GENESIS on 4/8.

The Final is Tuesday at Aore Nagaoka in Niigata. Also set for the event is IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Lio Rush for the title. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

New Japan 3/18/23 Results

New Japan continued the New Japan Cup today with the second half of the Quarterfinals, which would finish setting up the Final 4.

Today’s event was held at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1101.

Match 1: Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Oskar Leube & Ryohei Oiwa. Fujita pinned Oiwa.

Match 2: Aaron Henare & Kyle Fletcher beat Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI. Henare pinned Honma after Streets Of Rage.

Match 3: Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat El Phantasmo, Chase Owens & KENTA by DQ. KENTA DQ’d. Ref assault.

Match 4: Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Mark Davis beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Khan beat Togo with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 5: Lio Rush, Yoh, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & tetsuya Naito. Ishii pinned BUSHI after a vertical drop brainbuster. BUSHI was a late replacement for SANADA, who was removed from this match due to events earlier this week when he left LIJ to join what is now Just Five Guys (Taichi’s new post-Suzuki-Gun faction).

Match 6: New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: David Finlay beat Shota Umino. As a result, Finlay advances to the Semifinals.

Main Event: New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: Tama Tonga beat Hirooki Goto. As a result, Tonga advances to the Semifinals.

As a result of today, the second Semifinal will be Finlay vs. Tonga. The promotion also announced that, as is tradition, the tournament winner will face IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada for the title at SAKURA GENESIS on 3/8 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. (The Cup winner always gets the next title match)

The Semifinals are tomorrow at G Messe Gunma in Gunma. The rest of the card beyond those matches (Finlay-Tonga and SANADA vs. Mark Davis) is TBA. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

New Japan 3/17/23 Results (Updated)

New Japan continued the New Japan Cup today with the beginning of the Quarterfinals.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This was a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1351, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Sho & Yujiro Takahashi beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. Takahashi pinned Fujita after Pimp Juice.

Match 2: Aaron Henare, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Kyle Fletcher beat Oskar Leube, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe. Fletcher pinned Leube after Grimstone.

Match 3: Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tama Tonga. Yano pinned Tenzan.

Match 4: Lio Rush, Yoh & Tomohiro Ishii beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi. Rush pinned BUSHI.

Match 5: Shota Umino, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat El Phantasmo, Chase Owens, KENTA & David Finlay. Suzuki pinned KENTA after a Gotch-style piledriver.

Match 6: New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: Mark Davis beat EVIL. As a result, Davis advances to the Semifinals. UPSET ALERT!!!

Main Event: New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: SANADA beat Tetsuya Naito. As a result, SANADA advances to the Semifinals. Afterwards, SANADA left LIJ and joined Just Four Guys (Taichi’s new post-Suzuki-Gun faction) and they now become Just Five Guys.

As a result of today, the first half of the Semifinals will be SANADA vs. Davis.

The next event is tomorrow at Act City Hamamatsu in Shizuoka with the remaining Quarterfinals-Umino vs. Finlay & Goto vs. Tonga. Because of SANADA defecting from LIJ there may be a change to Match 5 as he was supposed to be in an 8-man tag with LIJ. Most likely he and someone on the other side (Rush, Yoh, Yano, Tomohiro Ishii) get pulled to make it a 6-man tag but we’ll see. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

In other news today, the 30th installment of Best Of The Super Junior, the annual prestigious showcase for Jr. Heavyweights worldwide, was announced for its traditional May spot on the calendar. This year it will run over 12 events from May 12-May 28. The full schedule:
5/12-Korakuen Hall
5/13-Nagano Prefectural Budokan, Nagano
5/14-Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall, Nagoya
5/16-Akita Prefectural Budokan, Akita
5/17-Sendai Sun Plaza, Sendai
5/18-Iwate Prefectural Gym, Iwate
5/19-Maeda Sub Arena, Aomori
5/21-Korakuen Hall
5/23-Osaka Prefectural Gym, Osaka
5/24-Osaka Prefectural Gym Sub-Arena
5/26-Yoyogi National Gym 2, Tokyo
5/28-Ota City General Gym, Tokyo

UPDATE: A change has indeed been made for tomorrow as suggested above-SANADA is now out of the aforementioned 8-man tag. BUSHI is the replacement.

New Japan 3/15/23 Results

New Japan wrapped up Round 2 of the New Japan Cup today, finishing setting up the Quarterfinals but there were changes to today’s card and the next round because Will Ospreay is now out of the tournament. He suffered a shoulder injury in his Round 2 win and is out indefinitely. It seems the man he beat to advance, Mark Davis, will take his place and be tasked with stopping EVIL from reaching the semifinals.

Today’s event was held at ZIP Arena Okayama in Okayama and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 1298.

Match 1: Aaron Henare beat Yuto Nakashima by submission. This was to have been Nakashima & Oskar Leube vs. Henare & Jeff Cobb but Leube was removed from the event and Cobb was a replacement for Ospreay in Match 2.

Match 2: Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open beat Ryohei Oiwa, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Mark Davis pinned Oiwa after Waterslide.

Matxh 3: TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi beat Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL. Taichi pinned Togo after Seitei Jujiro.

Match 4: El Phantasmo, Chase Owens & KENTA beat Jado, Ren Narita & Tama Tonga. KENTA beat Jado with GAME OVER.

Match 5: Lio Rush, Yoh, Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA. Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Yoh pinned BUSHI after Direct Drive.

Match 6: New Japan Cup Round 2: David Finlay beat Great-O-Khan. As a result, Finlay advances to the Quarterfinals.

Main Event: New Japan Cup Round 2: Shota Umino beat Zack Sabre Jr. As a result, Umino advances to the Quarterfinals. No repeat tournament victory for Sabre.

As a result of today, the final Quarterfinal will be Finlay vs. Umino.

The next event is Friday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo with the start of the Quarterfinals. The full card including 2 Quarterfinals matches is TBA. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

DEVELOPING: New Japan Cup Change

New Japan has announced an unexpected change to the New Japan Cup Tournament: Will Ospreay, who advanced to the Quarterfinals with a Round 2 win Monday, is now OUT. Shoulder injury suffered in the win. Out indefinitely. Mark Davis, who Ospreay beat in Round 2, announced he will be the replacement but this has not been made official. If official as we are lef to believe, Davis will face EVIL in the Quarterfinals. There were also changes made to today’s event.

More as it becomes available.

New Japan 3/13/23 Results

New Japan continued the New Japan Cup today with the 3rd day of Round 2.

Today’s event was held at Item Ehime in Ehime and can be watched on demand on New Japan World.

The announced paid attendance was 604.

Match 1: Chase Owens & KENTA beat Oskar Leube & Ren Narita. Owens pinned Leube after C Trigger.

Match 2: Shota Umino & Tama Tonga beat Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. Tonga pinned Fujita after Gun Stun.

Match 3: Sho & Yujiro Takahashi beat TAKA Michinoku & Taichi. Takahashi pinned TAKA after Pimp Juice.

Match 4: Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Kyle Fletcher beat Gedo, El Phantasmo & David Finlay. Khan beat Gedo with Subaru Sheep Killer.

Match 5: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Lio Rush, Yoh, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto. Takagi pinned Yoh after Pumping Bomber.

Match 6: New Japan Cup Round 2: EVIL beat Jeff Cobb. As a result, EVIL advances to the Quarterfinals.

Main Event: New Japan Cup Round 2: Will Ospreay beat Mark Davis. As a result, Ospreay advances to the Quarterfinals.

The 3rd Quarterfinals match, as a result of today, will be EVIL vs. Ospreay.

The next event is Wednesday at ZIP Arena Okayama in Okayama. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

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