Here are the results from Day 9 of NJPW’s New Japan Cup tournament. The event took place at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, and featured one quarter-final match for the yearly tournament.
Due to illness, David Finlay is removed from the tournament. As such, his opponent Hirooki Goto has received a buy into the semi-finals.
Oleg Boltin, Shoma Kato & YOH vs El Desperado, Katsuya Murashima & Togi Makabe
- Boltin pinned Murashima with a rolling senton
Oleg Boltin was once again given the spotlight in an impressive tour so far for him. The Kazakh wrestler picked up the win for his side in a decent match to open the show, that saw some good back-and-forth action from the six men involved.
United Empire (Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) vs Ryusuke Taguchi, Tanga Loa & Tomohiro Ishii
- Cobb pinned Taguchi after a Tour of the Islands
In what was a decent six-man tag team match, Jeff Cobb picked up another win in tag team action. Ishii starred for his team, fighting off UE before being overpowered by Cobb. This allowed Taguchi to get the hot tag, and saw him getting pinned by Cobb to end the match.
TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs United Empire (Callum Newman & TJP)
- ZSJ tapped Newman out with a leg bar
Following his shocking loss to Ren Narita in the New Japan Cup, ZSJ continued his winning record in tag team action. He picked up the win, and saw some good holds being swapped between himself and TJP in the bout.
BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, Gabe Kidd, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori) vs Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & Jado) & Toru Yano
- Ishimori pinned Jado
Bullet Club did their usual nonsense, attacking their opponents on the outside to start the match. They then isolated Toru Yano, before it ended in an all-out brawl. The match ended when Ishimori traded pinfalls with Jado, eventually pinning him to win the match for BC.
Just 5 Guys (Taichi & Yuya Uemura) vs Shota Umino & YOSHI-HASHI
- Uemara pinned YOSHI-HASHI with a crucifix pin
This was a slow-paced match which did not impress, although the fans seemed to be invested. It was fairly disappointing, with neither teams really blowing anyone out the water.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) vs House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)
- Tsuji pinned Narita after a spear.
House of Torture cheated, used weapons and attacked people behind the referees back.
(I know, you can hardly believe it…)
The bits with the actual wrestlers wrestling was good, with Tsuji and Takahashi in particular looking good. Tsuji pinned Narita with a huge spear to win the match, and should be a favorite to win the New Japan Cup.
New Japan Cup Quarter-Final: Jack Perry vs SANADA
- SANADA pinned Perry with a bridging pin.
Finlay’s injury meant this was the only cup match on this show, but it didn’t live up to the billing. Perry attacked SANADA before the match, adding some much needed HoT rubbish to the event.
This extended into the match, where they attacked SANADA in the ring. Perry almost picked up the win with a knee trembler, but the former champion managed to kick out.
SANADA stole the win with a bridging pin. It made Perry look good in defeat, which was more than the match’s quality did.
