Canada has lost one of its entries in the New Japan Cup tournament. Michael Elgin was defeated by Kazuchika Okada in their Round One match. However, it appeared that a Canadian has joined the elite Bullet Club faction.
In a hard-fought match, Elgin turned a Rainmaker Clothesline into a powerbomb for a two count then quickly transitioned into a crossface. Okada was fading fast until he draped one foot over the ropes.
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Okada almost tapped out to Elgin’s crossface. Photo: NJPW.
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Okada was Buckle Bombed and took a back fist to the jaw knocking him to his knees. Elgin ripped off his elbow pad. Okada caught Elgin’s rolling elbow Tombstone Piledriving him and then hitting the Rainmaker Clothesline to eliminate Elgin from the tournament. Okada and Elgin shook hands after the match.
Canada’s other entry, Davey Boy Smith Jr., faces Toru Yano in their Round One match on Monday.
In a promo that aired during the middle of the show, it appeared that Canadian wrestler Riley Vigier (El Phantasmo) is the newest member of Bullet Club. Vigier was born in British Columbia and has wrestled for Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling, PowerZone Wrestling, All Star Wrestling and Revolution Pro Wrestling in England where he won the British J Cup tournament.
Here is the full-length promo:
In other New Japan Cup matches:
Mikey Nicholls defeated Hikuleo with a Mikey Bomb.
Will Ospreay beat Bad Luck Fale. Ospreay kicked out of The Grenade and countered a Bad Luck Fall into a rolling pin..even though one of Fale’s shoulders was off the mat. Bad call, Red Shoes.
Lancer Archer defeated Toa Henare with his Blackout (Inverted crucifix powerbomb) finisher.
In other matches:
Bullet Club (Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori) defeated Tomoaki Honma, Yoshi-Hashi. Honma missed the Diving Kokeshi from the second rope. Owens pinned him with the Package Piledriver. Bullet Club attacked Yoshi-Hashi after the match.
Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Satoshi Kojima beat Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Minoru Suzuki). Yano reversed Davey Boy’s powerbomb rolling him up for the pin. An enraged Davey Boy smashed Yano with a steel chair for his troubles.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi and Evil) defeated Suzuki-gun (Taka Michinoku, Zack Sabre Jr.). Shingo and his Pumping Bomber on Taka scored LIJ the victory.
Juice Robinson, Hirooki Goto and Kota Ibushi defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Bushi, Sanada, Tetsuya Naito). Juice pinned Bushi with Pulp Friction.
Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Colt Cabana and Shota Umino. Makabe pinned Nakanishi with the King Kong Knee Drop.