The third day of the New Japan Cup would feature two more first-round matchups: Toru Yano versus Mark Davis and Ren Narita versus Evil.
Yano and Davis would be up first for the tournament matches, and right from the jump, Yano would be up to his usual tricks pulling off the turnbuckle pad. Yano would anger Davis by slapping him on the back of the head and then trying to tape him to the barricade.
Davis’ tag partner, Kyle Fletcher, would try to interfere so Yano taped him to the barricade instead. Davis would then chase Yano under the ring, but Davis was first to make his way back out. Yano made his way out from under a little while later, but he was blindfolded with a bag over his head.
Davis after his big win. Credit: NJPW
Davis took advantage of Yano’s inability to see and began to lie into Yano, hitting a neck breaker and choking him. Davis then wrapped Yano in the mats outside the ring and landed a senton over him. Davis then re-entered the ring to take the pads off every single turnbuckle.
Once Yano was back in the ring, Davis taped his and Yano’s hands together and threw Yano into the exposed turnbuckles. But, Yano blocked one of the turnbuckles and drove Davis’ head into the exposed steel.
Davis being driven into the exposed turnbuckle. Credit: NJPW
Yano continued to try for a low blow, but he was never able to connect. Davis landed an enzigiri and then his spinning slam to get the pin and advance.
Davis will now face his United Empire stablemate, Will Ospreay, in the second round.
The main event of the show was Narita and Evil, Narita did not even wait for the bell and he began attacking Evil outside the ring. Narita would go to work on the left leg of Evil, using his technical background to target the limb.
Evil got a chance to recover when Dick Togo tripped up Narita, Evil then threw him into the barricade and choked him out in the crowd. Evil was hoping for the count-out win, but Narita made it back just to be thrown into an exposed turnbuckle.
Evil kept kicking Narita, which fired Narita up and gave him the energy to hit Evil with a back elbow. He followed that with a running neck breaker and a half-half suplex for a two-count. Narita then tried to follow Evil to the outside, but he got thrown into the barricade and then Togo hit him over the back with a steel chair.
Back in the ring, Narita caught Evil with a German suplex and tried to hit him in the corner, but he ended up going face-first into the exposed turnbuckle. Evil then landed Darkness Falls, but only got a two-count. He tried to keep on the attack, but Narita turned a lariat into an exploder suplex.
Evil addressing the crowd. Credit: NJPW
Evil hit Narita with a thumb to the eye and took out the referee, Togo then got into the ring and it was a two-on-one assault on Narita. Togo wrapped a chair around Narita and Evil swung another chair for an Evil Homerun. They then hit Narita with Magic Killer and Togo got Red Shoes to make the count, but to the shock of us all, Narita kicked out at two.
The cheating continued, Evil distracted the ref while Togo tried to choke out Narita, but this time Narita had none of it. Togo got taken out and Narita tried to get Evil in the abdominal stretch, but Evil low-blowed him and then hit a lariat. Evil finally hit Everything is Evil and this time there was no kicking out, Evil advances to the second round to face Jeff Cobb.
NEW JAPAN CUP 2023 NIGHT THREE RESULTS
Yuto Nakashima & Shota Umino vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)
Umino requested Sabre to start the match and despite Sabre’s confidence, Umino got the upper hand. As per usual when it comes to TMDK, Fujita’s inexperience led to him taking the loss; Umino made him tap out with the STF.
Winners: Yuto Nakashima & Shota Umino
Just 4 Guys (Taka Michinoku, Douki, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Bullet Club (El Phantasmo, Chase Owens, Kenta and David Finlay)
ELP applauds Finlay. Credit: NJPW
Prior to the match, Bullet Club was trying to do their usual too-sweet, but ELP did not want to join, showing more issues in Bullet Club. While they waited for ELP to throw up the too-sweet, Just 4 Guys attacked them all before the bell. Even throughout the match, more ELP issues arose when he refused to tag in Finlay. He even went onto commentary to say Bullet Club decided not to attack Jay White, but Finlay went against those orders and that was not cool to him. ELP took it as far as leaving Finlay locked in submission by Michinoku and not breaking up the hold. Luckily, for Bullet Club they still managed to get control and Finlay hit Michinoku with Trash Panda to get the win. After the victory, ELP gave a very reluctant too-sweet and then walked out on his own.
Winners: Bullet Club
Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi & Shingo Takagi) vs. United Empire (Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan)
United Empire would utilize a two-on-one attack on Bushi and Henare would lock Bushi in Ultima while Great-O-Khan held Shingo back. Bushi would be forced to tap out and Henare would land another big win.
Winners: United Empire
Lio Rush, Tomoaki Honma & Tama Tonga vs. Los Ingobernables de Japón (Hiromu Takahashi, Sanada & Tetsuya Naito)
Just when Honma thought he had Naito where he wanted him, Naito caught him with an enzigiri and then finished him off with a Destino. After the match, Takahashi got into the face of Rush showing off his title ahead of their upcoming championship match.
Winners: Los Ingobernables de Japón
Yoh, Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto vs. United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Will Ospreay)
United Empire. Credit: NJPW
Jeff Cobb started the match using all of his power, and it took all three of his opponents to knock him off his feet. However, it would be Ospreay finishing off the match, he hit Yoh with a superkick and then the Hidden Blade to get the win.
I love these wrestlers!! Thanks for writing about them not a lot do !