Another day means more second-round New Japan Cup matchups. Today’s main event was an all-United Empire bout with Will Ospreay facing Mark Davis; the other tournament match was United Empire’s Jeff Cobb against Evil.
Evil began the match with cheating as per usual, Dick Togo grabbed Cobb’s ankle to allow Evil to kick him in the midsection and then rake his eyes. Cobb used his power to get back into it, launching Evil into the turnbuckles repeatedly and then hitting a stalling suplex. He then grabbed Togo from the outside and stacked him on Evil so he could stand on top of both of them.
Jeff Cobb standing on Evil and Dick Togo. Credit: NJPW
Evil went right back to cheating, he got Cobb with a thumb to the eye and then took him outside the ring to hit an Evil homerun with a chair wrapped around Cobb’s head. Evil got too confident and started gloating, so Cobb responded by super-kicking him right in the jaw. Cobb then ran Evil with a power slam into the corner and held on to hit a power slam in the middle of the ring.
Togo then got involved again, he held Cobb’s ankle so Evil could run him into an exposed turnbuckle and he then hit a fisherman buster. Evil then had the strength to hit Cobb with Darkness Falls, but it only got a two-count. Cobb then blocked Everything is Evil and threw Evil into the exposed turnbuckle followed by a spin cycle.
Cobb took Evil to the top rope and hit an avalanche gut wrench suplex, but Evil then took out the referee. So in came Togo to try and help Evil hit Cobb with a Magic Killer, but Cobb turned it around and somehow managed to use Togo to hit Evil with a Magic Killer. Cobb stayed on the attack with a standing moonsault and then a German suplex, but Evil then pushed Cobb into the referee again.
Togo then began choking Cobb, but Henare and Fletcher came and grabbed Togo to carry him out of the arena. Sho and Yujiro Takahashi then attacked Henare and Fletcher, while Evil handcuffed Great-O-Khan to the barricade. It was now all of House of Torture against Cobb, and the numbers game was too much even for Cobb.
Evil handcuffed Great-O-Khan. Credit: NJPW
They hit Cobb with a wrench and the walking stick, then Evil hit Everything is Evil and has now advanced to the quarter-finals of the New Japan Cup. House of Torture’s cheating ruins the typical great wrestling we see in NJPW and Evil is extremely stale, but we will now have to see more of him in the tournament.
It was now time for the battle of United Empire faction members and Ospreay and Davis shook hands prior to their match beginning. They began the match by trading holds and testing each other’s strength until Davis chopped Ospreay to the ground. He then reversed a hurricanrana from Ospreay into a slam and then threw him outside the ring so he could throw him face-first into the barricade.
Davis turning Ospreay inside-out. Credit: NJPW
Davis then hung Ospreay on the apron and repeatedly kneed him in the head, he then wrapped Ospreay in the ring mat and jumped with a senton onto him. Back in the ring, Davis hit another senton and then laid into Ospreay with chops and forearms. Ospreay got back into it with a handspring roundhouse kick to Davis’ head and then a springboard forearm for a two-count.
Ospreay then went after Davis’ knee, he hit a dragon screw and then locked him in the figure four leg lock. He then wrapped Davis’ knee in the ropes and ran with a dropkick to the knee before hitting a knee-breaker and putting him back in the figure four. Luckily for Davis this time he was able to roll over and reverse the pressure onto Ospreay.
Davis then hung Ospreay on the top and springboarded off the second rope hitting him with a forearm. That was followed by a superplex and some forearms, but Ospreay powered up and went back after Davis’ knee. He then hit three lariats, a superkick and then a diving forearm to the back of Davis’ head; but Davis popped back up and turned Ospreay inside-out with a lariat.
Ospreay reversed Davis’ next attempt of offense with a crucifix bomb and then an Oscutter for a two-count. He then wanted the Hidden Blade, but Davis ducked under it and then hit a beautiful enzigiri. Ospreay was then looking for an avalanche Spanish fly, but Davis blocked and clotheslined him off the top rope; he then hit another lariat turning him inside-out once again.
Storm Driver. Credit: NJPW
Davis pulled him up off the mat and dropped him directly into a piledriver, he then hit a sliding forearm to the face of Ospreay. Ospreay then reversed another lariat into a Storm Driver and he then connected the Hidden Blade to the face of Davis to get the win. Ospreay has knocked off his stablemate and goes on to face Evil in the quarter-finals.
New Japan Cup 2023 Night Seven Results
Oskar Leube & Ren Narita vs. Bullet Club (Chase Owens & Kenta)
Owens hit Leube with a stiff sliding knee strike to get the victory.
Winners: Bullet Club
Shota Umino & Tama Tonga vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)
Tonga locked Fujita into a modified scorpion death lock while Umino held Sabre back, and followed that with a Gun Stun to pin Fujita. I think Fujita has either been pinned or submitted on all seven tournament nights.
Winners: Shota Umino & Tama Tonga
Just 4 Guys (Taka Michinoku & Taichi) vs. House of Torture (Sho & Yujiro Takahashi)
Takahashi hit Michinoku with a Pimp Juice to get the win.
Winners: House of Torture
United Empire (Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Kyle Fletcher) vs. Bullet Club (Gedo, El Phantasmo & David Finlay)
Great-O-Khan put Gedo into the Iron Claw hold and he submitted while ELP was being held back. Gedo took the loss because Finlay chose to tag him instead of the much fresher and younger, ELP.
Winners: United Empire
Chaos (Lio Rush, Yoh, Yoshi-Hashi, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Sanada, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito)
Naito and Takagi had Yoh in a two-on-one scenario, so Naito hit Yoh with an Enzigiri and Takagi followed it with Pumping Bomber to get the win.