The second round of the New Japan Cup concluded this morning and following today only eight men will remain.
Yota Tsuji defeated El Phantasmo to punch his ticket to the quarterfinals and in the main event, Ren Narita scored the upset victory over Zack Sabre Jr. to advance.
Before the main event began, Red Shoes the referee, sent House of Torture and TMDK to the locker room to make this a fair contest. The match started with some chain wrestling until Narita raked Sabre’s eyes and started with some strikes. Sabre responded with some European uppercuts, but Narita then caught him with a knee. He then took Sabre outside the ring to throw him into the barricade and take him into the crowd. However, in the crowd, it was Sabre locking Narita in a cobra twist.
He released the hold to uppercut Narita back toward the ring and at ringside he tried to kick Narita from the apron, but Narita ducked and swept his legs sending Sabre into the ring apron. Narita then threw Sabre full-speed into the steel barricade twice before booting him into the crowd. Narita ran through the crowd and clotheslined Sabre while jumping over the barricade sending Sabre spine-first into the steel.
This war spills into the crowd. Credit: NJPW
He then drilled Sabre with a chair and brought him back to the ring to continue toying with Sabre. He sent Sabre throat-first into the ropes, raked his head on the ropes and delivered a back elbow. Narita attempted a pin and Sabre kicked out before one to send a message before locking Narita in a cobra twist again. To break the hold Narita grabbed Sabre’s ear and then hit a big boot. Both men were now exchanging big boots and it was Sabre taking Narita down with the final boot.
Sabre continued with strikes before locking in a bow and arrow hold, he released that to hit a dropkick. He turned his focus to Narita’s left arm, kicking it and driving it into the mat. The kicks to the arm continued until he locked in a surfboard stretch that he transitioned into an ankle lock and then into an arm bar. Sabre was pulling Narita’s arms as far back as he could, but Narita reached the ropes. Narita began a comeback with a slap and a lariat, but they then exchanged forearms.
A boot for a boot. Credit: NJPW
Sabre challenged Narita to hit him as hard as he could, Sabre busted open Narita and both men took each other out with simultaneous kicks. When they got back up, Narita connected with a Narita Special and a guillotine knee to the face. He was now kicking Sabre in the face, but Sabre responded with a dragon suplex and a powerful slap. Sabre then went for a Zack Driver, however, Narita reversed into a cobra twist. Sabre managed to get to the ropes and Narita went to the top rope, he dove into Sabre with a guillotine knee.
Both men were now exchanging submissions and trying to get something locked in. Sabre finally locked in a triangle, but Takahashi and Perry of House of Torture rushed the ring from the back. Mikey Nicholls of TMDK followed them out and tried to drag them back to the locker room while Sabre kept the triangle locked in. With Red Shoes paying attention to Nicholls, Takahashi and Perry, Kanemaru came through the crowd and spit whiskey into Sabre’s eyes to break the submission.
Narita cheats his way to the quarterfinals. Credit: NJPW
The brawl between Nicholls, Takahashi and Perry now spilled into the ring and Kanemaru kept Red Shoes distracted. EVIL and Dick Togo jumped in the ring to attack Sabre, but he battled back and took them both out. However, Sabre turned into a metal push-up bar to the skull from Narita. He followed that with a Double Cross and cheated his way into the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinal Matches:
- SANADA versus Jack Perry
- David Finlay versus Hirooki Goto
- EVIL versus Shingo Takagi
- Yota Tsuji versus Ren Narita
New Japan Cup 2024 Night 8 Results
Shoma Kato vs. Katsuya Murashima
Kato and Murashima wrestled to a ten-minute time-limit draw.
Winner: Draw
Callum Newman vs. Mikey Nicholls
Nicholls defeated Newman with a Mikey Bomb.
Winner: Mikey Nicholls
Boltin Oleg, El Desperado, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi, SANADA)
Uemura hit Honma with a diving crossbody and a Deadbolt Suplex to get the win for his team.
Winners: Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi, SANADA)
Rysuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, Gabe Kidd, Chase Owens, KENTA & David Finlay)
Owens hit Taguchi with a C-Trigger and a Package Piledriver to end this match.
Winners: Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, Gabe Kidd, Chase Owens, KENTA & David Finlay)
Jado, YOH, Hikuleo, Tanga Loa & Shota Umino vs. House of Torture (Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, Jack Perry & EVIL)
YOH pushed Togo into EVIL before rolling him up in a 5-Star Clutch to win.
Winners: Jado, YOH, Hikuleo, Tanga Loa & Shota Umino
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. United Empire (Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb)
Cobb rag-dolled BUSHI off the mat and caught him in a Tour of the Islands for the victory.
Winners: United Empire (Francesco Akira, TJP, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb)
New Japan Cup 2024 2nd Round Match: El Phantasmo vs. Yota Tsuji
Curb Stomp. Credit: NJPW
This was a spectacular match and easily one of my favourite matches of the tournament so far. Tsuji kneed ELP right in the jaw before stomping his skull into the mat. He followed that by springboarding himself off the top rope and catching ELP with a Diving Curb Stomp to advance to the quarterfinals.
