The NJPW Cup is underway with the winner getting a chance to challenge champion Kota Ibushi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. The finals of the tournament are on March 21st. Both Evil and Hiroshi Tanahashi received byes into the second round. Evil is the defending NJPW Cup winner and Tanahashi is the current NEVER Openweight Champion. Here is today’s update, minus the extraneous tag team matches that are on every card.
NJPW Cup Night 7
Results
Minoru Suzuki versus Kenta
Kenta tries to throw Suzuki off his game by laying on the mat and reading a newspaper he has brought with him. Suzuki swats the paper out of Kenta’s hands. Kenta flees the ring. Kenta rolls in and out of the ring frustrating Suzuki some more. Kenta picks up the newspaper once again and begins perusing it as he walks around on the floor. Suzuki snatches the paper, lays it out in the middle of the ring, sits down and asks Kenta to come read it with him. Suzuki attacks as soon as Kenta enters the ring. Kenta leads Suzuki on a chase on the floor. An angry Suzuki kicks the ringside barrier in frustration. Kenta pays for his shenanigans when Suzuki locks on his tarantula submission hold from the apron. Suzuki loses it on the floor. He rams Kenta into the barriers and then beats him with a steel chair. Red Shoes admonishes him. Red Shoes gets shoved and Kenta kicks Suzuki in the face. Kenta picks up the chair hitting Suzuki over the back with it and chokes him out with it. Two DDTs, one in the ring and one off the ropes staggers Suzuki. Suzuki and Kenta get into a slugfest beating the tar out of each other with strikes for like a minute and a half. Kenta counters the Gotch Style Piledriver with Go to Sleep.
Winner: Kenta
Shingo Takagi versus Hirooki Goto
The two powerhouses battle on the floor. Shingo dings Goto’s head off a steel post. Goto takes another shot as he is DDT’d on the floor. Goto grabs Shingo by the hair slamming his head on the apron. Once he falls to the floor, Goto chokes him against the ringside barrier. Goto hits the GTR but cannot pin Shingo. Shingo hangs Goto over the ropes for a GTR of his own. Goto kicks out of a Pumping Bomber but Last of the Dragon pins him.
Winner: Shingo Takagi
In Round Three we now have:
Shingo Takagi versus Kenta
Evil versus Toru Yano
