Howdy!
Tonight, it’s the beginning of the 2nd round! On tap, our action for tonight includes:
Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs Taiji Ishimori
Tomohiro Ishii vs Togi Makabe
Toru Yano vs Hiromu Takahashi
Kazuchika Okada vs Yuji Nagata
Who will move on to the final eight?
Let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?
March 20th, 15:00 from Ao-re Nagaoka, Niigata
Yesterday’s show saw Bad Luck Fale and Katsuyori Shibata get past EVIL and Tomohiro Ishii respectively to reach today’s final. Up for grabs, as well as the prestige of winning the Cup itself, is a title shot of the winner’s choice. The rest of the card features multi-man tags that will likely set up matches for April’s Sakura Genesis. Let’s get to it.
March 19th, 15:00 from Act City Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
The 2nd Round saw EVIL and Bad Luck Fale progress on the left-hand side of the bracket while familiar foes Katsuyori Shibata and Tomohiro Ishii battled through on the right-hand side, and those two matches are our headliners today. Let’s get to it.
The exits of Tanahashi, Elgin, Suzuki and Omega in the 1st Round busted many a bracket and, more importantly, blew the tournament wide open. The 2nd Round took place over four days this week and here’s how it went down…
The New Japan Cup is a sixteen-man, single elimination tournament, the winner of which gets to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental, or NEVER Openweight Championship at an upcoming show, most likely April’s Sakura Genesis. Let’s get to it.
March 12th from Aomiori, Japan
A week after Rounds One and Two we reach the Finals of the New Japan Cup. The semi-finals are Naito vs. Yano and Goto vs. Elgin, with the winner of the tournament to be determined in the main event. The rest of the card featured tag matches that will likely set up matches April’s Invasion Attack.
March 4th, 18:30 from Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
RIP Hayabusa
Yesterday’s Round One show was good from top to bottom, with several big announcements made as well. Aside from a should-be-good Naito vs. Ishii bout, today’s Cup matches aren’t so promising on paper, with the route to the final appearing clear. But, who knows, we might get an upset or two.
March 3rd, 19:00 from Ota Gymnasium, Tokyo
The New Japan Cup is a sixteen-man, single elimination tournament, the winner of which gets to choose to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental, or NEVER Openweight Championship at an upcoming show (most likely April’s Invasion Attack). Each of the eight singles matches today are part of Round One of the tournament, Round Two is tomorrow, and the semi-finals and final take place on March 12th.