New Japan Cup Finals – Mar 21

New Japan Cup Finals – Mar 21

Listen to The Daily Wrestling News Show: 

*Live from Niigata, Japan. 

Commentary Team is Kevin Kelly and Chris Charlton. They explain that whatever tickets were available seem to have been scarfed up as it appears to be a complete sell out. Sanada, who just left LIJ to form “Just Five Guys,” is wrestling in the main event against David Finlay in the New Japan Cup Finals.

Taichi and Douki w/ Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taka Michinoku defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yuto Nakashima by pinfall when Taichi hit Nakashima with a high angle side suplex. (10:03)

Shota Umino and Ryohie Oiwa defeat Kosei Fujita and NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. by pinfall. If you’ve not seen Shota Umino in a long time, he has really developed into a star. Umino walks through the crowd like Jon Moxley and hands out sunglasses like Bret Hart. Once Umino tags into the match, he points to Zack Sabre as he delivers consecutive European Style Uppercuts to Fujita. All indications point to a future NJPW World TV Title match between Umino and Sabre. When Zack and Umino get in the ring together, they trade European Uppercuts until Zack got the advantage and made the tag out to Fujita. Shota Umino got the pinfall victory with an Okada style dropkick followed by a Moxley style Death Rider DDT (9:42). Following the match, Umino presented ZSJ with his title belt and issued the official challenge for the TV Title.

Strong Openweight Champion Kenta, Chase Owens, and El Phantasmo defeat Tomoaki Honma, Tomohiro Ishii, and NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga w/ Jado by pinfall. A lot of the commentary during this match was explaining the historical significance of this time of year for Bullet Club. There’s always a lot of membership and leadership changes as well as internal strife that comes up this time of year. With Finlay added to BC, it seems there may be some issues with ELP. Phantasmo got the pinfall after hitting CR2 (8:14).

Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi, Evil defeat Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, Ren Narita, El Desperado by pinfall. Kevin Kelly summarized the upcoming match before it even started with his take on the House of Torture playbook. As Kelly predicted, House of Torture attacked their opponents before the bell. The match didn’t last very long as House of Torture isolated Ryusuke Taguchi and ultimately pinned him (2:45). After the match, they spray painted H.O.T. on Rea Narita and ripped the mask of Desperado. Evil got on the mic and told Rea Narita he wants the Six Man Titles back.

Video Package indicating that someone is coming soon.

Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito defeat Aaron Henare and Great-O-Khan by pinfall. The Great-O-Khan went for the eliminator, but Naito countered into a roll-up for the pinfall victory. GOK continued beating up on Naito after the match as Henare and Shingo battled some more on the outside. It looks like Henare wants a KOPW Championship match . . . perhaps at Sakura Genesis.

Jeff Cobb and Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) defeat IWGP Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi and the IWGP World Champion Kazuchika Okada. The name of KENNY OMEGA was brought up several times during this match because Omega is the current IWGP United States Champion. It does appear that Jeff Cobb will be next challenging Omega for that title. Aussie Open hits Coriolis on Yoshi-Hashi to earn the pinfall victory (11:11). With that victory, Davis and Fletcher seem to have really put themselves in position to challenge for the tag titles.

Hiromu Takahashi (ch) defeats Lio Rush w/ Yoh to retain his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship by pinfall. This match was predictably fast. Lio hit Final Hour and went for it a second time, but Hiromu got his knees up. Takahashi immediately hit the Timebomb, but only earned a near fall. At the 16 minute mark, both men seemed to “Hulk-Up,” but Lio took the advantage hitting a standing Spanish Fly and his spinning DMV driver for another near fall. Lio hit his partner Yoh’s finisher “Direct Drive” as the setup for his Final Hour Frog Splash, but Hiromu once again evaded the move. The finish finally came when Hiromu hit Timebomb 2 for the pinfall victory (21:27). Super good match.

Zack Sabre Junior comes to the ring. He says that he’s not a junior heavyweight. Zack says that Hiromu’s next challenger is the newest member of TMDK, and he has a little video message. They play the video. It is Robbie Eagles, and he issues the challenge for Sakura Genesis. Hiromu accepts the challenge.

MAIN EVENT

Sanada w/ Taka, Taichi, Douki, and Kanemaru defeats David Finlay w/ Gedo – New Japan Cup Final – The commentary team makes a big deal out of the fact that Finlay has won clean in every match while Sanada is wrestling in his home town. Sanada used a DDT for the pinfall victory (19:58).

Post Match Promo: Sanada acknowledges that he won the New Japan Cup in his hometown. Next is the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, and Sanada invites Okada out to the ring. With the champion now in the ring, Sanada says he’s going to change the landscape. Okada congratulates Sanada on his New Japan Cup victory, but asks what took him so long. Okada says he’ll beat the living daylights out of Sanada in Ryogoku.

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iMPACT! & NJPW – Multiverse United: Only the STRONG Survive – Thu. Mar. 30, 2023 at 11pm EST – Los Angeles, CA.

+ Josh Alexander (c) vs. Kushida – for the Impact World Championship

+ Mickie James (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Gisele Shaw vs. Miyu Yamashita – in a 4-Way Match for the Knockouts Championship

+ Bullet Club (Ace/Bey) vs. Aussie Open vs. TMDK (Haste/Tito) vs. Motor City Machine Guns – in a 4-Way Match for the Impact Tag Team Championship

+ Trey Miguel (c) vs. Rich Swann vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Rocky Romero vs. Kevin Knight vs. Clark Connors – in a 6-Man Scramble for the X-Division Championship

+ Mike Bailey vs. Will Ospreay

+ Moose vs. Jeff Cobb

+ Kenta vs. Minoru Suzuki

+ Fred Rosser, Alex Coughlin, Sami Callihan, PCO vs. Eddie Edwards, Joe Hendry, Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos – in an 8-Man Tag Team Match

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Sakura Genesis – April 8, 2023 at 4:00 AM EDT– Ryoguku

+ Kazuchika Okada (ch) v. New Japan Cup Winner Sanada – IWGP Heavyweight Championship

+ Hiromu Takahashi (ch) v. Robbie Eagles – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

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Capital Collision – April 15, 2023 – Washington DC

+ Shane Haste and Bad Dude Tito v. Royce Isaacs and Joel Nelson

+ Rocky Romero, Tomohiro Ishii, Lio Rush, Clark Connors, The DKC v. Volador Jr, Mike Bailey, Kushida, Kevin Knight, Gabriel Kid

+ Fred Rosser v. Juice Robinson