New Japan Cup 2024 night 11 live results: Semifinals

New Japan Cup 2024’s semifinals take place today in Fukushima. 

One one side of the bracket, SANADA of Just Five Guys will face Hirooki Goto of CHAOS in a battle of former tournament winners. 

SANADA won the New Japan Cup 2023, defeating David Finlay in the finals. Goto remains the only three-time New Japan Cup winner, but his last victory came in 2012, and he has not made the finals since 2016. 

On the other side of the bracket, Yota Tsuji of Los Ingobernables de Japon will battle EVIL from Bullet Club’s House of Torture. 

EVIL won the tournament in 2020, defeating Kazuchika Okada in the finals and going on to defeat Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championships at Dominion that year. 

The winners of today’s tournament matches will meet in the finals on Wednesday, with the overall tournament winner advancing to face Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis on April 6. 

TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.) defeated Oleg Boltin & Shoma Kato

This match was fantastic. 

Zack brought so much out of the Young Lions; both looked great. Of course, Oleg led his team with multiple power-based sequences but also tried his hand at grappling. Kato was firey, adding to the energy of the match. Ultimately, ZSJ forced Kato to submit to win the match for TMDK.

Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, Taichi & Yuya Uemura) defeated El Desperado, Togi Makabe & Tomohiro Ishii

This was an uninspiring six-man.

This was filled with what you would expect: a handful of middling back-and-forths, an Ishii/Taichi striking battle, and Makabe taking the loss. The match ended after Uemura forced Makabe to tap out with an armbar.

After the match, Ishii and Taichi traded more strikes.

Ryusuke Taguchi & Tanga Loa defeated United Empire (Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan)

Bad. This was bad.

The only person who seemed like he wanted to be there was Newman. Unfortunately, this meant he was on the receiving end of some ugly-looking offense. Thankfully, this match eventually came to an end. Loa won the match for his team by forcing Newman to submit with a crossface.

After the match, Taguchi put his butt on Newman’s face. Loa then challenged O-Khan for the KOPW belt.

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, Gabe Kidd & KENTA) defeated CHAOS (Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

This was a by-the-book BULLET CLUB match.

After prolonged isolation from the BULLET CLUB trio, they distracted the referee. KENTA hit Tenzan with the tag belt and pinned him to win the match.

After securing the win, BULLET CLUB continued to beat down their opponents. 

Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo), Shota Umino & YOH defeated House Of Torture (Jack Perry, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)

Before the match began, HoT attacked Hikuleo, setting the pace for the rest of the match. There was a lot of shenanigans, as you would expect. After Umino cleared the ring of Perry, he forced Yujiro to submit with a crossface.

After the match, YOH stole the junior title ahead of their match on the 20th. 

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated United Empire (Francesco Akira, Jeff Cobb & TJP)

They’re really pushing the idea that TJP is stepping up to lead UE without him actually winning anything. Other than that, this was a totally average showcase tag.

This match featured heavy interactions from the pairings you would expect. Hiromu and Akira were the main focus heading into the final stretch. With the end in sight, Akira set up for his finish, but Hiromu reversed into the Hiromu roll to win the match.

New Japan Cup: Yota Tsuji defeated EVIL

This match was really bad. It was nothing short of frustrating from the first opening bell to the close. That said, Tsuji winning in the end did feel great (mostly because it marks the end of HoT in the cup, but hey, a win is a win).

Before the match began, Tsuji attacked HoT on the outside. This occupied Tsuji long enough for EVIL to take advantage, whipping Tsuji into the barricade. From here, HoT rushed the ring, leading to a beatdown on Tsuji. LIJ ran to the ring to make the save, but the sheer numbers from HoT proved to be too much.

The referee couldn’t gain order so he called for the bell. The match was ruled a no-contest.

An irate Tsuji grabbed the microphone and asked for a restart. In order for the match to restart, HoT and LIJ had to return to the back, which they did.

The match kicked off for the second time with an impassioned Tsuji rushed EVIL. EVIL retreated to the outside, where he lay in wait. When Tsuji met him on the floor, EVIL slammed him into the barricade and removed the cover from the turnbuckles.

Back inside the ring, EVIL pulled the hair of Tsuji, chopped his chest, and gouged his eyes. EVIL then worked Tsuji into the corner. Tsuji responded with a sudden curb stomp, resting the match. Before Tsuji could gain a footing, EVIL slammed him into the exposed corner and landed a fisherman suplex to re-cement his lead. EVIL followed up with Darkness Falls for a nearfall.

Tsuji reset the match again by driving EVIL into the exposed corner. A sit-out bomb from Tsuji scored him a nearfall. As soon as Tsuji was in a winning position, EVIL bumped the referee. HoT rushed the ring again, leading to a full-fledged beatdown. LIJ tried to make the save, but again, they were outnumbered.

Once a new referee entered the ring, EVIL floored Tsuji with a lariat. EVIL tried for Everything is Evil, but Tsuji flipped out and landed a headbutt and powerbomb in response. EVIL bumped the referee again and hit a low blow. Before Narita could hit Tsuji with his pushup bar, Shingo Takagi hit the ring and cleared HoT. BUSHI misted EVIL, and Shingo hit him with a pumping bomber to even the odds. This left Tsuji free to hit Gene Blast and win the match.

Tsuji, in his first New Japan Cup post-excursion, is in the finals. 

New Japan Cup: Hirooki Goto defeated SANADA

This match opened with a slow feeling-out before working its way to the floor. On the outside, SANADA dropped Goto with a piledriver. Back inside, SANADA maintained his lead with basic offense.

Goto eventually dropped SANADA with a lariat to gain some footing. He then utilized more strikes to further his lead. SANADA didn’t let Goto’s lead develop, however. He landed a dropkick to send Goto to the floor followed by a plancha, regaining a strong lead.

SANADA attempted Skull End, but Goto escaped. This led to a short scramble, but SANADA landed TKO to stay on top. SANADA tried for the rounding body press but missed, leaving Goto free to land a ushigoroshi, resetting the match.

After a striking battle, SANADA hit a shining wizard. He then secured Skull End in the middle of the ring. Once Goto was freed, he dropped SANADA with a headbutt. When he tried for GTW, SANADA reversed and attempted multiple quick pins.

Goto kicked from SANADA’s cheap attempts at pinning Goto. SANADA followed up with a shining wizard, but Goto was quick to respond with GTR and GTW to win the match.

The match is set. On Wednesday, in his seventh finals, Hirooki Goto will face Yota Tsuji for the New Japan Cup.