New Japan Cup 2024 night eight live results: Sabre vs. Narita

The final eight in the 2024 New Japan Cup field will be set following today’s event in Osaka. 

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita in the main event, plus Yota Tsuji vs. El Phantasmo in the semi-main event are today’s Cup matches, the final second round bouts of the tournament. 

The winners of today’s matches will square off in the quarterfinals on March 17. 

Today’s undercard will feature four tag team bouts, and the show kicks off with a pair of singles matches. 

The featured tag team bout is an eight-man with LIJ’s Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI facing UE’s Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, TJP & Francesco Akira.

Mikey Nicholls of TMDK takes on Callum Newman of United Empire in one singles bout, while Young Lions Shoma Kato & Katsuya Murashima square off in the opener.

Today’s show streams live on NJPW World beginning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time.

Time Limit Draw: Shoma Kato vs. Katsuya Murashima

Oh, how I’ve missed the Young Lion exhibitions. 

This was a straightforward, efficient, and fun ground war. The match ended with Kato locking in a Boston Crab, but Murashima held on to earn the time-limit draw.

Mikey Nicholls defeated Callum Newman

This was a decent little singles match.

There were a handful of competitive sequences and interesting offenses ahead of the finish. Ultimately, Nicholls won the match with a Master Blaster.

Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura) defeated Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma), El Desperado & Oleg Boltin

This was a totally standard preview tag. It was fun; GBH had a lot of ring time. That said, it’s nothing worth going out of your way for.

The match ended with a back-and-forth between Honma and Uemura. Uemura was overwhelmed momentarily but eventually reversed momentum. He hit Honma with his deadbolt suplex and won the match.

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori) defeated CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) & Ryusuke Taguchi 

This was almost your typical BULLET CLUB match, but the interactions between Kidd and Ishii elevated it above average. It’s not awful, but it’s not worth seeking out.

The match ended after a full-scale breakdown, which left Owens and Taguchi alone in the ring. Owens hit Taguchi with the package piledriver and won the match.

Guerrillas Of Destiny (Hikuleo, Jado & Tanga Loa), Shota Umino & YOH defeated House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, Jack Perry, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)

If you’ve seen one HoT match, you’ve seen them all. Shota’s goal was to pin Perry, but he couldn’t get the job done. Instead, after minutes of back and forth, YOH pinned Togo with a bridging pin. 

United Empire (Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & TJP) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito)

This match was fine, even if it felt like little more than a card filler.

Both teams exchanged control multiple times in this match. Only after multiple match breakdowns Cobb isolated BUSHI from his team. He landed on Tour of the Islands to win the match.

New Japan Cup: Yota Tsuji defeated El Phantasmo

This match kicked off with some common grappling. It turned into a strike-off, which ELP took full advantage of. ELP landed a rana and attempted a dive, but Tsuji cut him off with a kick.

Back in the ring, Tsuji slammed ELP into the corner. He then took ELP to the mat with a body scissor. Once ELP secured a rope break, Tsuji hit a scoop slam and a splash. ELP remained on the back foot until he caught him with a DDT.

Tsuji fled to the outside, but ELP was right behind him with another DDT. ELP then hit a senton and moonsault combination for a nearfall. ELP tried for Sudden Death, but Tsuji avoided the finish. Tsuji followed up with a tilt-a-whirl for a match reset.

Tsuji caught ELP with a boot, sending ELP back to the floor. Tsuji then positioned ELP on the mat, where the pair struggled for control. ELP tried for CR2, but Tsuji avoided it. Tsuji attempted his curb stomp on the apron, but ELP dodged it. ELP attempted a dive to the floor, but again, he missed. Tsuji was quick to respond with a curb stomp on the floor. ELP barely beat the count, only to eat another curb stomp as soon as he entered the ropes.

Instead of going for the finish, Tusji hoisted ELP to a standing position. He then slapped ELP, landed a corner splash, and lifted him to the top rope. From the top, Tsuji hit a Spanish Fly for a nearfall. Tsuji set up for a Gene Blast, but ELP lept the attack and hit a Sudden Death superkick for a nearfall of his own.

A sequence of quick pins nearly ended the match. Tsuji took advantage of a momentary pause after the back-and-forth to kick ELP to the mat. Tsuji attempted another Gene Blast, but ELP intercepted Tsuji. ELP transitioned into CR2 for a convincing false finish.

Another strike exchange escalated into a sequence of heavy moves. Tsuji landed a knee strike and a curb stomp. With ELP laying in the corner, Tsuji lept to the top rope and delivered another curb stomp, resulting in a win.

Yota Tsuji is set for quarter final action.

New Japan Cup: Ren Narita defeated Zack Sabre Jr.

I would have been pumped if you told me this match was happening one year ago. This was far better than that match would have been. This was great. Both men looked focused and intense. Even the HoT interference wasn’t nearly as infuriating as it should be. Color me impressed.

Narita came to the ring holding his pushup bar, accompanied by Jack Perry, Dick Togo, EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Mikey Nicholls made sure they were expelled to the back before the match began.

The match opened with a scramble for control. No one won out, but Narita was outclassed, so he fled to the floor. Once he returned, he tried catching ZSJ with strikes, but ZSJ fought back with some of his own. Narita held on long enough to throw ZSJ to the floor.

On the outside, Narita carried ZSJ into the floor seats. He tried throwing ZSJ into the wall, but ZSJ blocked him before locking in the cobra twist. Once the referee forced ZSJ to break his hold, ZSJ struck Narita, forcefully sending him back toward the ring.

Once the pair was ringside, Narita whipped ZSJ into the barricade, sending him crashing into English coms. Narita followed up with a sick sling blade-esq lariat into the fencing. Narita dropped ZSJ with a chair before punting him on the apron.

Back in the ring, Narita established control of the mat. He utilized holds, whips, and kicks, really putting ZSJ on the back foot. ZSJ eventually fired back, knocking Narita to the mat. ZSJ then employed his own holds, whips, and kicks to reset the match in his favor.

It took a quick slap and a clothesline from Narita to retake control. ZSJ answered by initiating a passionate strike battle, ending with a pair of big boots; during this exchange, Narita’s nose busted, resulting in a lot of blood. Narita won out, hitting a Narita special and a guillotine for nearfall.

ZSJ tried to regain his lead with two quick pin attempts. A stunning suplex followed, resulting in another nearfall. Once both men returned to their feet, ZSJ attempted the Zack Driver, but Narita slipped free, catching ZSJ in the octopus hold. ZSJ escaped; Narita followed up with a guillotine knee for another nearfall.

Narita tried for Double Cross, but ZSJ transitioned into a cross-arm breaker. A quick exchange of holds followed, but ZSJ maintained control. This signaled HoT to hit the ring. Nicholls was as fast to the ring as possible, but he couldn’t hold off HoT alone. The distraction left Narita free to drop ZSJ with the pushup bar and a double cross to win the match.

Narita advances to the quarter-finals.