New Japan Cup 2024 night four live results: Tsuji vs. Cobb
The 2024 New Japan Cup continues today in Hyogo with the final opening round matches.
Yota Tsuji faces Jeff Cobb in the headline bout on today’s show.
Taichi takes on Ren Narita in the semi-main event.
El Phantasmo vs. Mikey Nicholls is today’s other tournament match.
The winner of today’s main event will face the winner of Phantasmo vs. Nicholls on March 15. The Taichi/Narita winner will face Zack Sabre Jr. on the March 15 show. Sabre is one of four wrestlers who received byes into round two.
The tournament will be whittled down to the final 16 competitors following today’s matches.
Five tag team matches round out today’s undercard, including a Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. United Empire eight-man bout, with LIJ’s Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI facing UE’s Great-O-Khan, TJP, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman.
The show streams live on NJPW World beginning at 2 a.m. Eastern time.
BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori) defeated Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) & Tomoaki Honma
Bullet Club cheated, and the upcoming Goto/Owens match was teased throughout this match’s runtime.
The babyfaces spent quite a bit of time on top, but we’re cut off by tandem attacks. Most of the Bullet Club offense was focused on Honma. After prolonged isolation, KENTA trapped him in a pin with his feet on the ropes to steal the win.
Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA & Yuya Uemura) defeated CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) & Ryusuke Taguchi
Yano and Taguchi set the pace of this match from the beginning. After tons of chicanery, Ishii tagged in, leading to a competitive back and forth with DOUKI. Uemura then challenged Ishii, utilizing his arm drags to establish control.
Uemura and Ishii traded strikes in the center of the ring. Ishii overwhelmed Uemura, forcing a tag to SANADA and Taguchi. Taguchi, with Yano’s help, unloaded on SANADA, taking back control. Taguchi launched into a pinning spree, which backfired when SANADA caught him in one of his own. Taguchi failed to kick out, leaving J5G with the win.
Guerrillas Of Destiny (Hikuleo, Jado & Tanga Loa) defeated BULLET CLUB War Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd & Gedo)
The War Dogs started this match with a brawl. They cleared the ring of the babyfaces, establishing solid control. BC then worked to isolate Jado, keeping him away from his partners for minutes.
The eventual double tag led to a babyface rally. Loa gained quite a bit on Finlay. Once Finlay tagged out, the War Dogs hit the ring in an attempt to retake control, but he held them off on his own. Loa then hit Gedo with a knee strike to win the match.
El Desperado, Oleg Boltin, Shota Umino & YOH vs. House Of Torture (EVIL, Jack Perry, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)
Before the match began, EVIL forced an announcer to call Jack Perry to the ring. Perry then replaced SHO in this match.
Unsurprisingly, this match opened with a HoT-initiated brawl. Oleg reversed momentum for his team in the ring before tagging out. Once Desperado established a more substantial lead, HoT rushed the ring, starting another brawl.
Once Umino tagged in, the match began to turn around for the babyfaces. HoT attempted to cheat their way back into control, but a match breakdown followed. The babyfaces maintained their lead through the chaos, leaving Umino free to unload on Yujiro. Umino locked in a crossface and held onto it through a distracted referee long enough to win the match.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & TJP)
A full-fledged brawl kicked off this match. Once the match gained some order, UE had full control over Hiromu.
Eventually, Naito tagged in and beat down O-Khan (who had spit on him during UE’s control). Naito uloaded on O-Khan and his backup before returning the favor, spitting on O-Khan multiple times.
A double tag to Shingo and Newman led to an athletic back-and-forth. The match broke down once both men exhausted each other, and everyone else hit the ring. Shingo emerged from the chaos, standing tall. He then dropped Newman with a pumping bomber and Made in Japan to win the match.
New Japan Cup: El Phantasmo defeated Mikey Nicholls
This match opened with a pro-longed feeling-out sequence. The pair began to trade forearms, leaving the stronger Nicholls in the driver’s seat. Nicholls then tossed ELP to the floor, where he continued his attack. Back in the ring, Nicholls continued his advance, virtually uncontested.
Eventually, ELP landed a kick, which opened the door for a methodical rally. ELP landed a pair of springboards for a nearfall. When Nicholls attempted to reverse momentum, ELP caught him with a DDT and a moonsault to the floor.
Nicholls powered up, ending ELPs steak of offense with a lariat. He then hit ELP with a superplex and a sitting lariat. Once ELP kicked out, Nicholls climbed to the top and attempted a moonsault, but ELP rolled out of the way.
With Nicholls on the back foot, ELP caught him with a burning hammer. Instead of going for the cover, he hit Nicholls with sudden death; Nicholls kicked out. Nicholls then attempted a quick pin, leading to a back-and-forth. After multiple roll-throughs, ELP successfully pinned Nicholls.
ELP advances to round two.
New Japan Cup: Ren Narita defeated Taichi
This match was about as unenjoyable as a match could be. Calling this underbooked would be a massive understatement. There were probably ten ref bumps, twelve run-ins, and thirty fouls.
Narita and Yoshinobu Kanemaru attacked Taichi before the match could begin. Taichi held them off before throwing Kanemaru to the floor. Boltin Oleg then ran to the ring, grabbed Kanemaru, and carried him to the back.
Once the bell sounded, Narita launched an attack on the outside of the ring. Narita threw Taichi onto the floor seats before attacking him with a chair. Taichi was then forced to beat the referee’s count. In the ring, Narita continued to pick apart Taichi.
After an extended period on the defense, Taichi caught Narita with a kick. A massive forearm from Taichi sent Narita crashing to the floor. On the outside, Taichi returned the favor, whipping Narita into the barricades and chairs.
Taichi grabbed Narita’s pushup bar, leading to a confrontation with the referee. With the referee distracted, Narita attempted a low blow, but Narita avoided it. Taichi dropped Narita and ripped off his breakaway pants.
Narita interrupted Taichi’s offense by pulling the referee in front of Taichi. This allowed Narita to lock in holds, reversing momentum. Narita then hit Taichi with a low blow and a German suplex for a nearfall.
After surviving Narita’s tactics, Taichi hit Narita with his own low blow. Taichi then locked in a hold in the middle of the ring, forcing Dick Togo to hit the ring. With the referee distracted, Narita tapped out, and Taichi broke the hold. Narita shoved Taichi into the referee, leading to a full-fledged attack from House of Torture.
Just 5 Guys eventually hit the ring to save Taichi. They cleared the ring of HoT and pulled the referee back in. Taichi then hit the Dangerous Suplex for a nearfall. Taichi hit another, but the count was interrupted by Jack Perry.
Perry tried for a running knee, but Taichi knocked him down with an axe bomber. Narita tried to hit Taichi with the pushup bar, but Taichi kicked it from his hands. Kanemaru then ran to the ring, spit whiskey in Taichi’s face, and hit him with the bottle. Narita closed the match by hitting the double cross and pinning Taichi.
Narita, and the rest of HoT, will be seen in the second round.
New Japan Cup: Yota Tsuji defeated Jeff Cobb
This was the comfortable match of the night and the only match I would recommend checking out. This was a very good match; the progression worked extremely well on a native level, and the action was a blast. Great.
A collar-and-elbow tie-up kicked off this match. This led to a strike battle that turned into shoulder blocks. Cobb bested the footballer with a tackle, forcing Tsuji into the corner.
Tsuji turned the match around with a rana from the top rope. He attempted a tope, but Cobb caught him and slammed him into the apron. On the outside, Cobb clubbed Tsuji with forearms before returning to the ring.
In the ring, Cobb maintained his dominance, tossing Tsuji around with ease. He slammed Tsuji into the corner and hoisted him to the top rope; Cobb then hit Tsuji with a gut-wrench suplex from the top, scoring a nearfall.
Cobb placed Tsuji back in the corner. This time, Tsuji caught Cobb with a stomp on the mat, opening the door for a rally. Tsuji hit a head scissor takedown to send Cobb to the floor, which Tsuji followed with a successful tope.
Back in the ring, Tsuji began to work over Cobb, busting his nose in the process. Tsuji attempted a curb stomp, but Cobb powered through, provoking Tsuji into a strike exchange. Tsuji won out and dropped Cobb with an STO.
Tsuji tried for the curb stomp again, but Cobb rolled out of the way. Cobb followed up with a moonsault, resetting the match in his favor.
Another back-and-forth strike battle began, with Tsuji winning out. This didn’t deter Cobb, leading to a slick exchange of finish attempts. Cobb attempted Tour of the Islands, but Tsuji slipped free. Tsuji tried for Gene Blast, but Cobb reversed into a powerbomb.
Cobb hit a spin cycle and an F5000 for a pair of nearfalls. Tsuji tried answering Cobb only to eat a lariat. Cobb then pierced Tsuji with a colossal spear for a convincing false finish.
Cobb, looking to finish, tried for the Aloha Maker. Tsuji avoided the attack, dropping Cobb with a headbutt. Tsuji then landed a curb stomp and pulled Cobb to the corner. Tsuji then planted Cobb with a curb stomp from the top rope and a Gene Blaster to win the match.