New Japan Cup 2024 night seven live results: Shingo vs. Kidd
The 2024 New Japan Cup continues today in Okayama with two second round matches.
In the main event, Shingo Takagi faces Gabe Kidd with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.
In the night’s other tournament bout, EVIL will face Hikuleo for a place in the quarterfinals.
The winners of today’s tournament matches will square off in the quarterfinals on March 17.
The New Japan Cup field will be whittled down to 10 following today’s show, with the final 8 being set following Friday’s show. Yota Tsuji vs. El Phantasmo, and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita are Friday’s tournament matches.
Six tag team matches will fill out today’s undercard, including an eight-man tag pitting Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI of Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Tanga Loa, El Phantasmo, Togi Makabe & El Desperado.
Today’s show streams live on NJPW World beginning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time.
United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) defeated Tomoaki Honma & Toru Yano
This was a totally by-the-book opening tag. There was some goofiness from Yano, Honma, and O-Khan. O-Khan won the match for UE by submitting Honma with his abdominal/stretch claw combination.
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira & TJP)
This match had some substance but isn’t something I’d recommend going out of your way to see. There were a handful of competitive sequences throughout this match before the finish. Ultimatly, the match ended once Bishamon hit Newman with Shoto, pulling off a CHAOS win.
House Of Torture (Jack Perry & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino
The was a less egregious HoT match than normal. Perry and Shota continued their rivalry here with some hate-filled interactions. Perry won the match for HoT with his “Glass Jaw” knee strike on Taguchi.
After the match, HoT beat down Shota. Perry then told Sanada he was “next.”
Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura) defeated BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, David Finlay, Gedo & KENTA)
This was a fairly uninteresting match. There was a lot of Bullet Club-led isolation and not-so-compelling offense from the babyfaces. DOUKI submitted Gedo with the DOUKI-chokie to leave with the win.
TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.) defeated House Of Torture (Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi)
This was the second HoT match that was less bad than expected. It seems they’re saving the worst for the EVIL/Hikuleo match. They still cheated, but there wasn’t endless interference. The match ended once TMDK thwarted the usual referee distraction spot, and ZSJ hit Yujiro with a penalty kick.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) defeated Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Tanga Loa), El Desperado & Togi Makabe
This match felt as if it was here just to fill time. It was supposed to set up ELP/Tsuji, but I think this made me even less interested in their cup match. After an extended time alone in the ring, Tsuji hit Makabe with Gene Blast and won the match for LIJ.
New Japan Cup: EVIL defeated Hikuleo
My expectations for this match were already very low. This managed to be worse than I thought it’d be.
EVIL opened the match by attacking Hikuleo’s injured knee. Hikuleo fought back, taking the fight to the floor, all while limping. He whipped EVIL into the barricade and chopped him around the ring.
Back inside, EVIL retook control by turning his attention back to the knee. He worked holds on the mat and targeted the injury with various strikes. EVIL then threw Hikuleo to the floor, allowing Dick Togo to attack the knee with a chair.
Inside the ropes, EVIL paused for a second, allowing Hikuleo to cut him off with a lariat. Hikuleo then cemented his control with a big boot and a suplex. This prompted a HoT run in and beatdown.
Hikuleo tried fighting off HoT on his own. He landed the TKO, prompting another distraction, ref bump, and beat down. This time, GoD ran in to make the save, clearing the ring of HoT. It wasn’t enough, however, as EVIL closed the match with Everything is Evil moments later.
New Japan Cup: Shingo Takagi defeated Gabe Kidd
I’ve seen more intense brawls from both men, but this was still a blast. While it’s not saying much at this point, this was one of the better Cup matches so far.
Before Takagi entered the ring, Kidd rushed him, leading to a fight on the outside. Kidd attacked him with a chair and forced him into the crowd. He taunted Shingo with a live microphone, inciting Shingo to fight back. Shingo whipped Kidd into the barricades himself, but Kidd kept up the fight, biting Shingo before throwing him in the ring.
When Kidd followed Shingo between the ropes, Shingo immediatly dropped him with a shoulder tackle. The bell then sounded, singling the main event had, in fact, begun. A rocked Kidd fled to the floor, but Shingo maintained his pressure.
Kidd was forced to drive Shingo into the barricade to buy a moment of separation. He then tore down the barricades, slammed the fencing into Shingo, and hit a piledriver on a pile of chairs. Kidd returned to the ring and demanded the referee begin his count. Shingo struggled but eventually found his way back in the ring.
As soon as Shingo beat the count, Kidd hit a back suplex. Kidd then tried his best for another countout, but this gave Shingo time to recover. Kidd tried to strike down Shingo but fought back, hitting a clothesline to buy a momentary break.
Kidd tried keeping Shingo on the backfoot with another suplex, but Shingo answered by initiating a strike exchange. Strikes turned to headbutts before turning back to strikes. Kidd dropped Shingo with a clothesline, but Kidd answered with one of his own. The pair continued going back and forth with heavier and heavier offense until Kidd spat in Shingo’s face. Shingo hit Kidd with a back suplex and Made in Japan for a nearfall.
Kidd fired back, hitting a lariat and a tombstone for a nearfall of his own. Once Shingo kicked out, another fierce back and forth. Shingo hit the pumping bomber and immediately followed up with Last of the Dragon to win the match.