NJPW 52nd Anniversary show live results: New Japan Cup begins
NJPW celebrates their 52nd Anniversary today in Tokyo on a show where the 2024 New Japan Cup begins.
The New Japan Cup kicks off with three tournament matches on today’s show, including the in-ring NJPW debut of Jack Perry against Shota Umino.
YOSHI-HASHI faces KENTA in another New Japan Cup contest.
Toru Yano will take on Yujiro Takahashi of Bullet Club’s House of Torture in the other New Japan Cup match on the show.
The event will be headlined by IWGP Word Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito facing IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO in a non-title match.
SANADA, Taichi, Yuya Uemura & DOUKI of Just Five Guys face House of Torture’s EVIL, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Dick Togo in an eight-man tag.
United Empire’s TJP, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman take on Bullet Club War Dogs David Finlay, Gabe Kidd & Gedo in a trios match.
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, El Desperado & Boltin Oleg face LIJ’s Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI in another eight-man.
GoD’s Hikuleo & E Phantasmo take on TMDK’s Zack Sabre Jr. & Mikey Nicholls in another undercard tag.
Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb vs. Tanga Loa & Tomoaki Honma is the opener.
Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb (United Empire) defeated Tanga Loa & Tomoaki Honma
This was a nothing match.
After a couple of minutes of silly offense, Cobb hit Honma with Tour of the Islands to win the match. After the match, O-Khan attacked Loa ahead of their NJ Cup match.
Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. (TMDK) defeated El Phantasmo & Hikuleo (Guerrillas of Destiny)
ZSJ and ELP opened the match with a flashy sequence. Hikuleo and Nicholls entered next, testing each other’s strength. Once Hikuleo won out, GoD established control.
TMDK worked together to challenge Hikuleo, targeting his leg. The tandem offense continued after ELP attempted to make the save. They held on to this lead long enough for Nicholls to hit ELP with the Mikey Bomb, winning the match.
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, El Desperado & Oleg Boltin defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji)
Ishii and Tsuji opened the match with an extended chopping battle. Ishii won out early before passing the match to Oleg. Against Oleg, Tsuji gained control took control of the match with help from the rest of LIJ.
Once Goto tagged in, he turned the match around for his team with a passionate rally. Shingo and the rest of LIJ fired back, leading to a back-and-forth between teams. In the end, Desperado won the match with a quick pin on BUSHI.
After the match, Desperado and Ishii shared an awkward handshake, perhaps teasing the future of CHAOS.
As Ishii worked his way to the back, Chase Owens ran out and hit Ishii with a package piledriver.
United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira & TJP) defeated BULLET CLUB War Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd & Gedo)
This was very good. That said, it feels a little strange to continue this immediately after the cage match.
This match opened with an electric brawl. TJP carried this excitement into his first offensive sequence. It took Finlay tagging in to slow the match down, but the intensity remained.
The War Dogs worked to isolate Newman, eventually setting up the hot tag to Akira. Akira hit the ring hot, and Kidd tried his best to match his energy. This allowed the War Dogs to maintain their momentum until TJP hit the ring. TJP then cleared the ring and dropped Gedo to win the match.
Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura) defeated House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Yuya debuted his shaved head in this match, complete with red dye. That was the only interesting thing that happened.
The match opened with HoT shinanigans, which continued for a while. Taichi launched a rally against HoT before tagging out to Uemura, who continued the advance.
To stop Uemura from gaining any more of a lead, all of HoT attacked him. It took a full J5G rally to shift the momentum back. Uemura then hit the deadbolt suplex to win the match.
New Japan Cup: Toru Yano defeated Yujiro Takahashi
Yujiro attacked Yano before the opening bell sounded. He then removed the corner pad, which he used to strike Yano. Yujiro followed up by whipping Yano into the exposed corner and the barricade.
Yujiro handcuffed Yano onto the barricade, but Yano managed to break the railing to escape. Yano then threw Yujiro into a barricade and handcuffed him around a man on the outside. Yujiro couldn’t get loose, leaving Yano with a count-out win.
Yano advances to round two.
New Japan Cup: YOSHI-HASHI defeated KENTA
This was painfully boring.
KENTA jumped YH before the match could begin. YH answered KENTA by throwing him to the floor but missed his follow-up. This left the door open for KENTA to retake control.
Back in the ring, KENTA utilized holds and sparse kicks to maintain his lead. YH landed a pair of dropkicks to answer KENTA. A powerbomb from YH scored him a nearfall.
KENTA landed a rope-assisted DDT to reset the match. A dropkick and double foot stomp scored KENTA a nearfall. He then attempted a GTS, but YH reversed into a pin attempt, nearly eeking out a win.
KENTA dropped YH with a strike and a running knee for another nearfall. He then hoisted YH onto his shoulders, but YH reversed again, this time hitting a crucifix bomb into a pin to win the match.
Following the match, KENTA shook YH’s hand, but attacked him immediately after.
SANADA vs. YOSHI-HASHI is set for night five.
New Japan Cup: Jack Perry defeated Shota Umino
Jack Perry came to the ring in all black and a funny-looking goat head, completing his NJPW repackage.
The match opened with a back-and-forth strike exchange before Perry established control. Perry utilized strikes and holds to maintain his lead for some time.
Umino fired back with more strikes, knocking Perry to the floor. Another back-and-forth followed, ending with a big DDT from Umino onto the apron. Once Perry recovered, more back-and-forth striking followed.
A forearm to the back of Perry’s head left Shota in a strong position. He followed up with a variety of big moves before calling for the finish. Before Umino could close, House of Torture then hit the ring and beat down Umino. Perry followed up with a running knee and pinned Umino to advance to the next round.
After the match, HoT offered Perry a shirt. He put it on, signifying he is a part of the faction.
Tetsuya Naito defeated SHO
Before the match could begin, SHO attacked Naito. Once the opening bell sounded, Naito fired back, taking control and whipping SHO into the barricade.
After Naito beat on SHO for a while, SHO whipped Naito’s leg into the apron to slow the match down even more. SHO then launched a deliberate attack on Naito’s leg. Once Naito turned things around, SHO bumped the referee and attacked Naito with a chair.
After minutes on the back foot, Naito landed an enziguri and Destino from out of nowhere. To follow up, Naito hammered on SHO’s neck with strikes and a rana from the top rope.
With his back against the wall, SHO bumped the ref again. HoT rushed the ring and beat down Naito. LIJ followed them, evening the score. SHO tried hitting Naito with his wrench but ate a low blow instead. Naito then hit a Valencia and another Destino to win the match.
This was a show filled with nonsense, cheating, and House of Torture. If you were hoping New Japan was planning a post-Okada course-correct, it didn’t happen tonight.