Here are the results for Day 1 of the NJPW New Japan Cup. The event took place in Tokyo, Japan at the Ota City General Gymnasium, and featured three first-round matches for the yearly tournament.
Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb (United Empire) vs Tanga Loa & Tomoaki Honma
- Cobb pinned Homna after hitting a Tour of the Islands
In a short match that lasted less than five minutes, United Empire got their tour off to a winning start.
They beat Honma and Tanga Loa, after Cobb hit his Tour of the Island finisher to put Honma away for the three count.
Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. (TMDK) vs El Phantasmo & Hikuleo (Guerrillas of Destiny)
- Nicholls pinned ELP after hitting him with a Mikey Bomb
In a fun and fast match that made both teams look good, it was TMDK who came up trumps against the GoD.
There were some great sequences between El Phantasmo and Zack Sabre Jr, and it helped set up the ELP vs Mikey Nicholls match for later in the New Japan Cup.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji) vs Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, El Desperado & Oleg Boltin
- El Desperado pinned BUSHI
In a fast-paced, yet typical undercard multi-man match, LIJ suffered a surprising defeat on the NJPW Anniversary show.
El Desperado managed a flash pinfall of BUSHI, before Chase Owens nailed Tomohiro Ishii with a package piledriver.
United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira & TJP) vs BULLET CLUB War Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd & Gedo)
- Akira pinned Gedo after a double team move
Despite losing their leader Will Ospreay to AEW, United Empire picked up a victory against the Bullet Club War Dogs.
It was a decent match that the crowd was hot for, but continuing this feud after their five-on-five cage match last months seems an odd choice.
Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura) defeated House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
- Uemura pinned Togo after a Deadbolt Suplex
As usual, the House of Tortue did all they could to cheat to victory. However, it was not enough as they fell to SANADA’s ‘Just 5 Guys’ faction.
Despite a three-on-one assault on Yuya Uemura, he managed to hit a bridging suplex to pin Dick Togo for the victory.
New Japan Cup 2024 First Round Match: Toru Yano vs Yujiro Takahashi
- Yano wins via count out
The usual Toru Yano tomfoolery reared it’s ugly head once again, in the first match in the 2024 New Japan Cup.
He zip tied Takahashi to a ringside official, trapping him out of the ring. This helped Yanu win the match via count out, and advance in the New Japan Cup.
New Japan Cup 2024 First Round Match: YOSHI-HASHI vs KENTA
- YOSHI-HASHI pinned KENTA after a crucifix bomb
In a back and forth match that lasted a little over ten minutes, YOSHI-HASHI advanced to the next round of the New Japan Cup.
YOSHI-HASHI won the match to set up a bout with SANADA in the second round. KENTA shook his hand after the bout, but attacked him immediately after.
New Japan Cup 2024 First Round Match: Shota Umino vs Jack Perry
- Perry pinned Umino following a running knee
Jack Perry won his first match in Japan for NJPW, in the opening round of the New Japan Cup.
He pinned one of the Reiwa Three Mustakeers in Shota Umino at the event, in what was a shock victory for the young star.
Following the match, Perry was handed a House of Torture shirt. He accepted, and the AEW star officially became a part of the faction.
Tetsuya Naito vs SHO
- Naito pinned SHO after a Destino
Tetsuya Naito faced SHO in an annual tradition in NJPW. Each year, the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion faces off with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion at the Anniversary event.
This match was not a classic encounter, as it saw both LIJ and HoT interfere and ruin the bout as a contest.
Naito won at the end of a convoluted affair that did little to make either man look particularly amazing on the night.
Nick Nemeth Wants NJPW Title Match Against Will Ospreay
Nick Nemeth is not a part of the New Japan Cup, but is still angling for a huge match in NJPW.
The former Dolph Ziggler recently defeated David Finlay to become the IWGP Global Champion, and spoke with Monopoly Events about wanting a match against Will Ospreay for his title in the future.
“[Will] Ospreay, I go, ‘Oh, he can do anything in the freaking world’ so to have a chance to be able to defend this title and having it mean more… I think the story matters more so I know Ospreay’s freaking awesome. I love that.”
“If there is some story of like, I need to test myself and at that point, I’ve gone around the world and tested myself, I go, I haven’t been in the ring with you. Maybe this is how it goes down. That would be cool as hell. But, first things first, I wanna defend this every possible chance I get against some of the best in the world and let everybody know that not only am I the champ, I’m representing it properly every weekend.”
