The New Japan Cup continued over the weekend, with the final nights of first round action creating some serious implications for the second round. Nowhere is there more confusion than in the fractured Bullet Club camp.
Since Jay White & Chris Bey attacked Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa at IMPACT No Surrender, seemingly welcoming back The Good Brothers into the fold as well, there have been ultimatums and borderline-threats on the other side of the Pacific. Jay White’s manager/mentor/goon Gedo told the BC members in Japan to choose sides, and sides are seemingly being tested.
Notably, House of Torture member Yujiro Takahashi teamed with El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori during Monday’s show. Have ELP & Ishimori aligned with House of Torture, or has Yujiro broken from the HoT ranks? A bigger wrinkle was made by Monday’s New Japan Cup match between EVIL & Ryusuke Taguchi.
Taguchi tried to overcome the usual House of Torture shenanigans, and was quickly felled by the King of Darkness. The win means that on Sunday, EVIL will face off against the recently betrayed Tama Tonga. Can Bullet Club withstand another shenanigan-filled fight, like the one between EVIL & Tama in last year’s G1?
House of Torture had mixed results on Monday, while EVIL was victorious over Ryusuke Taguchi, SHO fared much worse against Hiromu Takahashi. Takahashi outsmarted the psychopathic SHO, and his trusty wrench, and snuck out a rollup pin. Meanwhile, long-time Bullet Club member Chase Owens narrowly escaped against fellow BC member Jado.
Elsewhere during the weekend, Zack Sabre Jr. & Aaron Henare took on a pair of feisty Young Lions to advance to the second round. Henare’s United Empire compatriot Will Ospreay got a dominant victory over BUSHI in the main event of Sunday’s show.
The true highlight of the weekend was Monday’s main event match between Tomohiro Ishii & Shingo Takagi. Writing another chapter in their fiery rivalry, the two men battered each other for 20 brutal minutes, until Shingo Takagi was able to fell the Stone Pitbull and advance to the second round.
.@Takagi__Shingo "Vertical DDT"
Watch Free⏩https://t.co/CcdQ1XamUA#njpw #njcup #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/uQ82nfdzY0
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) March 7, 2022
Here are the full results:
3/6
New Japan Cup: Night 2
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- Yuji Nagata def. Kosei Fujita by submission via Nagata Lock II. (7:36)
- Bullet Club (Gedo, El Phantasmo & Chase Owens) def. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask by pinfall. (9:03)
El Phantasmo pinned Tomoaki Honma via Thunder Kiss ’86. - Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato def. House of Torture (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO) by pinfall. (9:59)
Ryusuke Taguchi pinned Yujiro Takahashi via Rollup. - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi) def. CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada, YOH & Toru Yano) by submission. (13:23)
SANADA submitted YOH via Skull End. - Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Taiji Ishimori) def. United Empire (Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan) by pinfall. (11:12)
Bad Luck Fale pinned Great-O-Khan via Grenade. - New Japan Cup First Round Match: Aaron Henare def. Yuto Nakashima by pinfall via Rampage Tackle. (8:40)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: Zack Sabre Jr. def. Ryohei Oiwa by submission via Heel Hook. (10:35)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: Will Ospreay def. BUSHI by pinfall via Hidden Blade. (12:48)
3/7
New Japan Cup: Night 3
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- United Empire (Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Ryohei Oiwa by pinfall. (9:48)
Aaron Henare pinned Ryohei Oiwa via Rampage Tackle. - Bullet Club (El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI) by pinfall. (10:10)
El Phantasmo pinned BUSHI via CR II. - Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) def. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH) by submission. (12:01)
Zack Sabre Jr. submitted YOH via Armbar. - New Japan Cup First Round Match: Chase Owens def. Jado by pinfall via C Trigger.(7:13)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: EVIL def. Ryusuke Taguchi by pinfall via EVIL. (7:26)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: Hiromu Takahashi def. SHO by pinfall via Rollup. (15:45)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: Shingo Takagi def. Tomohiro Ishii by pinfall via Last of the Dragon. (23:32)
The New Japan Cup continues on March 9th at 4:30am ET on NJPWWorld.com
