NJPW New Japan Cup Quarterfinal Results, Semifinals Set (3/20-3/21)

By Ross Berman

The New Japan Cup Quarterfinals have come and gone, and now four men stand atop a pile of forty-four wounded, defeated men. They will meet on March 26th to determine the finalists. Those four:

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada
  • 2018 New Japan Cup Winner Zack Sabre Jr.
  • 2016 New Japan Cup Winner Tetsuya Naito
  • 2021 New Japan Cup Runner-up Shingo Takagi

A loaded final four, with three former New Japan Cup winners, and last year’s runner-up Shingo Takagi. The four men fought through wild odds to make it to the semifinals. The rough and rowdy quarterfinals saw dreams crushed, and in the case of Will Ospreay, a bit of controversy.

Ospreay faced longtime rival Zack Sabre Jr. in the main event of Monday’s show. Ospreay appeared to tap out to a vicious submission from the Technical Wizard, but Ospreay is now claiming on social media that he never submitted. The 2021 New Japan Cup winner even dragged NJPW president Takami Ohbari into the situation. Ohbari has sided with the referee.

The loss prevents Ospreay from getting another crack at former-IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi. Takagi advanced to the semifinals with a hard-fought win over his LIJ stablemate Hiromu Takahashi. Takagi surely wanted another chance at the man that beat him in the finals of the 2021 Cup, but is focused on the task ahead: Zack Sabre Jr.

The other semifinal match will see last January’s New Years Golden Series reignited, as Tetsuya Naito has a chance to even the odds against Kazuchika Okada, who recently broke their tied record. Naito snuck past Jeff Cobb on Sunday, getting a slippery rollup win to repeat his victory from Wrestle Kingdom.

Where Naito’s victory was in a sneaky grey area, Okada’s route to the semifinals has been a dominant display. Rainmaker after. Rainmaker, all have fallen to Okada. His latest victim was Dragongate founder CIMA, who Okada had nothing but nice things to say for the 21st century legend.

Much like Hiromu’s loss crushes the dreams of Junior Heavyweights and their fans, CIMA’s loss was also a blow for fans that wanted to see more of the STRONGHEARTS leader in NJPW.

Elsewhere on the shows, Guerrillas of Destiny was admitted into the Hontai faction. After a wild 10-man tag match that led to ELP & Ishimori earning a win over the Jr. Tag Champs, Hiroshi Tanahashi himself ran out to save Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jado, Taguchi, & Wato from an assault by Bullet Club. With Tama and Tanahashi burying the hatchet, much like Tama and Taguchi did earlier in the week, the old wounds of Bullet Club’s formation have been steadily healing. Tama Tonga specifically has come full circle.

Here are the full results:

3/20
New Japan Cup Quarterfinals
Available on NJPWWorld.com

  • CHAOS (YOH, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) def. Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Yuto Nakashima by pinfall. (8:37)
    YOH pinned Yuto Nakashima via Falcon Arrow.
  • CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto) def. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroshi Tanahashi by pinfall. (11:31)
    Hirooki Goto pinned Satoshi Kojima via Shoto.
  • Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens & Gedo) def. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jado, Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi by pinfall. (10:11)
    Chase Owens pinned Jado via C-Trigger.
  • House of Torture (EVIL, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo) def. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku) by pinfall. (10:55)
    Yujiro Takahashi pinned TAKA Michinoku via Big Juice.
  • Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI) def. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask by pinfall. (8:02)
    Shingo Takagi pinned Tomoaki Honma via Pumping Bomber.
  • United Empire (Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare) def. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI) by pinfall. (10:37)
    Aaron Henare pinned DOUKI via Streets of Rage.
  • New Japan Cup Quarterfinal Match: Tetsuya Naito def. Jeff Cobb by pinfall via Rollup. (19:04)
  • New Japan Cup Quarterfinal Match: Kazuchika Okada def. CIMA by pinfall via Rainmaker. (20:52)

3/21
New Japan Cup Quarterfinals
Available on NJPWWorld.com

  • Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask & Yuto Nakashima def. Togi Makabe, Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita by pinfall. (7:51)
    Satoshi Kojima pinned Ryohei Oiwa via Cozy Cutter.
  • Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & DOUKI) by pinfall. (10:27)
    Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned DOUKI via High Fly Flow.
  • Bullet Club (El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori, Gedo, Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale) def. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jado, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taiji Ishimori by pinfall. (9:39)
    El Phantasmo pinned Ryusuke Taguchi via CR II.
  • House of Torture (Yujiro Takahashi, EVIL & SHO) def. Suzuki-gun (TAKA Michinoku, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) by pinfall. (10:39)
    Yujiro Takahashi pinned TAKA Michinoku via Big Juice.
  • United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare) def. YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma by pinfall. (10:45)
    Jeff Cobb pinned Tomoaki Honma via Tour of the Islands.
  • CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOH) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI) by pinfall. (10:08)
    YOH pinned BUSHI via Five Star Clutch.
  • New Japan Cup Quarterfinal Match: Shingo Takagi def. Hiromu Takahashi by pinfall via Last of the Dragon. (23:43)
  • New Japan Cup Quarterfinal Match: Zack Sabre Jr. def. Will Ospreay by ref stoppage via Leglock & Rear Naked Choke combination. (23:04)

The New Japan Cup will continue on March 26th at 3am ET on NJPWWorld.com

Ross Berman
Ross Berman

Ross W Berman is a Chicago-based musician, humorist & wrestling journalist.
@RossWBermanIV on Twitter.

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