Zack Sabre Jr. won the New Japan Cup for the second time on Sunday. Sabre defeated Tetsuya Naito in the main event of Sunday’s New Japan Cup final, clad in new black & gold gear. A thrilling match that saw Sabre’s wet cement defense trap the slippery Naito and pin the wily wrestler down for the pinfall.
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?NEW JAPAN CUP 2022?(3/27)を公開‼️
\NEW JAPAN CUP 2022決勝戦‼️
両者一歩も譲らない凄まじい激闘?
史上最多出場、48人の頂点に立つのはどちらだ⁉️? @s_d_naito × @zacksabrejr
? #njpwworld で配信中??視聴&登録⏩https://t.co/Tj7UBINMhP#njpw #njcupFINAL pic.twitter.com/ak4QVShOmt
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) March 27, 2022
Sabre said that deceased pop star George Michael came to him in a vision and told him to use a spinning version of the Zack Driver, according to post match comments.
The thrilling New Japan Cup final wasn’t the only wild and noteworthy contest. In the semi-main event Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tiger Mask & Satoshi Kojima teamed up to take on the unlikely foursome of El Lindaman, T-Hawk & CIMA from STRONGHEARTS, backed up by none other than NJPW legend Tatsumi Fujinami. Kazuchika Okada drilled T-Hawk with the Rainmaker to mark a fittingly crazy ending to a unique contest.
Hiromu Takahashi continues to be a thorn in NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL’s side. EVIL wants to avenge his loss to Hiromu in the New Japan Cup, but Hiromu will only do it if EVIL challenges him to a title match. Hiromu will not challenge, EVIL must put the title on the line himself.
READ MORE: New Japan Cup First Round (Night 1) (Nights 2 & 3) (Nights 4 & 5) (Nights 6 & 7) (Nights 8-11) (QUARTERFINALS) (SEMIFINALS)
YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto share similar troubles. United Empire’s Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan have made it clear they intend to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, earning another win over the champs in 8-man tag action.
SHO straight up stole El Desperado’s IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. Taichi and Toru Yano are feuding over Yano’s KOPW 2022 Trophy. The New Japan Cup is over but a series of simmering tensions appear set to boil over in the next few weeks and months.
Here are the full results:
3/27
NJPW New Japan Cup Finals
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- BUSHI def. Kosei Fujita by submission via Boston Crab. (7:20)
- Bullet Club (El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori, Gedo, Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale) def. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Ryuske Taguchi, Master Wato & Jado by pinfall. (9:53)
Gedo pinned Jado via a C-Trigger from Chase Owens. - Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & YOH by pinfall. (8:04)
Taichi pinned YOH via Yokozuna-style Elbow. - House of Torture (SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) def. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku) by submission. (0:37)
SHO submitted TAKA Michinoku via Snakebite. - United Empire (Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare) def. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma by pinfall. (10:26)
Jeff Cobb pinned Tomoaki Honma via Tour of the Islands. - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi) def. House of Torture (EVIL & Dick Togo) by pinfall. (7:45)
Hiromu Takahashi pinned Dick Togo via EVIL. - Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tiger Mask & Satoshi Kojima def. CIMA, T-Hawk, El Lindaman & Tatsumi Fujinami by pinfall. (14:18)
Kazuchika Okada pinned T-Hawk via Rainmaker. - New Japan Cup Final: Zack Sabre Jr. def. Tetsuya Naito by pinfall via Zack Driver (You Spin Me Round Techno Remix). (24:43)
NJPW will return on April 4th at 5:30am ET for HYPER BATTLE ’22 on NJPWWorld.com