New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) has begun their annual New Japan Cup tournament.
The winner of this year’s single-elimination tournament will earn the chance to face “Switchblade” Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. This matchup is scheduled to take place at their upcoming show, co-promoted with Ring Of Honor (ROH), G1 Supercard. The event takes place on April 6th and emanates from the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York.
The first stage of the New Japan Cup took place on 3/8 from Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan.
New Japan Cup 3/8
Taiji Ishimori, HIKULEO, and Bad Luck Fale defeated Rocky Romero, Mikey Nicholls, and Will Ospreay via pinfall.
Ishimori would manage to execute the Bloody Cross onto Rocky Romero for the pinfall victory.
Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, and Minoru Suzuki defeated Toru Yano, Toa Henare, and Satoshi Kojima via pinfall.
An impactful Bulldog Bomb saw the Suzuki-Gun walk away the winners of this encounter.
BUSHI and EVIL defeated TAKA Michinoku and Zack Sabre Jr. via pinfall.
In a short match last just over 5 minutes, BUSHI would hit TAKA with his MX finisher and take the pinfall.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Kazuchika Okada, and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Colt Cabana, Michael Elgin, and Shota Umino.
Unsurprisingly, it was the Young Lion who would eat the pin. This came after Okada nailed Umino with a Rainmaker.
YOSHI-HASHI defeated Manabu Nakanishi via submission
The very first round of the 2019 New Japan Cup saw YOSHI-HASHI submit Nakanishi via the Butterfly Lock.
Taichi defeated Tomoaki Honma via submission
In a surprisingly hard-fought affair, a valiant Honma just couldn’t away Taichi. After finally locking in the Holy Emperor’s Crucifix Tomb, Taichi would advance.
Chase Owens defeated Juice Robinson via pinfall
In an upset, Chase Owens would pick up the win after a Package Piledriver. This is particularly notable as Owens not only advances but now has a clean win over the IWGP US Heavyweight Champion.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Yuji Nagata via pinfall
Hard-hitting throughout, Ishii would manage to best Nagata, ending the match with his Vertical Brain Buster.
