Second round starts in Ehime
The New Japan Cup continues to Ehime on March 11, as the first two members of the elite eight will be determined. As last year’s winner SANADA joins the fray, who will emerge into the quarter finals?
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Main event: New Japan Cup 2nd Round- SANADA vs YOSHI-HASHI
Singles record: 3-1 SANADA
Winner faces Jack Perry or Toru Yano March 16 in Aichi
2023 New Japan Cup winner SANADA, with the benefit of his first round bye, faces YOSHI-HASHI in the sweet 16, and the main event of tonight’s action. This is the first singles meeting for the two since the 2021 G1, where the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion moved ahead to a 3-1 record over the Headhunter. Yet YOSHI-HASHI has no issue battling in matches where he’s the oddsmakers’ underdog. The first round saw YOSHI-HASHI pull off his first career singles win over KENTA, and the CHAOS member could be on the cusp of the streak of his life. Both rejected from the same 2005 public NJPW tryout that saw Tetsuya Naito begin his championship journey, who will take a huge step closer to facing El Ingobernable in Ryogoku?
7th Match: New Japan Cup 2nd Round- Toru Yano vs Jack Perry
Winner faces SANADA or YOSHI-HASHI March 16 in Aichi
With the help of his new HOUSE OF TORTURE allies, Jack Perry advanced past Shota Umino at Anniversary to now face CHAOS’s favourite polymath Toru Yano in round two. Perry’s current path into H.O.T can be traced back to the summer of 2023, a summer that started with a failed challenge to then IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA at Forbidden Door. The Scapegoat will likely have an ideal situation for revenge should he and SANADA meet in the quarterfinals, but first he has Yano to deal with. Toru Yano proved in Ota with a sub three minute countout win over Yujiro Takahashi that he is more than capable of dealing with HOUSE OF TORTURE gamesmanship. Can he draw on his cunning expertise to put away Perry?
6th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI) vs United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, TJP, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman)
A day after they tore the house down opposite one another in Hyogo, Jeff Cobb and Yota Tsuji square off again in ten man action in Ehime. It’s been a New Japan Cup to forget for United Empire, with all four entrants from the faction knocked out in the first round. Still, the chance to create an impact opposite LIJ remains tonight, especially while Tsuji and Takagi might be preoccupied with the prospect of an all Ingobernable semi final to come.
5th Match: YOH, Ryusuke Taguchi, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (EVIL, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)
A preview of Wednesday’s second round clash for Hikuleo and EVIL will also see El Phantasmo and Ren Narita butt heads ahead of a potential quarterfinal meeting if both win their bouts at the end of the week. There is no doubt that H.O.T will seek victory at all costs when the chips are down. Will the Hontai squad find a way around their scheming opposition?
4th Match: Jado, Tanga Loa & Shota Umino vs BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gedo, Gabe Kidd & David Finlay)
Tanga Loa getting a victory over Great-O-Khan was perhaps the biggest surprise of round one in the Cup, and tomorrow in Ehime, the Silverback is looking to make lightning strike twice against a man he faced just recently at last November’s Power Struggle- David Finlay. Finlay is determined to shoot right back to the top in New Japan, and is intent on making an example of Loa- will he do so tonight?
3rd Match: Togi Makabe & Hirooki Goto vs BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA)
Before round two of the Cup tomorrow in Ehime sees Chase Owens meet Hirooki Goto, the two face off in tag action tonight. Without his regular partner in main eventer YOSHI-HASHI, Goto and Makabe will be the underdogs int he face of the IWGP Tag Team Champions, but could the two veterans pull off a big surprise?
2nd Match: El Desperado, Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii vs Just Five Guys (DOUKI, Yuya Uemura & Taichi)
More trios action pits eliminated figured along with non entrants from the Cup against one another. El Desperado will cut an interesting figure opposite former Suzuki Gun partners in Taichi and DOUKI, and more intrigue comes from Despe shaking the hand of Ishii back at Anniversary last week. As new targets are sought out heading deeper into the spring, what happens in this tag bout with plenty of connective tissue?
1st match: Shoma Kato & Boltin Oleg vs TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr)
Tag team action starts off the night, as TMDK face a Noge Dojo pairing of Shoma Kato and Boltin Oleg. Six months removed from a very impressive challenge to then NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr., Boltin will be keen to show his growth in the intervening period, as well as confidence gained froma strong if unsuccessful performance against Hikuleo in Yamanashi.
