Left bracket filled out for round two as 32 become 24

Watch the New Japan Cup on NJPW World! 

Full results and match photography

After four more matches on June 17, the left side of the 2020 New Japan Cup bracket is now complete, with eight through to the second round as the tournament takes a break before resuming on June 22. Joining second round matches pitting Togi Makabe against Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano against Hiromu Takahashi, now Taiji Ishimori will face Yoshinobu Kanemaru in the resumption of a long rivalry on June 24, while Kazuchika Okada has only his second match in five years against Yuji Nagata. 

First on the night to go through to round two was Taiji Ishimori. The BULLET CLUB member was full of confidence going into his bout with the LA Dojo’s Gabriel Kidd, but Ishimori found himself more pressured than he would have liked. After Kidd started on a level footing, Ishimori took the Briton to the floor, and away from the LA Dojo member’s wheelhouse. 

Ishimori bullied the young Kidd, but confidence almost got the better of him on a pair of occasions. First ‘Gabe’ managed to dropkick the Bone Soldier out of the air and follow with a brainbuster, and when Ishimori felt he had enough of an advantage for a diving hurricanrana, he was stopped by a Boston Crab. Moments later though, Ishimori would shut Kidd down, cinching in a YES Lock for the victory. 

Joining Ishimori in round two will be Yoshinobu Kanemaru after he put Yuya Uemura away. The Noge Young Lion exploded out of the gates, and tried to press the advantage after Kanemaru bailed from the ring, but that proved to be a tremendous mistake, as he was sent into the guardrails, and tasted the Heel Master’s guillotine legdrop.

Uemura would hang on for dear life to prevent a Kanemaru suplex, entering into a furious flurry of offense with a crossbody and Overhook Suplex paying dividends. When Kanemaru was prevented from using his signature whiskey, Uemura almost snatched victory with a series of flash pins, but he couldn’t maintain the momentum, a Deep Impact seeing Kanemaru through. 

It was Minoru Suzuki’s 52nd birthday on June 17, and he had the ideal gift of a heaping helping of violence. He and Yuji Nagata first wrestled one another way back in 2003, but their intense rivalry had a long seven year break from their last singles match in 2013. Factor in time away, and there was a lot of pent up aggression as they both tore into one another with sickening blows. Each man’s will and fighting spirit was tested to the limit as they stood and traded, with neither falling until a boot from Nagata at the five minute mark was caught into an Achilles hold. 

Suzuki would take Nagata out to the floor and, after shaking off the referee, delivered a brutal chair shot to Nagata’s shoulder. The demented King was clearly unsatisfied with simply beating Nagata as he maintained a murderous assault, but Nagata was able to find an opening as he countered a front chancerie by snapping the right arm.

Nagata’s kicks to that arm would prevent Suzuki from finding enough strength to hit the Gotch Style Piledriver, and Nagata, bleeding from the mouth, still fought on as the two men again traded in the stand-up. Through open hand blows, forearms and headbutts, neither man would fall, until Nagata first landed an Exploder, and then a Backdrop Suplex for a huge victory.

Gedo would appear for the main event in a cast familiar to those who had seen his prior singles match with Okada. Then, Gedo drew the Rainmaker in claiming he had been in a car accident; now it was an ‘injury in practice’. Okada saw through the ruse, disarming Gedo of the spray he had concealed, and his brass knux, but not the spanner Gedo had hidden in another pocket. Chair table, even hammer shots would follow as Gedo pulled every single dirty trick in the book, doing severe damage to his former charge, who couldn’t follow up even as he hit his trademark reverse neckbreaker. 

Gedo would recover from the move enough to shove the referee, taking the chance to deliver a low blow, and then finally use the knux. Okada would kick out of the Gedo Clutch that followed though, and when Gedo sought to use the knux again with referee drawn by Jado, a dropkick finally connected for the Rainmaker. A Tombstone followed, and rather than allow any chance for Gedo to escape a Rainmaker, a Cobra Clutch instead sealed the deal for Okada.

So with the first batch of second round matches determined, we now look to Monday June 22 on World, and the other half of the bracket, with the following four contests. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi (11th entry, 6th consecutive, 2005, 2008 winner) vs Taichi (3rd entry, 3rd consecutive)

Singles record: 1-0 Tanahashi (watch on NJPW World!)

An intriguing first round indeed, NJPW’s Ace collides with it’s ‘Black Saint’ on night three of the tournament. These two have only met in singles competition once, in a match that just so happened to be the first round of the New Japan Cup in 2018. Then, Tanahashi defeated the freshly turned heavyweight Taichi, but after the self proclaimed emperor had a revelatory 2019, he’ll be a different man when he takes on Tanahashi. 

Then there’s the added intrigue of what happened after the main event back in Korakuen Hall February 21. Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi, Golden☆Ace defeated GoD to lift the IWGP Tag Team Championships for the first time, but laying in wait were Dangerous Tekkers. Taichi and ZSJ both assaulted the new champions, putting both Tanahashi and Ibushi in the mood for revenge. For taichi and ZSJ meanwhile, a chance to strengthen their case for a future title opportunity now that NJPW is back in business.

Kota Ibushi (4th entry, 3rd consecutive, 2015 winner) vs Zack Sabre Junior (3rd entry, 3rd consecutive, 2018 winner)

Singles record: 4-2 Ibushi

Ibushi and ZSJ have proven themselves to be perfectly matched opponents for a long time now, although Ibushi is slightly drawing ahead in the record books. That’s something ZSJ will be looking to amend, while reminding the Golden Star that both his victories over Ibushi have come in the New Japan Cup. Both Ibushi and ZSJ share the distinction of having won their debut NJCs, but the focus is on the here and now, both men looking to claim their second trophies while also strengthening their aforementioned tag team cases. 

Ryusuke Taguchi (3rd entry, 2nd consecutive) vs SANADA (4th entry, 4th consecutive)

First singles meeting

Ryusuke Taguchi found himself inserted into last year’s New Japan Cup and surpassed a lot of expectations. Putting away the veteran heavyweight Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Taguchi pushed Hiroshi Tanahashi hard in the second round, only to succumb to a Dragon Suplex in Korakuen Hall. 

For all of Ryusuke Taguchi’s…unorthodox nature, he is one of the most orthodox and technically capable wrestlers in NJPW; for him to fall to a classical move like a Dragon Suplex will have grated hard. That’s an emotion he’ll carry with him into another match with an orthodox master in the form of SANADA. 

Cold Skull SANADA meanwhile, has to come into this year’s New Japan Cup as a favourite. Making a hard fought final last year against Kazuchika Okada, SANADA only has to take one more step to finally gain a major singles cap in NJPW. Last year, after defeating Okada in a nail biter of a G1 Climax match in EDION Arena, SANADA admitted that after a rocky relationship, he loved Osaka after all. He’ll love it even more if it’s the site of him overthrowing his own Los Ingobernables De Japon leader for double championship gold. 

Shingo Takagi (New Japan Cup debut) vs SHO (New Japan Cup debut)

Singles record: 1-0 Takagi (watch on NJPW World!)

In the original New Japan Cup lineup, Shingo Takagi was set for a hotly anticipated Best of the Super Jr. 26 rematch against Will Ospreay. For the time being at least, travel restrictions will put paid to that match, but it’s safe to say this BoSJ rematch will be a tremendous substitute. 

SHO and Shingo have been tied together ever since Takagi debuted in NJPW back in October of 2018. Then positioning himself as an ‘openweight’, Takagi took SHO’d position as the most powerful junior heavyweight in NJPW, something SHO deeply resented. The result was an intense roller coaster ride of an opening night BoSJ 26 matchup that Shingo ultimately came out on top of. 

In the wake of Best of the Super Jr., Takagi would enter the G1 Climax, and in the wake of the G1, he officially became heavyweight. There was every indication that his issues with SHO were bubbling under the water however; when Shingo defeated Hirooki Goto in Sapporo in February to win the NEVER Openweight Championship, SHO was right at the commentary desk to stare him down. 

Here then is a match with everything to win as far as SHO is concerned; a victory will not only be the biggest singles win of SHO’s career, it would see him through to the second round and all but guarantee a future chance at NEVER gold.