NJPW: New Japan Cup-Day 1 and 2
New Japan Cup 2020 Day 1 Results
Togi Makabe def. Yota Tsuji
Yota Tsuji came full force at former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Makabe. Tsuji speared Makabe as soon as bell rang. However, Makabe using his experience was able to take back control of the match. Tsuji was impressive and showed a lot more of a fight than I would have expected from a young lion. Makabe hit Tsuji with a lariat and used a bridging German suplex to secure the pin.
Toru Yano def. Jado
Jado had his first singles match since 2016 and you could see the ring rust with every movement he made. Toru Yano started the match playing to the crowd…the arena was empty. Jado got his kendo stick ready but the referee got in to take it away, as they struggled, crafty Yano untied a turnbuckle pad and smacked Jado. Knocking Jado down face first. The bullet members on ringside got furious, this prompted Yujiro Takahashi to sneak an attack on Yano while the referee was attending to Jado. The match wasn’t pretty but Toru Yano did everything to work with Jado and make the match entertaining. Yano used a low blow and schoolboy to put Jado out of the tournament
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yuji Nagata, Yuya Uemura, & Kota Ibushi
Hiromu Takahashi def. Tomoaki Honma
Takahashi was awesome through out the match. It has been a while since we have seen him in the ring and was not sure how he would be since he had just come back from an injury. He was facing Honma another man who had recovered from a broken neck. Honma’s ring rust was evident but he did have a moment of control. Honma attempted a Kokeshi headbutt but missed, every time Honma and Takahashi did these I felt worried, headbutts lead to concusions and both men should really consider not doing these anymore. At one point Takahashi hit Honma with a death valley driver on the outside of the ring, and Honma was almost counted out. After some more headbutting, Takahashi did a beautiful Time Bomb to to win.
Tomohiro Ishii def. El Desperado
El Desperado made fun of Ishii about being shortt, but Ishii showed Desperado why he is the stone pitbull. Ishii used his power to take control of Desperado. El Desperado targeted Ishii’s knee to bring him down. Desperado applied his Numero Dos stretch muffler however Ishii managed to flip over and break free. He then attempted to powerbomb El Desperado but his knee had taken too much punishment and it buckled. Desperado used dirty tactics and low blow followed by a small package, but Ishii kicked out at two, followed by the Guitarra de Angel only for Ishii to kick out again. El Desperado went for the Pinche Loco, but Ishii countered with a headbutt and a lariat for a near fall. Ishii then hit a brainbuster to defeat El Desperado.
Gabriel Kidd vs. Taiji Ishimori
Gabriel Kidd debuted in his first singles non young lion match. The match was a good back and forth for a bit however, Ishimori hit a springboard kick and applied the Yes Lock to defeat Gabriel Kidd by submission.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Yuya Uemura
Kanemaru dominated the match. The match ended when Kanemaru landed a dropkick followed by Deep Impact to win.
CHAOS (SHO, YOH, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, EVIL, BUSHI & SANADA)
Yuji Nagata def. Minoru Suzuki
Minoru Suzuki celebrated his 52 birthday. Te match was amazing and one of my favorites so far. Both these veterans came out full throtle and put on a heck of a show. Suzuki lifted nagata up to apply the Gotch-style piledriver. Nagata blocked it and lifted him into a back body drop. A slap and headbutt from Suzuki got Nagata bleeding from the mouth. Nagata delivered an exploder suplex followed by a bridging backdrop driver to win. A must watch match of the first round! Happy Birthday Suzuki.
Kazuchika Okada def. Gedo
Gedo entered with his right arm in a sling and got on the microphone to say that he injured himself during practice, but still wanted to fight and prove himself superior to Okada. Gedo slowly removed the sling, he revealed a spraycan in his hand that Okada just slapped away. Okada then inspected the cast and found a set of brass knuckles on Gedo. He teased that he was going to use them on Gedo but then threw them out. As he ref dealt with making sure the weapon was out of the ring Gedo took out a wrench and hit Okada with it. Gedo continued to use dirty tactics to control Okada, from tables and chairs Gedo did not stop at anything to beat and humiliate his former friend. Okada came back and started to gain control again but Gedo once again was able to outsmart his opponent as he pushed Okada into the referee and hit a low blow. Gedo then removed part of the ring apron where he revealed yet another weapon, some brass knuckles that he had taped there before the match. He punched Okada with them and applied the Gedo Clutch, but Okada kicked out at two. Gedo even attempted the Blade Runner. Jado then showed up and distracted the referee while Gedo went for another brass knuckle punch, but Okada caught him with a dropkick, knocked Jado off the ring apron, and submitted Gedo with a cobra clutch.
