-Shota Umino, Master Wato, Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano def Chase Owens, DOUKI, Yujiro Takahashi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru
The character assassination of Aaron Wolf continues, despite being an absolute ass kicker in a 1:1 fight, he’s "arrogant" for not wanting to tag out when he’s fully in control. Yano tags in, loses all momentum to Yujiro, and is saved by YELLING ENTHUSIAST Shota Umino. Hontai refusing to work together, ever, against the always cheating HoT, everyone.
Wato tags in to hype himself in his upcoming 6th challenge for the IWGP junior belt and become the 100th champion. DOUKI and Kanemaru work the hell out of the challengers legs but Vendoval taps the Heel Master.
-Shingo Takagi, Gedo v Don Fale, Dick Togo
3 grandpas made a pact to wear all black and throw punches, inviting a dragon for fun. The Married Man looks fantastic and continues bringing burly swagger to all his bouts. Hoping on hope he can get Fale up for Made in Japan or Last of the Dragon, for their bout Tuesday.
Head Canon specialist Chris Charlton explains the HoT was born out of Dick Togo’s jealousy that Gedo made money cornering Okada and Jay White. Somewhere, Tetsuya Naito and EVIL exchange tranquilo, knowing looks.
Shingo gets poked in the eye but still taps out Togo with a Cattle but not Mutilation shoulder stretch
-Jakob Austin Young, HENARE, Jake Lee def YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Tatsuya Matsumoto
A multi-man to determine which side uses capitalization better, BISHAMON at a 2:1 advantage. Punch the Monkey decides to bum a ride on Jake, leading to Charlton pestering the monkey for insights and snack preference. Would love to see Mike Tenay burst into NJPW to feud over who gets to really be called Professor.
HASHI calls out Jake to start, who immediately powders and belly laughs about it like a maniac. JAY starts instead, eating a flurry of offense, before suckering in Matsumoto to get menaced by Lee. The latex glove of Jake examines Tatsuya’s gums until HENARE chops the life out of the Young Lion. It is very, very weird that a menacing 6'+ dude is also a prop comic.
Fortunes change when Goto tags in but is stymied quickly by Lee. YOSHI-HASHI gels surprisingly well with Lee’s over the top antics, being a straight-laced hard out, swinging momentum back briefly. Matsumoto gets wrecked by Dangerous JAY and forced to give it up to the Imperial Prison.
OSKAR, Drilla Maloney def Zane Jay, Callum Newman
Zane Jay hates music and OSKAR hates Callum Newman. Zane Jay also hates OSKAR being alive and chucks a chair full strength at OSKAR. UE is chased into the crowd, where a waiting Drilla heads them off. Hype AND clever!
The brawl continues with fun as hell theatrics including Newman hopping into the seats off a Drilla whip but getting stopped and running booted by OSKAR. The big man has a lot he’ll accomplish in tags but is growing as a physical presence on his own. He picks up the win with a double chokebomb and shows how exciting and dynamic Unbound Co. can be as a group who don’t fall for cheap tricks and beat the hell out of anyone in front of them.
Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Zack Sabre Jr., Robbie Eagles, and Kosei Fujita def Daiki Nagai, Yuto-ICE, Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji
TMDK come out to their fun bop while Robbie X’s music makes the elderly grab for their ears. All is well as Yuto hypes the crowd by existing. BIG UP!
Ishimori/Fujita show fast-paced chemistry before a Robbie off breaks out in Korakuen. The crowd is mostly still for a handful of tags between juniors, but come up decisively when ICE and Oiwa tag in. Brawler v wrestler is previewed before Hartley and Tsuji pair off, leading to a spot off with every man hitting sensational offense with the IWGP champ standing tall.
Nagai looks great in a flurry against ZSJ, including chains of submissions almost leading to a 3 on a stuffed roll up and an unlikely Boston Crab lighting up the crowd. ZSJ deftly escapes and soon traps the young hopeful in a combination leg lock and neck crank. Very fun exchanges between all involved, which continues after the bell.
Unbound Co v TMDK loaded with exciting possibilities this year
-Boltin Oleg def ELP
Double champ Oleg v beltless ELP, both looking to improve on past Cup performances. Phantasmo looking great in Hitman style pants, who hits a fast dive but eats a huge shoulder block pursuing a second. Boltin hits a second after rebounding off a guardrail. Speed v power in this one
ELP tries outwitting the big man by wearing down his leg using clever tactics; wrapping up Oleg’s leg in the guardrail and hitting a stiff boot to it. The limb work makes a Verdict too tough to capitalize on and a Boltin Bomb impossible, leading to submission work from LP and a near miss moonsault to the outside, clipping Oleg in the head with a knee. Invoking Tana’s air guitar, Sudden Death in triplicate leads to a piledriver that the Kazakh somehow shakes off to hit a Kamikaze for another near fall.
ELP is determined to accomplish similar heights as a heavyweight as he did as junior, rallying to hit a CR2 for a near fall. Taking Oleg to the corner spells his doom though, as a middle rope Kamikaze brings Oleg the win in a compelling contest. Boltin crawls to ELP after the count to thank him for the struggle and this one is the best matches of the tournament so far
-Ren Narita def Taichi
High drama and shenanigans! Taguchi corners Big Match Holy Emperor clad in white Taichi, which thankfully shows at least one person paying attention to what fighting HoT means. Narita proves this with a sneak attack and Dick Togo not far behind.
Narita pounds away at Taichi, who rallies with a high kick. The crowd is here for it as Taichi brings the fight outside to brutalize Narita with a chair. An emerging Yujiro runs in to turn things back to the HoT as Narita whacks Taichi's trapped in a guardrail leg with a chair on the outside.
Taichi takes a beating until a surge or fortitude sees him drop Narita with strikes. The pants come FLYING off, motivating Dick Togo to action, but is quickly neutralized by Taguchi. Narita capitalizes on the distraction with a kneebar. Taichi rallies again with a sliding lariat leading to an axe bomber and vertical drop brainbuster in tribute to the hurt Ishii.
Cue HoT to pile in, which leads to a surprising albeit brief reinforcement from Hontai that’s stifled about as quick as it enters. Taguchi stops Dick to Dick contact as high energy Yasuda, Wato, and Shota take care of the rest. Taichi narrowly avoids Narita's pushup bar for a dangerous suplex nearfall. The crowd and the Emperor want Black Mephisto, but Narita fires back with Souled Out and a return to the kneebar. He endures the hold and even counters a top rope knee with a flying kick, with one final effort to put down Narita. A burning lariat and backdrop driver is met with a false bell ring by SHO and a heart breaking false turn from Kanemaru. Taichi is then felled by the pushup bar and a Darkness Guillotine for Narita to claim the win.
A very fun pseudo surprise with the Kanemaru drama. I'm of the mind NJPW is at its best when commentary is tasked less with filling in motivational blanks and they can demonstrate shared history in ring. Kanemaru teasing defection to help his old friend made what felt like a foregone conclusion feel briefly and satisfyingly in doubt. HoT facing at least some resistance from Hontai was very welcome, and forces them to evolve dirty tactics if they're not just allowed to cheat.
by Human_Cress6933