Tag: new japan cup finals live results

New Japan Cup 2024 finals live results: Hirooki Goto vs. Yota Tsuji

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Chick Fritts

Hirooki Goto faces Yota Tsuji today in the New Japan Cup 2024 finals.

Goto is the only three-time New Japan Cup winner, although he has not won the tournament since 2012. Goto also has three runner-up performances to his credit, making him the most decorated New Japan Cup competitor in the tournament’s 20-year history.

This is the first New Japan Cup finals appearance for Tsuji.

The winner of today’s finals will face IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito for the title at Sakura Genesis on Saturday, April 6.

Naito will be in action in the semi-main event of today’s show, teaming with Shingo Takagi against EVIL & Dick Togo from Bullet Club’s House of Torture.

In a 10-man tag, Hikuleo, El Phantasmo, Toru Yano, Jado & Boltin Oleg will take on SANADA, Taichi, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku of Just Five Guys.

YOH will face Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a special singles match on today’s show in the other featured bout.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) defeated Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato

This was a decent outing from the Young Lions. They were firey heading into the finishing sequence, but BUSHI was able to secure the win with a crab.

United Empire (Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & TJP) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Tanga Loa & Tomohiro Ishii

This was a step up from what I expected. It almost felt like a decent effort was made in this match. Catch 22’s tandem offense led to the UE finish.

TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.) defeated United Empire (Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb)

This was a highly competitive undercard tag. The closing sequence went back and forth, with a handful of nearfalls between Nicholls and Newman. In the end, Mikey landed his finish to secure the win.

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, Gabe Kidd & KENTA) defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe & YOSHI-HASHI

Most of this match’s disorder came from the babyfaces. By the end, BULLET CLUB was taking full advantage of this chaos. KENTA hit Tenzan with his belt, leaving Owens free to secure the pinfall win.

After the match, BC tried hitting YH with the belt, but YH escaped. Makabe and Kidd also continued to brawl after the closing bell.

House Of Torture (Jack Perry, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi) defeated El Desperado, Shota Umino & Yuji Nagata

This was fine.

The crowd was really into this match throughout its runtime, and most of the cheating wasn’t insulting. The closing sequence saw Narita hit Nagata with a low blow before forcing him to tap with the cobra twist.

YOH defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru

This match kicked off with Kanemaru and SHO jumping SHO before the opening bell. From here, the typical HoT match played out, complete with distracted referees and outside beat downs.

After spending an extended amount of time in Kanemaru’s Boston crab, YOH escaped to the bottom rope. He then took advantage of an attempted distraction, leading to Kanemaru spitting his whiskey in SHO’s face. YOH then rolled up Kanemaru to win the match.

After the match, YOH left with the junior title in hand.

Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & Jado), Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano defeated Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)

This wasn’t a good match, but it didn’t try to be one.

Everyone had their moment to shine, but this was totally lighthearted bell-to-bell. In the end, ELP hit his finish and pinned TAKA to win the match.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated House Of Torture (Dick Togo & EVIL)

This was a by-the-book HoT tag.

The action worked its way into the crowd early on, with EVIL utilizing chairs to establish a lead. The fighting continued so long that the referee’s count reached 20, resulting in a double count-out.

Shingo grabbed the microphone and asked for a restart with EVIL’s belt in hand. HoT accepted the challenge, and the match restarted.

This was the second EVIL match to be thrown out and restarted in the past two days.

Once the match restarted, the fighting returned to the floor. EVIL and Togo isolated Shingo on the outside, hitting him with the turnbuckle cover and whipping him into the barricades. Once the match returned to the ring, the isolation continued.

Eventually, Naito tagged in and turned the match around for his team. HoT challenged Naito’s lead by choking him with a shirt, hitting a low blow, and bumping the referee. With the referee down, Togo choked Naito with his wire.

Once Naito escaped Togo’s wire, he used it himself. Naito then dropped Togo with a low blow and used a jackknife pin to win the match.

Shingo challenged EVIL to a match for the NEVER Openweight Championship after the match.

New Japan Cup: Yota Tsuji defeated Hirooki Goto

This match was a lot of fun, especially in the closing stretch. It’s easily one of the best matches of the tournament.

The match opened with a standard feeling-out process. This led to Goto leaving the ring, which Tsuji followed with a tope. Back inside the ring, Tsuji utilized body scissors to maintain his control.

A ushigoroshi reset the match, leading to a back-and-forth strike exchange. Goto won out, establishing control for the first time in the match. He tried for GTR but missed, leaving Tsuji free to drive him onto the mat.

Tsuji landed a pair of stomps for a nearfall. When Tsuji tried to follow up, Goto secured the sleeper hold. Goto then tried for GTR again, but Tsuji answered with a headbutt. Goto responded with eight headbutts of his own, maintaining his lead.

Goto landed Shouten Kai for one of the nearest nearfalls I’ve ever seen. After Tsuji kicked out, Goto paused, buying Tsuji enough time to respond with a knee. Tsuji went for Gene Blast but was cut off by a lariat.

Goto tried for a rainmaker, but Tsuji reversed into Gene Blast; Goto kicked out at one. Tsuji didn’t waste any time before hitting another Gene Blast. He then pinned Goto to win the New Japan Cup.

Tsuji cut the show ending promo, declaring himself the face of a new era. Naito joined him in the ring after Tsuji promised to take his belt. Naito questioned his readiness before having a friendly stare down.

Once Naito left the ring, Tsuji promised to take New Japan to greater heights.

Tsuji is set for action against his faction mate and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Tetsuya Naito, at Sakura Genesis.

New Japan Cup finals live results: Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Posted on March 27, 2022 by Chick Fritts

Tetsuya Naito faces Zack Sabre Jr. to decide the winner of the 2022 New Japan Cup today in Osaka.

Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada on yesterday’s show to advance to the finals, while Sabre defeated Shingo Takagi.

While not yet announced, the tournament winner will likely get a shot at Okada’s IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on next month’s Hyper Battle tour.

Today’s undercard matches will likely hint at the key matches for Hyper Battle, as well as the Golden Fight Series tour, which culminates with Wrestling Dontaku at the Fukuoka Dome on May 1.

Today’s full card:

New Japan Cup finals: Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Tiger Mask vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, CIMA, T-Hawk & El Lindaman
Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi vs. EVIL & Dick Togo
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Great-O-Khan, Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb & Aaron Henare
El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku vs. SHO & Yujiro Takahashi
Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & YOH vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jado, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo
BUSHI vs Kosei Fujita

Our live coverage begins at 1 a.m. Eastern time.

**********

BUSHI defeated Kosei Fujita

This was a good match to open the show. Simple wrestling, done well.

Fujita gained the upper hand early with a tackle that sent BUSHI to the ground. BUSHI wasn’t on the back foot for long, however, as he used some nonchalant striking to take control from the young lion. After forcing Fujita into the ropes with a single leg Boston crab, BUSHI let his lead slip as Fujita connected with a pair of quick dropkicks. A belly to belly into a Boston crab left Fujita on solid ground.

BUSHI caught Fujita a dropkick of his own to recement his control. BUSHI locked in a deep Boston crab to force the submission.

Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, El Phantasmo, Gedo & Taiji Ishimori (Bullet Club) defeated Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Jado

Not a bone in my body cares about this Bullet Club drama. Not to mention, the match wasn’t good.

After a brief brawl to open the match, the babyface squad had a short in-ring stent of offence. Bullet Club wouldn’t let this last for long, as they used their numbers and disregard for rules to isolate Wato. This led to a Tama hot tag, where he ran through all of the opposition.

Jado tagged in to face Gedo. With help from GoD, Jado scored a near fall over his former partner. At some point, an outside brawl left Jado and Gedo without reinforcement and the referee preoccupied. Jado locked in the crossface of Jado, prompting Owens to break the hold with a knee. Owens then pulled Gedo over Jado for a guileful pin.

Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-gun) defeated Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOH (CHAOS)

I wouldn’t say this is worth seeking out or anything, but it had its moments.

This match opened with a brawl. Yano and Taichi, an upcoming KOPW match, found each other between the ropes. Taichi won in their exchange while the brawling cooled down, leaving Suzuki-gun free to isolate Yano.

Yano eventually tagged out, leading to a Suzuki / Ishii scrap. YOH and Kanemaru followed suit with a battle of their own. Eventually, Taichi and YOH were left alone in the ring. YOH scored a pair of near falls with a falcon arrow and schoolboy, while Taichi did the same with an axe bomber. Taichi hit YOH with a yokozuna elbow to bring this match to a close.

After the final bell, Taichi dropped Yano with another yokozuna elbow. He then taunted Yano with a sumo pose, teasing his KOPW stipulation, ‘sumo rules’.

Suzuki and Ishii continued to fight after the match’s end. These men battled for a stretch, both during and after Taichi’s theatrical exit. This seemingly was to set up an Ishii / Suzuki singles, perhaps at the upcoming Windy City Riot show.

SHO & Yujiro Takahashi (House of Torture) defeated El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku (Suzuki-gun)

Before the match could start, SHO stormed to the back. This was so he could jump Suzuki-gun before the match began. After beating Desperado and TAKA with a wrench, HoT stood tall.

After the opening bell, SHO locked TAKA in a submission and forced him to tap out.

Once the match was over, SHO removed Desperado’s mask and hit him with Shock Arrow.

Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Will Ospreay (United Empire) defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Hirooki Goto, & YOSHI-HASHI

This was not a good match, but it existed to further the Bishamon / United Empire title feud.

This match opened with a brawl. As things developed in the ring, Ospreay took control over GBH. The match continued with UE singling out Makabe for some time. Once the tag came, YH and Goto were able to overwhelm UE.

A second brawl broke out after UE broke up a pin following KoKeShi. Honma tried for a rocket KoKeShi, but Cobb caught him mid-flight. Honma managed to survive long enough to get in some more offence, but ultimately, Cobb ended the match with Tour of the Islands.

After the match, UE beat down their opponents further, allowing Cobb and O-Khan to stand tall with the IWGP tag titles in hand.

Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi (Los Ingobernables de Japon) defeated Dick Togo & EVIL (House Of Torture)

Hiromu launched an attack on the ramp before the match could start, but EVIL managed to withstand the assault by slamming Hiromu into the barricade and choking him with a cable.

In the ring, Hiromu landed a quick kick to tag out to Shingo. Shingo led an advance, surviving a whip into the exposed corner before dropping EVIL with a DDT and tagging back into Hiromu. This led to EVIL and Togo working together to retake their lead.

Togo tried using his cable, but the referee caught him. This distraction bought EVIL enough time to drop Shingo with a low blow. Hiromu was able to turn things back around, however, by whipping EVIL into the exposed corner. Hiromu then hit Togo with Everything is Evil and pinned him to close the match.

EVIL tried to jump Hiromu after the match, but he left with his tail between his legs. Hiromu then dared EVIL to challenge him to a match for the NEVER title.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Satoshi Kojima & Tiger Mask defeated CIMA, El Lindaman, T-Hawk, & Tatsumi Fujinami

I loved everything about this match. The STRONGHEARTS are consistently one of my favourite acts, both in New Japan and elsewhere. Fujinami delivered much more than should be expected. Okada was on and Tanahashi never misses. This was outstanding.

Fujinami started the match by calling out Okada. Okada and Fujinami had a short exchange before tagging out to CIMA and TM, respectively. TM and CIMA also had a brief scuffle before tagging to T-Hawk and Kojima.

Kojima and T-Hawk traded blows before Lindaman entered the fray. Kojima withstood the double team long enough, leading to a tag back into Fujinami. Fujinami, with aid from CIMA, began to work Kojima’s leg. CIMA and Lindaman continued to focus the leg after tagging in. The STRONGHEARTS dropped Kojima with a triple dropkick to further their lead.

A Koji cutter bought a hot tag into Tanahashi. Tanahashi took out the STRONGHEARTS before teasing an interaction with Fujinami; the tease came to fruition after a Lindaman dropkick. Tanahashi escaped a Fujinami choke to deliver a dragonscrew. Tanahashi then tagged to Okada, who immediately attempted a rainmaker; Fujinami ducked. Fujinami dropped Okada with a dragonscrew and tagged to T-Hawk.

Okada hit T-Hawk hard with heavy offence, but T-Hawk answered with a remarkable sequence and believable near fall on the IWGP World Heavyweight champion. This led to a skirmish between teams, occupying everyone long enough for Okada to drop T-Hawk with a rainmaker and win the match.

After the match, Fujinami shared the ring with his opponents, striking a pose to celebrate New Japan’s 50th year.

New Japan Cup Final: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tetsuya Naito

What a match. This was easily the best match of the tournament and a frontrunner for New Japan match of the year. This was a brilliant match and a superb
tournament from ZSJ.

The match opened with an impassioned wrestling sequence; it became evident that ZSJ’s focus would be on Naito’s leg. As the match developed, the groundwork moved to the floor while ZSJ started to build an early lead.

A swinging neckbreaker from Naito yielded a moment of reprieve. Combinación de Cabrón and a neckbreaker let Naito have his turn controlling ZSJ on the mat. Naito tried for Gloria and a swinging DDT, but ZSJ avoided the moves and reversed into a head crank.

ZSJ furthered his lead by tying Naito up in the ropes, contorting his arm. ZSJ tried following up with a fast sequence, but Naito caught him, connecting with a barrage of elbow strikes. A top rope rana from Naito let ZSJ slip back into control on the ground. Naito escaped by trying for a pin; this forced a stand up, allowing Naito to connect with a swinging DDT.

Naito dropped ZSJ with Esperanza. Naito in his follow-up was brought to the mat, initiating a swift succession of pin attempts. From his place of confidence, ZSJ locked in a choke that forced Naito into the ropes.

Naito reversed the Zack Driver twice, once into Valentía and once into a pseudo-Destino. Not only did ZSJ survive, he responded by hitting the Zack driver for a near fall. This was, in effect, a match reset at the twenty-minute mark.

Naito dropped ZSJ with a series of elbows, but a quick strike to Naito’s weekend leg let him slip back into control. Naito tried for a quick pin, ZSJ for a penalty kick, but neither man could close. After a second penalty kick, DDT, and Zack Driver ZSJ hooked the leg and pinned Naito to close the match and win the New Japan Cup.

After the match, ZSJ cut a promo saying he would soon be not just the best technical wrestler in the world but the best wrestler in the world and the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.

New Japan Cup finals live results: Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Ethan Renner

Shingo Takagi and Will Ospreay will face off tonight in this year’s New Japan Cup finals.

Shingo vs. Ospreay is a rematch of the 2019 Best of the Super Juniors final, a match that Ospreay won. Both now classified as heavyweights, they will face off again for the right to challenge Kota Ibushi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at the upcoming NJPW Sakura Genesis event.

In the semi-main, Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada will take on Jay White, Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens.

In the fourth match of the night, David Finlay, Juice Robinson and Toa Henare will face Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and BUSHI.

Before intermission, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI and SHO will tag against EVIL, KENTA and Yujiro Takahashi.

Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma will team up against The Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb of United Empire.

In the opener, Yota Tsuji, Gabriel Kidd and Yuya Uemura will face Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. and DOUKI.

Our live coverage begins at 1 a.m. Eastern time.

**********

The show began with a surprise appearance from YOH of Roppongi 3K. YOH has been out of action with a torn ACL. He announced that he will be back in the ring at Sakura Genesis on April 4 and wants to challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag titles with SHO.

Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI defeated Yota Tsuji, Gabriel Kidd & Yuya Uemura (10:39)

This was a great opener.

The story of the match was the Young Lions frustrating the established Suzuki-gun veterans with their skill. The veterans gave the young guys a ton in this one.

Uemura and DOUKI began the match. Uemura had the upper hand with wrestling skill, so DOUKI turned this into a brawl around the ring. DOUKI used his pipe on Uemura on the floor.

Kidd and Sabre got tags and told a similar story. They had a mini-version of their tournament match from earlier this month, but I think this was way better. Kidd got cut off, then came back with strikes and dropkicks.

Tsuji and Taichi tagged in for the finish. Taichi was taking Tsuji lightly and Tsuji got a couple of great near falls as a result. Taichi teased tearing off his trousers, but Tsuji rolled him up instead.

Taichi avoided a Tsuji spear and hit an axe bomber and a backdrop suplex for the pin.

The Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb defeated Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma (8:58)

This was fine. They didn’t get a lot of time, but that’s okay.

Kojima busted out a flip senton in the shine. That was unexpected. Honma missed a kokeshi and was cut off. Kojima got a tag and hit an elbow drop off the top for a near fall.

Cobb and Honma got tags. Honma hit a kokeshi. He caught an interfering O-Khan and hit a combination bulldog DDT on both Cobb and O-Khan.

Cobb came back on Honma and hit a Tour of the Islands for the pin.

O-Khan cut his customary post-match promo, proclaiming the dominance of United Empire.

EVIL, KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi (w/Dick Togo) defeated YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & SHO (9:24)

This was just to set up challengers for YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishi and Hirooki Goto for the NEVER Six-Man Tag titles. It wasn’t much of a match.

Bullet Club attacked before the opening bell and went to work on Yano. Togo interfered and aided in the attack on Yano. Yano was able to expose a buckle in one of the neutral corners. Yano managed a tag to SHO, then SHO was cut off.

EVIL sent SHO into the security fence and the ring announcer took a bump. KENTA tagged in and repeatedly sent SHO into the exposed buckle. YH got a tag and some offense on KENTA. KENTA came back with a DDT on YH and tagged Yujiro.

Bullet Club worked on YH. Yujiro hit a basement dropkick for a two count, with SHO making the save. YH used a butterfly lock on Yujiro, but EVIL broke it up.

Togo took the referee. Yujiro hit YH with his cane, then hit Pimp Juice for the pin.

They played up on commentary that EVIL, KENTA and Yujiro had just beaten a third of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag champs.

Bullet Club continued their assault after the match. Yano got whipped into the exposed turnbuckle. KENTA attacked YH with his own bo staff. KENTA left with the bo.

***** Intermission *****

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Toa Henare (10:10)

Major heel turn vibes coming from Henare here.

Finlay was selling the damage to his left ankle from last night’s match. He wanted to start off with Naito, but Naito demanded that Juice start instead.

Juice overcame a sneak attack from BUSHI and got some early offense on Naito. Finlay tagged in and was in the plus position, but was quickly cut off after a dropkick to the bad ankle from Naito. Naito relentlessly mocked Juice throughout the match.

Finlay was able to come back after a blue thunder bomb. Juice tagged in for another exchange with Naito. Henare was standing on the floor watching instead of on the apron for much of this. Juice finally tagged out to Henare.

Henare did some power spots with SANADA, then hit a spin kick and a double spear to BUSHI and SANADA.

SANADA missed with a springboard dropkick. He went for Skull End, but Henare slid out. SANADA used an O’Connor roll for the flash pin on Henare.

After the match, Juice and Finlay walked to the back on their own, leaving Henare at ringside. Henare threw a fit and attacked the barricade in frustration at taking another loss.

Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada defeated Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens (11:31)

Good storytelling in this match as they continue to tease a rivalry between Ibushi and Okada even as they team together.

After an early surge of offense from Tanahashi, Bullet Club turned this into a brawl. Gedo interfered on the outside. Okada ended up the legal man and was cut off in the Bullet club half of the ring.

Fale knocked Ibushi off the apron. Okada fought for, then finally got a slam on Fale. White tagged in as Okada looked to make a tag. Okada hit a big boot and tagged Tana as Ibushi was still on the floor.

White blocked a slingblade. White and Tana did a series of standing switches, endiing with White hitting a DDT. White hit a blade buster for a two count.

Owens got a tag and Tana made a tag to Ibushi after hitting a slap. Ibushi hit a flying mid kick and a standing moonsault for a two count.

Everyone jumped in for a big move. Tanahashi hit slingblades on Fale and Owens and a dragon screw on White. Ibushi hit a v-trigger and a Kamigoye on Owens for the pin.

Okada stuck around only long enough to get his hand raised after the match. White had staredowns with both Tanahashi and Ibushi over their titles.

New Japan Cup final: Will Ospreay (w/Bea Priestley, The Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) defeated Shingo Takagi to win the 2021 New Japan Cup (30:06)

This was a gripping 30 minutes. They crafted a great mix of psychology and every move under the sun to put together a great match.

They traded strikes and tackles to begin. Ospreay kipped up off a Shingo tackle. Ospreay countered out of a Made in Japan attempt. Shingo blocked an Oscutter attempt.

The fight went to the floor. Shingo sent Ospreay into the barricade and worked on Ospreay’s bad right arm. Ospreay has a broken nose as well, so Shingo raked the nose. Back inside, Shingo hit a tackle. Ospreay flipped out of a vertical suplex attempt and hit a cutter. Ospreay hit a handspring kick.

They went back to the floor. This time, Ospreay sent Shingo into the fence. Ospreay tore at the tape on Shingo’s back and went after the injury. Ospreay hit a backdrop on the barricade. Shingo beat the count back inside.

Ospreay continued to go after Shingo’s back with kicks, forearm strikes and stomps. Ospreay used a body scissors. Shingo avoided a charge into the corner, but Ospreay followed up right away with pip pip cheerio for a two count.

Shingo came back with strikes and a DDT. Ospreay avoided a sliding lariat. Shingo caught Ospreay off a handspring kick attempt and hit a pop-up death valley driver. Shingo sent Ospreay outside. Priestley acted as a human shield, which allowed Ospreay to post Shingo.

Ospreay set up a table on the outside. They did a series of table bump teases. Priestley moved the table out of the way. Ospreay again used Priestley as a shield to avoid a baseball slide. Shingo hit a snake eyes and a pop-up powerbomb for a two count.

Shingo used an STF. Ospreay forced a rope break. Shingo hit Noshigami for a two count. Ospreay came back with a lariat. Shingo blocked a running boot in the corner and teased a driver off the second rope. Ospreay blocked and hit a gamengiri.

Ospreay hit a top rope Spanish Fly for a near fall. Shingo blocked another Oscutter attempt. Ospreay slid out of a Noshigmai attempt. Shingo hit a lariat. They traded strikes. Shingo hit an unanswered series of strikes. Ospreay answered with a hook kick.

Ospreay did an amazing flip out of a pumping bomber attempt and hit an Oscutter. Shingo kicked out at two. They fought back to the outside. Ospreay hit an Oscutter off the post to the floor, which was insane.

Ospreay placed Shingo on the table. Ospreay hit a 450 splash off the top rope to the floor through the table. They teased a countout. Ibushi was at the commentary table. Shingo used an Ibushi towel to wipe his brow, then Ibushi encouraged Shingo to get back in. Shingo beat the count.

Ospreay hit an immediate springboard dropkick, then a shooting star press for a near fall. Ospreay went for a Stormbreaker. Shingo sprawled out. Ospreay hit some Kawada kicks. Shingo did a dead-eye stare and no-sold a series of kicks.

Shingo hit a series of strikes in the corner. Ospreay avoided a pumping bomber and hit London Falling. Shingo hit Made in Japan for a near fall. Shingo hit a lariat. Ospreay answered with a crucifix for a near fall. Shingo hit a poison rana.

Ospreay turned a pumping bomber attempt into a Spanish Fly for a near fall. Ospreay hit a high kick and two rolling elbows. Ospreay hit a Hidden Blade and a Stormbreaker for the pin.

**********

Ospreay cut a promo after the match. He said that everyone doubted him, but he told everyone he would win the New Japan Cup and he did.

Ospreay called Ibushi into the ring. Ospreay said he didn’t care about the lineage of the Intercontinental or IWGP Heavyweight titles, but he cared about being number one. He said it pains him, but Ibushi is number one. He said he’ll do anything it takes to take the IWGP World Heavyweight title from Ibushi.

Ospreay hit an Oscutter on Priestley to drive home the point that he’ll do whatever it takes. The audience didn’t know what to make of that. There was just stunned silence after the crowd had been very receptive to his promo.

Ospreay’s comments continued backstage. He said he has a family and a 5-year relationship with Bea, but if he can do that to someone he loves, what the f*** is he going to do to Ibushi?

Ospreay said he’s the leader of NJPW, not Ibushi. He said he fulfills his destiny at Sakura Genesis and becomes the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.