NJPW New Japan Cup night two live results: ELP vs. Oleg Boltin, Taichi vs. Narita
New Japan Pro Wrestling presents the second night of New Japan Cup action today at Korakuen Hall.
Only the two tournament matches were announced ahead of time.
In the semi-main event, Taichi will face House of Torture’s Ren Narita. The winner advances to meet Satoshi Kojima in the second round on March 12.
In the main event, Boltin Oleg will face El Phantasmo. The winner advances to face HENARE in the second round, also on March 12.
Oleg is coming off winning the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship by defeating Tomohiro Ishii at NJPW The New Beginning USA on February 27 in Trenton, New Jersey. Meanwhile, ELP dropped the NJPW World Television Championship to Konosuke Takeshita on that same show in a match that was restarted after initially going to a time-limit draw.
Narita goes into the bout three weeks after defeating Aaron Wolf for the NEVER Openweight Championship at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11.
Our live coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. JST.
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Pre-show
Masatora Yasuda defeated Taisei Nakahara
Yasuda largely stayed in control of Nakahara’s left arm and left leg. Eventually, he had enough and stomped at his prey, who had to will himself up for two dropkicks. Nakahara turned his luck around with a bodyslam and a Boston Crab. Yasuda returned fire with a high drop kick. He then tapped Nakahara out with a Boston Crab.
Not too bad from Nakahara. He’s putting together a believable fighting spirit. Seeing how far Yasuda has come, it’s interesting to see where both of these men are at this point.
Main Card
Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Shota Umino, & Master Wato defeated House of Torture (DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens)
As is routine, House of Torture swarmed their opponents. An incensed Wolf dismantled DOUKI, Kanemaru, and Owens and then yelled, setting up Takahashi to strike. Wolf’s arm drag would then dispatch Takahashi. Before he could strip bare a turnbuckle pad, Yano soon met the barricade and the ring post as Takahashi had the honor of removing the pad for him in the meantime.
Kanemaru and DOUKI propelled Yano into the exposed corner’s steel. Umino ran like wildfire to exhaust Owens’s partners. Owens took that chance to unleash a backbreaker. DOUKI focused on Wato’s weak left knee, which Kanemaru all too happily took advantage of in a figure four leglock. Chaos erupted as both teams charged one another. Wato and Kanemaru dizzied each other as they bartered pin attempts, until the former snuck in a Vendaval, which submitted Kanemaru via tap out.
A strong House of Torture comeuppance to start the show. I’ve noticed that Wolf’s performances are still quite strong and tight. Wato rocked this match, for sure, as did DOUKI.
Unbound Co. (Shingo Takagi & Gedo) defeated House of Torture (Don Fale & Dick Togo)
Fale and Togo zeroed in on their foes before the bell, with Gedo suffocated and Takagi quickly rejecting Fale. Togo worked over Gedo’s arm, leaving him vulnerable for the immeasurable Fale to squish beneath his weight. Gedo outsmarted the House of Torture, baiting Fale to charge into Togo accidentally. Takagi barged in to remove Fale from the equation momentarily so he could rock Togo with a sliding lariat. Tying Togo’s arms behind his back, Takagi tapped him out for the win.
That match seemingly flew by. Another House of Torture loss and in such dominant fashion, too. Takagi’s hot tag got the adrenaline flowing.
Corey Michaels covers the play-by-play action of events hosted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Referenced by content creators and Wikipedia articles, he adds his prosaic voice with authority to the F4W/WON audience.
A content writer and wrestling fan, Corey has woven the stories of our great sport into literature. He cuts to the emotional core of characters, rivalries, and angles.