The 2017 New Japan Cup kicked off this evening in the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, with a stacked card that was headlined by the Once in a Century Talent Hiroshi Tanahashi taking on EVIL in first round action.
Three other first round matches took place alongside the usual New Japan undercard of tag matches, and the full results are as follows:
#1 Ryusuke Taguchi & Hirai Kawato vs. El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku
The night began with junior heavyweight tag team action as the Suzuki-gun team of Despy and TAKA took on Taguchi and Young Lion Hirai Kawato.
Any seasoned New Japan fan could have guessed how this one was going to end but Kawato got some impressive offence in (including a beautiful springboard dropkick) before succumbing to El Desperado and his Guitarra de Angel.
#2 Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask IV & Tomoyuki Oka
How many times have the Third Generation faced off against each other now?
This was more of the same from five of the most experienced competitors on the roster and the Young Lion Oka. Oka showed some impressive fire before getting hit by a Kojima Lariat for the 1-2-3.
#3 YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi
Kenny Omega was in full house show mode here but such is the quality of Tomohiro Ishii that this ended up being a fun little tag match.
Ishii worked a leg injury for most of the bout (which could work into Omega and Ishii’s first round match tomorrow), but it was YOSHI-HASHI who eventually fell to Omega and the One-Winged Angel.
#4 David Finlay, KUSHIDA, Juice Robinson & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
A typical Los Ingobernables undercard tag match here, in that Naito didn’t remove his shirt and SANADA was the star.
It was SANADA who picked up the fall for LIdJ, forcing Finlay to tap out to the Skull End. The inevitable SANADA vs. Naito match is going to be absolutely fantastic, whenever it happens.
#5 Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Gedo & Jado vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
CHAOS did battle with Suzuki-gun in the final non-tournament match of the evening. Has there ever been a faction with a bigger disparity in in-ring quality than Suzuki-gun? On the one end you have performers like Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr., and on the other end of the scale you have Iizuka and Taichi.
The match was full of the usual Suzuki-gun shenanigans (which is never a good thing), but Okada pulled out the win for his team after hitting a Rainmaker on Taichi.
#6 New Japan Cup Round One: Yuji Nagata vs. Tanga Roa
What Tanga Roa lacks in in-ring ability, he more than makes up for it with his constant chatter inside the ring, and the Bullet Club member put in a decent performance here in what was his first singles match in New Japan.
Nagata entered the tournament as a late replacement for the injured Tomoaki Honma, and it was Blue Justice who advanced to the quarter-finals after hitting the Backdrop Driver.
#7 New Japan Cup Round One: Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga
Tonga smashed Yano’s DVD early, which upset the crowd somewhat.
This match was pretty much entirely Yano tricks. The Sublime Master Thief was seen running scared of the Bad Boy before eventually hitting Tonga with a low blow and a roll-up. Those hoping for a slight singles push for Tama Tonga continue to be disappointed.
#8 New Japan Cup Round One: Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale
This was exactly what you would expect Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale to be, a hoss battle in which two big dudes threw bombs at each other until one threw a bomb the other couldn’t recover from.
Elgin hit Fale with a couple of impressive suplexes but it was Fale who prevailed, picking up Bullet Club’s first win of the tournament after hitting #BigMike with the Grenade.
#9 New Japan Cup Round One: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
The match of the night by some margin, Hiroshi Tanahashi and EVIL went at it in a high-energy main event that could well have been a G1 Climax sprint, such was the big match atmosphere here.
EVIL got the upper hand early and was able to hit Tanahashi with his chair on chair spot, but it was Tana who used the chair in the middle of the match followed by a Slingblade and a great High Fly Flow miss.
It was EVIL who pulled out the surprise win in the end, with referee Red Shoes taking one bump too many allowing the King of Darkness to blind Tanahashi with the green mist before hitting EVIL for the win.
All in all, this was another fine New Japan show with only the main event qualifying as anything approaching a must-see match.
EVIL vs. Yuji Nagata and Toru Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale are now official for the quarter-finals, and the first round continues tomorrow with the much-anticipated Katsuyori Shibata vs. Minoru Suzuki and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kenny Omega matches, along with YOSHI-HASHI vs. Sanada and Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi.
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