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3/2 NEW JAPAN CUP ROUND ONE RESULTS FROM TOKYO, JAPAN

3/2/22 Results from Round 1 of the New Japan Cup 2022 from the Nippon Budokan, Tokyo Japan:

Prior to the event, they had a special ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Strong Spirits video game.  Hiroshi Tanahashi, New Japan officials and video game developers were in attendance.

New Japan Cup 1st Round Matches:

CIMA vs. TAKA Michinoku

Good submission style match.  Both men pulling out high impact moves while unleashing a bunch of submissions. 

CIMA hit a Meteora.

CIMA pins TAKA.

CIMA moves to Round 2 to face Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

Tomoaki Honma vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Good match.  Honma and YOSHI-HASHI matched up really well and they had a back and forth fight. 

YOSHI-HASHI hit Karma.

YOSHI-HASHI pinned Honma.

YOSHI-HASHI goes to Round 2 to face Kosei Fujita.

Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto

Hard hitting Japanese strong style match.  Goto and Nagata beat the hell out of each other. 

Nagata missed an enzuigiri and landed on his face.  Goto followed up with a Goto Shiki (Cross leg cradle).

Goto pins Nagata.

Hirooki Goto will move on to Round 2 to face Dick Togo.

Good match.  Goto is great in the New Japan Cup.  He has great singles matches each year in the New Japan Cup, and I expect him to do well this year as well.

Togi Makabe vs. Jeff Cobb

Makabe took the match to the floor.  Cobb picked up Makabe in a vertical suplex and ran him into the ring post.  Insane power.

Makabe fights back but Cobb was too strong.

Cobb hits a Tour of the Islands and pins Makabe.

Jeff Cobb will face Satoshi Kojima in Round 2.

Toru Yano vs. Taichi, with Miho Abe

Taichi insists that the referee check Yano for tricks or weapons.  Yano says he has none.  The match goes to the floor and Yano throws Taichi into the guardrails.  Yano grabs a blue bag from under the ring.  He goes to put it on Taichi, but Taichi pulls Miho Abe in the path of Yano.  Yano stops but he tries to put the bag on Miho.  Taichi stops Yano and attacks him.  He chokes Yano on the floor.   Taichi puts the blue bag on Yano.   Yano almost gets counted out.  The referee helps Yano out of the bag.  Taichi gets mad and puts the bag on the referee.  Yano hits a low blow on Taichi and goes for the pin.  No referee.  Yano unbags the referee and we get to a normal wrestling match. 

Taichi starts from a Sumo stance and hits a hard running elbow into Yano's head.

Taichi pins Yano.

Taichi was supposed to face Hiroyoshi Tenzan who had a bye into Round 2.  Due to Tenzan's injury, Taichi will advance past Round 2 and into the Quarter Finals. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOH

Both men had knee injuries in the past, and they went after each other's knees.  Good match. 

Tanahashi pinned YOH with a Dragon Suplex.

Hiroshi Tanahashi will move on to Round 2 to face Bad Luck Fale.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Yujiro Takahashi, with Pieter

Good match, until the referee took a bump.  EVIL and SHO hit the ring.  They beat up Naito.   Takahashi tells them both to leave the ring and he wants to beat Naito by himself.  There was an audible gasp from the crowd when they heard Takahashi's words.   EVIL and SHO leave the ring.  Takahashi encourages the crowd to cheer Naito to his feet.   Takahashi blasts Naito with a low blow.   Takahashi goes for a pin, but Naito kicks out.  EVIL and SHO distract the referee and tosses the Pimp Stick to Takahashi.  Takahashi misses with the stick.  Naito kicks him with a low blow.  Naito hits EVIL off the apron.

Naito rolls Takahashi into a Jackknife Cradle pin and gets the win.

Tetsuya Naito will move on to Round 2 to face Gedo.

EVIL attacks Naito after the match.  Naito kicks EVIL with a low blow to take him out.  

Kazuchika Okada vs. El Desperado

Great stiff match.  Desperado blistered Okada's chest with wicked chops.  Desperado attacked the left knee of Okada.  Okada attacked Desperado's neck.  Desperado blocked an Okada dropkick and locked in Numero Dos.   Okada reverses out and gets the Money Clip.  Desperado is about to pass out but Okada lets go of hold.   He sets up Desperado for the Rainmaker, but Desperado stuns him with an elbow.   Desperado hits Pinche Loco.  Desperado goes for another Pinche Loco but Okada reverses out.  They reverse out a bunch of moves.   Okada hits a dropkick.   Okada hits a Landslide and finally the Rainmaker.

Okada pins Desperado.

Kazuchika Okada moves on to Round 2 to meet Master Wato.

Okada got the mic and praised Desperado and how hard he fought.  He thanks everyone who came to see the show.  He told the fans to stick with us in 2022, and he promises to make it rain in the New Japan Cup.

Great match.  Both men beat each other up badly.  My recap cannot do this match justice.  Please check it out on http://www.njpwworld.com.

In the Budokan, they had several giant LED screens at the back of the arena, which showed up on the hard camera.  This made for a distorted picture on New Japan World.  These giant screens were there on the last two nights, this made for a poor picture and video distortions during the events.  Hopefully, they do not do this again.  

The New Japan Cup continue on March 6, 2022 on New Japan World.

 

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