New Japan Pro Wrestling carried over the tradition of the NJPW Anniversary show to this year’s New Japan Cup, with stellar results on Wednesday. IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada bested IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion El Desperado in a thrilling main event.
Desperado brought the fiery spirit that has made him a favorite among the Jr. Heavyweight ranks, and much like his BOSJ loss to Hiromu Takahashi in 2020, the loss seems destined to propel El Desperado to future greatness.
Elsewhere on the card, YOH also brought the Jr. Heavyweight fire to NJPW Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tanahashi got the better of the young upstart, upstaging YOH with a Dragon Suplex.
The emotional heart of Wednesday’s show was the semi-main event between former-tag partners Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro Takahashi. Yujiro seemingly called off the usual interference from his House of Torture comrades, with many believing he was turning over a new leaf against his old friend.
This was not the case.
With Naito lulled into a false sense of security, Yujiro struck Naito in the crotch to attempt to steal the match. Hoisted by his own petard, Naito returned the favor with a low-blow and a clutch pin of his own to win the contest.
Plus YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto and Jeff Cobb all advanced with wins over third generation talent. Taichi bested KOPW 2022 trophy holder Toru Yano, and CIMA overcame TAKA Michinoku.
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?NEW JAPAN CUP 2022《開幕戦》?
＼曲者同士がいきなり激突?
１回戦を勝ち上がるのはどちらだ⁉️? @supercima1115 × @takam777
? #njpwworld で配信中??視聴&登録⏩https://t.co/Tj7UBINMhP#njpw #njcup pic.twitter.com/jHMYX513bj
— njpwworld (@njpwworld) March 2, 2022
Here are the full results:
3/2
NJPW New Japan Cup: Night 1
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: CIMA def. TAKA Michinoku by pinfall via Meteora. (9:48)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: YOSHI-HASHI def. Tomoaki Honma by pinfall via Karma. (9:45)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: Hirooki Goto def. Yuji Nagata by pinfall via clutch pin. (12:37)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: Jeff Cobb def. Togi Makabe by pinfall via Tour of the Islands. (8:10)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: Taichi def. Toru Yano by pinfall via rollup. (6:25)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi def. YOH by pinfall via Dragon Suplex. (16:50)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: Tetsuya Naito def. Yujiro Takahashi by pinfall via Jackknife Pin. (18:11)
- New Japan Cup First Round Match: Kazuchika Okada def. El Desperado by pinfall via Rainmaker. (26:21)
NJPW returns with Night 2 of the New Japan Cup on March 3rd at 1am ET on NJPWWorld.com
