NJPW holds the semifinals of the 2023 New Japan Cup today in Gunma.
In one semifinal bout, SANADA faces Mark Davis. SANADA jumped factions this past week, leaving Los Ingobernables de Japon for Just Five Guys. Davis is an injury substitution for his fellow United Empire stablemate Will Ospreay.
In the other semifinal contest, Tama Tonga takes on David Finlay. Finlay has gotten a push of late after joining Bullet Club, Tama's former stable.
The New Japan Cup finals take place on Tuesday, with the winner earning an IWGP World Heavyweight title shot against Kazuchika Okada at Sakura Genesis on April 8.
Today's undercard:
Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi vs. YOH & Lio RushShingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Aaron Henare & Great-O-KhanYOSHI-HASHI & Tomoaki Honma vs. Jeff Cobb & Kyle FletcherMinoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick TogoTomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Ryohei Oiwa vs. KENTA, Chase Owens & El PhantasmoShota Umino & Oskar Leube vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita
Our live coverage begins at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time.
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Oskar Leube & Shota Umino defeated TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)
This was a fantastic opening tag. Everyone looked great.
ZSJ and Shota had a fun verbal spat before the Young Lions started the match. ZSJ tagged in to help Fujita further his developing lead, eventually setting up a hot tag to Umino. After a set of back-and-forth exchanges, Umnio submitted Fujita with the STF.
BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, El Phantasmo & KENTA) defeated CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) & Ryohei Oiwa
This was a match filled with tomfoolery. In the end, ELP rolled up Oiwa to win the match.
Ishii and Owens spent a lot of time interacting with each other; this seems to be a singles feud they're setting up for some reason.
House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita) & Ryusuke Taguchi
This was another match built on cheating, but Strong Style's relative seriousness kept things from turning too silly. In the end, SHO won the match for HOT with a wrench shot to Taguchi.
It looks like HOT might challenge for the six-man belts again soon.
United Empire (Jeff Cobb & Kyle Fletcher) defeated Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI
This was a by-the-numbers tag. After some interaction between all four guys, Cobb hit Honma with Tour of the Islands to win the match.
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Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated CHAOS (Lio Rush & YOH)
This match existed to further promote the upcoming Hiromu/Rush title match. While Rush and Hiromu spent the latter part of the match interacting with each other, Naito worked to win the match for his team. Naito eventually hit YOH with Destino to secure victory.
New Japan Cup: David Finlay defeated Tama Tonga
This was not good.
Finlay was quick to gain the lead with a back suplex before slowing the match to a crawl. Finlay began picking apart Tama, slamming him into barricades and locking in wear-down submissions.
A Tongan twist reset the match, letting Tama hit a supreme flow for a nearfall, but when Tama tried for gun stun, Finlay repeatedly reversed.
Finlay hit a blue thunder bomb and a spear for a nearfall of his own. When Finlay tried for the Trash Panda, Tama reversed into a sharpshooter.
After escaping the submission, Finlay hit a backbreaker and a dominator for a nearfall. Once Tama kicked out, he rebounded with a bloody Sunday for a nearfall of his own but, again, failed to hit gun stun. After surviving all of Tama's finish attempts, Finlay hit Trash Panda and won the match to advance to the finals.
New Japan Cup: SANADA defeated Mark Davis
This was a very good outing from Davis and seems to be the start of a new era for SANADA.
Before the match, SANADA entered the ring with his new faction, Just 5 Guys. SANADA debuted a new look, featuring black hair and tights to match.
Davis gained a quick lead with a standing senton. He then continued to advance his lead for some time before a dropkick, and a dive to the floor got SANADA back into the match. Davis answered with a dive of his own that wiped out both men.
The match quickly devolved into both men trying for bigger and bigger moves. Both men tried for top rope dives, and both men reversed. An insane piledriver from Davis scored him a nearfall, but SANADA avoided the finish. After slipping free from the waterslide, SANADA hit his new finishing DDT to win the match and advance to the finals.
After the match, Finlay and Gedo walked to the ring. Gedo called SANADA's new faction "Just 5 Losers," and they left the ring.
SANADA cut a short promo before handing the microphone to TAKA. TAKA ended the show with the Just 5 Guys call.