NJPW, 3/11/13 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,950 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Tomohiro Ishii beat Satoshi Kojima (13:37) with a brainbuster.
2. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Hirooki Goto beat Tama Tonga (9:37) with the Shouten Kai.
3. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Toru Yano beat Manabu Nakanishi (6:18) by pinfall.
4. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Karl Anderson beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan (8:42) with the Gun Stun.
5. Special 6 Man Tag Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley beat Captain New Japan, Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi (12:09) when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on Captain.
6. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Yujiro Takahashi beat Togi Makabe (10:45) with a Bukko Nuki German suplex hold.
7. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Minoru Suzuki beat Yuji Nagata (10:24) with a Gotch-style piledriver.
8. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Kazuchika Okada beat Lance Archer (10:14) with the Red Ink.
9. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Davey Boy Smith Jr. beat Shinsuke Nakamura (13:06) by pinfall.
* Upsets galore on day one of the 2013 New Japan Cup mean that the second round will be missing several of the company’s biggest names. Davey Boy Smith Jr. got some revenge for his tag partner Lance Archer’s recent IWGP Intercontinental Title match loss to Shinsuke Nakamura by pulling off a huge win in the main event. This could also lead to Smith challenging for Shinsuke’s title in the near future.
* Kazuchika Okada is looking at add the New Japan Cup to the IWGP Heavyweight Title and G1 Climax that he has won since his return just over a year ago. Okada defeated Archer in another CHAOS vs. Suzuki Gun match with his new finisher, the Red Ink, which he claims he has abandoned the Rainmaker for.
* The eternal rivalry between Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki continued two months after Nagata pinned the Suzuki Gun leader at the Tokyo Dome. As has been the case throughout their rivalry they continued to trade wins today as Suzuki pinned Nagata following a Gotch-style piledriver to advance.
* Yujiro Takahashi avenged his loss to Togi Makabe from “THE NEW BEGINNING” in February by beating him today as their grudge continues. A very big win for Yujiro who has taken big steps in recent months and gave Tanahashi a tough fight in his first ever IWGP Heavyweight Title shot back in November.
* Last year’s NJC semi finalist and last year’s G1 Climax runner-up Karl Anderson advanced by beating Tenzan while one day after winning the GHC Tag Team Title with Iizuka, Yano pinned Nakanishi to ensure qualification. Hirooki Goto, looking for his 4th NJC tournament win in 5 years, defeated Tama Tonga to the surprise of no one. But the opening match saw the biggest shock of them all as perennial midcarder Tomohiro Ishii stunned Korakuen Hall by beating Satoshi Kojima with a brainbuster! Deemed not high profile enough for the G1, Ishii has been a regular entrant in the NJC but the only time in five previous attempts he won his round one match was in 2009 when he beat Wataru Inoue by countout during their feud that year.
-
A rematch of the 2012 G1 Climax final is the pick of the bunch in round two next Sunday as Anderson and Okada lock horns again. CHAOS vs. Suzuki Gun continues in two of the four matches with Yano vs. Suzuki and Yujiro vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr., while you would expect Goto to defeat Ishii but after Ishii’s win today you can’t be too sure…
NJPW, 3/17/13 (Samurai! TV)
Amagasaki Memorial Park Gymnasium
1. New Japan Cup – Round 2: Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii
2. New Japan Cup – Round 2: Yujiro Takahashi vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
3. New Japan Cup – Round 2: Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki
4. New Japan Cup – Round 2: Karl Anderson vs. Kazuchika Okada
Ishii
Mi sa che vince ancora Goto
Che pppppallle