The opening round of the New Japan Cup concluded on Monday and featured a rematch of one of the best matches of last year’s G1 Climax.
In the main event, Shingo Takagi defeated Tomohiro Ishii after hitting Last of the Dragon after going over twenty-three minutes.
The two met in last year’s G1 Climax with many people selecting it as the best match of the tournament.
Takagi will face Tanga Loa in the second round of the tournament on March 13th.
In a battle of junior heavyweights in the New Japan Cup, Hiromu Takahashi pinned SHO using an inside cradle and set up the former multiple-time champion against Minoru Suzuki in the next round.
EVIL defeated Ryusuke Taguchi after hitting Everything is EVIL and advances to face Tama Tonga.
Finally, Chase Owens eliminated Jado after hitting the C-Trigger and will meet Tiger Mask next.
The following second-round matches are now set:
March 9th:
*Kazuchika Okada vs. Master Wato (winner faces Taichi on March 14th)
*Hirooki Goto vs. Dick Togo
*CIMA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
March 10th:
*Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale
*Tetsuya Naito vs. Gedo
*Jeff Cobb vs. Satoshi Kojima
*YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kosei Fujita
March 12th:
*Great O-Khan vs. Taiji Ishimori
*Zack Sabre Jr. vs. DOUKI
*Aaron Henare vs. SANADA
*Will Ospreay vs. El Phantasmo
March 13th:
*Shingo Takagi vs. Tanga Loa
*Chase Owens vs. Tiger Mask
*EVIL vs. Tama Tonga
*Minoru Suzuki vs. Hiromu Takahashi
