New Japan Cup, night 1 results: first two competitors advance

March 5, 2023 Neal Flanagan NEWS
Photo Courtesy: NJPW

The 2023 New Japan Cup kicked off earlier on Sunday in front of a capacity crowd.

Two first-round matches headlined the show in front of 1,371 fans at Korakuen Hall, Tokyo.

Tetsuya Naito defeated El Phantasmo with a roll-up pin to advance. He will next go up against Chase Owens, who has a first-round bye.

SANADA also advanced after using a modified DDT on Taichi to get the pinfall. He will face KENTA next, who also has a bye into the second round.

The next two first-round matches will take place on Monday at the New Japan Pro Wrestling 51st Anniversary show at the Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo. David Finlay will go up against Tomohiro Ishii and Shota Umino will face Yujiro.

The eventual winner of the tournament gets a match against the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion at NJPW Sakura Genesis on April 8th.

New Japan Cup, night 1, full results

  • New Japan Cup First Round: SANADA def. Taichi
  • New Japan Cup First Round: Tetsuya Naito def. El Phantasmo
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii def. Kazuchka Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma
  • Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI def. Lio Rush, YOH & Toru Yano
  • KENTA, Chase Owens & Gedo def. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yuto Nakashima
  • Shota Umino, Ren Narita, Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi def. EVIL, SHO, Dick Togo & Yujiro
  • Zack Sabre Jr & Kosei Fujita def. Tama Tonga & Ryohei Oiwa
About Neal Flanagan 1050 Articles
Based in Northern Ireland, Neal Flanagan is a former newspaper journalist and copy editor. In addition to reporting for POST Wrestling, he co-hosts The Wellness Policy podcast with Wai Ting and Jordan Goodman.
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