The quarterfinal matches of the New Japan Cup are set following the completion of the second round.
Friday’s card in Osaka saw Ren Narita and Yota Tsuji advance to the third stage of the ongoing tournament.
Narita headlined the show, defeating Zack Sabre Jr. with plenty of interference from the House of Torture.
The two brawled throughout the arena and ringside and it turned into a very good match, which escalated to multiple near-falls by ZSJ. House of Torture began to interfere, thus distracting referee Red Shoes, and Mikey Nicholls attempted to fight off the members. Yoshinobu Kanemaru entered the ring and spit whiskey into Sabre’s face and followed by EVIL & Dick Togo, who attempted a Magic Killer and was stopped by Sabre. The multiple distractions allowed Narita to strike Sabre with the weightlifting bar and the Double Cross maneuver for the pin.
The other tournament match featured Yota Tsuji pinning El Phantasmo in a very strong match, which lasted twenty-two minutes.
After a curb stomp off the apron, ELP was laid out on the floor and had multiple stumbles before re-entering the ring. There was an attempt at the Gene Blast, which Phantasmo blocked and hit the CR II for the biggest near-fall of the contest. Tsuji connected with a knee strike to the face and executed one final curb stomp off the top turnbuckle to pin ELP.
The quarterfinals kick off on Saturday in Nagoya with Jack Perry vs. SANADA and David Finlay vs. Hirooki Goto. They continue Sunday with EVIL vs. Shingo Takagi and Ren Narita vs. Yota Tsuji.
The semifinals will take place on Monday and the final next Wednesday in Niigata.
