wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW New Japan Cup 2024 Night 4 Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW New Japan Cup Night 4
March 10th, 2024 | Baycom Gymnasium in Amagaski, Hyogo | Attendance: 2,476
NOTE: For anyone following all of my reviews, my WrestleMania Series is still ongoing. It’s something I’m doing in my free time though so reviews from 2024 (like this one) take precedence.
It’s time to wrap up the opening round of this tournament.
New Japan Cup First Round: El Phantasmo vs. Mikey Nicholls
In a lot of ways, this was the Mikey Nicholls special. That man excels at delivering matches that are largely fine, forgettable, and inoffensive. ELP is also a dude who can have good matches but he needs the right partner. Together, they delivered the kind of 5-6/10 match you’d expect from them. Mikey was in control throughout, looking dominant at times which made sense to set up the babyface comeback by ELP. He was a solid jerk heel when he first came in but like Tama Tonga, I think the face stuff suits his offense better. His comeback featured the high octane stuff like springboard offense and a tornado DDT. When Nicholls retaliated, it meant German suplexes and stiffer offense. He made a mistake by going to the top and missing, which opened the door for ELP to hit Burning Hammer. He couldn’t put Mikey away with that but won a battle of rollups to secure the three count in 13:21. Like I said, a solid little match. [**¾]
New Japan Cup First Round: Ren Narita vs. Taichi
Ren Narita went from exciting prospect to guy I don’t want to see. That’s what Gedo and the House of Torture will do to a man. I have explained, time and time again, that I will not be spending too much of my time writing about House of Torture matches because they’re all the same. I do my best to cover something when it differs but this was everything we all hate about them. Overbooked, filled with interference, and worst of all, overly long. The stuff in the ring was dull and slow, the interference was bad, and at 18:54, it was too much. It’s a shame because pre-HOT Ren and Taichi would’ve likely had a banger. Jack Perry got involved to help Ren score the win. On top of this, this prevents a Taichi/ZSJ match. Rude. [½*]
New Japan Cup First Round: Jeff Cobb vs. Yota Tsuji
Please, guys. Save this tournament with some MEAT SLAPPING. Even after the debacle that was the last match, the crowd was hot for this at the opening bell. The guys played into it, hitting each other hard and kind of testing the waters to see who was tougher. It’s a tried and true formula that would’ve fit right in with the heyday of the NEVER Openweight Title. I’ve been watching Cobb since he was Matanza Cueto and it has never gotten old to see him toss big dudes like Yota around with the greatest of ease. Yota is just explosive though so when he responded, he threw his own big blows. That’s the thing with Yota. Others can do what he does but he has that IT factor that makes it all just stand out and click better. As this hit the 15 minute mark, it really picked up with them trading forearms and superkicks before going into finisher counters. Cobb catching the Spear and delivering a Razor’s Edge made for the match’s best spot. The main thing was that Yota kept avoiding Tour of the Islands at every turn, keeping him alive in the tournament. Cobb hit a Spear of his own but Yota survived and we hit the 20 minute mark. Yota busted out a missile dropkick soon after and won with the Spear in 21:41. Easily the best match of the tournament, a wise booking decision to give Yota a notable win, and we need more of that in the New Japan Cup. [****]
