Pantoja’s NJPW New Japan Cup 2024 Semifinals & Finals Review

NJPW New Japan Cup 2024 Semifinals & Finals

March 18^th, 2024 | Big Palette Fukushima in Koriyama, Fukushima | Attendance: 793

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.

New Japan Cup Semifinals: EVIL vs. Yota Tsuji

Alright, you know the drill here. We got the House of Torture stuff immediately as they jumped Yota early and LIJ showed up to even the odds, sparking a huge brawl. The referee threw the match out to give us a no contest and commentary was confused because you need someone in the finals. I mean, in a no contest, you’d just make the winner of the next match the tournament winner. Anyway, they ended up restarting the contest with nobody at ringside. That gave us 10 or so minutes of good, solid action between two heavy hitters. Once we got past that though, the House of Torture returned to the ring because of a ref bump. A second ref arrived but also got distracted, setting up a low blow by EVIL. That ref also took a bump which finally brought Shingo and BUSHI back out. This time, BUSHI succeeded with the mist and a blinded EVIL was cut in half by a Yota Spear in 18:20. This was solid until the shenanigans which are so tired by this point. [**¾]

New Japan Cup Semifinals: Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA

Goto received a bye due to David Finlay’s injury. So Goto got a first round bye, beat Chase Owens, and got another bye. That’s the easiest road to a semifinal in forever. While it’s not the most interesting of matches, it was a straight up, one on one affair, which was appreciated after a tournament full of House of Torture antics. They had a very traditional start with standing switches, some brawling outside, and then progressing to bigger moves like SANADA’s TKO and Goto’s neckbreaker over the knee. Goto had Skull End well scouted until he got trapped in it around the 15 minute mark. As usual though, SANADA let go of the hold for no reason and instead got two on the moonsault. What a terrible strategy. Goto avoided his other big shots like Deadfall twice but he did get hit with a Shining Wizard or two. Surprisingly, Goto connected on GTR to advance in 19:05. Didn’t expect that result but given SANADA has lost to Naito twice already this year, nobody would buy him as a winner in the finals anyway. Solid enough match. [***]

March 20^th, 2024 | Aore Nagaoka in Nagaoka, Niigata | Attendance: 3,003

New Japan Cup Finals: Hirooki Goto vs. Yota Tsuji

The finals nobody expected but here we are. There are similarities here. Yota needs some big wins soon or he’s going to become the next Goto. Regardless of how poor things are for New Japan these past few years, the crowd gets into these matches. They were hot for a Goto New Japan Cup Finals in 2024. That’s dedication. The feeling out process was pretty standard and only popped when Yota would do his explosive bits of offense. He’s cool like that. You could see Goto leading the match and doing so in a way that made sure Yota looked like a star. His bits of offense from a Stinger Splash to a Falcon Arrow were great, and while Goto hit some high impact stuff like a DVD, it wasn’t quite on the same level. And that’s a good thing. Yota should stand out more here. The intensity picked up with headbutts and penalty kicks down the stretch as this neared the 20 minute mark. The crowd was roaring as they traded kicks and knee strikes but my favorite moment came right at the end. Goto decided to go for a Rainmaker like his childhood idol Kazuchika Okada and Yota countered with a Spear. He added a second to win the tournament in 23:01. There were low expectations and they thankfully managed to top them. This wasn’t some incredible match that will blow anyone away but it was very good. [***½]

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

The New Japan Cup has been in shambles for years and this was a bad installment. Thankfully, it ended on a decent note. Two solid enough semifinal outings and a finals that was better than expected.