New Japan Cup 2020 Day 5 Results

Second Round Match: Taiji Ishimori def. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (9:18)

These two men have a lot of history. They’ve wrestled one dozen singles matches, both in NJPW and NOAH, and Taiji Ishimori has yet to win even one. No sooner did Ishimori walk through the entrance curtain than did Kanemaru follow him and set about laying waste to Ishimori’s left knee, to nullify Ishimori’s agility advantage. Five minutes in, Ishimori was still able to pull off a handspring kick but the pain stopped him from following up. Kanemaru tricked Ishimori into hitting the ref and used the free moment to put whiskey in his mouth, but Ishimori clamped a hand on his face and forced him to swallow it. COVID-19 best practice. From there, he hit a double-knee gutbuster and the Bloody Cross to advance to the quarterfinals and break his losing streak.

Second Round Match: Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii (13:28)

Ishii and Makabe have fought many times over the years, and you know what you’re getting with them. Immediately they began bashing into each other with reckless abandon, trading forearms and shoulder tackles. Ishii delivered a nasty German suplex to Makabe directly into the turnbuckle pad, causing him to crumple, and from there he handily took control of the match. Down but not out, Makabe finally rose to his feet and got back on offense with a lariat and a powerbomb. Makabe lifted Ishii to the top rope to set up his finishing combo, but Ishii blocked it and delivered a superplex for his troubles. Makabe immediately fired up and tried to hit the King Kong Knee Drop, but Ishii got out of the way. With one last lariat and the vertical drop brainbuster, Ishii took the pinfall victory and cemented his place in the quarterfinals.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI) (13:55)

Suzuki-gun entered first today, and Kota Ibushi sprinted out to attack them all immediately, perturbed by the double-team beatdown he received yesterday at the hands of Sabre and Taichi. This didn’t last long though, as Suzuki-gun’s greater commitment to teamwork, regardless of the legality thereof, resulted in all three of them stretching Tanahashi’s legs out, despite him already having been eliminated from the tournament. When Ibushi and Taichi shared the ring, they exchanged brutal leg kicks and Taichi dropped Ibushi right on his neck with a backdrop driver. In the end, following a Sling Blade assist from Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi delivered the Dodon on DOUKI for the pinfall victory. Despite losing, Suzuki-gun attacked Golden Ace once again after the match, but this time they were unable to leave the IWGP Tag Team Champions in a crumpled heap.

Second Round Match: Hiromu Takahashi def. Toru Yano (9:17)

Hiromu Takahashi entered wearing an NJPW-branded hard hat, which he must have thought would thwart Yano’s attempts to cut his hair. Fearless, Yano brandished his hair trimmer as soon as the bell rang. Hiromu hid under the ring, leading Yano to chase him while leaving his trimmer in the ring. Hiromu came out the other side of the ring and claimed the trimmer, but it turned out to be a decoy with no batteries, while Yano held another trimmer. The referee wrested it away, but Yano also carried scissors in his trunks, but Hiromu was able to grab those too and throw them away. Hiromu threw Yano out of the ring, but Yano snatched some duct-tape and tied Hiromu’s leg to Yota Tsuji’s leg, and was able to cut off some of Hiromu’s hair with yet another pair of scissors. Incensed, Hiromu and Tsuji took Yano to the lobby of Korakuen Hall, with their legs still taped together, and pushed him into an open elevator. The elevator was sent down to the ground level of the building, and Hiromu and Tsuji scrambled into the ring before the twenty-count. Hiromu Takahashi defeated Toru Yano by countout and will face Tomohiro Ishii in the quarterfinals.

Second Round Match: Kazuchika Okada def. Yuji Nagata (20:14)

Nagata came out with a point to prove: that, even at 52 years old, he was still The Anti-Aging Hero. As Okada pushed him into the ropes, Nagata kicked him into the face. Okada might have been a five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, but Nagata still considered himself Okada’s senior. Okada’s pace, initially slow, increased over time as he realized that he had to take Nagata more seriously than he thought. As Okada climbed to the rope to try for a top rope elbow drop, Nagata had it scouted, and caught him with an avalanche exploder suplex. As Nagata went to follow up, Okada managed to hit him with a standing dropkick and a tombstone piledriver, but did not go for the pin. Instead, he tried to go for the cobra clutch, but Nagata reversed it into the Nagata Lock II, but Okada made it to the ropes to break the hold. Nagata went for a wrist-clutch exploder suplex only for Okada to apply the cobra clutch, which he held for a long time before Nagata broke the hold with a suplex. Okada tried a rolling lariat, but Nagata blocked it and hit a backdrop driver for a two count. Nagata kept trying for the backdrop hold, but Okada was able to catch him with another cobra clutch, this time with bodyscissors, for the submission victory. He will face Taiji Ishimori in the quarterfinals.