It’s time for the eleventh day of New Japan Cup action, and as usual, we’re starting with the undercard action. We have a traditional young lion exhibition match, Yuji Nagata taking on a former student in Great O-Khan in tag team action, and Juice Robinson once again takes aim at KENTA. Let’s waste no time and get right into it.
Gabriel Kidd vs. Yuya Uemura
When it comes to Uemura and Kidd, they actually haven’t had that many singles matches. Tonight will be their 8th singles match, and Uemura leads with a 4-3 record. Can Kidd catch back up tonight?
They’d start this one with expected chain wrestling on the mat, coming to a stalemate. Uemura grabbed a wrist lock, and Kidd turned this hold around into a sleeper hold on the mat, but Uemura was able to roll to the ropes. Kidd would be locked in a headlock next, with Uemura holding on through an irish whip attempt, but fought his way to the corner.
They’d trade chops in the middle of the ring, Uemura winning out before hitting a running elbow drop on the mat. He’d look for the capture suplex, but Kidd fought free and hit a running shoulder tackle. A scoop slam followed from Kidd, before he looked for the brainbuster.
Uemura fought this, and they’d once again exchange strikes in the middle of the ring. Kidd lost this battle, but was able to hit a brainbuster and double arm suplex for the win!
You don’t get bad matches from the Young Lions, just unremarkable ones. This one was technically sound, had good back and forth action, and used their limited move pool to great effect. Match Rating: 2.75/5 (** 3/4)
Yota Tsuji & Yuji Nagata vs. The United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb)
While it seems like ages ago, Great-O-Khan was once a proud student of the NJPW Dojo System. Yuji Nagata was someone important in his development, and taught him just about everything he knows, aside from what he learned in the UK. Nagata has Yota Tsuji under his wing tonight, as they take on O-Khan & Jeff Cobb.
Nagata started with O-Khan, and they’d go for some chain wrestling. O-Khan shoved Nagata to the ropes, allowing a clean break, but Cobb grabbed Nagata from behind. Nagata took some boots to the mid-section, elbows to the head and more, before being able to apply an armbar on O-Khan.
O-Khan got the ropes, and Nagata tagged in Tsuji who kept the pressure on O-Khan with some mounted elbow strikes. Tsuji was caught by a quick counter into a cross armbreaker, and was able to get the ropes. Cobb tagged in and hit some heavy blows, before just picking up Tsuji and driving him into the corner.
O-Khan tagged back in, and choked Tsuji in the corner before turning him into his throne. Tsuji would be made to kiss the foot of O-Khan, and bit instead. Cobb got a tag and made Tsuji regret this with powerful strikes in the corner, before he came back with a dropkick. Nagata got a tag, and hit the running high knee on Cobb, but he couldn’t get the exploder suplex. O-Khan got a tag, and was taken down with the spinning wheel kick before Nagata tagged Tsuji.
Tsuji would be taken down with a shoulder tackle, before turning a roll up into a Boston Crab. Nagata helped out by hitting the exploder suplex to set up the diving splash from Tsuji, but neither that nor the spear could get the win. O-Khan hit a gutwrench suplex before Cobb hit a second, and the Iron Claw slam won this one.
This wasn’t a match that looked like much on paper, but everyone had their working boots on here, except Cobb who didn’t do much. The action between Tsuji & O-Khan was fantastic, and really made this match. Match Rating: 3.25/5 (*** 1/4)
Juice Robinson & Toa Henare vs. BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & KENTA)
Ever since KENTA injured Juice Robinson on the road to Tokyo Dome, they’ve been at each other’s throats on and off. They met in the first round of this tournament, but now both men are out of the running. The issue persists, and tonight they meet again in tag team action.
Robinson would start alongside Fale, and go for an arm wrench before taking a heavy blow to the body. He’d be determined to take Fale down, but fail to do so and simply tag in Henare for help. Together, they still failed to take him down, as he ran through with a shoulder tackle.
KENTA got a tag, and would choke Henare in the corner while Fale distracted the referee. They were using BULLET CLUB 101 tactics with some fast tags and cheap shots to stay in firm control of the match. Henare was able the break free and hit a suplex, before tagging Robinson back in.
Robinson nailed some jabs and hit a running bulldog, before missing the leg lariat and being hit with a scoop powerslam and DDT from KENTA. KENTA set up Go To Sleep, and Robinson slipped out to hit a leg lariat. Henare & Fale became legal, and Fale was simply too much at first. He’d avoid The Grenade and manage to drop Fale with a shoulder tackle, but couldn’t get the pin.
Henare hit a big spear on Fale, and KENTA broke the pinfall up at two before being attacked by Robinson. In the ring, Fale fought back and hit a back elbow and a falling elbow drop for a near fall before hitting The Grenade for the finish.
Typical Bullet Club action here. Henare & Fale showed some great chemistry and had some hard hitting action, but Robinson vs. KENTA just isn’t appealing anymore. Match Rating: 2.5/5 (** 1/2)
Should Yota Tsuji & Gabriel Kidd graduate from Young Lion status after this tour? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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