With Jeff Cobb out of the New Japan Cup, he’s going to rely on a potential title shot that was earned in defeating YOSHI-HASHI. Pinning one half of the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions is good, but beating them in a six man tag team match could put Cobb & either Great-O-Khan or Aaron Henare in line for a title shot against Bishamon.
Will United Empire Get A Tag Team Title Shot?
Great-O-Khan would start the match against Hirooki Goto – quickly ending up in a headlock. Bishamon would work together to take Great-O-Khan down, before Honma was shoved into a missed Kokeshi. Henare would dump Honma out of the ring as Great-O-Khan choked Goto in the corner.
Goto would get pummelled with some body shots before Henare would look for Streets of Rage. A lariat would allow the tag to YOSHI-HASHI. Great-O-Khan was dropped with Headhunter, before Henare took the dropkick to the back. Henare would manage a Samoan Drop, before Cobb got the tag.
YOSHI-HASHI would hit the dropkick to the knee, before tagging in Honma. Two shoulder tackles would barely budge Cobb, before a kick to the knee left him wobbly. Great-O-Khan would help give a chance to recover, only for Honma took take down both Great-O-Khan & Henare with a DDT/Complete Shot combo.
Bishamon would look to double team Cobb, but YOSHI-HASHI was yanked out to the floor. Instead, Honma would dive into the arms of Cobb and was dropped by Tour of the Islands. After the bell, he’d stare down the champions – and it’s more a matter of what combination of United Empire will challenge.
Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito Are No Strangers To One Another
Kazuchika Okada & Tetsuya Naito are already set to clash once again – this time in the semi-finals of the New Japan Cup. Ahead of this clash, these old rivals will meet in a tag team match – as Okada brings YOH along, and Naito brings BUSHI. Naito knows Okada better than anyone else he’s faced thus far in the tournament, and could have another smart flash pin ready to go.
Starting off fast, Naito would trip Okada up and hit the dropkick to the back. Valentia was blocked by Okada, who looked for an early Rainmaker – before just staring Naito down. BUSHI & YOH would get tags, and BUSHI would get driven into the L.I.J corner. Naito tagged in and stomped out the Junior Heavyweight, before applying the Full Nelson on the mat using his legs. YOH got the bottom rope, before eating some chops from BUSHI.
Rewind kick from BUSHI would be met by a Falcon Arrow. Okada & Naito got tags, and Okada would go for the elbow drop – but Naito was able to easily block. Naito nailed the flying forearm before looking for Destino. Instead, he’d get the Swing DDT – before BUSHI hit the ring and took a neckbreaker from Okada.
YOH would get the tag and hit the corkscrew forearm smash, before getting caught with the backstabber. BUSHI hit the fisherman neckbreaker, but missed MX. Naito would assist in the dropkick on YOH before the Five Star Clutch caught BUSHI – ending this match in a flash.
Will YOH make the finals of Best of the Super Juniors once again? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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