Is Bullet Club taking over?

The New Japan Cup enters the quarterfinals, and while Jack Perry battles Sanada, David Finlay faces Hirooki Goto! Will things get Just Too Sweet?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Six Man Tag: El Desperado, Togi Makabe & Katsuya Murashima VS YOH, Boltin Oleg & Shoma Kato; Yoh, Boltin & Shoma win.
• Six Man Tag: Tomohiro Ishii, Tanga Loa & Ryusuke Taguchi VS The United Empire; The United Empire wins.
• Zack Sabre Jr. & Mikey Nicholls VS TJP & Callum Newman; ZSJ & Mikey win.
• 8 Man Tag: Toru Yano, Hikuleo, El Phantasmo & Jado VS Bullet Club; Bullet Club wins.
• Shota Umino & YOSHI-HASHI VS Taichi & Yuya Uemura; Taichi & Yuya win.
• 10 Man Tag: Los Ingobernables de Japon VS The House of Torture; LIJ wins.
• 2024 New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: Hirooki Goto VS David Finlay; Goto wins due to forfeit.
• 2024 New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: SANADA VS Jack Perry; wins and advances.

PLAY BY PLAY

NJPW mourns the loss of Yutaka Yoshie.

The various stars on tonight’s card are around the ring, with NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi in the ring alongside Togi Makabe, who holds up a picture of Yoshie. To honor #Y2P, they ring the bell ten times and have a moment of silence. And on behalf of the Chairshot, condolences to Yoshie’s family during this time.

BREAKING NEWS!

Though David Finlay was on a roll, he is unable to compete tonight. As NJPW put out on Twitter/X, “David Finlay will not compete tonight in Nagoya due to illness. He is currently undergoing evaluation at a local hospital. Hirooki Goto will advance to the semifinals via forfeit.” On behalf of the Chairshot, we hope Finlay makes a full and speedy recovery.

2024 New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: SANADA VS Jack Perry!

The last time these two met, Cold Skull was IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and it was “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry stepping through the Forbidden Door. But now, The Scapegoat is in the House of Torture, and he’s ready to rig this in his favor. Will Perry win this rematch by any means necessary? Or will he run into a Skull End?

Jack interrupts the introductions, telling them to turn the music off and for Sanada to get in the ring already. Jack has been waiting for this one. Since last year, when Sanada tried to make Jack look like a joke. Sanada tried to pretend that he doesn’t know Jack. Well guess what? MIC ATTACK! The fans boo, Red Shoes reprimands, but Jack uses the cord to CHOKE Sanada! Red Shoes reprimands and Jack lets off to then rain down forearms! Red Shoes has the bell ring so this is on record, and Jack tells off the fans. The fans boo but he throws his gum at them. Jack then stomps Sanada, CLUBS him, and he brings Sanada up.

Jack runs, Sanada dodges and returns to arm-drag! Sanada DROPKICKS Jack out of the ring! Fans fire up as Sanada PLANCHAS, but Jack moves aside! Sanada lands safe on the apron, only for Jack to trip him up! Jack then sends Sanada into railing hard! Jack has cameras move aside so he can whip Sanada hard into more railing! Jack CLUBS Sanada, Sanada staggers away, and Jack peels away floor mats! Jack brings Sanada over, but Sanada fights the suplex! The fans rally as Sanada throws body shots. Jack gets away into the ring, and Sanada pursues. Jack CLUBS Sanada down and rains down forearms!

Jack drags Sanada up, snapmares him, then runs to basement dropkick Sanada in the back! Cover, ONE!! The fans rally but Jack grows frustrated. Jack drags Sanada up, brings him over to ropes and CHOKES him! Red Shoes counts, Jack counts along, and Jack lets go at 4. Jack drags Sanada up and RAMS him into a corner! And RAMS him in again! And again! Jack whips corner to corner, runs up and clotheslines! Then he reels Sanada in and turns him for a NECKBREAKER! Cover, TWO! The fans cheer and Jack grows further frustrated. Jack drags Sanada up, and CHOPS! Jack whips, Sanada reverses to RUSSIAN LEG SWEEP!

The fans fire up while both men are down! Jack clutches the back of his head while he sits up. Sanada stands, brings Jack up but Jack CLAWS the eyes! Red Shoes reprimands but Jack whips, only for Sanada to reverse. Sanada hurdles, hurdles and DROPKICKS! Jack bails out and Sanada PLANCHAS! Direct hit this time and the fans fire up! Sanada encourages them to get louder so they get louder! Sanada likes that, and he goes back for Jack. Sanada brings Jack up and into the ring, then up for a fireman’s carry. TKO! Cover, TWO! Jack toughs it out but Sanada keeps cool. The fans rally again as Sanada paces.

Sanada brings Jack up into the dragon sleeper! Jack pops free, arm-drags Sanada away, then runs up! Sanada blocks the lariat to spin Jack and cravat, SHIRANUI into the dragon sleeper! Jack flails but Sanada drops into the SKULL END! Jack is caught in the body scissors as he flails and reaches out! The fans rally, Jack is fading, and Red Shoes checks him. Jack gets a second wind, but it doesn’t last long! Sanada sets Jack in the drop zone and he goes up, ROUNDING BODY PRESS onto knees! Jack saves himself with a double-edged move but both men are down! The fans rally up as Jack and Sanada go to corners.

Jack drags himself up with the ropes and Sanada does the same. Jack runs in corner to corner, but into a BOOT! Sanada goes up, but Jack gets under the Quebrada! Sanada keeps moving, but Jack drop toeholds! Jack steps over the legs, SNARE TRAP! Sanada endures as Jack pulls on the crossface! Sanada claws at the mat, crawls around and drags Jack along with him! Sanada reaches out, but Jack grabs that arm! Sanada only has one limb free, but he still uses it to fight forward! ROPEBREAK! The fans cheer, Red Shoes counts, and Jack lets go at 4. Jack is frustrated but he drags Sanada out to the apron, by the bare floor! DRAPING DDT to the bare floor!!

Fans go nuts and both men writhe! That was again double-edged for Jack, but it did much worse to Sanada! Jack leaves Sanada behind and the ring count starts. Sanada is still down at 5 of 20, and the fans rally behind him. Sanada is still down at 10 of 20, but he’s stirring. The count is 15! Then 17! 18! 19! Sanada slides in! Jack hurries to get him for the underhooks! TIGER DRIVER!! Cover, TWO!! Jack is frustrated but the fans fire up as Sanada survives! Jack soaks up the heat, sits Sanada up, but Sanada avoids the knee! Jack avoids the Shining Wizard! Sanada blocks the superkick and spins Jack to a waistlock!

Sanada pushes Jack to ropes, but Jack grabs Red Shoes before the O’Conner Roll! Sanada has Jack caught but Red Shoes is down! Sanada would’ve won by now! Sanada lets jack go to check on Red shoes, but here comes The House! Kanemaru, Dick, Narita & Devil all beat Sanada down! The fans boo as they “put one out” on Sanada! The fans tell the House to go home but the House drags Sanada up. They whip Sanada to a corner, then Dick runs in to ELBOW! Kanemaru ELBOWS, Narita ELBOWS, and Evil clotheslines! Snapmare and they set Sanada up! Dick climbs to drop the DICK CHOP! Sanada writhes and the fans boo again!

The House stands on Sanada and soaks up the heat, but wait! Just5Guys finally runs out here! Specifically, Yuya Uemura is here and he DROPKICKS Narita! And DROPKICKS Kanemaru! Taichi gets in, DOUBLE AX BOMBERS! But Evil & Dick LOW BLOW them in return! They TOSS Yuya & Taichi out, then double whip Sanada. Sanada gets around the double lariat to shove Evil into Dick! Then Sanada DROPKICKS Evil! The fans fire up but Jack runs back in to SUPERKICK! And then underhooks, only for Sanada to wrench and fireman’s carry! Jack slips free, Sanada ducks the hop to POISON-RANA Jack!

But Jack SLIDING KNEES Sanada!! Both men are down just as Red Shoes returns! The fans rally for Sanada as hard as they can while he and Jack stir! Jack crawls over to Sanada and grabs Sanada’s hair. Jack pulls Sanada up, but Sanada ENZIGIRIS! Sanada suplexes, puts Jack on ropes, and hits MAGIC SCREW! Both men are down again, but then Sanada kips up! The fans fire up as Sanada runs up, SHINING WIZARD! But Sanada isn’t done there! He drags Jack back up, scoops him and hits a BACKBREAKER! Jack is in the drop zone and Sanada goes up! ROUNDING BODY PRESS! Cover, Narita YANKS Red Shoes out!

Dick has the SPOILER CHOKER on Sanada!! The fans boo as Sanada is turning red! Dick sets Sanada up for Jack’s SLIDING KNEE!! Cover, TWO!!! Sanada survives and Jack is furious! Taichi THROWS Narita into railing! Evil & Dick mug Taichi but he fights them off! Yuya helps out, they’re turning things around on The House! But Jack storms around, sits Sanada up, and SLAPS him back down! Jack aims from a corner, roars and runs in again, but into the DEAD- NO, Jack slips free! Sanada dodges, O’Conner BRIDGE! SANADA WINS!!

Winner: Sanada, by pinfall (advances to the next round)

Jack is at a loss for words! He had the deck stacked in his favor because only three of the five guys were here! Who will the Scapegoat use as the scapegoat for why he failed?

As for Sanada, Taichi & Yuya regroup with him to celebrate, but then Hirooki Goto makes his way out here! Goto was originally meant for the main event tonight, so he gets the mic first. He knows he doesn’t have a match anymore, but the next time he’s here, he wants to have beaten Sanada, won the Cup, and won the world title so he can bring it with him! The fans cheer that! Goto then hands the mic over to Sanada so that he may speak his mind. Sanada tells Goto, “I’m not so confident that I’ll lose.” Also, while Goto is good, Sanada is the one who won the main event, so please, leave the ring. Fans applaud and Goto obliges, giving the main event winner his space.

Sanada also acknowledges that the plan didn’t call for him having the main event, but he did win the main event, so why not give “that” a try? The fans cheer that, and the stars start coming out. The lights go down and the fans cheer that the mood is right. Sanada says he also has a goal, and he also hopes to one day bring an IWGP World Championship match to Nagoya. But in order to do that, he must win the New Japan Cup and come back as the world champion. The fans applaud, and Sanada says that to be honest, of all the places in Japan, he loves Nagoya the most. The fans cheer the love confession!

“OI, Nagoya! See you next time!” The Cold Skull has made his declarations, will he make them all into realities?

My Thoughts:

Well, “card subject to change” is a thing, and this is also what happens when I get to things much later because of the time differences. I looked up results for the matches I knew I wasn’t planning to cover, and then I didn’t notice a match had been cut until looking at NJPW’s playlist for today’s event. A shame for Finlay, regardless of whether or not he was going to advance through this round. And a really good match from Sanada and Jack Perry in the new main event, which of course got the House of Torture and Just5Guys involved. Sanada winning was of course the move, and he’s gonna have a really good match with Goto next round.

My Score: 8.7/10