Will the House of Torture double down on the dirty tactics?

Yota Tsuji VS Ren Narita, Shingo Takagi VS EVIL, it is a BIG battle between Los Ingobernables de Japon and The House of Torture in the New Japan Cup!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Ryusuke Taguchi & Shoma Kato VS Boltin Oleg & Katsuya Murashima; Bolten & Murashima win.
• Six Man Tag: Guerrillas of Destiny VS The United Empire; Guerrillas of Destiny win.
• Zack Sabre Jr. & Mikey Nicholls VS Jeff Cobb & Callum Newman; ZSJ & Mikey win.
• Six Man Tag: Shota Umino, El Desperado & YOH VS The House of Torture; Shota, Desperado & Yoh win.
• 10 Man Tag: Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Hiroyoshi Tenzan VS Bullet Club; Goto, Hashi, Ishii, Yano & Tenzan win.
• Six Man Tag: Los Ingobernables de Japon VS Just5Guys; Just5Guys win.
• 2024 New Japan Cup Quarterfinal: Yota Tsuji VS Ren Narita; Yota wins and advances.
• 2024 New Japan Cup Quarterfinal: Shingo Takagi VS EVIL; Evil wins and advances.

PLAY BY PLAY

2024 New Japan Cup Quarterfinal: Yota Tsuji VS Ren Narita!

Two of the three Reiwa Musketeers clash at a pivotal point in the tournament! Will the Gene Blast be ready for every trick the House of Torture will throw at him? Or will the semifinals be Souled Out?

But of course Narita attacks during introductions! The fans boo and the ref reprimands as Narita stomps and knees Yota in the corner. Narita shoves the ref away to CLUB Yota around. Narita tosses Yota out, then goes out to throw knees. Narita whips, but Yota reverses! Narita hits railing hard! The fans fire up while Narita falls back. The bell rings to get this on record and the fans rally behind “YO~TA! YO~TA!” Yota drags Narita up to then put in the ring. Narita crawls away but Yota storms in. Narita bails out to the ramp side and Yota asks what’s wrong. Yota waits on Narita, but Narita paces around the outside.

Narita creeps up, but then backs away from the ring. Yota slides out, Narita slides in, and then Narita BOOTS Yota off the apron! The fans boo but Narita goes out after Yota. Narita brings Yota up to whip him hard into railing! Narita stomps Yota around, drags him up, and whips, but Yota reverses! Narita stops himself this time, Yota runs in, but Narita THROWS him into railing! The ref checks Yota as he writhes, and Narita grins as he pushes the ref aside. Narita drags Yota up, headlocks and brings him along into the crowd! Narita CLUBS Yota down, stomps him, and then brings him up again.

The ref wants this in the ring, but Narita sends Yota into a wall! The ref reprimands while Yota staggers around, but Narita tells fans to clear out! The fans move out of the way, and Narita BOWLS Yota into the chairs! Strike! Narita grins and leaves Yota behind but the ref helps Yota out of the wreckage. Wait, Narita comes back with a folding chair! Narita also grabs a fan’s chair, aims that at Yota, but the ref tries to stop him. Narita shoves the ref aside, then JAMS Yota with the chair! Narita then digs the legs of the chair into Yota’s neck and shoulder! The ref returns, fights with Narita over that chair, but Narita has his folding chair! Narita SMACKS Yota down!

The fans boo while Yota writhes and Narita grins. Narita soaks up the heat, then goes back to ringside. Yota crawls and pushes himself up, and he stands using the chairs. The ring count starts, Yota hobbles his way to ringside but Narita laughs. The count is already 7 of 20, then 10 by the time Yota is ringside. Yota drops to his knees, grits his teeth, and crawls, but we’re already at 15! 17! Yota slides in at 18! The fans cheer but Narita is mad with the ref’s count. Cover, TWO! Narita is upset about that count and covers again. But he’s also CHOKING Yota! The ref counts and Narita lets off at 4.

Narita paces around, he stomps Yota, then he drags Yota up. Narita scoops and SLAMS! Narita gets the legs and he turns Yota over for the BOSTON CRAB! Yota endures and the fans rally up! Yota reaches around, fights his way over, but Narita drags him back! Narita then turns around to put on a CAMEL CLUTCH! Yota endures all over again! The fans still rally, and Yota fights to get an arm free! Yota uses that arm and his legs to crawl, but Narita pulls back! Yota still fights to the ROPEBREAK! Narita CLAWS Yota’s face, then lets off as the ref counts. Narita drags Yota up, knees low, then whips him to ropes.

Narita ELBOWS Yota down, covers, TWO! Narita is frustrated but he paces around as Yota sputters. Narita kicks Yota around, taunts him, and then digs his heel into Yota’s neck. Yota sits up, Narita kicks him and taunts him, then eggs him on. Yota rises up to fire a forearm! Yota drops to a knee, but he fires another forearm! Narita eggs Yota on more, then CLAWS Yota’s face! The ref counts, Narita lets off and runs, but Yota scoops him for a BACKBREAKER! The fans rally up behind Yota while he and Narita are both down. Yota grins as he pushes himself up, and Narita goes to a corner. Both men stand, run up, and Yota ELBOWS Narita down!

Narita gets up, Yota BOOTS him down! Yota then brings Narita up to whip, but Narita reverses, only for Yota to run him over! Yota keeps going, to SPLASH! Cover, TWO! The fans rally up more and Yota gets up. Yota clutches his back but he storms over to Narita. Yota brings Narita up and suplexes, but Narita blocks! Yota still tires but Narita pulls hair! The ref reprimands but Narita lets go with a YANK! Narita then underhooks, but Yota wrenches out and spins around to arm-drag! Narita tumbles out of the ring while the fans fire up. Yota feeds off that energy and builds speed, but Narita has his push-up bar!

The ref grabs the bar, Yota BLASTS Narita! The ref makes sure that push-up bar is put aside and the fans cheer. Yota then builds speed, but Narita uses the CHAIR!! Down goes Yota and the fans boo! The ref missed all that, and Narita gets in to cover, ROPEBREAK! Narita miscalculated and is now frustrated. Narita drags Yota up, and hits the HALF HATCH BRIDGE! Cover, TWO! Yota escapes but Narita clamps right on with a chinlock! Narita grinds Yota down, leans on the hold, but Yota still endures. Yota fights up, but Narita squeezes tighter! The fans rally as Yota keeps fighting, reaches out, but Narita pulls hair again!

The ref reprimands, Narita waistlocks and GERMAN SUPLEXES! Bridging cover, TWO! Narita is mad but the count was fair. Narita goes to a corner, climbs up, and DIVING- NO, Yota avoids the knee! BACKBREAKER, COMPLETE SHOT, and STOMP! The fans fire up while Narita writhes. Both men are down and the fans rally up. Yota grits his teeth as he rises up, and he drags Narita up to suplex, for the ORANGE CRUSH! Cover, TWO!! Narita survives but the fans rally as Yota goes to a corner. Yota aims as Narita rises, then Yota runs in, into the KNEE STOMP! Both men are down again but Narita crawls to the cover, TWO!

Narita hurries to his feet, slashes his throat, and drags Yota up. Narita reels Yota in, DOUBLE- Yota handstands out!! V-TRIGGER!! The fans fire up with Yota and he runs, but Narita uses the ref as a shield! The Gene Blast takes out the ref!! The fans boo but Narita gets a chair! Narita JAMS Yota, SMACKS him on the back, and then the House shows up! Jack Perry rains down fists while Yoshinobu Kanemaru gets Narita his push-up bar! The fans boo as Jack & Kanemaru stomp away on Yota. They then set Yota up for Narita, but here comes Los Ingobernables de Japon! Bushi & Hiromu are here, and while Bushi dropkicks Narita, Hiromu SUPERKICKS Jack!

Hiromu then gets around Kanemaru and feeds him to a CODE BREAKER! LIJ gets the House out of the ring and Red Shoes shoes up! Red Shoes ushers all the extras up the ramp but Narita still has his push-up bar! He swings but Yota BODY SHOTS! The fans are thunderous for Yota and he grins as he aims at Narita! Yota SUPER- NO, Narita blocks, then he shoves Red Shoes! LOW BLOW on Yota! DOUBLE- VICTORY ROLL!! Cover, YOTA WINS!!!

Winner: Yota Tsuji, by pinfall (advances to the semifinals)

Narita is FURIOUS that the screw job didn’t work! Yota snatched away the victory from the cheater, but Narita stomps him down for it! The fans boo as Narita is also a sore loser, and here comes Evil! The King of Darkness is getting a jump start on his part, and he grabs that chair Narita brought in! Narita sits Yota up, the fans tell the House to go home, but Evil still aims! Wait, here comes Shingo! Takagi kicks Evil down, but Narita kicks Takagi! Narita whips, Takagi reverses and runs Narita over! Evil CLAWS Takagi’s eyes, then runs, but Takagi runs him over! Takagi helps Yota up, and he tells Red Shoes to get this going already!

Red Shoes says why not, and the bell rings! The main event starts now, will LIJ hit a 2-0 sweep? Or will the House of Torture find a way to successfully cheat this time?

2024 New Japan Cup Quarterfinal: Shingo Takagi VS EVIL!

The fans fire up as Takagi eggs Evil on. Evil stays back, Takagi runs in, and Takagi blocks a boot to clothesline through! Takagi then fires forearm after forearm and the fans rally up. Takagi fires boxing elbows then ROCKS Evil! Takagi then brings Evil out and suplexes high and hard! Cover, TWO! Evil bails out, the House regroups, but Takagi storms out. The House moves aside, Takagi CLUBS Evil, then whips him into railing! And then whips him into more railing! Takagi assures Abe-san he is safe this time. The fans fire up and Takagi storms up on Evil, but Dick creeps up with a chair! Takagi sees Dick first, though!

Kanemaru distracts Red Shoes, Evil CLUBS Takagi and then Dick JAMS him with the chair! Evil then RAMS Takagi into the timekeeper! Abe-san suffers after all! Evil gets the mic to taunt Takagi, “<Don’t mess with me!>” Evil CLUBS Takagi with the mic, right on the taped shoulder! Evil stalks Takagi tot he ramp, wrenches the arm and ELBOW BREAKER! The fans rally for Takagi but Evil CLUBS him again. Red Shoes reprimands, Evil slides in, and Hiromu checks on Takagi. Takagi says to keep their eyes on the House. Takagi then shakes out the bad arm, apologizes to Abe-san, but Jack splashes the fans with water!

The fans boo, Takagi gets in but Evil kicks him first! Evil wrenches the bad arm, hammerlocks it, and RAMS it into bare buckles! The blue buckle pad is gone, the Bullet Club Special strikes again! Evil sends Takagi out, argues with Red Shoes, and that lets Jack whip Takagi into railing! Kanemaru CLUBS Takagi down, then he sits Takagi up so Dick can get a shot in! The fans boo as the House continues to mug the Rampaging Dragon! Evil taunts Takagi and Takagi drags himself up. Takagi storms up to go after the House! Kanemaru says he’s innocent! Red Shoes tells Takagi to leave Kanemaru alone, so Takagi lets off.

Evil sneaks the House of Torture shirt while Takagi gets in. Evil CHOKES Takagi with the shirt while Red Shoes is busy with literally everyone else! Evil lets off to then CHOKE Takagi on ropes! The fans boo, Red Shoes reprimands but Evil lets off. Evil tells the fans to shut up, he didn’t do anything! Evil then drags Takagi up but Takagi throws body shots! The fans rally, but Evil CLAWS Takagi’s face again! Red Shoes reprimands but Evil scuffs Takagi. Evil then CHOPS, but Takagi shouts! The fans rally but Evil CHOPS again! Takagi throws forearms, knees, CLUBS, but Evil stops the scoop with elbows!

Evil wrenches and CLUBS the bad arm! Evil brings Takagi around to FISHERMAN BUSTER! Cover, TWO! Evil is upset with Red Shoes but the fans cheer. Evil stands on Takagi’s head, then kicks him and CLUBS him. Takagi sits up and grits his teeth, but Evil CLUBS the bad arm! Takagi stands, Evil CLUBS the arm again, but Takagi HEADBUTTS, HEADBUTTS and HEADBUTTS! Evil CLAWS the eyes again! Red Shoes reprimands, Evil whips, and Takagi hits the bare buckles! Evil taunts Takagi, then runs, but into the ELBOW! JAB! YUKON LARIAT! The fans fire up while both men are down! Takagi goes to a corner and drags himself up.

Takagi headbutts the buckle to fire up! The fans are with Takagi as he runs in, and he runs Evil over! And then scoop SLAMS, then SENTONS! Cover, TWO! Takagi looks to the cameras, “TOKI GA KITA! <THE TIME HAS COME!>” The fans are thunderous and Takagi aims from a corner. Takagi rains down HAMMER ‘N’ ANVIL ELBOWS, then runs, but Evil plays dead! The fans boo the cheap trick but Takagi paces around. Red Shoes checks, Evil smirks but stays down. Takagi drags Evil up, but Evil CLAWS the eyes again! Red Shoes reprimands, Evil lets off, and he blocks Takagi’s kick! Evil hands the foot to Red Shoes and mule kicks Takagi down!

Evil and Takagi are both down, but now the House and LIJ argue. LIJ doesn’t like that the House is gathering up chairs! Jack & Kanemaru mug Hiromu & Yota, but Evil TOSSES Takagi out! Evil then goes out to bring Takagi around, but Takagi fights the suplex! Evil throws body shots, tries the suplex again, but Takagi turns that around! Now Evil fights the suplex! The fans fire up as Takagi keeps trying, but Evil throws more body shots! They go around and around, and Takagi snap suplexes Evil onto the chairs! The fans fire up and Takagi encourages them to get louder. The fans oblige and Takagi drags Evil up from the chair pile.

Takagi pushes Evil into the ring and Evil crawls to a neutral corner. The fans rally for Takagi as he runs corner to corner, to clothesline! Takagi says that’s not all, and the fans fire up again as he puts Evil up top. Takagi climbs right up to the top with Evil, for the SUPER DUPER PLEX!! The fans are thunderous while both men are down! Takagi crawls his way over to Evil, sits him up and runs, to SLIDING LARIAT! Cover, TWO! Evil is still in this but the fans are still with Takagi. They fire up with “OI! OI! OI!” and Takagi brings Evil up. Takagi pump handles but Evil fights the lift! Evil throws elbows but Takagi throws knees!

Takagi lifts, Evil slips free, but Evil’s leg jams! Takagi isn’t sure if Evil’s just faking again but Red Shoes checks all the same. Evil clutches the knee, Takagi asks what’s up, but Evil goes to a corner. Evil drags himself up, Takagi storms up, but Evil dodges! Takagi takes out Red Shoes instead! Evil WAS faking, and now the House CLOBBERS LIJ! Evil laughs at those who fell for it, and the House stomps away on Takagi! The fans boo but the House puts Takagi in the corner. They whip him corner to corner, Dick runs in to ELBOW! Kanemaru runs in to ELBOW! Narita rusn in to ELBOW! Jack runs in to clothesline!

The House then sets Takagi up as Dick climbs, for the DICK PUNCH!! Evil calls for Red Shoes then covers, TWO!! Takagi survives and the fans fire up! Evil is furious with Red Shoes but he drags Takagi up. Evil fireman’s carries, for DARKNESS FALLS! Cover, TWO!! Takagi survives again and Evil is freaking out! The fans rally up while Takagi rises. Evil storms around, slashes his throat, and he stands Takagi up. EVERYTHING- NO, Takagi fights that off, then gets around! Evil elbows and whips, and Takagi hits bare buckles! But Takagi just comes back to PUMPING BOMBER!! The fans are thunderous as Takagi stands tall!

Takagi shakes out the bad arm and he aims at Evil! LARIATS collide! Evil SWATS a lariat, but Takagi JABS, HEADBUTTS and PUMPING BOMBERS!! Cover, TWO!! The House gets on the apron but LIJ YANKS them all down! But then the House RAMS LIJ into the railing! Evil swings, but Takagi blocks, knees, pump handles, and MADE IN JAPAN!!! Cover, but DICK rings the bell!! The fans boo, Red Shoes is furious, and Takagi asks what’s up. Evil SHOVES Takagi into Red Shoes! Red Shoes goes down, Dick uses the SPOILER CHOKER on Takagi! Hiromu CLOBBERS Dick, dodges Jack and GERMAN SUPLEXES Jack!

Narita BOOTS Hiromu, Yota SUPERKICKS Narita! Evil LOW BLOWS Yota! Evil dodges Takagi but runs into an ELBOW! JAB! YUKON- NO, Evil gets around! Takagi switches, and he sets Evil up for Bushi! But Evil dodges, the BLACK MIST hits Takagi!! Kanemaru BOOTS Bushi then WHISKEY MISTS Takagi!! Dick adds POCKET SAND!! The fans can’t believe just how many tricks The House is bringing out just for this! Evil drags Takagi up as he calls to Red Shoes. EVERYTHING IS EVIL!!!! Cover, EVIL WINS!!!

Winner: Evil, by pinfall (advances to the semifinals)

The King of Darkness threw the entire stacked deck and then some in order to slay the Rampaging Dragon! Is Takagi’s dream of bringing the title home to Yamanashi gone or just delayed?

But as for Evil and the House of Torture, Evil gets the mic to tell everyone that he’s not going home, THEY can go home! Then he tells Takagi, “<Too bad you lost~!> HAHA!” Evil says it also sucks that Takagi is such a weak student of Animal Hamaguchi’s! Speaking of weaklings, that brings him to Tetsuya Naito, “ya damn bastard!” Evil says Naito knows Evil is gonna win this tournament, so he’s somewhere freaking out! His fate is in Evil’s hands! He’s just a tiny little pawn in Evil’s company! Evil vows to destroy Naito, remember that! The fans boo as Evil drops the mic and the House heads out. Will the King of Darkness soon reign? Or is he overlooking the Gene Blast already?

My Thoughts:

A great night for the New Japan Cup, and of course with two separate LIJ VS House of Torture showdowns happening, they did a great job transitioning from Yota VS Narita into Takagi VS Evil. Yota beating Narita despite the cheating was as I figured leading up to this point, but then I suppose Evil had to win the main event to even things out. That was perhaps the most cheating the House of Torture has done ever, which I suppose protects Takagi in the loss. The semifinals are set with Sanada VS Goto and Yota VS Evil, and I suppose both matches could go either way, but I’m fairly certain Sanada wins his.

Then Sanada could have a great match with either Yota or Evil, but I’m going to say Yota wins as revenge on the House for screwing over Takagi. Then the finals is a rematch from Sanada giving Yota a world title match, very fitting of each man wanting to have that match with Naito at Sakura Genesis.

My Score: 8.8/10