New Japan Cup night two results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin

The second night of the New Japan Cup took place tonight in Aichi, continuing with four opening round tournament matches, most notably Kazuchika Okada taking on Michael Elgin in the main event.

Undercard quick results:

– Chase Owens and Taichi Ishimori defeated Tomoaki Honma and YOSHI-HASHI

Owens defeated Honma with the package piledriver.

– Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Satoshi Kojima defeated Minoru Suzuki, Taichi and Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Yano pinned Smith after countering the bulldog bomb with a bridging cover.

– EVIL and Shingo Takagi defeated Zack Sabre Jr. and Taka Michinoku

Takagi pinned Michinoku after the pumping bomber.

– Kota Ibushi, Juice Robinson and Hirooki Goto defeated Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and BUSHI

Robinson pinned BUSHI with the pulp friction.

– Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Yuji Nagata defeated Manabu Nakanishi, Ryuske Taguchi, Colt Cabana and Shota Umino

Makabe defeated Nakanishi with the king kong knee drop.

New Japan Cup matches:
Lance Archer defeated Henare

A good little match. Henare did a great job playing the underdog babyface and Archer was great as the dangerous, dominant heel. Perfect dynamic to have for this kind of match and both men played their roles well.

Henare got some offense early by powerbombing Archer as he was posing on the top rope. Archer quickly swung momentum back in his favor by taking Henare and flinging him into the barricade.

After a rope walk by Archer, Henare blasts him with a clothesline. He follows up with a big vertical suplex. Archer comes back with a chokeslam and goes for a blackout, but Henare escapes. Archer hits a clothesline, takes him to the top rope and hits blackout for the win.

Mikey Nicholls defeated Hikuleo

This wasn’t good. Hikuleo was green and you could really see that whenever he was on offense or had to sell. Not the best showcase for Nicholls, who looked okay here but there was just no life for this. Crowd was completely dead save for the last couple of minutes.

Hikuleo sent Nicholls out to the floor early which allowed Jado, who seconded Hikuleo, to attack with the kendo stick. Hikuleo hits a sidewalk slam but Nicholls dodges a charge, hits a clothesline and takes out Jado. After another clothesline, he lands a brainbuster.

Nicholls goes for a moonsault but Hikuleo rolls out of the way, boots him in the stomach and hits a legdrop. Jado strikes Nicholls with a kendo stick shot as Hikuleo goes for his tree slam finish, but Nicholls escapes, somehow (the camera completely missed it).

Nicholls hits a death valley driver and a seated clothesline, then finishes with the Mikey bomb (blue thunder bomb).

Will Ospreay defeated Bad Luck Fale

This was alright. Ospreay looked great, Fale was…there. I think this was similar to the Archer/Henare match, but with a better small guy and a not as good big guy. Crowd was into it, though.

Ospreay went on the attack immediately, but much like the last match Jado got involved early and attacked Ospreay with the kendo stick. Back in the ring, Fale works on his back and keeps grinding on him until Ospreay hits back with the springboard enziguri.

Ospreay continues to build, hitting a running corner dropkick. Fale tried for the grenade, but Ospreay hit another enziguri. Ospreay hits the ropes but eats a big shoulder block and splashes in the corner and ground from Fale. He went for the grenade again, but Ospreay escapes and goes for the oscutter but Fale drags in the referee, causing a ref bump.

That allows Jado to get involved as he strikes Jado with a kendo stick shot. He enters the ring to do another kendo stick shot, but Ospreay takes it and whips both Jado and Fale with it. He follows that with the Robison Special, but Fale blocks hit, shoves Ospreay into the ropes and hits the spear.

Fale hits the grenade, but Ospreay kicks out in a great near fall. He then tries for the Bad Luck Fall, but Ospreay counters with a hurricanrana and tries to hook Fale’s leg, but he can’t. The ref counts three anyway as that’s the finish.

Kazuchika Okada defeated Michael Elgin

This was an excellent match, one of the better bouts New Japan has put on post-WrestleKingdom. The crowd was hot throughout, and had the kind of epic match feel that New Japan is known for.

The theme of the night seems to be getting the heat on the outside, as Elgin got that early after a russian leg sweep into the side of the ring after a chop exchange. Okada gains control for a bit, but Elgin counters back with a powerslam.

Okada walks right into a belly to belly overhead suplex and a northern lights bridge as Elgin starts to build momentum. Okada knocks him down with an elbow, then goes to the top and hits another, but Elgin floats over and locks in a crossface.

Okada escapes as he tries to withstands brutal strikes from Elgin, his chest becoming purple with welts. Okada starts to build momentum, hitting the elbow and going for the rainmaker but Elgin strikes with elbows. Elgin hits two German suplexes then a dragon suplex. Elgin follows that with a tiger bomb, but Okada kicks out.

The two continue with their back and forth, but Elgin strikes down Okada with a superkick. Elgin takes him to the top rope and goes for a superplex, but Okada counters with a sunset flip bomb…only for Okada to escape and attack, laying him out with a buckle bomb and the Elgin bomb. Okada goes for the rainmaker, but Elgin blasts him with a rainmaker instead.

Elgin goes for the burning hammer but Okada escapes and eventually manages a dropkick. He goes for the rainmaker, but Elgin escapes and takes him down for the crossface. Okada struggles, but manages to get his foot on the bottom rope. Elgin wasn’t happy about that. He hits the buckle bomb, but the two wind up exchanging and countering holds until Elgin hits a backfist. Elgin goes for a forearm smash but Okada counters with a tombstone, then the rainmaker, and that’s it.

That makes the second round matches Kazuchika Okada vs. Mikey Nicholls and Will Ospreay vs. Lance Archer.