Yuya Uemura and Shingo Takagi Reach NJPW New Japan Cup Quarter Finals

By Noah Leatherland

NJPW took their New Japan Cup to Okayama to kick off the second round. The first quarter final has been confirmed, as both Yuya Uemura and Shingo Takagi advance to the next round.

Takagi was up against Don Fale in the second round. Despite the size difference, Takagi managed to utilize his power against the super heavyweight.

Takagi also had to reckon with the House of Torture. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Dick Togo and Gedo all got involved, but Takagi managed to power through their interference. Takagi even took a page out of Kanemaru’s playbook, taking a swig of whiskey and spraying it in Fale’s eyes. Then, a pumping bomber slayed the giant.

In the main event, Yuya Uemura faced off with Drilla Maloney. The two competed in a much cleaner bout, with both men battling hard to keep their tournament hopes alive.

Uemura finally caught Maloney by surprise with a roll up and secured the win and a spot in the quarter-finals. In his post-match comments, Uemura discussed how close things were:

I thought it was getting seriously dicey right at the end. But no matter what crisis we face, we turn it into an opportunity. That’s what HEAT STORM is all about. It’s a “HEAT STORM Chance”. And Maloney, the very soul of New Japan Pro-Wrestling came through loud and clear in today’s match. Maloney! Thank you for being part of New Japan Pro-Wrestling!

Yuya Uemura and Shingo Takagi will face each other in the quarter finals on March 15th.

Here are the full results for NJPW New Japan Cup Day 5:

• OSKAR & Yuto-Ice def. Aaron Wolf & Masatora Yasuda (8:40)
• Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, HENARE, Jake Lee & Jakob Austin Young def. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Oleg Boltin, Tatsuya Matsumoto & Toru Yano (9:30)
• Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita def. Callum Newman & Zane Jay (8:05)
• Chase Owens, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi def. Satoshi Kojima, Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma (10:23)
• Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. def. Daiki Nagai & Yota Tsuji (12:09)
• New Japan Cup Second Round – Shingo Takagi def. Don Fale (9:30)
• New Japan Cup Second Round – Yuya Uemura def. Drilla Moloney (22:28)