NJPW New Japan Cup 2018 results for Wednesday, March 21: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre, Jr., and more

We’re headed towards the second of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s “big four” in Sakura Genesis, and that means only one thing— New Japan Cup!

A sixteen-man single elimination tournament spread across nine shows (check out the bracket and the schedule here), the winner earns a shot at a singles heavyweight-eligible title of his choice. All nine shows, naturally, will air live and in full on NJPW World, so why not watch along with the best pro wrestling community on the internet?

Today’s action takes place in Niigata’s Ao-re Nagaoka, kicking off at an almost-reasonable 2AM Eastern / 11PM Pacific, and it’s all come down to the final match, pitting Hiroshi Tanahashi against Zack Sabre, Jr. for the third time. Each man comes into this with a win against the other, so not only is this for the right to challenge for a title, but it’s the rubber match, folks!

Shota Umino over Tetsuhiro Yagi by submission with a Boston Crab.

Taichi over Tomoyuki Oka by pinfall with a superkick.

Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Tanga Loa, & Yujiro Takahashi) over Michael Elgin, Toa Henare, & Togi Makabe by pinfall with Apeshit from Loa on Henare.

Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Lance Archer) over Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) by pinfall with Killer Bomb on Yano.

David Finlay & Juice Robinson over Chaos (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) by pinfall with Pulp Friction from Robinson on Goto.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito) over Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) by submission with Skull End from SANADA on Iizuka.

Again the juniors brawl after the match and Roppongi 3K show up to clear house!

Chaos (Chuckie T & Kazuchika Okada) over Chase Owens & Kota Ibushi by submission with the cobra clutch from Okada on Owens.

Zack Sabre, Jr. over Hiroshi Tanahashi by submission with Orienteering With Napalm Death. (New Japan Cup 2018 Finals)

TAKA Michinoku asks Zack what’s next and the Evolve World Champion makes a show of thinking about it for a moment before saying he wants Okada! The match is official for Sakura Genesis on April 1!

Okada and Gedo make their way down and TAKA gives them his YOU JUST TAP OUT schtick but Gedo cuts him off and says that Sabre can’t tap Okada out because he’s on another level, and TAKA cuts him back off and takes the mic back to finish his hype man duties.

Enjoy the show!