NJPW: New Japan Cup 2020 Night 1 Results, Secret Tapings Held in the U.S., Kazuchika Okada

NJPW New Japan Cup 2020 Night 1 Results

June 16, 2020
Undisclosed location in Japan

Quick Match Results:

• New Japan Cup 2020 Tournament First Round – Togi Makabe defeated Yota Tsuji via German Suplex (pinfall 8:41)
• New Japan Cup 2020 Tournament First Round – Toru Yano defeated Jado via Schoolboy (pinfall 9:07)
• Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., & Taichi defeated Yuya Uemura, Yuji Nagata, Kota Ibushi, & Hiroshi Tanahashi via Gotch Style Piledriver (pinfall 13:27)
• New Japan Cup 2020 Tournament First Round – Hiromu Takahashi defeated Tomoaki Honma via Timebomb (pinfall 18:45)
• New Japan Cup 2020 Tournament First Round – Tomohiro Ishii defeated El Desperado via Vertical Drop Brainbuster (pinfall 20:17)

Here is the partial card for Night 2 of NJPW’s New Japan Cup 2020 tournament, which takes place on June 17th at an undisclosed location in Japan:

• New Japan Cup 2020 Tournament First Round – Kazuchika Okada vs. Gedo
• New Japan Cup 2020 Tournament First Round – Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki
• New Japan Cup 2020 Tournament First Round – Yuya Uemura vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
• New Japan Cup 2020 Tournament First Round – Taiji Ishimori vs. Gabriel Kidd

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NJPW Held Secret Taping at LA Dojo This Past Weekend, ROH Talent Involved

New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly held tapings for a secret event this past Saturday in Los Angeles, California, according to PWInsider.

Mike Johnson reported that this taping was for an event called Lion’s Break Collision and involved talent from NJPW, Ring of Honor, and Major League Wrestling. Johnson also reported that this taping was held at the Oceanville Pavillion in Port Hueneme, California and was produced with the help of indie promotion Championship Wrestling from Hollywood’s production crew.

In regards to ROH’s involvement, Johnson reported that a match between Tyler Bateman and Brody King was taped at the location for use in a future ROH TV episode.

In regards to MLW’s involvement, Johnson reported that Tom Lawlor worked two matches against NJPW talent. This reportedly was due to MLW agreeing to lend Lawlor for the tapings in return for taped material for their own television shows.

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Kazuchika Okada Comments on Wrestling with No Fans

NJPW’s English website, NJPW1972.com, held a recent interview with Kazuchika Okada and one of the topics discussed included his thoughts on wrestling being held with no fans in attendance.

“We’re only able to do this now that the state of emergency has been lifted and we’ve all been antibody tested. Well, we’re being proactive at last, and that’s the main thing. Like, if you’re thirsty, you don’t go outside with a cup and wait for the rain to fall, you go and get water yourself.

Of course there’ll be people who say it’s all better with fans in attendance. But look at it another way; it might well be that these are the only nine events in NJPW history without fans in attendance.

That’s a really rare chance, and it’s really cool that the fans get to see that. I think it’s up to us to create that sold out atmosphere through NJPW World and I hope the fans can join us in that. Watch the matches live and just share this experience with us.”