NJPW New Japan Cup – Night Eight
Date: March 13, 2021
Venue: Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (Dolphin’s Arena)
Time: 6:00pm JST
New Japan Cup Bracket Update
Undercard Matches
First Match: David Finlay, Gabriel Kidd & Yota Tsuji vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI
Second Match: DOUKI, Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr vs. Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay
Third Match: Kazuchika Okada, SHO & Yuji Nagata vs. BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito
Fourth Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson & Toa Henare vs. Bad Luck Fale, EVIL & Jay White
Fifth Match
New Japan Cup 2021 First Round
Minoru Suzuki vs. KENTA
Sport of Pro Wrestling New Japan Cup Bracket Challenge
- 90.1% of entrants to the Sport of Pro Wrestling New Japan Cup Bracket Challenge predicted this match-up correctly out of the first round. 71.5% of those entrants have predicted KENTA to advance to the third round.
New Japan Cup History
Minoru Suzuki
- Seventh New Japan Cup Appearance, third consecutive
- 2020: Eliminated by Yuji Nagata in the first round. 2019: Eliminated by SANADA in the second round. 2017: Eliminated by Katsuyori Shibata in the first round. 2014: Eliminated by Shinsuke Nakamura in the semi-finals. 2013: Eliminated by Toru Yano in the second round. 2012: Eliminated by Togi Makabe in the second round.
KENTA
- First New Japan Cup Appearance
- Minoru Suzuki’s best New Japan Cup finish was in 2014 when he was eliminated in the semi-finals by Shinsuke Nakamura.
- Minoru Suzuki has been eliminated in the second round in three of the six New Japan Cup tournaments he has participated in.
Recent History – Singles (Last 365 Days)
- Only six NJPW wrestlers have more singles victories in the last 365 days than KENTA.
Head To Head History
History in Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (Dolphin’s Arena)
- KENTA has wrestled in four singles matches in Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, he is 3-1 with his only loss coming to Kazuchika Okada during the 2019 G1 Climax Tournament
- Minoru Suzuki has wrestled in 15 singles matches in Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, but this will be his first since 2014. He is 8-7 in the venue with two All Japan Pro Wrestling Triple Crown Title wins, three G1 climax tournament wins and a loss to Antonio Inoki in his first match ever in the venue.
Main Event
New Japan Cup 2021 First Round
Hirooki Goto vs. Shingo Takagi
Sport of Pro Wrestling New Japan Cup Bracket Challenge
- Just 34.4% of entrants to the Sport of Pro Wrestling New Japan Cup Bracket Challenge predicted this match-up correctly out of the first round. 98.8% of those entrants have predicted Shingo Takagi to advance to the third round.
New Japan Cup History
Hirooki Goto
- 13th New Japan Cup Appearance, third consecutive. Three time winner: 2009, 2010, 2012
- 2020: Eliminated by EVIL in the second round. 2019: Eliminated by SANADA in the first round. 2016: Eliminated by Tetsuya Naito in the final. 2015: Eliminated by Kota Ibushi in the final. 2014: Eliminated by Minoru Suzuki in the second round. 2013: Eliminated by Kazuchika Okada in the final. 2012: Defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in the final to win the tournament. 2011: Eliminated by Shinsuke Nakamura in the first round. 2010: Defeated Togi Makabe in the final to win the tournament. 2009: Defeated Giant Bernard in the final to win the tournament. 2008: Eliminated by Hiroshi Tanahashi in the first round. 2005: Eliminated by Manabu Nakanishi in the first round.
Shingo Takagi
- Second New Japan Cup appearance, second consecutive
- 2020: Eliminated by SHO in the first round.
- Nobody has won more more New Japan Cup matches than Hirooki Goto. Hirooki Goto’s 24 New Japan Cup wins are the most all-time. His 33 New Japan Cup matches are also the most all-time.
- On average, you could say that Goto has been eliminated in the third round. He has averaged 2.67 matches per tournament through 2020.
- Goto is the only wrestler to win the New Japan Cup three times. He has appeared in the finals six times.
- Hirooki Goto has only been eliminated from the New Japan Cup in the second round twice (2014: Lost to Minoru Suzuki, 2020: lost to EVIL)
- Shingo Takagi’s victory over Kazuchika Okada in the first round was his first ever New Japan Cup victory
Recent History – Singles (Last 365 Days)
Head To Head History
History in Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (Dolphin’s Arena)
- The last time Shingo Takagi wrestled in Aichi Prefectural Gynasium, he lost his NEVER Openweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi at this year’s New Beginning in Nagoya.
- Shingo Takagi has wrestled in five singles matches in Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, he is just 2-3 all time in the building.
- Hirooki Goto has wrestled in 18 singles matches in Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. He is 12-5-1 in the building, including two New Japan Cup victories (2009, 2010) and eight G1 Climax Tournament victories.