By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “New Japan Cup”
March 8, 2026, in Hyogo, Japan, at Baycom Gymnasium
Streamed live on New Japan World
There is Japanese-only commentary. The lights were low, but the ring was fairly well lit.
* This year’s tournament is a 24-man field. Today features the last two first-round matches to narrow the field to our final 16 competitors.
1. Yuya Uemura and Masatora Yasuda vs. “The Unbound Co.” Drilla Moloney and Daiki Nagai. Yuya and Drilla will square off on Tuesday in the tournament. The Young Lions opened. Drilla entered and hit a back suplex on Yasuda at 2:00. Yasuda hit a suplex on Daiki at 3:30. Yuya entered for the first time and hit a series of chops on Drilla. He hit a dropkick and was fired up. Drilla hit his own dropkick on Yuya. Nagai tagged in and hit a top-rope flying headbutt for a nearfall. He put Yuya in a Boston Crab at 5:30. Yuya tied him in a hammerlock, cranked on the elbow, and Nagai eventually tapped out.
Yuya Uemura and Masatora Yasuda defeated “The Unbound Co.” Drilla Moloney and Daiki Nagai at 6:52.
2. “United Empire” Henare and Great-O-Khan vs. Boltin Oleg and Tomoaki Honma. Henare and Oleg charged at each other at the bell and hit shoulder blocks, then forearm strikes. No methodical feeling-out process to this one! Oleg flipped him around in his arms. Henare hit a spin kick to the jaw at 2:00. O-Khan got in and worked over Oleg in the corner. Honma entered and hit some punches and a bulldog on O-Khan, but he missed a Kokeshi at 6:00.
Oleg hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Henare. He hit a bodyslam on O-Khan, then a splash to the mat. Honma hit the Kokeshi falling headbutt on O-Khan for a nearfall. O-Khan hit some Mongolian Strikes. Honma hit another diving headbutt for a nearfall at 8:30. O-Khan applied a Claw to Honma’s face, and dropped Honma to the mat. The ref checked on Honma and called for the bell. Solid.
Henare and Great-O-Khan defeated Boltin Oleg and Tomoaki Honma at 9:29.
3. “United Empire” Jake Lee, Jakob Austin Young, and Francesca Akira vs. Yoshi Hashi, Hriooki Goto, and Tetsuya Matsumoto. Goto will face Lee in their next tournament match, and those two opened. Akira attacked from behind and stomped on Goto. Lee sprayed a canister (whipped cream?) into Matsumoto’s mouth. The UE worked over Tetsuya in their corner. Akira hit a standing moonsault at 3:00.
Yoshi-Hashi got in and battled Akira. Matsumoto got back in and hit a dropkick on Young for a nearfall at 7:00. Matsumoto hit an Air Raid Crash. Goto hit a neckbreaker over his knee on Lee, who rolled to the floor. Matsumoto and Young traded forearm strikes, and Jakob hit a running knee, then a twisting suplex for a nearfall. Jakob immediately hit a DDT to pin Matsumoto. Solid.
Jake Lee, Jakob Austin Young, and Francesca Akira defeated Yoshi Hashi, Hriooki Goto, and Tetsuya Matsumoto at 9:19.
4. “United Empire” Callum Newman and Zane Jay vs. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Kosei Fujita and Hartley Jackson. Callum started against Hartley, but he rolled to the floor and stretched and stalled rather than locking up, and he eventually tagged in Jay. Of course, Callum then attacked Hartley from behind at 1:30. Zane hit a dropkick that Hartley no-sold; Jackson scooped him up and hit a bodyslam. Fujita tagged in and hit a roundhouse kick on Zane for a nearfall. The UE began working over Fujita in their corner. Kosei hit a flying kick on Callum.
Hartley tagged back in at 5:30, and he hit a massive senton on Callum for a nearfall. Hartley set up for his DVD, but Newman escaped, and Newman hit a Mafia Kick. Hartley hit another senton. Zane hit a running kick to the side of Hartley’s head at 7:00, but he couldn’t lift the big man. Fujita hit a release German Suplex. Zane actually got Hartley on his shoulders and hit a Death Valley Driver, but he missed a top-rope elbow drop. Hartley hit a crossbody block and a clothesline for a nearfall. He hit the Jagged Edge (DVD) for the pin. That was a pretty good undercard match.
Kosei Fujita and Hartley Jackson defeated Callum Newman and Zane Jay at 9:04.
5. “House of Torture” Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, and Dick Togo vs. Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima, and Aaron Wolf. The HoT attacked during introductions, and we’re underway! Satoshi knocked Narita down with a shoulder tackle. Yano tagged in and battled Yujiro. The HoT tied up Yano and worked him over. Wolf entered, and he clotheslined Yujiro in a corner, hit a suplex, then an elbow drop for a nearfall at 5:00.
Wolf hit an Exploder Suplex on Yujiro. Kojima tagged back in, but Ren immediately grapevined his leg on the mat, and Satoshi scrambled to the ropes. Kojima hit his knife-edge chops in the corner on Narita, then a second-rope elbow drop for a nearfall at 7:00. Togo entered and battled Kojima. Togo hit his knife-edge chop to Yano’s groin, and Togo choked him with his wire. Satoshi hit a Koji Cutter. Yano got a schoolboy rollup to pin Togo. Blah.
Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima, and Aaron Wolf defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, and Dick Togo at 9:52.
6. “The Unbound Co.” Yota Tsuji and Shingo Takagi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Don Fale. As champion, Yota is not participating in the tournament. Second-round opponents Fale and Shingo opened. Shingo isn’t tiny, but he just ricocheted off the massive Fale on some shoulder blocks. Fale hit a double shoulder block to drop both opponents. On the floor, Kanemaru whipped Yota into the guardrails, and they fought into the crowd. In the ring, Kanemaru snapped Tsuji’s leg and threw him into his corner.
Fale tagged in and stood on Yota’s back at 3:00. Yota hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee on Kanemaru. Shingo tagged in and hit a bodyslam on Kanemaru, but he missed a legdrop. He hit a suplex for a nearfall. Kanemaru slammed Shingo’s knee onto the mat and applied a Figure Four Leg Lock at 5:30. Shingo hit a DDT, and they were both down. Fale went for the Grenade (pop-up hearth punch) on Shingo, but Yota hit a Gene Blaster (spear) on Fale!
Kanemaru hit an enzuigiri and a DDT on Shingo for a nearfall at 7:30. The ref got bumped! Kanemaru took a swig of whiskey, but Shingo punched him in the mouth, and it sprayed everywhere. Shingo took a swig and sprayed it on Kanemaru, then hit a Pumping Bomber clothesline and the Last of the Dragon (DVD) for the pin. Decent action.
Shingo Takagi and Yota Tsuji defeated Don Fale and Yoshinobu Kanemaru at 8:29.
7. Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens in a first-round tournament match. Chase rolled to the floor at the bell and stalled. The winner will face Yujiro Takashi in the next round. Shota whipped him into the guardrails. In the ring, Shota applied a cravat and kept Chase grounded. Chase tripped Shota on the apron, and Umino’s face struck the apron at 3:00. Chase now threw Shota into the guardrails. He got a clothing item from the crowd and choked Shota with it. Back in the ring, Chase hit a closed-fist punch and was admonished.
Chase wrapped Shota’s legs around the ring post and slammed his left knee into it at 5:30. Shota hit a dropkick but sold the pain in his knee. He hit a snap suplex and stomped on Chase. Owens hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 8:30. He hit a German Suplex for another nearfall. Shota pushed off the ropes to hit a tornado DDT at 10:00. He hit running double knees to the back of Chase’s head in the corner. He hit another running knee to the chin for a nearfall, and tied Owens in an STF.
They fought on the apron, where Chase hit a uranage at 12:30. Shota was down on the ground. He got back in before a count-out. They traded more punches on the apron. Shota hit a DDT onto the apron, then another onto the thin mat at ringside at 15:00. This shouldn’t have taken this long for Umino to put him away. Dick Togo came to ringside to distract the ref. Yujiro attacked Shota from behind and suplexed him onto the thin mat.
Chase pushed Shota into the ring and got a nearfall at 16:30. He hit the C-Trigger running knee, then another one, for a nearfall. Chase hit a low blow and a third C-Trigger for a believable nearfall. Umino avoided a package piledriver, and he hit a clothesline for a nearfall at 19:00. Togo again choked Umino. Shota pushed Togo into Yujiro, then he clotheslined Owens. Umino finally hit his Death Valley Driver for the pin. Far too long for a match that Owens was definitely not winning.
Shota Umino defeated Chase Owens at 19:39 to advance.
8. Yuto-Ice vs. Ryohei Oiwa in a first-round tournament match. This has the potential to be the best of the eight first-round matches. They immediately traded forearm strikes at the bell! Oiwa went for a leapfrog, but Yuto-Ice kicked him squarely in the sternum, dropping him. Oiwa twisted the left arm. He hit some deep armdrags and targeted the damaged arm. They fought to the floor at 3:30, with Yuto-Ice hitting a Drive By running knee. They fought into the crowd.
Yuto-Ice whipped Oiwa into the rows of chairs at 5:30. They got back into the ring and traded forearm strikes. Oiwa hit a dropkick, and they were both down at 8:00. Oiwa hit a senton for a nearfall. He snapped Yuto-Ice’s arm over his shoulder. He applied a top hammerlock and kept Yuto-Ice grounded. Yuto-Ice hit a roundhouse kick to the forehead, then a running Penalty Kick for a nearfall at 11:30. They traded forearm strikes, and it kept going and going!
Yuto-Ice hit a thudding headbutt that dropped Oiwa at 14:00. Oiwa hit a back suplex for a nearfall. He hit a clothesline for a nearfall. Yuto-Ice hit a buzzsaw kick but only got a one-count. He caught Oiwa with a knee strike. He went for a running knee, but Oiwa caught the legs and got a creative rollup for the flash pin. That was really entertaining; these guys are definitely the future of NJPW.
Ryohei Oiwa defeated Yuto-Ice at 16:04 to advance.
* Oiwa spoke to the crowd to close out the show.
Final Thoughts: Yes, I’ll narrowly rank Oiwa vs. Yuto-Ice ahead of Oleg-Phantasmo for the best of the eight first-round matches. Lots of heavy strikes and believable offense. And, I truly felt like either man could have won. A flash pin leaves nothing really decided, either.
On the flip side, there is no reason whatsoever for Owens-Umino to have actually been a longer match than Oiwa vs. Yuto-Ice. It wasn’t a terrible match, but knowing the winner was facing Yujiro Takahashi was a strong indicator that Owens wasn’t winning. They could have had a much tighter match in the 9- to 11-minute window.
So, our field of 16 is now set! After a day off, the tournament resumes on Tuesday with Yuya Uemura vs. Drilla Moloney and Shingo Takagi vs. Don Fale.
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