By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “New Japan Cup”
March 14, 2026, in Aichi, Japan, at Nagoya Kinjo Pier Arena
Streamed live on New Japan World
Walker Stewart provided commentary. This appears to be a big gym. The lights were low, but the ring was well-lit.
* This year’s tournament is a 24-man field. Six competitors have already qualified for the quarterfinals. The final two second-round matches are on today’s show.
1. “United Empire” Henare, Jakob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan, and Francesco Akira vs. “The Unbound Co.” Yuto-Ice, Oskar, Drilla Moloney, and Daiki Nagai. Henare and Yuto-Ice pushed their foreheads together before the bell, and they opened against each other and traded forearm strikes. Henare hit a senton and some punches in the corner. Young entered at 3:00 and tied up Yuto-Ice’s arm on the mat. O-Khan dropped Yuto-Ice ‘snake-eyes’ in the corner, and he bit Yuto-Ice on his head at 5:00.
Drilla got a hot tag and hit a clothesline in the corner on Young. He powerbombed Akira onto Young in the corner. Akira hit an enzuigiri. He ran to the corner and struck Oskar, who was on the apron and waiting to tag in, and fled! Akira hit a double stomp on Drilla’s chest at 7:00. Oskar jumped in, but Akira hit a huracanrana on him, then he crotched Oskar in the ropes. Nagai jumped in and hit a basement dropkick in the corner on Akira for a nearfall. Yuto-Ice and Henare jumped in and traded more forearm strikes. Daiki hit a dropkick. Akira hit a fireball (running double knees to the back of the head) and pinned Nagai. An above-average opener.
“United Empire” Henare, Jakob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan, and Francesco Akira defeated “The Unbound Co.” Yuto-Ice, Oskar, and Drilla Moloney, and Daiki Nagai at 9:20.
2. Aaron Wolf, Satoshi Kojima, and Masatora Yasuda vs. “House of Torture” Don Fale, Chase Owens, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. They all brawled at the bell. Wolf hit some forearm strikes on Fale, then an elbow drop for a nearfall. The HoT worked over Wolf in the corner. Owens entered and hit a clothesline for a nearfall at 4:00. Wolf hit a bodyslam on Chase but sold pain in his lower back. Satoshi got a hot tag and cleared the ring. He hit his rapid-fired chops in the corner on Chase, then on Kanemaru.
Satoshi pushed Fale into Chase, then he hit a DDT on Owens at 6:00, and he hit the Koji Cutter. Yasuda tagged in. He dropkicked Fale off the apron to the floor, and he traded blows with Owens. Yasuda hit a snap suplex for a nearfall. He got a huracanrana for a nearfall. Chase hit a C-Trigger running knee and a package piledriver for the pin.
“House of Torture” Don Fale, Chase Owens, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Aaron Wolf, Satoshi Kojima, and Masatora Yasuda at 8:39.
3. Tomoaki Honma and Yuya Uemura vs. “The Unbound Co.” Shingo Takagi and Yota Tsuji. Yuya and Shingo will meet in the quarterfinals on Sunday, and they opened against each other in an intense lockup. Yuya executed an armdrag and tied up the right arm on the mat. Honma entered, but he missed a Kokeshi. Shingo stomped on Honma. Yota entered at 3:00 and hit some shoulder thrusts to Honma’s ribs in the corner. Yuya tagged back in at 5:00 and hit some chops on Shingo; Shingo hit some forearm strikes.
Yuya hit a dropkick and was fired up. They traded a series of forearm strikes. Yota tagged back in at 7:30, and he traded reversals with Uemura. Yuya hit a dropkick, and they were both down. Honma tagged back in and hit some forearm strikes on Yota. He hit a DDT, but he missed a Kokeshi at 9:00. He hit a clothesline and finally hit the Kokeshi for a nearfall. Shingo jumped in and hit a Pumping Bomber clothesline on Yuya. Yota hit a Gene Blaster (spear) on Honma for the pin.
Shingo Takagi and Yota Tsuji defeated Tomoaki Honma and Yuya Uemura at 11:00 even.
4. “United Empire” Callum Newman, Jake Lee, and Zane Jay vs. Tetsuya Matsumoto and “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi. Newman and Goto will meet in the quarterfinals, and they opened against each other. Jake Lee jumped in and stomped on Goto. Goto flipped Yoshi-Hashi onto Lee at 1:30. On the floor, Lee pushed Yoshi-Hashi into the ring apron, then slammed him face-first on the apron. The UE worked over Yoshi-Hashi in the ring. Zane jumped in at 3:30 and repeatedly punched him.
Goto hit a spinning heel kick in the corner on Newman, and they traded forearm strikes. Zane and Matsumoto entered and traded forearm strikes at 6:30, and Tetsuya hit a dropkick for a nearfall, then a flying back elbow. He put Zane in a Boston Crab. Zane hit a dropkick and a running Blockbuster faceplant. Lee tagged in and kicked Goto off the apron to the floor at 8:30. He hit some forearm strikes on Matsumoto, then a back suplex for a nearfall. Lee hit a Helluva Kick for the pin.
“United Empire” Callum Newman, Jake Lee, and Zane Jay defeated Tetsuya Matsumoto and “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi at 9:39.
5. “House of Torture” Ren Narita and Dick Togo vs. Boltin Oleg and Toru Yano. The HoT attacked, and we’re underway! Oleg hit a bodyslam on Narita; those two will meet in a quarterfinal match. Narita whipped Yano into an exposed corner, and the HoT worked him over. Togo stomped on Yano on the floor. In the ring, they ‘wish-boned’ Yano’s legs at 2:30. Togo tied up Yano’s legs. Oleg tagged in and hit a shoulder tackle that sent Narita flying. Oleg hit his gutwrench suplex and some chops.
Narita grapevined Oleg’s leg on the mat. Oleg hit a belly-to-belly suplex. Yano tagged back in at 6:00 and immediately removed a corner pad and threw it at Togo, rolled him up, and got a nearfall. (I assumed that was it.) Togo got a rollup for a visual pin, but the ref was putting the corner pad away. Yano got one more rollup for the pin. Painful but short.
Toru Yano and Boltin Oleg defeated Dick Togo and Ren Narita at 6:55.
6. Shota Umino vs. Yujiro Takahashi in a New Japan Cup second-round match. A feeling-out process to open. Walker said Yujiro has competed in this tournament 15 times! This is already Umino’s fifth tournament. Yujiro hit a standing neckbreaker for a nearfall at 4:00. Walker tried to make a big deal out of Yujiro shoving Chase Owens yesterday, and he noted that Yujiro hasn’t cheated yet (and there are no House of Torture members at ringside. I expect all of that to change.) Yujiro hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall at 6:00.
Umino hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip and immediately put Yujiro in an STF. Yujiro eventually reached the ropes at 8:00. As expected, Dick Togo and Yoshinobu Kanemaru walked to ringside, but Yujiro told them to leave, and the crowd applauded that. Yujiro and Shota got up and they traded forearm strikes. Umino hit a left-arm clothesline for a nearfall. Yujiro hit a clothesline at 11:30. Umino hit an enzuigiri and a clothesline for a nearfall. Umino hit a running knee to the jaw for a believable nearfall at 14:00; that should have been it.
Yujiro pushed Shota into the ref and immediately hit a low-blow uppercut. Immediately, Togo, Kanemaru, and Chase Owens jumped in the ring and stomped on Shota. Walker Stewart was literally the only person in the world tricked by the HoT. Togo hit his knife-edge chop to the groin. The ref got back in and counted a nearfall at 15:30. Yujiro hit the Pimp Juice implant DDT for a believable nearfall. (There would have been riots in the streets!) Shota hit a DDT, a hard clothesline, and “The Second Chapter” (Snowplow Driver) for the pin.
Shota Umino defeated Yujiro Takahashi at 18:14 to advance to the quarterfinals.
7. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ryohei Oiwa in a New Japan Cup second-round match. A feeling-out process, and they got in a knuckle lock. They tied up on the mat. The 5:00 call was spot-on. Oiwa kept flipping Sabre to the mat and applying a headlock. Walker noted how Oiwa has been eliminated from tournaments twice by Sabre. Zack stomped on the left elbow at 8:00. Obviously, they are in the same faction, and this has been a friendly bout so far. Sabre backed him into a corner and hit some European Uppercuts.
Sabre tied up the left arm and kept Oiwa grounded as we got the 10:00 call. Oiwa hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on the right leg, and he began targeting it. He hit a second one at 12:00, and he tied up Sabre’s legs on the mat. Sabre hit a DDT at 14:00, but he sold the pain in his knee. They got up, and Zack hit a European Uppercut; Umino hit his own forearm strikes. Sabre hit a running penalty kick, but Oiwa hit a back suplex at 16:00, and they were both down. Oiwa hit a basement dropkick on the damaged right knee.
Oiwa went for another Dragonscrew Legwhip, but Sabre blocked it and immediately applied a cross-armbreaker; Oiwa got a foot on the ropes. Oiwa hit a senton for a nearfall at 18:00, then a frog splash for a nearfall. Sabre tied him in a pretzel on the mat. He pulled one arm and one leg behind Oiwa’s back. Oiwa got to the ropes at 20:00. Oiwa hit a decapitating clothesline and a Doctor Bomb, and he applied an ankle lock. Sabre eventually reached the ropes. Oiwa hit a Chaos Theory for a nearfall at 23:00, but Sabre immediately rolled into a hammerlock on Oiwa.
Oiwa hit a German Suplex but sold the pain in his elbow. Sabre hit the Zack Driver for a nearfall. Zack hit a running kick that dropped Oiwa. Ryohei hit a left-arm clothesline and got a nearfall at 26:30. They traded some rollups for believable nearfalls. Sabre hit a second Zack Driver out of nowhere for the pin! Really, really good action; some fans are going to absolutely love this one.
Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Ryohei Oiwa at 28:07 to advance to the quarterfinals.
* Sabre said a few words in Japanese, then proclaimed (in English) that he’s the best wrestler in the world.
Final Thoughts: Yeah, there have been 16 tournament matches through the first eight shows, and I’m fairly confident in saying Sabre-Oiwa was the best of those 16 matches. The proverbial game of human chess, with Oiwa failing yet again to solve the Sabre riddle. Hey, he’s not the first one to fall to Zack! Just a really strong mat-based match.
When Yujiro shoved Owens a day earlier, I didn’t even bother to mention it in my write-up because it was so meaningless. So, I laughed when Walker Stewart said it was a moment he “would never forget.” It was all a ruse, and I guess I wish Walker could be put in a position where he could be skeptical of Yujiro’s actions, rather than have to pretend like Yujiro had ‘turned a corner’ and was turning away from the House of Torture. The match played out exactly as everyone knew it would — with Yujiro and his cronies cheating the second the ref was down.
The undercard matches continue to do a decent job as previews to the tournament matches, giving just a tease of what’s to come in the days ahead. The tournament continues on Sunday. The good news is that while the first two rounds had some clunkers, we have some really good tournament matches coming up, such as Sabre vs. Umino and Sunday’s Shingo Takagi vs. Yuya Ueumra matchup.
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