By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “New Japan Cup”
March 15, 2026, in Yamanshi, Japan, at Aimesse Yamanashi
Streamed live on New Japan World
Walker Stewart provided commentary. This venue appears to be a large gym with all seating on the floor. The lights were low, but the ring was well-lit.
* This year’s tournament is a 24-man field, which has been whittled down to the final eight. Today, we begin the quarterfinals!
1. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Kosei Fujita and Hartley Jackson vs. Hirooki Goto and Taisei Nakahara. My first time seeing the latest Young Lion, Taisei, who is slender and has recently shaved his head bald. Taisei got in Fujita’s face before the bell, but Fujita just ignored him. Those two opened, and they twisted each other’s left arms. Hartley entered and hit some chops and a suplex on the youngster.
Fujita hit a suplex for a nearfall at 1:30. Yoshi-Hashi entered and hit some running back elbows on Hartley. Fujita and Taisei got back in at 4:00, and the Young Lion hit a dropkick and a back-body drop for a nearfall, and he was fired up. Fujita put him in a Lion Tamer-style Boston Crab, and Taisei tapped out. Hartley hit a senton on the kid for good measure. Welcome to the big leagues, kid!
“The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Kosei Fujita and Hartley Jackson defeated Hirooki Goto and Taisei Nakahara at 5:18.
2. Aaron Wolf, Satoshi Kojima, Toru Yano, and Masatora Yasuda vs. “House of Torture” Don Fale, Chase Owens, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Yujiro Takahashi. The HoT attacked, and we’re underway! Kojima dropped Yujiro with a shoulder tackle, then hit his rapid-fire chops on Yujiro and Chase. The HoT worked over Kojima in their corner. Fale stood on Satoshi’s chest. Satoshi hit a Koji Cutter on Chase at 4:00. Wolf tagged in and bodyslammed Yujiro.
Wolf and Fale traded shoulder blocks. Fale splashed him in the corner. Wolf hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Kanemaru. Yasuda tagged in at 6:30 and hit a dropkick on Kanemaru. Yasuda hit a suplex for a nearfall. Kanemaru repeatedly slammed Yasuda’s knee into the mat, then applied a Figure Four Leg Lock, and Yasuda tapped out. Meh.
Don Fale, Chase Owens, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Aaron Wolf, Satoshi Kojima, Toru Yano, and Masatora Yasuda at 8:26.
3 “United Empire” Jake Lee, Great-O-Khan, Henare, Francesco Akira, and Jakob Austin Young vs. “The Unbound Co.” Yota Tsuji, Oskar, Yuto-Ice, Gedo, and Drilla Moloney. All 10 brawled at the bell. Oskar chased Akira into the crowd; those two started feuding a day ago! Yuto-Ice and Henare brawled elsewhere amongst the fans. In the ring, Jakob was hitting some jab punches on Gedo, and the UE worked over Gedo in their corner.
Tsuji entered at 3:30 and battled Lee. Yota hit a huracanrana on Henare and some kicks on O-Khan, then a backbreaker over his knee on Jakob. The UE worked over Tsuji in their corner. Drilla entered and hit a clothesline in the corner on Akira, then an Air Raid Crash for a nearfall at 5:30. Akira rolled to the floor, but Oskar snuck up behind him! Akira jumped back into the ring and battled Drilla. Akira tried a plancha to the floor, but Oskar caught him. In the ring, Moloney hit a backbreaker over his knee on Akira at 7:30.
Yuto-Ice jumped in and traded forearm strikes with Henare. Henare hit a senton. Yuto-Ice set up for his running double knees, but O-Khan grabbed him. Oskar hit a Mafia Kick on O-Khan. Henare hit a jumping knee to Oskar’s chin at 9:30. Gedo entered and battled Jakob. Gedo got some rollups. Young hit a hammerlock DDT on Gedo for the pin. Yuto-Ice and Henare continued to brawl up the aisle.
“United Empire” Jake Lee, Great-O-Khan, Henare, Francesco Akira, and Jakob Austin Young defeated “The Unbound Co.” Yota Tsuji, Oskar, Yuto-Ice, Gedo, and Drilla Moloney at 10:52.
4. “United Empire” Callum Newman and Zane Jay vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto and Hirooki Goto. Newman and Goto are opponents in the quarterfinals later this week, and they opened the match. Goto knocked him down with a shoulder tackle. The UE stomped on Matsumoto. Zane hit a dropkick on Matsumoto at 3:30. Tetsuya hit a dropkick on Zane. Goto tagged back in and hit a spinning heel kick in the corner on Newman, then a back suplex for a nearfall at 6:30. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Tetsuya got back in and hit some forearm strikes on Newman, but Callum dropped him with a hard kick to the head, then another to the chest. Callum hit a brainbuster for the pin.
Callum Newman and Zane Jay defeated Hirooki Goto and Tetsuya Matsumoto at 9:00 even.
5. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr. and Ryohei Oiwa vs. Shota Umino and Tomoaki Honma. Like the prior match, Sabre and Umino will meet in the quarterfinals, and they opened against each other, trading some standing switches, then some reversals on the mat. Honma got in at 2:00, but Sabre trapped his head in a leg lock. Oiwa hit a senton for a nearfall. Honma hit a DDT on Sabre. Shota got back in at 4:30 and hit a dropkick on Oiwa, then a series of chops and forearm strikes in the corner on Sabre.
Umino hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall. Sabre snapped Shota’s neck between his ankles and hit a basement dropkick at 6:00. Honma and Oiwa got back in, and Honma hit a bulldog, but he missed a Kokeshi falling headbutt. Oiwa splashed onto him for a nearfall. Shota dropped Sabre with an enzuigiri. Honman hit another leaping headbutt on Oiwa for a nearfall. Oiwa hit a back suplex for a nearfall, then a discus clothesline for the pin on Honma.
Ryohei Oiwa and Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tomoaki Honma and Shota Umino at 9:40.
6. Boltin Oleg vs. Ren Narita (w/Yoshinobu Kanemaru) in a New Japan Cup quarterfinals match. Oleg came out first but he was attacked from behind by Naritan. Ren whipped Oleg into a guardrail. They got back into the ring and we had the bell to officially begin at 00:59. Narita hit a series of kicks. Oleg hit some chops. Narita slammed Oleg’s knee on the apron, and they fell to the floor, with Boltin clutching at his knee. Boltin got back into the ring at the 10-count, but Ren wrapped Oleg’s leg around the ring post.
Oleg hit a back-body drop at 6:00 but clutched his sore knee. He sent Narita flying on a shoulder tackle. Oleg hit his gutwrench suplex, then a Vader Bomb for a nearfall. He hit the Kamikaze (forward Finlay Roll), and they were both down at 8:30. Kanemaru jumped in the ring and stomped on Oleg. Don Fale also appeared and got in the ring. The HoT opened a table in the ring. Oleg got Kanemaru and Narita on his back and hit a double Samoan Drop.
Toru Yano and Aaron Wolf finally showed up to make the save. They fought the heels to the floor and to the back, so we’re back to just Narita and Oleg. Boltin blocked a low-blow attempt. Narita grapevined a leg on the mat. Oleg hit a German Suplex at 12:00. Narita hit a Double Cross (X-Factor) for a believable nearfall. Ren leapt off the top rope, but Oleg caught him and hit an F5 faceplant, then another Kamikaze for the pin! Like many others, I thought Ren was winning this, one way or another. On the high end of expectations for these two.
Boltin Oleg defeated Ren Narita at 13:22 to advance to the semifinals.
7. Shingo Takagi vs. Yuya Uemura in a New Japan Cup quarterfinal match. An intense lockup to open and a feeling-out process. Shingo dropped Yuya with a shoulder tackle at 2:30. He clotheslined Yuya over the top rope to the floor. Shingo whipped Uemura into the guardrails and was in charge of the action. In the ring, he hit a brainbuster for a nearfall at 5:00. Yuya snapped Shingo’s left arm with his legs and began targeting it. Back on the floor, Yuya whipped Shingo into the guardrails at 7:00 and twisted the damaged left arm in the guardrail.
Back in the ring, Yuya tied up Shingo’s arm and kept him grounded. Yuya hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 9:30 and went right back to work on the damaged arm. He switched to a sleeper. Shingo hit a Saito Suplex at 11:00, then a swinging neckbreaker. He hit a series of jabs and punches in the corner. Shingo hit a top-rope superplex at 13:00 and a sliding clothesline, then a standing powerbomb for a nearfall. Yuya again snapped the damaged arm; he dragged Shingo to the mat and applied a Fujiwara Armbar at 15:00.
Yuya hit a German Suplex; Shingo hit a Saito Suplex; Yuya hit a Saito Suplex. Shingo set up for a Pumping Bomber, but Yuya caught him with a dropkick and they were both down at 17:00. Shingo hit a series of jab punches, but Yuya hit a Dragon Suplex for a believable nearfall! Shingo sidestepped a top-rope crossbody block (a la Samoa Joe). He hit a clothesline to the back of the head, then a pumphandle sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall at 19:30. Shingo hit more punches and a headbutt.
Shingo hit a belly-to-belly suplex and a Pumping Bomber clothesline, then a Burning Dragon (DVD) for a nearfall at 21:00. Yuya hit a Pele Kick and a huracanrana. He tried to get a cross-armbreaker. He went to the top rope, but Shingo hit the ropes, causing Yuya to fall and be crotched in the corner. Yuya hit a powerbomb out of the corner at 24:30, then a High Fly Flow (frog splash) for a nearfall. They traded short-arm clotheslines, then headbutts, and Yuya hit the Deadbolt (belly-to-belly overhead suplex with a high bridge) for the pin! That was tremendous.
Yuya Uemura defeated Shingo Takagi at 26:07 to advance to the semifinals.
* Shingo grabbed the mic; he appeared to be ‘tipping his cap’ in congratulation of Yuya. Yuya then said some fiery words before his music played.
Final Thoughts: A really, really good main event — that’s more of my style than the really good Sabre-Oiwa match a day ago. I’m a big fan of both, but I was pulling for Yuya, as I think NJPW really needs to invest in a youth movement right now.
Oleg-Narita was fine with the usual House of Torture shenanigans. I know from seeing people who filled out online brackets that they thought Narita was winning here. So, it’s a bit surprising the House of Torture has no participants remaining in the tournament now.
I don’t think we’ve actually seen Walker Stewart on TV, and I’m unclear if he’s actually there. During the pandemic, Kevin Kelly called a lot of shows from his home — he was easier to understand because he wasn’t wearing a mask, like if he were live in the arena. It dawned on me during the main event he might not actually be there, because if he was, I would imagine he would have had color commentary help from Chase Owens, Francesco Akira or Hartley Jackson, who have all joined him in the past.
The tournament takes a day off before resuming Tuesday with the other two quarterfinals, Sabre vs. Umino and Goto vs. Newman.
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