The New Japan Cup quarterfinals kick off on Sunday in Yamanashi, with the first two quarterfinal matches taking place on the show.
In the semi-main event, Yuya Uemura will face Shingo Takagi. The main event will see Boltin Oleg take on House of Torture’s Ren Narita.
Uemura comes into this match after defeating Great-O-Khan in the first round and Drilla Moloney in the second round. Takagi enters the match after defeating Don Fale in the second round.
Boltin Oleg comes into this quarterfinal match after defeating HENARE in the second round and El Phantasmo in the first round. Narita advanced with a second-round victory over Satoshi Kojima and a first-round win against Taichi.
The winners of today’s matches will meet in the semifinals on Friday, March 20 in Niigata. The quarterfinals continue Tuesday in Fukushima with Hirooki Goto vs. Callum Newman and two-time tournament winner Zack Sabre Jr. facing Shota Umino.
Our live coverage kicks off at 1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
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Main Card
TMDK (Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita) defeated YOSHI-HASHI & Taisei Nakahara
Fujita bullied Nakahara into the corner to allow Jackson a brainbuster onto the Young Lion. He’d later vertically suplex YOSHI-HASHI. Nakahara gained revenge on Fujita with a back body drop. Fujita swiftly recovered from a Boston Crab, which Nakahara immediately tapped out of.
Post-match: Jackson punctured the wind out of Nakahara with a senton.
I don’t know whether this was intentional or not, but this was a hilarious match. The cruel focus on Nakahara, the fact that he folded fast, and Jackson’s unnecessary senton. Plus, YOSHI-HASHI seemed to just walk off without much care toward the Young Lion. Screw that Young Lion in particular.
House of Torture (Don Fale, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens) defeated Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima, & Masatora Yasuda
Kojima rescued Yano following the prompt HoT ambush, chopping crateres into the bosoms of Owens and Takahashi. Fale took umbridge with this, as he overcame the veteran, soon pressing his full weight on his seasoned prey. A Koji-Cuttter swung a comeback for Kojima’s team, with Wolf capitalizing via an Elbow Drop to Owens. Yasuda continued the momentum with dropkicks to Kanemaru. Kanemaru returned a dropkick to Yasuda’s knees as his co-horts charged their opponents on the ropes. Yasuda tapped rather quickly thanks to Kanemaru’s figure-four leglock.
That’s two matches in a row where a Young Lion tapped out mere seconds after a submission move was employed. They’re getting creative in the booking meetings.
United Empire (Jake Lee, HENARE, Great-O-Khan, Jakob Austin Young, & Francesco Akira) defeated Unbound Co. (Yota Tsuji, Yuto-Ice, OSKAR, Drilla Moloney, & Gedo)
OSKAR finally took his retribution for the night prior when he got his hands on Akira. Ice and HENARE brawled into the crowd. Khan tethered Gedo to the corner, where he and Young tormented Unbound Co.’s residential diminutive wrestler. Tsuji prevented Lee’s black glove usage and singlehandedly dismantled the United Empire. Moloney hurled Akira around the ring, leading the Italian to escape to the ringside. There, OSKAR intimidated him back onto the cerulean mat.
Ice and HENARE met in a meaty slobberknocker that featured Khan denying a Bomboclat to the New Zealander. Young repeatedly attempted his Brainrot signature, but a Gedo Clutch overwrote it. Thanks to Akira, Young landed Brainrot to finish off Gedo.
Post-match: Ice and HENARE once more brawled in the crowd. Lee and Tsuji convinced them both to stop their fighting. Moloney took Lee’s stuffed monkey, leading to a full brawl between both factions.
Decently average. Nothing groundbreaking or story-advancing.
United Empire (Callum Newman & Zane Jay) defeated Hirooki Goto & Tatsuya Matsumoto
When Goto appeared to have wrenched control of the match, Jay tripped him up. Matsumoto and Goto stomped a mudhole through him as recompense for this crime. Jay planted Matsumoto into the mat, pummeling him, as he bickered with the referee and the Yamanashi crowd. Goto whipped Newman into the corner, where the incensed former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion employed a Reverse-GTR and a lariat.
Matsumoto repaid Jay’s ejection of Goto from the ring with a running uppercut. Newman obliterated Matsumoto with a roundhouse kick, followed through with a penalty kick, and vanquished him with a vertical suplex for the pinfall.
Newman’s ascension in NJPW has been gripping to witness. Fans had been saying he was a lite variation of Will Ospreay, and we’ve seen him come into his own as a colder, more calculating leader of United Empire. This man is 23 years old and, despite his incredible upside, hasn’t reached his peak yet. I see Jay coming soon, not too far behind. Goto was also in great form.
TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr & Ryohei Oiwa) defeated Shota Uminio & Tomoaki Honma
Like a song, Umino and Sabre’s early lock-up increased in intensity before dying down to the chord of the former’s dropkick. Sabre locked Honma’s head between his legs following an unwise Kokeshi. Honma surprised everyone in the Aimesse Yamanashi arena when he secured an octopus stretch to Sabre. Much to the blonde Brit’s frustration, Umino held mighty control over a well-placed cravat. Umino beckoned Honma for a united Kokeshi to Sabre and Oiwa, respectively. Honma followed through with another to Oiwa’s carcass. It took one moment for Oiwa to recover from The Grip, which put Honma away for the 3-count. Following the pin, Oiwa embraced his fallen opponent.
Post-match: Outside, Sabre angrily assaulted Umino, tossing him into the barricade before frightened front-row fans and left Oiwa in the ring.
Nothing short of a rollercoaster. All four men put on their working boots and had me hooked. Sabre can be a real dick, and this match was quite the example of it. Oddly enough, despite building an engaging path to their upcoming match, Sabre and Umino’s improved chemistry barely fell short of the enjoyable back-and-forth that was Honma and Oiwa.
New Japan Cup Quarterfinals
Oleg Boltin defeated Ren Narita
Boltin’s entrance hadn’t even reached its halfway point when Narita subdued him. Targeting Boltin’s knee, Narita stopped at nothing to wound the Kazakh wrestler’s limb. He slammed it into the ringpost, dropped elbows on it, and stretched it to an agonizing degree; still, Boltin did not relinquish the match. Boltin lifted Narita’s Guillotine Choke, teetering him across the ring. Although he faltered on his weak knee, Boltin charged Narita, dizzied him with his signature Boltin Shake, and concluded with a Boltin Bomb.
Narita aspired for a Double Cross, instead countering a Kamikaze into a triangle choke. Boltin redirected that into a powerbomb, so he landed a successful Kamikaze. House of Torture’s Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Don Fale predictably interfered, attacking the referee and stomping Boltin’s corpse. Narita sent them a wooden table. Boltin delivered a Kamikaze to Narita and Kanemaru both, but Fale denounced Boltin’s hopeful triumph. Toru Yano and Aaron Wolf descended upon the House of Torture, evicting them from the match. Narita took advantage of the chaos with more knee targeting. Boltin replied with a German Suplex. Boltin kicked out of a Double Cross at the last second to the surprise of everyone. Foolishly, Narita leapt from the top rope into Boltin’s finishing Verdict and Kamikaze, thus giving the worn wrestler the victory.
If you’ve followed my recap history of NJPW, you’ll likely know how big a fan I am of Boltin. I’m beaming like an idiot typing this. To even see him make it to the quarterfinals is cathartic. I hope this year is great for Boltin. His selling of the left knee remained consistent, and Narita’s heelish exploitations reverberated so fluently. Even the comeuppance for House of Torture remained as satisfying as ever.
Yuya Uemura defeated Shingo Takagi
Takagi had no issue dominating Uemura early on, with a shoulder tackle and senton giving way to a lariat over the top rope. Uemura grew bitter and impatient, flinging Takagi consecutively into the blue steel guardrail and bending the left arm into the barricade. Draining the life out of Takagi, Uemura held a sleeper hold tightly until the Rampaging Dragon found the strength to hurl him over his shoulder. Takagi fully earned a comeback with a Sliding Bomber and a powerbomb.
Uemura returned with a Knife-Edge Takedown, wrenching Takagi’s arm behind his back. Though exhausted, Uemura and Takagi bartered suplexes as though haggling with the mere limits of their bodies’ capabilities. Takagi pulled out his normally reliable Made in Japan, but it wasn’t enough. Uemura found enough temerity to persevere, albeit momentarily, and suffered a Pumping Bomber and Burning Dragon. Uemura left Takagi fighting unconscious sleep by way of a triangle choke. Takagi’s face contorted as a result of this and a vicious Deadbolt. Sensing Uemura perched on the top rope, Takagi used his own weariness as a tool, stumbling into the rope and knocking the Firestorm’s nether region into the bar, which held the turnbuckle pad in place. Uemura transitioned a failed High-Fly Flow into an armbar-into-wristlock. It took a bit of struggle, but Uemura denied lariats, using Takagi’s arms for one last Deadbolt to advance to the semifinals.
The drama in this was palpable, so much so that I felt I was one with the silent crowd, which erupted into rapture. This is the tight rope NJPW, at its best, can walk so well. That realism in storytelling and presentation that burns away kayfabe to, for a moment, feel as tangible as the aspirational fight anyone and everyone can partake in just to succeed in life. Hope. That’s what this match was. Technically speaking, Uemura and Takagi sold their asses off, and Takagi looked to have the match in several places. It’s fitting that Uemura used Hiroshi Tanahashi’s High-Fly Flow, because this was as close as I’ve felt to The Ace since his retirement.
Final Thoughts
I can’t help but chuckle at how the show just plowed through the first two matches, with immediate tapouts. A match or two had little to offer, with United Empire and Unbound Co.’s bout feeling like a formality, aside from OSKAR’s pure hatred of Francesco Akira.
As mentioned earlier, Callum Newman has seen quite a growth. If he plays his cards right, he can be one of the biggest players in the company. Turning the United Empire into something similar to the Bullet Club may take time to reach that faction’s status of importance. Shota Umino’s own image rehabilitation has also improved, with the Wrestle Kingdom 19 main event seeming like a distant memory in his relation to Zack Sabre Jr.
On this particular show, however, Oleg Boltin’s victory over Ren Narita was my personal favorite of the night. Seeing him and Yuya Uemura overcome their opponents tonight has restored a bit of faith. That said, we have yet to see how the semifinals turn out, and thus, the finals. The New Japan Cup in 2026 has more developments in store, and I hope it can steer the company into the good graces of fans.
