New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/4/2026 New Japan Cup 2026 Day 1

New Japan Pro Wrestling 3/4/2026 New Japan Cup 2026 Day 1

Note - It was revealed a week or so after this that David Finlay, Clark Connors and Gabe Kidd have all left NJPW for AEW. Even if they are on dual contracts, it's a big loss for NJPW. I think it's a shame. Their absence hurts NJPW a lot more than it helps AEW and with partners like AEW, you don't really need enemies. If I'm New Japan going forward, I stop training English speaking foreigners. If they become good, they will get taken by other companies and NJPW can't really afford them with current exchange rates. If they stick to Japanese talents, they will stick around longer on average and they will be less likely to get poached. Plus, the Japanese talents will be able to do more since they actually speak the language.

Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Taisei Nakahara

This is Taisei Nakahar's debut. 

They lock up and trade waistlocks. Tat takes him down and they mat wrestle before standing up. Tat side headlocks him and wristlocks him. Tai wristlocks him back. Tat shoulder throws him and armlocks him. Tat goes for the armbar then hammerlocks him. Tai hammerlocks him. Tat wristlocks him and Tai trips him. Tat goes for the armbar again.

Tat waistlock takedowns him and rolling armbars him. Tat knee drops the arm and stomps him. Tat armbars him. Tai hits chops and is chopped down. Tai hits forearms then dropkicks him. Tai hits another dropkick for 2. Tai slams him then crabs him.

Tai hits forearms then Tat dropkicks him for 2. Tat water wheel drops him and Tai submits.

Thoughts: It was your usual young lions match. Tat had a nice dropkick. They did get a little fiery here. Taisei is a smaller guy and everything about him just screams that he's going to be a jobber to the stars. I can't say he was super impressive here but he did his role fine.

Masatora Yasuda & Shota Umino vs. House Of Torture (Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi)

Shota gets hit from behind to start. Shota is double teamed. Shota dropkicks Chase. Chase takes a double shoulderblock. Masa is pulled out and Shota gets sent into the rails outside. Yujiro slams Masa for 2 in the ring. Masa and Chase trade shots and Masa goes down.

Masa dropkicks Chase. Shota slams Yujiro then hits chops and forearms on chase in the corner. Shota running euros Chase then fisherman suplexes him. Chase backdrops Shota on the top rope and on the mat for 2. 

Shota forearms Chase. Chase spin kicks him in the gut. Shota tornado ddt's him. Masa dropkicks Yujiro twice. Masa suplexes Yujiro twice. Masa crabs him and Chase breaks it up. Yujiro corner facekicks Masa then reverse ddt's him for 2. Masa cradles him for 2. Masa backslides him for 2. 

They eye rake each other. Yujiro facekicks him. Yujiro fisherman busters him and Chase running knees Masa. Chase brings a cane in. He pumping knees Shota. Yujiro does a short ddt to Masa and wins.

Thoughts: It was pretty lame. The heels just did basic heel stuff and the faces didn't get a lot of big highlights to make things exciting. 

Chase stomps Shota after and sends him into the rails.

El Phantasmo & Jado vs. Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano

Oleg and ELP go at it. Oleg rolls him on the mat and ELP ropebreaks.  Oleg waistlock takedowns ELP. They chop each other. ELP hits chops and forearms and Oleg chops him down. Oleg flying shoulders him then  splashes him for 2. 

ELP boots Oleg out of the corner. Oleg blocks a tornado ddt and overhead throws ELP. Yano comes in and takes off a turnbuckle pad. Yano goes into the exposed buckle. Jado double chops Yano's back and  does a grounded armlock.

Jado forearms Yano in the spine. Yano grabs ELP by the hair and ELP grabs him by the nipples. ELP rips out a chest hair. Yano pulls ELP down by the hair. Oleg comes in and pounces and corner splashes ELP. Oleg karelin's lifts him. Oleg gorilla press throws ELP for 2.

Oleg misses a vader bomb. Oleg hits a double shoulderblock. Oleg is sent int othe exposed buckle on accident. ELP flying headscisors Oleg then plancha's him outside. Jado crossfaces Yano and Yano ropebreaks. Yano low blows Jado and wins. 

Thoughts: It was a waste of ELP and Oleg. Yano did his usual cheating shtick and Jado didn't provide much of interest here. This was boring. They did tease ELP vs Oleg though as they are fighting each other in the NJ Cup.

ELP and Oleg talk after and ELP puts the title around Oleg's waist.

United Empire (Callum Newman, HENARE, Jake Lee & Zane Jay) vs. Unbound Co. (Daiki Nagai, Drilla Moloney, OSKAR & Shingo Takagi)

CN = Callum Newman

Zane Jay complains about young lion music being played for him before the match. Jake Lee has a monkey plush toy. CN takes a shot at Oskar before the match and then runs.

Os misses a lariat and is hit with leg kicks. Os chops him up then shoulders him over. CN is thrown hard into the buckles. Nagai stomps on CN. CN takes forearms from Nagai and Oskar. CN blocks Nagai's monkey flip then enzugiri's him.

CN gets a 2 count on Nagai then chops him down. Zane chokes Nagai over the 2nd rope. Nagai hits forearms on Jake and Jake goofs around. Jake atomic drops him. Jake puts a latex glove on and shakes his finger in Nagai's mouth. 

Henare gets in and throws Nagai into the buckles hard. Henare wastelands him then sentons him. Nagai hits forearms and is chopped down. Nagai dropkicks Henare. Shingo comes in and shoulders over Henare. He hiptosses Zane then lariats him over the top ropes. Shingo back body drops CN over the top and dragon screws Jake.

Shingo ddt's Henare. Henare takes corner lariats. Drilla superkicks Henare then Henare takes a samoan drop + headkick combo. Henare berzerker bombs Drilla. Zane comes in and dropkicks Oskar off the apron. Zane goes up and over Drilla then dropkicks him. Zane fallway slams Drilla for 2. 

Drilla pop-up powerbombs Zane. Henare lariats Zane. Shingo punches then lariats Henare down. Everyone starts coming in to do a move. CN buzzsaw kicks Oskar. Drilla dropkicks CN then powerbombs Zane. Drilla over the shoulder piledrivers Zane and pins him.

Thoughts: The first half of this wasn't good with Jake Lee being embarrassing and Newman teasing Oskar. It got better in the 2nd half when it got more serious with Henare, Shingo and Drilla going in. It still wasn't that good overall.

Newman goes after Oskar when the match ends and is choked out. 

Master Wato, Taichi & Tomoaki Honma vs. House Of Torture (Dick Togo, DOUKI & Ren Narita)

I was hoping that when Evil left, HoT would go with him. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

The heels attack before the bell as usual. Ren hits shots on Tai and chokes him. Tai facekicks Ren down. Tai boots Ren in the corner. Honma snapmares Ren then hits a ddt. Honma misses a falling headbutt. Togo stands on Honma's neck then throws him into the exposed buckle. 

Togo slams Honma then Douki 2nd rope double stomps Honma. Togo then 2nd rope double stomps Honma. Honma takes a double shoulderblock then a double stomp and a senton for 2. Douki and Honma trade shots.  Douki eye rakes him then Honma headbutts him down. Honma then falling headbutt drops him.

Ren flying back elbows Douki. Wato flying headscissors Ren and Douki. Wato bulldogs Douki for 2. Douki does the douki chokey to Wato and Wato gets a 2 count off of it. Wato tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. Ren facekicks Tai and eye rakes him. Tai side kicks him. 

Tai spinning chops Togo then enzugiri's Ren. Ren russian legsweeps Tai then legbars him off of it. Tai ropebreaks. Tai hits a big chop on Ren then Ren facekicks him. Tai takes corner attacks. Tai is held upside down and Togo chops him in the crotch off the buckles for 2.

Tai hits upkicks on Togo. Tai then hits a double lariat. Wato plancha's Douki outside then Honma falling headbutt drops' Togo. Tai submits Togo with a stretch plum.

Thoughts: They upped the pace a little here which was nice but it wasn't much of notes. HoT cheated and did basic heel stuff. Everyone just kind of seemed to come in and out as they pleased here. 

Wato stares down Douki after as he fights him in the NJ Cup.  

TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Unbound Co. (Gedo, Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji & Yuto-Ice)

Oiwa and Yuto butt heads before the match. They start us off and trade forearms. Oiwa shoulders him over then euros him over. Oiwa dropkicks him down. Yuto slap combos Oiwa and drops him. Yuto spin kicks Oiwa in the gut then misse a running knee. Oiwa armdrags him. Oiwa dropkicks him.

Yota and Zack go at it. Yota side headlocks him. Zack takes him down by the wrist and armwringers him. Yota armdrags him off the 2nd rope then shoulders him over. Zack twists Yota's neck with his feet. Zack hits euros on Yota.

Eagles hits chops on Yota then Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. Yuto beats up Oiwa outside and interacts with the crowd. TI stomps Kosei outside. TI chops Eagles in the corner when he gets back in. TI holds Rob upside down and neckbreakers him on the knee. TI tries to flip Robbie X onto Egles but Eagles gets his knees up. Eagles spinning heel kicks TI.

Eagles backdrops Robbie X. TI comes in and shoulders over Robbie X. Kosei springboard dropkicks Robbie X for 2. TI flying knees Eagles.  Robbie X pele kicks Kosei. Gedo and Hart come in for the first time. Hart shoulders him over. Hart corner splashes Gedo then lariats him. 

Hart misses a senton and blocks Gedo's Gedo clutch. Oiwa backdrops Yuto. Yota pumping knees Oiwa. Zack euros over Yota. Hart death valley drivers Gedo and pins him.

Thoughts: It was another fast paced bout where it was essentially a free for all. Everyone got their segment in, then they tagged out and sent the next 2 in. They made the best of what they got here and they kept it interesting. 

Yuto swings at Oiwa after and Oiwa ducks.

New Japan Cup 2026 First Round Match - Don Fale vs. Aaron Wolf

Wolf is attacked from behind by House of Torture as he enters. The ref sees it and does nothing. Fale stomps on Wolf as the bell rings. Fale hits corner lariats on Wolf. Fale clubs on Wolf and throws him out so HoT can group stomp him.

Fale stands on Wolf then slams him. Fale surfs on Wolf's back for 2.  Wolf hits chops on Fale then is chopped down. Wolf is group stomped outside again. Wolf's head is banged off the buckles. Fale misses a corner charge and Wolf corner lariats him. Wolf fails to suplex him, hits another corner lariat then suplexes him. Wolf elbow drops him for 2. 

Fale blocks an olympic slam. Fale shoves Wolf into the ref. HoT then come in to beat up Wolf. Wolf fights the off then Fale lariats him. Wolf is put on a table then he ends up throwing the table at Fale. Wolf olympic slams Fale and the ref is pulled out on the pin attempt. I think Yano comes out to help out but the heels fight him. Ren hits Wolf with a title belt. Fale samoan spikes Wolf and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a bogus match. HoT cheated before and during the match. The ref saw it and didn't do squat. Wolf had to lose for unknown reasons and they didn't even do Fale's finisher right as Wolf couldn't jump up for it. This sucked.

New Japan Cup 2026 First Round Match - Great-O-Khan vs. Yuya Uemura

Khan stomach claws him and hits him in the gut. Khan avoids an armdrag and double chops Yuya. Yuya hiptosses and armdrags him. Yuya armlocks him. Khan sidesteps a dropkick then back body drops him. Khan stomps him and hits snake eyes on him. Khan sits on his neck in the corner then pulls his arms. Khan does a trapezius hold then iron claws him.

Khan claws him in the chest. Yuya hits some shots then misses a 2nd rope twisting crossbody. Khan hits mongolian chops. Yuya flying twisting spinning him and dropkicks him. Yuya hits corner chops and double chops on Khan. Yuya backdrops him for 2. Yuya armbars him and Khan ropebreaks.

Yuya armbreakers Khan and Khan is pushed into the buckles. Yuya is thrown over the top. Yuya's back is rammed into the rails. Yuya is then sent into and over the rails. Yuya is thrown into the seats. Khan grabs a chair and the ref takes it. Khan then hits Yuya with the other chair in front of the ref.

Khan back body drops him inside for 2. They trade some shots. Yuya corner splashes him then 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him for 2. Yuya goes up top but Khan just rolls outside. Yuya then plancha's him.

Yuya butterfly suplexes him for 2. Khan bites him then does an iron claw. Yuya armdrags him out of a claw slam and kimura's him. Khan grabs the hair to avoid a front suplex. Khan bangs Yuya's face and head off the mat. Yuya enzugiri's him then dragon suplexes him. Khan hits a TTD for 2. Yuya front suplexes him. Yuya then top rope crossbodies him for the win.

Thoughts: Yuya's comebacks were good but Khan is a slower wrestler and his heel style limits his bouts. It was nice to see Yuya get a main event win here. I thought this was average otherwise though. 

Overall thoughts: It was a below average show. There was really nothing that good here. The main was the only thing that had a chance and it was average. With The War Dogs being done for, it looks like House of Torture is taking their spot and that's a major downgrade. They did do an okay job in building up some of the NJPW Cup matches that are coming, but that's really it. I'd say the Wato tag was the best this on here. I'd give this a 4 out of 10 and wouldn't recommend it.