Written by Brandon Hoffman
The first round of the 2026 New Japan Cup concluded with some correct winners and some absolutely incorrect winners. Along with the 54th Anniversary event which showcased some Junior Title matches, let’s dissect the rights and wrongs in the first round of this yearly tournament.
Marcj 4, 2026, Night One
Don Fale v. Aaron Wolf, Round One
We immediately start with one of the worst matches I have ever seen. The House of Torture are the biggest heat magnets in this company, but sadly they are also filled with bad wrestlers. Don Fale, formerly known as Bad Luck Fale, got gassed a few minutes into this one and he didn’t even perform the bulk of the offense against Wolf. The rest of the HoT did the work for him.
After many boring minutes, Fale hit the Hand Grenade on Wolf for the win. We could’ve seen Wolf v. Shingo Takagi in the near future, and had Wolf bounce back after getting squashed in Osaka. But nope, the House continued to win with no sign of comeuppance anywhere in sight. Aaron Wolf’s momentum has been officially crushed to death by not only Ren Narita, but now Don Fale. What an abysmal start to this tournament.
Great-O-Khan v. Yuya Uemura, Round One
GOK pulled a Samoa Joe walkaway spot during this one, big pop. This was as straight-up as a classic “wrestling” match you could get in the sense of crowd working. O-Khan played a great heel against the pure babyface fire of Uemura. Some things like the count out tease outside of the ring got dragged out for the sake of drama, being milked until it became dry.
The High Fly Attack (not Flow) got the win for Uemura here, advancing himself into the second round. Yuya transitioning away from his Dead Bolt Suplex as a finisher works well. Hopefully he doesn’t turn into a literal carbon copy of Tanahashi by using his moves and becomes unique. He’s easily the next megastar, and he’s the fan favorite to win this entire Cup. Sadly, I think they’re reserving the next title match for newly heeled up Callum Newman. But at least we had this technically sound match to boost Uemura’s stock.
March 5, Night Two
El Phantasmo v. Boltin Oleg, Round One
ELP worked a heel style and it was very strange. The big man got chopped down to size, but the action picked up in the second half though with those Oleg gutwrenches and hurricanranas. Oleg sold the leg damage well, all while the hot Korakuen Hall crowd bolstered up the tricky Face v. Face dynamic.
This one ended with the Super Kamikaze off the top rope, which just makes Oleg’s regular Kamikaze look tame by comparison. Oleg’s finisher never looked convincing to me, but this off the top rope version sure was convincing. The upcoming Oleg v. HENARE match in Round Two will be a hard-hitting match. Can’t wait to see it.
Ren Narita v. Taichi, Round One
Ryusuke Taguchi’s shirt: “Do you like beans or fish?” Better than wearing House of Torture merchandise, I guess. The Taichi offense in this match looked gnarly to the point where the crowd got concerned for Narita. Taichi’s stiff Lariats and dangerous suplexes had some extra attitude behind it, and it looked great. However we could only have fun for so long, because every box in the House of Torture bingo card got checked out in this match.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru teased turning face and aligning with Taichi for some reason. Why, in kayfabe, would Taichi even think for a second that Kanemaru had a change of heart for no reason? Other than that anomaly, it was your usual slog filled with whiskey, poles, and Dick Togo. Narita won with the Hell’s Guillotine off the top rope after tons of nonsense. It highlights another big problem with House of Torture matches along with my usual gripes, everyone who fell for these tricks looked like a big idiot. Surely, someone has to learn to break out of this House Vortex.
March 6, 2026, Night Three + 54th Anniversary Show Junior Title Matches
Jake Lee v. YOSHI-HASHI, Round One
Watching a Jake Lee match feels like being invited to a party consisting of zero people you enjoy being around. His style, described as “bizarre to brutal,” works in theory. However in front of a crowd who doesn’t know how to react, it simply does not work. YOSHI-HASHI being stiff with his chops and such is a positive here, but the ending was never in doubt as to who would advance.
That would be Jake Lee by the way, putting a Front Choke on for the anticlimactic win. Lee specifically wanted people to be confused by his aura, and he certainly got that reaction. The World Title match he had against Yota Tsuji was not good, and this wasn’t any better. Sad.
Newman v. OSKAR, Round One
Finally, we got a standout great match in this tournament. Newman flipped around and bumped his ass off to make OSKAR look like a killer. On top of that, OSKAR knew what to do with being a big guy in Japan. He didn’t need show-manistic moves to get his points across. This match felt a lot more alive than the previous one that night, and these boys tossed each other into the crowd like there was no tomorrow. Newman kicked OSKAR’s head in a whole bunch and it truly made Newman look despicable.
Newman won with Excalibur (the move, not the commentator) after using cheaty tactics. The Prince really put over OSKAR’s power, and he found the best way to get heat without overdoing it. The House of Torture overdoes it all of the time, but the United Empire just stick to basics. And it works!
TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles) (c) v. Unbound Co. (Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X) – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match
This match isn’t in the New Japan Cup, but it warranted a review because of how amazing this match was. There were no breaks in between any of the madness, and tons of double teaming to boot. Double poisonranas, Boston Crab combos, just wow to it all. All four of these guys looked super with Robbie X especially being an MVP with all this handspringing and diving.
Fujita and Eagles being the foils to Unbound Co.’s fire fit so well with their experience and submissions wearing down everyone. Each false finish made the intensity ramp up even harder, and it was actually unpredictable as to who would walk away on top. Eventually, Robbie X hit the X Express to win the match for himself and Ishimori. If there was just one match to recommend from this Cup tour so far, it’s this one by far. Also, Francesco Akira and Jakob Austin Young are the new challengers since they attacked the Champions soon after this banger match.
DOUKI (c) v. Master Wato, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match
Sometimes, the winner of the match dictates its enjoyment on a passionate watch. I never want to watch this back or any House of Torture match over 15 minutes back. The HoT Bingo card got filled out with constant interference and SHO’s cosplay of DOUKI dominating the talking points of this match. And the biggest talking point of them all came with DOUKI hitting Suplex De La Luna to win and retain.
That’s correct, Wato had every path to victory in his grasp to finally win the big one, and he did not. What on earth is Gedo’s problem? Why must Gedo book the House of Torture to win matches when they’re not supposed to? Unfortunately, I have no answers to this. Also, YOH cosplayed as the departed EVIL after this match. He wore an EVIL shirt to poke fun at the House, I presume. We need a “Justice for Wato” movement after this one.
Mar 8, 2026:, Night Four
Chase Owens v. Shota Umino, Round One
A 20 minute Chase Owens match, you have got to be kidding me. Chase Owens is a reliable hand but he has never needed to wrestle an exciting style in his life. Therefore, having this HoT member be the first round opponent for golden boy Shota Umino was awkward as hell. Nothing important happened in the first fifteen minutes and it was only until Chase started throwing C-Triggers where things got consequential.
Obviously Umino wasn’t losing Round One, so it’s just another slow and plodding affair all to just delay the inevitable end. That came with the Second Chapter from Umino for him to win and advance. There’s just too much House of Torture matches to sit through in this year’s Cup. Yikes.
Ryohei Oiwa v. Yuto-Ice, Round One
Both Knockout Brothers looked good in their Cup matches. There wasn’t much in terms of cohesion from spot to spot, but the slaps and knees connected hard. These two made a story out of simply forearming each other to death, and it made for an entertainment main event. Both men being built like tanks bulked up their power moves too. Playing to their strengths was absolutely the correct move, although Oiwa needs a bit more character to his draw besides “Zack took me under his wing.”
This match ended with a clutch rollup from Oiwa, giving us Oiwa v. Zack in the second round. That should be a ton of fun.
Overall, the first round involved some wrong winners and overall good wrestling. It mainly sets up Round Two which has some exciting matchups. Among those: Yuya Uemura v. Drilla Moloney, Boltin Oleg v. HENARE, and Ryohei Oiwa v. Zack Sabre Jr.
