SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NJPW ANNIVERSARY EVENT
MARCH 6, 2026
TOKYO, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
Announcer: Chris Charlton
(1) DRILLA MALONEY & DAIKI NAGAI beat MASTATORA YASUDA & YUYA UEMURA at 5:55.
Maloney pinned Yasuda with the Drilla Killa.
(2) UNITED EMPIRE (Jakob Austin Young & Francesco Akira & Great-O-Khan & Henare) beat Tatsuya Matsumoto & Toru Yano & Hirooki Goto & Oleg Boltin at 7:03.
Akira submitted Matsumoto with the Ground Tarantula. After the match, Henare and Oleg went at it to preview their upcoming NJPW Cup encounter. The other wrestlers managed to separate them.
(3) TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa) beat Gedo & Yuto-Ice at 4:11.
Sabre rolled up Gedo with a pinning combination. After the match, Ice and Oiwa went face to face. Ice hasn’t won a singles match since returning from excursion.
(4) UNBOUND CO. (Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi) beat HOT (Don Fale & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) at 5:23.
Tsuji pinned Kanemaru after a Gene Blaster. Fale and Takagi got into it on the outside after the match. Takagi signaled that he was going to slam Fale.
(5) HOUSE OF TORTURE (Dick Togo & Sho & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens & Ren Narita) beat LEONA & TATSUMI FUJINAMI & AARON WOLF & SHOTA UMINO & SATOSHI KOJIMA at 11:17.
Takahashi pinned Leona after Pimp Juice. After the match, Owens wiped out Umino ahead of their NJPW Cup match.
(6) JAKE LEE vs. YOSHI-HASHI – NJPW Cup 2026 First Round match
Hashi had a good game plan. He stayed a step ahead of Lee and his mind games at times during the match. He worked over Lee with his powerful chops early. As the match progressed and Lee had the upper hand, Hashi cut him off with a basement drop kick.
Hashi went got Karma, but turned it into a backbreaker. He got a swanton off the top for a good near fall. He went got Karma again, but Lee got the Front Choke. Hashi tried to fight out of it, but passed out and the ref called for the bell.
WINNER: Jake Lee via ref stoppage at 14:06 to advance to the second round of the NJPW Cup 2026. (***1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: Good action. Hashi was firmly in control when Lee got the Front Choke. He just could not escape and Charlton did a good job of hammering home how fast Lee can turn the tide in a match.)
(7) OSKAR vs. CALLUM NEWMAM – NJPW Cup 2026 First Round match
Newman tried to jump Oskar when he got into the ring. Oskar was ready for it and he shoved Newman to the mat. He cracked Newman with a big chop and whipped him hard into the corner a short time later. He hit a big backdrop that sent Newman flying across the the ring and to the floor.
Newman fired back and worked over Oskar’s leg. Oskar cut him off and hit a legdrop for a count. Oskar continued to stay a step ahead of Newman. He got the Nightmare Sleeper, but Newman broke free by going after his leg. Oskar got kicked into the ref. Newman then sent him flying to the floor and connected with a big running dropkick that sent Oskar flying into a pile of chairs.
Oskar forced Newman to tap to the Nightmare Sleeper, but there was no referee. Oskar got distracted by Zane Jay on the floor. Newman wiped him out from behind. Newman hit Excalibur and it was good for the win.
After the match, Newman made Oskar kiss his crown tattoo. Yuta-Ice ran down and chased Newman away.
WINNER: Callum Newman 11:15 to advance to the second round of the NJPW Cup 2026. (***3/4)
(Radican’s Analysis: Oskar looked good here dominating with his power. He seemed to have an answer to everything Newman threw at him. Once the ref got bumped and Newman got some help from Jay, it was enough to turn the tide in Newman’s favor and he got the win. These two had good chemistry in the ring and I wouldn’t mind seeing them go at it again sometime soon.)
(8) TMDK (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) vs. UNBOUND CO (Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X) – IWGP Jr. Hvt. Tag Team Championship match
All four men went at it to start the match before the action settled down with Robbie X working over Eagles. TMDK took control and eventually got a double submission on Unbound Co. Robbie X got isolated and he eventually mounted a comeback and tagged in Ishimori.
They went back to all four men in the ring trading blows. They had an incredible sequence with Robbie X pulling off some insane moves invading a backflip into a powerbomb on Eagles. TMDK eventually took him down. They sent Ishimori to the floor and lifted him onto their shoulders, but Robbie took them down with a double reverse rana.
They built up to an insane finish. Ishimori booted Eagles off the apron and hit the Golden Triangle on him. Robbie X then the X Express on Fujita for the win.
WINNERS: Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori at 14:55 to become the new IWGP Jr. Hvt. Tag Team Champions. (****1/4)
(Radicans Analysis: The action was great bell-to-bell. Both teams brought a ton of energy to this back and forth encounter.)
After the match, Akira and Young jumped Ishimori and Robbie X. Akira said they didn’t deserve to be champions. He said he was going to do to Robbie what he wanted to do to Hiromu. Robbie had a chair wrapped around his head and Akira nailed him with another chair.
(9) DOUKI vs. MASTER WATO – IWGP Jr. Hvt. Championship match
Douki stood in the ring and didn’t move. It turned out that it was a fake Douki, as the real Douki ran into the ring and jumped Wato from behind. The fake Douki took his mask off and it was Sho. Douki dominated the action early. Wato mounted a comeback, but Sho hit him with a punch from the floor to give Douki the advantage again.
Wato made a comeback and Sho tried to interfere again. Wato ended up tripping Douki, which caused him to drop kick Sho off the apron to the floor. Wato hit a flip dive over the top to the floor to wipe out Douki and Sho. They traded counters and Wato got the Vendaval submission. Wato rolled Douki up and got Vendaval again. Douki struggled and Sho pilled the ref. Yoh ran down, but Togo attacked him from behind.
All of HOT ran down and went to work on Wato. Togo hit D2D Contact. The ref recovered and counted, but Wato kicked out at the last second. Wato got Vendaval again, but Fale broke it up. Aaron Wolf ran out and sent Fale packing. Wato thought about using Douki’s pipe but he threw it down.
He nailed Douki with a headlock and a Sling Blade for a near fall. Wato hit a German with a bridge, but Douki kicked out at the last second. The ref got bumped again and Douki went to the floor. Wato had Douki up, but Sho ran in and hit him with a low blow. Douki hit an implant DDT and Suples De La Luna for the win.
WINNER: Douki at 19:35 to retain the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Championship. (***1/4)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was good outside of the constant interference.)
After the match, Douki cut a promo and Sho was in the ring as well Yoh ended up wiping them out and he challenged Douki to a future title match.
Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on Bluesky @SeanRadican and on X: @SR_Torch
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