SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NJPW CUP 2026
MARCH 8, 2026
HYOGO, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
UNDERCARD TAG RESULTS
(1) YUTA UEMURA & MASATORA YASUDA beat DAIKI NAGAI & DRILLA MALONEY at 6:54.
Uemura submitted Nagai to win the match with a chicken wing armlock.
(2) UNITED EMPIRE (Great-O-Khan & Henare) beat TOMOAKI HONMA & BOLTIN OLEG at 9:22.
O-Khan beat Honma with the Domination Claw.
(3) UNITED EMPIRE (Jakob Austin Young & Francesco Akira & Jake Lee) beat HIROOKI-GOTO & YOSHI-HASHI & TATSUYA MATSUMOTO at 9:20.
Young beat Matsumoto with Bite the Dust.
(4) TMDK (Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita) beat United Empire (Zane Jay & Callum Newman) at 9:04.
Jackson pinned Jay after a Death Valley Bomb.
(5) TORU YANO & AARON WOLF & SATOSHI KOJIMA beat House of Torture (Dick Togo & Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi) at 9:42.
Yano got a school boy on Togo for the win.
(6) UNBOUND CO. (Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi) beat House of Torture (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Don Fale) at 8:30.
Takagi pinned Kanemaru after a Burning Dragon.
NJPW CUP 2026 FIRST ROUND MATCHES
(7) SHOTA UMINO vs. CHASE OWENS – NJPW Cup 2026 First Round match
Owens went after Umino’s leg during the early stages of the match. Umino fired back and hit a drop kick before selling his leg after he connected. Umino charged at Owens and got caught with a rebound release German. Umino fired back and hit a tornado DDT and both men were down as the fan fired up.
Umino hit two running knees to the back in the corner. He then hit a running knee in the middle of the ring to Owens’s head to a near fall. He followed up with a STF, but Owens got to the ropes. Owens connected with a takedown on the apron. A short time later, Umino hit a DDY in the floor. The ref got bumped and Yujiro Takahashi came down to ringside and worked over Umino.
Owens hit a big running knee to Umino’s head, but he kicked out at the last second. Umino blocked a Jewel Heist attempt and hit a lariat. Togo came into the ring and choked Umino wi the ref distracted. Umino ran Togo into Takahashi and hit Second Chapter for the win.
WINNER: Shota Umino at 19:40 to advance to the second round of the NJPW Cup 2026. (**)
(Radican’s Analysis: The action was stuck in low gear for the most part and they never really went anywhere and told a story. Things picked up once HOT started interfering, but even that felt like a half-hearted attempt to get Owens a win.)
(8) RYOHEI OIWA vs. YUTO-ICE – NJPW Cup 2026 First Round match
Yuto and Oiwa went at it right away trading right hands. Yuto hit his big knee in the corner an tossed Oiwa to the floor. They traded blows on the floor until Yuto whipped Oiwa into a section of chairs. He controlled the action and they went back into the ring. Oiwa finally cut Yuto off with a dropkick.
Oiwa dropped Yuto to the mat and hit a big senton for a near fall. Oiwa grabbed a sleeper and turned it into an arm submission when Yuto went down to the mat. Yuto eventually went after Oiwa’s eye to break the hold. Yuto countered a charge from Oiwa with a roundhouse kick to the head. He then hit a PK. He charged at Oiwa from the corner, but Oiwa cut him off with a lariat.
They traded slaps and Yuto ducked and floored Oiwa with a big slap. They traded blows and Yuto nailed Oiwa with a big slap and a headbutt to send him down to the mat. He brought Oiwa to his feet, but he surprised him with a lariat. Yuto wiped out Oiwa with a kick to the head, but he kicked out at one. He ran right into a running knee from Yuta. Yuta set up for a sliding dropkick out of the corner, but Oiwa got out of the way and pinned him with the Roy Clutch.
WINNER: Ryohei Oiwa at 16:04 to advance to the second round of the NJPW Cup 2026. (***1/2)
(Radicans Analysis: The match was slow in spots, but it picked up nicely during the second half with some big strike exchanges. Yuto had the upper hand most of the match, but it came down to Oiwa fighting off his hard knees and kicks while showing fighting spirit late in the match.)
This marks the end of the first round of the tournament!
Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on Bluesky @SeanRadican and on X: @SR_Torch
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