NJPW NEW JAPAN CUP 2026 NIGHT 2 RESULTS (3/5): Lansdell’s report on Taichi vs Narita, Oleg vs ELP, more

NJPW NEW JAPAN CUP 2026 NIGHT 2 REPORT
MARCH 5, 2026
KORAKUEN HALL
TOKYO, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD

Chris Charlton was on commentary all by himself for the second night of NJ Cup action.

(1) SHOTA UMINO & MASTER WATO & AARON WOLF & TORU YANO vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Chase Owens & Douki & Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

Owens and Umino are scheduled to face off in the first round on March 8, with Douki defending the Junior Heavyweight championship against Master Wato at the Anniversary Show on March 5.

House of Torture predictably jumped their opponents before the ring introductions were complete. Aaron Wolf single-handedly took care of all four opponents, no doubt angry about his elimination at the corpulent hands of Don Fale. Yano tagged in and the match instantly degenerated into a brawl. We got some brief interaction between Owens and Umino, with Owens hitting a nice rebound backbreaker. Douki and Wato tagged in, Douki attacked Wato’s knees and then tagged in Kanemaru who continued the knee assault. All eight men flooded the ring but left as quickly as they arrived. Kanemaru went for a figure four but Wato countered with a small package for a near fall. He then locked in Vendaval for the submission win.

WINNERS: Wato, Umino, Wolf, and Yano via submission at 8:38 (**).

(Lansdell’s Analysis: Not much to see here. Douki will clearly target the knees in the title match tomorrow, and maybe I won’t hate a Chase Owens match? Aaron Wolf barely showed his face in the ring, and it is fast becoming clear that NJPW is having some buyer’s remorse. He looks so awkward every time he does anything.)

(2) SHINGO TAKAGI & GEDO vs. DON FALE & DICK TOGO

Fale’s win over Wolf on night 1 earned him a second-round match with Shingo, and condemned us to watching another Fale “singles” “match”. I don’t want to keep harping on it, but when you prefer a Don Fale match to letting Aaron Wolf progress in a tournament, it’s not a great sign.

Togo and Gedo started off in a battle that would have been past its best-before date in 2016. Togo got the upper hand and tagged in Fale, who did big person things. Gedo avoided a corner splash from Fale that might well have ended Gedo’s existence, and made a tag to Shingo. Fale absorbed a pair of clotheslines and went for the Grenade, but Shingo escaped and hit a third clothesline that sent Fale stumbling through the ropes. It…was not convincing. Togo tried his best but Shingo had an answer for everything Togo tried. Shingo locked in a butterfly armlock and got the submission win.

WINNERS: Shingo & Gedo via submission at 3:53. (*1/4)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: The only fun here was seeing Shingo break out the War Special. Fale just lumbers at this point, and it’s almost uncomfortable to watch.)

(3) YOSHI-HASHI & HIROOKI GOTO & TATSUYA MATSUMOTO vs. UNITED EMPIRE (Jake Lee & Henare & Jakob Austin Young)

Jake Lee came out with a stuffed monkey wrapped around his leg, because of course he did. He’s Jake Lee. He will face Yoshi-Hashi on night 3, with the winner facing Goto in round 2. I can’t imagine who might win that one.

Lee played mind games with Yoshi-Hashi, letting Young get the early upper hand. It did not last as Goto and Matsumoto came in and they triple-teamed Young. Matsumoto tagged in and promptly was subjected to sustained violence from all three members of United Empire. Goto turned the tide when he tagged in, but was pegged back by a knee from the apron by Lee. Young and Matsumoto had a protracted exchange, with Matsumoto looking very accomplished and locking in a Boston crab before Lee broke it up. Young applied the Imperial Prison for the tapout win.

WINNERS: United Empire via submission at 9:21. (**1/2)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: A fairly entertaining undercard match that let Jake Lee continue to develop this madman character, gave Matsumoto some shine, and previewed both a round one and potential round two matchup. Fun little tussle.)

(4) ZANE JAY & CALLUM NEWMAN vs. OSKAR & DRILLA MOLONEY

Jay complained about still having the Young Lion theme for his entrance, so he entered to no theme. Newman and Jay brought a couple of chairs to the ring, which I believe might be against the rules. As Oskar made his entrance, Jay launched his chair out of the ring towards Oskar. Moloney’s music hot as Newwman and Jay fled into the stands…where Moloney intercepted them. The brawl was on! Newman and Oskar squared off while Moloney took Jay to school. Newman got the upper hand on Oskar and went to the aid of his stablemate, blindsiding Moloney. He dragged Moloney to ringside and tried to whip him into a barricade, but Moloney reversed it. Callum leapt over the barricade, landed on his feet, and tried a springboard off the barricade. Moloney caught him and held him in place standing on the barricade for Oskar to hit a big boot. Yes, a fully-grown adult was standing only slightly bent over and Oskar kicked him in the face. Good grief.

Oskar rolled Newman into the ring and the bell finally rang after five-plus minutes of brawling on the outside. Newman missed an Excalibur attempt, Oskar went for a tree bomb, Newman escaped and went to the legs. He stomped on Oskar’s knee before tagging in Jay. Oskar fought off the double-team but fell victim to a pair of Jay dropkicks. Moloney took over for his team but also ate a beautiful dropkick. The flurry was short-lived as Moloney hit an atomic drop and a lariat. Newman and Moloney traded strikes, Newman getting the upper hand with a rebound spinning back heel kick. Oskar came in but immediately got nailed with an enzuigiri. He blocked a lariat and hit a big boot that sent Newman to the outside. He tried the tree bomb on Jay, but Jay escaped and hit a low dropkick. Jay went to the top, Oskar moved and grabbed a sleeper. A tree bomb finally connected for the win.

WINNERS: Oskar and Moloney via pinfall at 4:35. (**)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: The brawl was actually pretty entertaining as brawls go, and the match itself was fast-paced. It overstayed its welcome a little though. Newman has really found a good spot with this heel run, I hope he goes deep in the Cup.)

(5) UNBOUND CO. (Yuto-Ice & Yota Tsuji & Taiji Ishimori & Daiki Nagai & Robbie X) vs. TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles & Hartley Jackson & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Robbie X and Ishimori are slated to challenge TMDK for the Junior Heavyweight tag team titles on March 5, and Ice will face Oiwa in a first-round Cup match on March 8.

Ishimori and Fujita hit us with some razzle-dazzle to start the match. They each tagged their partners for some Robbie-on-Robbie violence. The crowd chanted for Robbie, which led to a chuckle, before we got back to the two junior tag teams going at it apace. Daiki Nagai tagged in and immediately got chopped so hard his ribs filed for divorce. TMDK took turns punishing the poor kid until he was able to connect with a dropkick to Oiwa. Ice tagged in and knocked the rest of TMDK off the apron before going toe-to-toe with Oiwa. Ice took control with some strong shots and hit the Bomboclat knee. Oiwa blocked a PK attempt and dropped a running senton, but his Doctor Bomb attempt was blocked. A superkick from Ice got a two-count. Ice lined up the Ice High but Oiwa cut him off with a dropkick. Tsuji and Jackson both tagged in and Jackson hit a lariat and a senton for a two-count.

Jackson ran into a reverse STO, then Tsuji hit a running knee lift in the corner. Jackson sidestepped a Marlowe crash and tagged in ZSJ Things degenerated as members of each unit came into the ring. Tsuji hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on ZSJ and tagged in Nagai, who connected with a dropkick. Nagai laid in a series of attacks in the corner, and followed up with a hesitation dropkick for a near fall. ZSJ blocked a spinebuster attempt and clamped on a guillotine, but Nagai countered with a suplex. He went for a Boston crab, but ZSJ quickly tied him up in a knot. Amazingly Nagai countered into an armbar, ZSJ countered that into another unique submission, and Ice broke the hold up. ZSJ hit a running European uppercut but missed a PK. Nagai hit a sweet spinebuster and went for the Boston crab again, this time locking it in despite ZSJ trying to fight free. Nagai tried to drag ZSJ away from the ropes,which gave ZSJ the freedom to again tie him up in an unpleasant knot for the win.

WINNERS: TMDK via submission in 14:07. (***)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: It was good, but there was just too much going on. Ideally this would have been two different matches, giving people more of a chance to shine. As it stands, Nagai looked incredible here against ZSJ, which augurs well for the kid getting a shot in Best of the Super Juniors.)

(6) BOLTIN OLEG vs. EL PHANTASMO – New Japan Cup first round match

Oleg came to this match a newly-anointed double champion, having won the NJPW Strong title from Tomohiro Ishii in New Jersey a week ago. Coincidentally. ELP lost his TV championship on the same show.

As if driven by his loss, ELP came out of the gates with a dropkick. He went for a quick schoolboy but only got a two-count. He hit a clothesline that was supposed to take Oleg over the ropes to the floor, but Oleg either forgot to take the bump or couldn’t get all the way over. ELP ended up just pushing him over the top, then following with an impressive flying attack that knocked Oleg over the barricade. ELP went back to the ring and set up to dive over the barricade, but Oleg wisely moved out of range.

ELP went outside in a more conventional fashion, but Oleg took control. He barged right through ELP, wiping him clean out. He slammed ELP on the apron, then press slammed him over the top and back into the ring. A shoulder tackle and a running splash got a two-count, and a delayed suplex got another two. ELP avoided a charge and went for a tornado DDT but Oleg just caught him and threw him overhead. Oleg went for Kamikaze, ELP slid out the back and tripped Oleg. He slammed Oleg’s leg off the corner post multiple times. He continued the attack on the leg as we went past five minutes, wrapping it in the barricade and hitting it with a dropkick.

Back in the ring, ELP stayed focused on the leg with a single-leg crab. Boltin tried to fight back but ELP ducked the attempted strikes and hit a crossbody and a lionsault. Oleg simply stood up while holding ELP and went for the Boltin Shake. ELP countered with a headscissors, the first time I can recall seeing the Shake broken up like that. ELP tried to do some fancy footwork on the ropes Old-School style, but Oleg blocked the headscissors and hit a Verdict to leave both men down.

Oleg hit a corner splash and connected with four reps of the Boltin Shake. He went for a Vader bomb but his leg gave out, allowing ELP to move clear at the ten-minute mark. ELP tried a CR2 but Oleg countered with a belly to belly suplex. He went for Kamikaze again, ELP escaped out the back and chop-blocked Oleg’s knee. He went back to the half-crab, dragging Oleg back to the middle of the ring. Oleg made it to the ropes, then rolled to the floor. ELP went to the top rope and hit a moonsault to the outside. Back in the ring, ELP hit a Bret Hart elbow drop and measured Oleg for Sudden Death…Oleg shrugged it off! A second Sudden Death! Oleg still did not go down. ELP tried a piledriver, but Oleg just rolled through the impact and hit a short-range Kamikaze for a near fall.

Oleg flattened ELP with an elbow strike. ELP tried to fire back, but a second Oleg elbow sent him staggering at the 15-minute mark. ELP delivered a succession of palm strikes, then a massive lariat to finally take Oleg down. He went for CR2…connected! 1…2…no! ELP went to the top, but took too long to get there and was intercepted. Oleg went for a superplex, ELP blocked it and tried a sunset bomb. Oleg held on to the ropes, so ELP superkicked his leg. Oleg snatched up ELP and hit a Super Kamikaze for the win.

WINNER: Boltin Oleg via pinfall at 18:08. (***1/2)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: I think this is Oleg’s longest singles match so far, and he delivered. ELP is a great one to be in there with for that sort of thing, but this was the first time that I didn’t feel like Oleg’s offence was repetitive. His second-round match with Henare will be an entirely different kind of test, and one that I am excited to see.)

(7) TAICHI vs. REN NARITA – New Japan Cup first round match

Taichi came out in a gorgeous all-white outfit complete with feathers. He even brought Ryusuke Taguchi with him as House of Torture repellent. It did not work. Narita and Dick Togo blindsided him and Taguchi during Taichi’s entrance. Narita beat Taichi down on the outside, whipping him into the guard rail. They brawled into the crowd, where Narita waffled Taichi with a chair to the back.

Back in the ring, Narita made the mistake of trying to trade strikes with Taichi. One big head kick later, Taichi was in the ascendancy. They went back to the outside, where Taichi whipped Narita into a barricade, then another, then the corner post. Taichi shoved the referee out of the way and returned the chairshot favour. With the referee recovering from a lethal push, HoT Shenanigans (TM) ensued. Narita nailed Taichi in the knee with a chair, then wrapped Taichi’s leg around a corner post. Narita continued to work the leg as they got back into the ring. Taichi got his good leg up to block a charge, then hit an enzuigiri to drop Narita.

In the corner, Taichi landed a series of chops to the side of the neck. A spinning backfist followed at the ten-minute mark. Narita grabbed hold of a guillotine, but Taichi escaped and starched him with a heavy elbow. Taichi set for a superkick but Togo grabbed his ankle giving Narita the opening to hit a Russian leg sweep into a leg bar. Taichi scrambled to the ropes. Narita released the hold, then applied it again. Taichi got back to the ropes for another break. Taichi cut Narita off as he looked to come off the top, then connected with a superplex. Taichi sold the damage to his leg as he tried to capitalise. Narita blocked a round kick to the body, and started kicking at Taichi’s knee. They struggled for position, Taichi getting control and hitting a sliding lariat for a two-count.

Taichi hit an axe bomber and a brainbuster, but Togo pulled the referee out of the ring. And it was time for HoT Shenanigans (TM)! As we hit 15 minutes, some of Taichi’s Hontai allies tried to intervene. Master Wato, Shota Umino, Taguchi, and Masatora Yasuda took care of the HoT interlopers. Narita tried to waffle Taichi with his push-up bar, but Taichi ducked and hit a backdrop driver for a near fall. He went for Black Mephisto but Narita held on to the ref’s shirt to block. He kicked Taichi’s leg out of his leg and hit Souled Out for another near fall. Narita reapplied the leg bar, but Taichi managed to get to the ropes. Narita went to the top for Hell’s Guillotine…Taichi countered with a superkick! He pulled Narita up, only to flatten him with a standing lariat. Seems a little inefficient. He followed up with a high-angle backdrop driver with a bridge, but Sho rang the bell early. More shenanigans ensued as Kanemaru came out, spraying the referee with whisky.

Kanemaru briefly seemed to be siding with Taichi, helping him up, only to nail him with the whisky bottle. Narita went to the top again, connecting with Hell’s Guillotine for the win.

WINNER: Ren Narita via pinfall at 22:40. (***1/4)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: This was looking to be a really good match, both men hitting their trademark spots and selling appropriately. Then we had to suffer through the typical House of Torture nonsense, only to a much larger extent than normal. Even the faces finally having the brains to bring backup was not enough, which does not bode well for them trying that again. Tough one to rate because the rest of the match was genuinely excellent, but I refuse to reward this frustrating nonsense.)

Final thoughts: Both the expected winners progressed through the Cup, giving us two good matches in the process. The undercard was mostly underwhelming, although Yasuda and Nagai had very good showings and we got further Jake Lee evolution. The Aaron Wolf experiment is definitely not working right now, and they are going to have to keep hiding him away until he gets more comfortable with his role. A decent show overall, if unsurprising for the most part.