NJPW NEW JAPAN CUP 2026 NIGHT 11 RESULTS (3/20) : Lansdell’s recap and analysis of both semifinal matchups!

NJPW NEW JAPAN CUP NIGHT 11 REPORT
MARCH 20, 2026
AO-RE NAGAOKA
NAGAOKA, NIIGATA, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD

Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton were on commentary. I am trying out a new style of recaps today, so bear with me.

(1) RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & TAISEI NAKAHARA vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens)

I can think of few teams I would want to watch less than Owens and Yujiro. Maybe Fale and Honma? The crowd were pretty happy to see Yujiro in his home prefecture, which makes me worry about the water supply in that part of the country. Even Red Shoes was shocked as a Yujiro chant broke out.

This was a pure Young Lion match. Nakahara got beaten up until he could tag in Taguchi, we got some trademark Taguchi ass-based offence, House of Torture got control again, Nakahara tagged back in, showed some glimpses, then tapped out to a Boston crab from Yujiro. Not a single shenanigan to be seen!

WINNERS: House of Torture via submission at 7:20. (*1/2)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: Nakahara has been in the dojo system for longer than most, but he does not seem to be very far along in his progress. The only notable thing here was the lack of interference or cheating on HoT’s part.)

(2) TAICHI & SATOSHI KOJIMA & MASATORA YASUDA vs. HIROOKI GOTO & YOSHI-HASHI & TATSUYA MATSUMOTO

Yasuda and Matsumoto have a genuine feud going on among the Young Lions. Yasuda has a year of experience on Matsumoto, but in terms of skill level there is not much between them. Goto went from a finalist in the Cup in 2024, to awaiting the winner as champion in 2025, to losing in round two this year.

Yasuda and Taichi showed off some tandem moves, including an assisted top rope somersault senton. Young Lions doing top rope moves like that is rare, and I would tend to think that Yasuda might not be far from his excursion time. He did ultimately tap out to the butterfly lock, which is not something I have had to type much in the last three years.

WINNERS: Yoshi-Hashi, Goto, and Matsumoto via submission at 10:26. (**)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: Ten minutes for a match with two Young Lions is unusual. Both of them in the match are pretty far along the development path, and at no point did they look lost. The match seemed more designed to give them a chance to go a little longer than usual rather than any sort of story development. That said, I would not be surprised to see a six-man title challenge by Taichi, Kojima, and someone else in the near future. Maybe a returning Ishii?)

(3) MASTER WATO & YOH & EL DESPERADO vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Douki & Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

We have progressed from Young Lion matches to an actual preview tag match. After Douki beat Master Wato at the Anniversary Show, Yoh challenged him for the Junior Heavyweight championship. That match will happen on April 2 during the Sakura Genesis tour. Interestingly, Yoh’s teammates were the last two challengers for Douki’s title.

You’d expect a high-paced affair from these men, and that’s what we got. Yoh took a a beating from House of Torture, with Kanemaru and Sho hitting a spike piledriver and Douki clamping on the Douki Chokie, but with a little help from his friends Yoh ultimately hit an Everything Is Evil on Kanemaru, followed by Direct Drive for the win.

WINNERS: Yoh, Wato, and Desperado via pinfall at 8:35. (**1/4)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: The match was a little short, and we got very little from Desperado and Wato, but the goal here was to showcase Yoh and make him look like a threat to Douki. He isn’t one, but I am glad they’re pretending. I find him immensely entertaining, so no complaints.)

(4) UNBOUND CO (Drill Moloney & Shingo Takagi & Taiji Ishimori & Daiki Nagai vs. UNITED EMPIRE (Jakob Austin Young & Henare & Francesco Akira & Jake Lee)

Jake Lee had makeup reminiscent of The Joker, without all the white foundation. Have I mentioned how much I love Jake Lee? Because I really, really do. The commentators pointed out that Young has been picking up a lot of wins during this tour, and clearly that’s designed to get him in the running for a spot in Best of the Super Juniors.

Aside from the continuation of faction warfare between these two groups, we also got a preview of Akira and Young challenging Ishimori and Robbie X for the junior tag titles on April 2. There was not a lot of in-match interaction around that match, perhaps because of X’s absence due to a minor injury. Ishimori and Akira did have a heated brawl on the outside after the match, however. We got to see a fair amount of Lee and Shingo slugging it out, some shine for Daiki Nagai, and then the greatest hits of everyone else.

WINNERS: United Empire via pinfall at 9:24. (**)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: I think these two factions will end up in some sort of multi-man hardcore match to end this feud, and I am not excited about the prospect. Jake Lee continues to be excellent in this character. I would not be surprised to see Akira and Young winning the titles on April 2, just to make BOSJ more interesting for Young. Every loss he takes would create a potential challenger for the tag titles, and both Ishimori and Robbie X are more intriguing entrants as possible winners of that tournament.)

(5) TORU YANO & AARON WOLF & TOMOAKI HONMA vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Don Fale & Dick Togo)

Why did I have to mention Fale and Honma in the same sentence? I brought this on myself.

I found the choice of teammates for Wolf to be quite telling. Honma and Yano don’t typically do much in the ring, so Wolf was kind of forced to actually do the heavy lifting (metaphorically and literally, as Fale was in the match) for longer than he typically has been recently. That was my theory, anyway. In practice, Yano yelled at Wolf to tag out and then promptly got beaten down.

Wolf was the recipient of the hot tag and he did try, to be fair. The crowd had a pretty negative reaction to his use of the characteristic Tatsumi Fujinami “ring in”, which has been a common occurrence. After some weak-looking knees to Fale and a brief attempt to fight off the numbers game, Wolf’s rally ended. Moments later, after finally connecting with a Kokeshi, Honma got hit with a Hell’s Guillotine to end it.

WINNERS: House of Torture via pinfall in 8:34. (*)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: This was bad. Honma was just constantly out of position and looked worse than usual. Wolf has a chance to show something and…did not. Nobody came out of this any better off. If the goal is to slowly take the shine off Wolf so he can learn his craft out of the spotlight, I guess they are achieving it.)

(6) TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr & Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa) vs. UNBOUND CO. (Yuto-Ice & Oskar & Gedo & Yota Tsuji)

Tsuji waited until the rest of his team was in the ring to make his entrance, and he had shed his usual Carmen Sandiego cosplay for a Masahiro Chono one. It feels like an upgrade honestly, and actually gives him something in the way of a relatable character.

On paper this seemed like a match built around Ice and Oiwa, given that the former lost to the latter in the Cup. Oiwa and ZSJ did also challenge the Knockout Brothers for the tag titles after World Tag League, albeit unsuccessfully. In practice, Tsuji started the match by putting poor Fujita in his place. Oskar and even Gedo joined the fun.

Eventually the match became more of a comedy affair, with Gedo trying to get Jackson to chase him around the ring. Jackson declined, amusement ensued, and Jackson pinned Gedo after a Death Valley driver. Of more interest was the aftermath, where Fujita tried to get in Tsuji’s face. He laid in a stiff and loud chop, which initially made Tsuji wince. He considered returning fire, but smiled and walked off. Meanwhile ZSJ and Oiwa had words for Ice and Oskar, setting up a likely match.

WINNERS: TMDK via pinfall at 12:24. (**)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: This was designed as something of a palate-cleanser before the two big matches of the night. A little comedy, some table-setting, and the biggest names we hadn’t seen yet. Fujita and Tsuji squaring off was likely just a fun moment, but I do expect ZSJ and Oiwa to go after the tag titles after this, likely at Sakura Genesis in April.)

(7) YUYA UEMURA vs. BOLTIN OLEG – New Japan Cup Semi-Final match

Once I saw the tournament brackets, Uemura seemed the likely person to come through the top half. I also mentioned that he would have a tough path through, and right at the start of the match the commentators mentioned that his average match time and total match time in the Cup were higher than anyone’s.

Oleg has improved a lot over the past few months, and his run in the Cup has shown just how much. As an Olympic-level wrestler he should have been well-suited to a longer match with Uemura, while also being able to provide a base for Uemura’s aerial moves. What we got was in some ways the inverse of what I expected, but in other ways was exactly what it should have been.

Oleg obviously had the power advantage while Uemura had the speed, and they played off those two tropes. However Uemura consistently dominated the mat wrestling exchanges, which stretched the bounds of credulity somewhat against this opponent. Uemura focused on Oleg’s arm, and managed to turn things like pin attempts into submission holds. They matched each other for suplexes, Uemura held his own with strikes. I can understand wanting to paint the competitors as well-matched, but if you spend time building up Oleg’s credentials, then it seems strange to let someone without similar credentials be so dominant.

If you can ignore that point, not only will you enjoy this match a great deal but your life in general will be improved. Sometimes I cannot get past this sort of fixation. No question about it though, these two men threw everything into this match. Oleg busted out a powerbomb for the first time I can remember, and the battles over the Deadbolt suplex were very well done. We didn’t get the 25-minute classic, but we got drama and quality work.

The finish came when Uemura locked Oleg’s arms in for the Deadbolt, stomped on his foot to make him hop, and used the momentum to finally take him over the top with the suplex. He followed up with a pair of Aces High crossbodies and got the win.

WINNER: Uemura via pinfall at 19:27. (****)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: Oleg did an admirable job of making us believe he could pull off the upset, but in the end we got the expected winner in an excellent match. I think these two can do even more together, once Oleg has a bit more experience in these spotlight matches. It was smart to put this match first, because the winner here does not tip off the likely winner of the other semi. Uemura vs Umino is destined to be this generation’s Naito vs Tanahashi, with Tsuji in the role of Okada. It will happen many times, and the finals of a New Japan Cup would be a fitting place to really kickstart that rivalry. On the other hand Newman is on the rise, is the only heel left in the tournament, and has a ready-made blockbuster match against Will Ospreay coming at some point soon. Both would make an intriguing final opponent for Uemura. I think he would be favoured against Umino, who I still believe is just one bad day away from a big heel turn. If it’s Newman I think Uemura would lose, and Newman would go on to beat Tsuji. Fortunately, we wouldn’t have to wait long to see who the other finalist would be.)

(8) SHOTA UMINO vs. CALLUM NEWMAN – New Japan Cup Semi-Final match

Both men are more than capable of high-speed offence, but this was mostly a grindy affair. Early on, Newman bloodied Umino’s nose with an extremely stiff elbow. Newman made the mistake of spitting on Umino, and that resulted in a rapid-fire striking sequence in the corner that would have put prime Kojima to shame. The action spilled to the outside and Newman took control. He set up two tables that did not immediately come into play, thereby invoking Mr Chekhov. Newman started to focus on Umino’s arm, at one point locking on a Rings of Saturn.

Umino regained control, and they went back to the outside. Umino hit a massive knee strike to the head with Newman draped over the barricade, and followed up with a nasty-look Orton-style DDT off the barricade. The image of Newman with his feet on the barricade and his head stuck into the mats ringside was a powerful one. Newman blocked a lariat and powerbombed Umino from the ring, over the top rope, and through the previously-erected tables. Newman wanted a countout, but Umino scrambled in at the count of 19. Newman tried to get the submission win with a kimmura, but after what felt like an eternity Umino made the ropes.

From there the pace picked up considerably as both men traded big moves. Umino hit a trio of big strikes for a near fall, then a bridging half-and-half suplex for another. Newman almost took Umino’s head off with a lariat, then hit the Exaclibur stomp, but only got a two-count. Umino countered Prince’s Curse with a DDT, followed up with a lariat and a poison rana, and still only got a two-count. With the referee cowering after a near collision, Newman hoofed Umino in the groinal region. A Prince’s Curse later, and Callum Newman was headed to the finals.

WINNER: Newman via pinfall at 30:03. (****)

(Lansdell’s Analysis: This match was tremendous, but I felt like too much of it happened outside the ring. Otherwise it would have surpassed the first semi. Newman is finding a groove with a character that is part ZSJ, part Ospreay, part Gabe Kidd. It is working extremely well. I do think he will win the whole thing at this point, because the booking plan with Umino and Uemura has so far been “close but no cigar.” Newman alluded to this in his post-match comments, telling Umino he always fails. Newman has managed to bottle lightning and I think riding that wave would be the right call for the company right now. That you have Ospreay waiting in the wings is certainly not hurting things either.)

Final thoughts: It’s more than fair to say that the undercard of this show left a lot to be desired. The two big matches more than made up for that, however. I cannot remember the last time someone improved as much as Newman has in as short a time as he has managed it, and even if he plateaus at this level he can claim to be great. Uemura has quietly been the most consistent of his “class” of young stars, and he has absolutely earned his chance at the top. Aside from the TMDK-Knockout Brothers scuffle and the continued United Empire-Unbound Company feud, there was very little of consequence here. One thing we can no longer do, however, is decry the lack of commitment to building the young stars. It’s just not the ones we thought it would be.